My Bedroom Wall Color Revealed!

FOR THOSE WHO THOUGHT I might never make a decision about what color to paint the bedroom in my Prospect Heights garden floor-through (and I admit I was among those who thought it), I’m relieved to report that the day after Christmas, I made a supreme effort and slathered two — in some spots, three — coats of Pratt & Lambert’s Pale Carnelian on two walls of the room.

Turns out to be a true orange, clear and bright, though it’s hardly pale anything — if I had to name it, it might be Sunkist with a Vengeance. Thanks to everyone who made thoughtful and well-considered paint-color suggestions. I tried a few of them, but after sampling 10 colors, I really had to stop.

Here’s what that wall looked like before:

Since that back wall has two different-sized windows plus a door leading to the garden, the orange was intended to a) tie the wall together visually, b) provide a glimpse of color through the door from the living room, and c) generally cheer things up. Then I painted the ‘fireplace wall,’ below at left, or what was once the kitchen hearth wall in Brooklyn row houses of the 19th century. Now it’s just a jog in the wall, and I went with color there as well because it seemed to be a good place for it.

The rest of the walls will remain white. The orange is intense, and I want the wall opposite the north-facing, under-deck windows to reflect every possible ray of light.

Now I’m on to the remaining pieces for the bedroom. The main item on my list is an armoire or credenza to house family pictures, children’s art work, and other precious heirlooms that cannot all be displayed but must be saved for posterity. I’ve been shopping online and in person. There’s an alcove 78″ wide, so something long and low would be good — it could double as a TV stand.

I would enjoy something like this sculptural ’60s number (the pictures below are from Apartment Therapy’s ‘New York Scavenger’ classifieds section). I’ve heard tell of these appearing three times recently, so they must be around, but they get snapped up quickly for about $800.

More banal mid-century credenzas are a dime a dozen, in the $300-500 range. I could live with something like this if I had to:

That, plus a white shag rug from IKEA and bamboo blinds from Pearl River, and my bedroom will be good to go.

Color Quandary

OK, IT’S NOT A LIFE-ALTERING DECISION, but I’m surprisingly perplexed about what to do re the paint color for my bedroom walls. Me, the expert who successfully chose colors sight unseen for the living room and bathroom, below, when my landlords offered to paint any color I wanted before I moved into my new pied-a-terre, a brownstone garden floor-through in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, last month (that’s right, it’s not an apartment, it’s a pied-a-terre, and I’m gonna keep saying it.)

Benjamin Moore’s Dalila in the living room, above, and Ben Moore’s Tropicana Cabana in the bathroom, below

For the bedroom, I had been thinking red/orange, and I’ve now spent about $100 trying 9 samples from 4 different paint companies:

• Benjamin Moore. I started out with 3 wimpy pale pinks that are definitely not me; moved on to Coral Gables, more assertive but still too pink; then tried Poppy, an overly aggressive red I couldn’t possibly live with on a daily basis.
• Ralph Lauren. Hot Orange, way too dark; Mesa Sunrise, a maybe.
• Farrow & Ball. Orangery, which is more like yellow ochre. No.
• Pratt & Lambert. Pale Carnelian — love it for a chair, not a room.

All this has required several trips to Pintchick, one to deepest Brooklyn (Eastern Paint on Flatbush Avenue is the only Brooklyn store that carries the full line of Ralph Lauren paints), 2 trips into Manhattan (one to Saifee in the East Village which also carries RL, and another to London Paints in Chelsea for the Farrow & Ball).

See what I’m up against in the bedroom, below?

I’ve looked at my sample patches in every kind of natural light from dim to dark (it’s a north-facing bedroom under a deck, above), as well as artificial. Not one of my samples is calling out to me as the right color.

These are among the considerations:

• I want something to brighten the room and make it less dreary
• The paint mustn’t be too dark. Not only is the room already dark, it’s unfair to my landlords (as a landlord myself, I’m always pissed when I give people permission to paint whatever color they choose, and they choose deep purple)
• It has to work with the sunflower yellow living room, as the door between the rooms is almost always open
• It has to make me happy, lift my spirits, and envelop me with a sense of well-being, constantly

Tall order for a can of paint? Well, yes…hence the quandary.

My friend Debre thinks I should just keep going in this vein, use up all my samples for a kind of crazy quilt effect. No, my dear, I’m not doing that. Meanwhile, time’s a-fleeting. I’m already in the second month of a one-year lease (though I hope to stay much longer).

I’ve got to choose something, and soon. Maybe a nice blue or green?