50 Shades of Green

50 Shades of Green

It’s been Torture!

50 Shades of Green

But a lesson in resilience.

After we got plastered, I found a terrific paint from Auro. Great texture, great Eco credentials. I hoped the shade was close to the recycled glass green I saw while our lime plaster was still wet.

I had painted most of the house when I decided that this colour was very close to my ideal colour, but too pale and too close to white. I was unhappy.

Auro also have a range of paints composed of their pigments and their base white. The UK distributor generously told me the recipe for my shade of paint.

Auro Mix Card

I found my colour recipe, then looked for a colour that doubled the same pigments. I couldn’t find one. So I bought the pigments and some white and started playing around.

Between matchpots of colours and mixes, I counted 48 different greens on that wall. I made one that I thought might do, but then I couldn’t reproduce my own recipe! Oh NO!!!

I re-read the Auro’s email and noticed the reply email address was different. It seems that Edward Bulmer Natural Paint is the distributor for Auro and also has their own delicious range of colours using the gorgeous Auro paint.

I quickly ordered every green from Edward Bulmer Natural Paint and started painting swatches everywhere:

Three contenders, one was too green, one too dark and one too blue. THEN I saw that Edward Bulmer do shades – 20%, 40% and 60%. I quickly tried mixing percentages of white with their greens.

40% Granite Green looks good. This may be it?

So I ordered enough for two coats and in fear and trepidation, began to paint over the old, pale green. Would 40% Granite Green be too dark? Too pale? Had I got it wrong?

Nope. My Goldilocks moment. Just Right!!!!!

SO HAPPY!!!

This is the upstairs bedroom and really shows just how right it is. To the extreme left, the first, pale green colour I bought. Above is unpainted lime plaster. To the right and above the bed is Edward Bulmer’s 40% Granite Green.

Perfect.

I have grown increasingly uncompromising and have to fight the embarrassment I feel that the house is taking so long to finish. I really despair at myself sometimes. Journeys like this remind me that it’s worth it. To remember how dissatisfied I felt with the previous green and how delighted I am to see everything I hoped for in this new green. I was right to hold out, to experiment, to keep going until the right thing came along. Resilience regained!

Hint – we have hatched a plan for the loft floor that is equally uncompromising. Coming up next, it is going to be at least, or even more OMG than our beloved, uncompromising staircase.

2 Responses »

  1. Hi there.
    Someone on somerset small holdings mentioned your fantastic project and I wondered if you might have a moment to have a chat about our off grid project? Trying to combine solar, hot water, air source and battery storage is a bit of a minefield and you seem to have successfully navigated it. Many thanks. Ian

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