I'm late posing after a rather manic two days. The decorators arrived to paint the hall and landing and sallied forth with the very expensive paint that I'd chosen after careful consideration of dozens of sample pots. It became rapidly apparent that the paints were coming out not cream and chocolate but pink and purple. The man who mixed the extra-durable, extra-expensive versions said that they don't always quite match so I dashed off to Homebase to get a standard pot, requested that they open it, checked that it wasn't remotely pink, took it home, took the lid off in daylight - pink! But not quite so bad so they carried on while I embarked on the definite highlight of the day, a lovely walk to Royston Heath. My friend Jenna had promised us Pasque flowers and she certainly delivered - quite a lot more than any of us expected! As you can see you also gets hills (but we had to leave the county for them). @helenmoss 's dog Storm does not like to miss a photo op! Thanks go to Karen for holding my badly behaved dog while I took the photos.
Anyway - I got home just in time to pass judgement on the paint colours which were not in themselves hideous - they just clashed horribly with the carpet and depending on the light veered towards unpleasant - before dashing straight off to a Governing Body meeting and coming home to squint at the interior decor of the Minister's house in 'The Politician's Husband'.
Three good things:
1. My decorator who's not going to charge us much more for painting everything twice.
2. Gorgeous walk with lovely friends.
3. So busy yesterday that I didn't eat or drink much and actually shed a couple of pounds (probably 1 by the time I've re-hydrated).
oh i hate that whole mixing paint thing. When i decorated last year I bought standard paints...job done. The previous time I painted my downstairs 4 times before things started looking cream not pink!! sounds like a busy day!
Sounds like a nightmarish day, apart from the lovely walk.....! I think there is too much choice nowdays with paint/paper whatever! And white.... how many shades of that are there.....? ridiculous! Love everything going on in this photo, the dog looks like he is either going to slip down the hill or leave a deposit! I like that you are photographing the photographer too!
Oh dear Judith paint is a minefield isn't it? The trouble is you pick an expensive roll of subtle wallpaper thinking well I'll only use the one roll but you carefully pick the paint shades they suggest only the decorator wants use Johnstones so brings his colour chart out ....how do you match frightfully expensive emulsion with trade paint? All paint looks different on the walls anyhow!!! We are doing the sitting room soon so will be in the same boat!
Love your hill btw & all covered with flowers not sheep!! Storm looks ready for the off!!
@busylady Near Royston - if you go along the A10 from Cambridge and then the A505 to Baldock you get to a roundabout with a Little Chef on it and turn off the 1st exit, almost doubling back on yourself and then you turn first right and go up the hill through the golf course to a carpark you can see from the road. Now my friend took us to the flowers because they are in a specific area and only one side of the hill (away from the road) but I THINK if you stand in the carpark and look across the road you turned off (not the main one, the little one leading to the carpark and look up the hill a bit you'll see two humps. I think the flowers are on the far one - (about 5 min walk?)
@busylady Or walk up the road past the carpark and turn left and head up the hill when you get to the copse - I think that may work - or ask somebody - there were a few people looking!!! Apparently the best show for years....
@happypat Never again Pat - it was the original colour that wasn't quite right but it was made worse by a slight shine (that they all said was barely a shine - hmmm) in the extra tough paint. I can't believe that I have the papers with the samples painted on looking totally different to the final wall... It has cost a bomb altogether - could have been worse if the decorator was charging for more time.
@fueast I know - we are using F&B Charleston Grey (which is brown) and very matt - I think the Laura Ashley ones are made by F&B??? We have a posh paint shop down the road that sells Little Greene, F&B, Sanderson and all sorts of excellent paints but this time I was using so many sample pots at £4 each that in the end I decided I had to go Dulux - and it wasn't terrible at all - it just wasn't what we thought we were getting!!
God don't start me on paint colours, I gave up and we now live with tester pot swatches all over the hall walls, upstairs and down, got kinda used to it now!! Great pic btw, I love the angle. Good luck with the home revision only one week to go before D day...eeek!
@jgpittenger Oh that's so sensible - and very artistic and refined - my mum and dad painted theirs all white after I'd taken them to 'Kettle's Yard House' - once a very arty home, now a museum. I did think about it when I saw the pink.
@jo13 Ours start on Tuesday - double eek!!! A week on Tuesday is an almighty killer day (biology, chemistry, English Lit) with maths the following morning - glad I'm not 16...
@judithg We went to Cheshire for the w/e & our friends had moved into a different house & the whole place was decorated in this rather subtle creamy white . walls & woodwork but the thing was everything was very matt...I asked at F &B & the paint is called Dead Flat finish, I loved it .
Thanks for the detailed info on how to get there. I think my 5 year old granddaughter just can't wait to get there! Her Mum is doing a detailed study on bees though so she might be interested.
So glad I looked at your site tonight and saw the pasque flowers, have never seen them like this before. Will head out asap. Nice shot of the Heath, we often walk there.
Only just having seen this post, I've asked the paint colour question in my today's shot! Hope the paint issue is sorted now. I wondered if Ray and I would come to blows in Homebase yesterday. Like the composition here with the green field background and a nicely posed dog in grouping of three.
It was a beautiful walk, wasn't it? I've been raving about the flowers to anyone who'll listen (or not, actually) ever since. Sorry you got home to the wrong colour!
A wonderful shot of the photo shoot...and such a spectacular location! Storm seems to bracing himself against a downhill slide. Looks like such a beautiful day.
I hope you love the new paint color. I love picking out paint colors, although it's always a bit of a gamble on the outcome depending on lighting and other factors.
like the split view hill vibe and those purpley flower things. Hound looks funny, but then they usually are eh..
I tried painting our hall beige, but it ended up looking a bit pink too. I gave up and just accepted it. ;)
Love your hill btw & all covered with flowers not sheep!! Storm looks ready for the off!!
I hope you love the new paint color. I love picking out paint colors, although it's always a bit of a gamble on the outcome depending on lighting and other factors.