Ever since we have moved into our New Hampshire home, I have not cared for this cutout of shelves in the fireplace below:

Something was just not right. They always seem to be screaming ‘Look at me!’ Do you think you know why it is not working?

Do you see how yellow the wood of the shelves are?  They are so bright and yellow, it is making them stick out like a sore thumb! The yellow is screaming. Plus, look at the stone:

It is gray stone with an undertone of taupe.  I actually do see a little green too.  What do you think?  So now we have determined the problem. The yellow wood is not working with the gray stone.  Solution?  Can’t change the stone, going to have to paint the shelves.  Well, my husband is going to give me a hard time about painting the shelves because they are gasp! wood!  He’ll get over it!

So I choose a couple samples with taupe undertones (BM cedar key 982 and smokey taupe 983):

And also a warm gray with a touch of green (edgecomb gray HC-173):

The samples are just too small.  I did not have my cases with me to see a larger sample.  I am going to choose two of the three colors and paint on poster board to test. That is the best way to be sure to get it just right.

I will post pictures next week on which color I choose and hopefully get them painted pronto! 

Then I will get into why I have to change the wall color now too.  Never ends does it.

Comments?

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Related Topics:

Understanding Beige Undertones

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Color

Using the 60-30-10 Color Rule