The Book of Redecoration (King Parker James Version)

Okay, so revised plan #6 (I'll spare everyone the details on #2 through #5):

A grand total of ONE full dining room wall is Mink. (Let's play HGTV and call it THE FEATURE WALL, shall we?)

When we put the primer over the green walls, they turned a lovely shade of pale bluish-green, and I could not help but notice how bright and expansive the dining room looked in a lighter color (Revelation #1). I also could not help but notice that the primer-created shade was not unlike Wyeth Blue, my initial color choice (Revelation #2). Benjamin Moore had been out of samples of that color, but I had grabbed a tester of Palladian Blue, which seemed to be a similar shade, on my way out of the store, intending to try it in the bathroom. I slapped some of that on the dining room wall and could not help but notice that it was the same color as several decorative accessories that were in that room (at that particular moment, heaped in a pile on top of the "Island of Relocated Furniture" floating mid-dining room) (Revelation #3).

I went back to the BM fan deck and discovered that Palladian Blue was on the same card as Wyeth Blue - just one shade lighter, and one of my initial concerns with Wyeth Blue was that it was a shade too dark. Revelation #4.

I called my mother, who had phoned earlier in the day raving about a brown room in Traditional Home that had a light blue ceiling. When I shared my successful experiment with Palladian Blue, she basically shrieked, put the phone down, and then I heard the sound of frantically turned pages before she returned to the line and said: "Ceiling paint: 1/2 formula Palladian Blue." Her coveted ceiling, my test patch on the wall - same color, with just a little extra white mixed in. Revelation #5.

After my trip through the Book of Revelations, we determined that the remaining dining room walls should be painted a diluted shade of Palladian Blue above a (currently non-existent) chair rail, with Mink below that.

Meanwhile, we'd already gone rogue in the living room, painting all but the area above the mantel a great taupe-y shade called Greenbriar Beige. At the last minute, we decided that Mink above the fireplace would (a) make the architecture of the fireplace jut-in more pronounced, (b) better highlight the art that hangs over the fireplace and (c) create a sight line from the dark brown fireplace area to the dark brown leather chair to THE FEATURE WALL.

As Mink out of the can looks exactly like Hershey's syrup, "Toast with Nutella" is out as a description for the overall concept. New name: "The Hershey's Bar with Almonds Suite." (Note to Hershey's parent company: Formal naming rights are available at a very reasonable price point.)

So . . . in keeping with the Biblical theme of this post, I can report that our rooms have received a (wait for it) coat of many colors. Second, and final, coat goes up tonight, with touch-up tomorrow. FYI, if you have never painted with Benjamin Moore, here's my testimony (STILL with the religious stuff): it is SO worth the extra money. No drips, no splatters, and you can pretty much get away with one coat. Can I get a witness from the congregation?

Chair rail was purchased at lunch today. I had text messaged Parnell (1) the SKU information, name, dimensions and pricing of the molding I selected along with (2) the relevant aisle number at Lowe's and (3) directions to said aisle. Notwithstanding the foregoing, he declined to make the purchase on his own, so I had to meet him at the store. Insert comment about general male/husband quirkiness here. (Btw, he was immediately on board with the chair rail concept . . . in part because it permitted him to break out THE LASER LEVEL. Okay, I admit it - the thing is terribly useful, and terribly fun.)

Can't wait to send photos, primarily because it will mean that our work is substantially complete, and we are all so ready to get to that point. Over the weekend, I kept hearing my Blackberry vibrate, and I finally realized that in our haste to move everything to the center of the room it had been transported (along with the centerpiece bowl in which it had been housed) to the interior of the Island of Relocated Furniture. Excavation ensued . . . . Now the remote for the dining room fan is missing, meaning that we cannot turn on the overhead light, so painting in that space has to take place before dusk. Oh, well - we work well under deadlines.