behr

Not long ago, we had a ketchup and mustard look on our unfinished entertainment center.

After my bathroom painting marathon, I decided to knock out the entertainment center so we didn’t think of hot dogs. While I painted, Ben added the face trim, side detail, and crown molding.

Of course painting isn’t that easy. Oh no, first I had to fill every nail hole, wait for the filler to dry, then sand it smooth. And then the priming phase.

Man was I ready to start painting. Originally Ben and I had agreed on a white entertainment center with a colorful backing. So I tested out my options inside the cabinets he built and liked Ben Moore’s Yosemite yellow. But then we started talking it over and decided white wasn’t the direction we wanted to take. Why the sudden change of heart? Well, Ben pointed out how much light the front window lets in, which also means a lot of glare. Bright white might cause a lot of eye strain when we’re relaxing in front of the tv at night. White is a safe choice, and maybe too safe. Let’s try a darker color, like gray. But I didn’t want a sea of gray, so it had to be different enough from the wall color. I picked out two Ben Moore colors, Kendall Charcoal and Amherst Gray.

Kendall Charcoal was a great deep gray, but too blue for our liking. Amherst Gray was too light. While at Home Depot shopping for some other supplies, we walked to the paint department and looked at more swatches. I pulled out a Behr color that I’ve liked for years, Squirrel. About six years ago, I painted our master bedroom this color, but Ben said it felt like a battleship. Since then, he has come around to more modern designs, and doesn’t hate all gray paint. But we quickly agreed Squirrel was too light. That’s an easy fix, we just chose the color below, Dusty Mountain. Without hesitation, we bought a gallon of eggshell paint and headed home.

In the pictures above, you can see we bought the paint before I was ready to paint. After finishing the prep and priming, I started with the color.

Love at first sight. Especially paired with the reddish Bubinga top. Yum.

Ben came home, saw this and proclaimed his love, too.

I think the green undertones are lovely and reminiscent of an expensive library. Just picture this color on crazy tall shelves with a brass bar for the sliding wooden ladder.

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But I couldn’t let go of wanting a splash of color. Using the yellow left over from the cabinets, I tested it on the backs.

I love the idea, but the contrast was too much for tv watching.

Ben suggested I paint the back Wood Smoke like the walls. Instead, I took the easy way out and painted it Dusty Mountain.

Ahh, that’s better. Ugly speakers blend in with this more. We’ll build doors for the side cabinets, but the yellow will be a fun surprise inside.

If we had cabinet grade plywood, we could have built the drawers. Sadly, Home Depot doesn’t have any in stock because it’s seasonal. Ummm, what? Hopefully they get it in, because we can’t make the fronts until the drawers are installed. I’m telling you, our plans are always contingent on something else.

Progress is progress, and I’m happy.

So, what do you think of the color? Are you into darker, saturated colors, too? Or are you more of a light and airy person? Do you and your significant other agree on colors easily?