Wicker is the New White

I don't care much for white paint. David does, and if he had his way, our whole house would be the same color of white or off-white. That's why his office was the first thing I painted. It started as a garrish shade of red - even by my standards. It took two coats of Kilz to cover it before I painted it off-white. Despite my love of colorful walls, I realize that a neutral color in some parts of the house is probably the way to go. Eddie Bauer Wicker is my white. It's a nice warm tan version of neutral. I like it. I can work with that. I painted the wall in the picture below in Wicker several years ago to cover the most awful shade of terra cotta. I've wanted to paint the upstairs hallway that same color for a long time, but there is this wall that stops me. See, it's above that board at the top of the picture. Over the stairs. I haven't been able to figure out how to get there. I've practiced levitation, but that hasn't really panned out. So, I decided that one wall should not stop me from painting the rest of the hallway. Someone who lived here before us was quite the fan of textured walls. Very few walls escaped their plaster and trowel. Some are worse than others, but the hallways took the brunt of the abuse. Some pieces of plaster have jumped to their deaths in an attempt to escape the ugliness. I had grand visions of sanding all of that texture down when we moved in. I came to my senses. Sanding is work. And it is horribly messy. I've adjusted. Textured walls are okay, if they are painted a color I like. I can live with them.

Since you can't really tell that I did anything in the final picture, I'm throwing this one in. See how much different? It dried a little lighter, but it still isn't white.

**Aside** Love this paint brush. It has every color I've painted since we've lived here.

Wa-la. Here is part of the finished product. In the picture, it pretty much looks white. It's not - it's Wicker. I have calouses to prove it. And there used to be a chunk of plaster missing under that window. Fixed that. I've always hated that light fixture, and there's another one as well. Somehow though, it looks better on the new walls than it did the last. Maybe we'll change it someday, but for now it's okay. Me and the changing of the light fixtures is a story for another day. By we, I mean that I will pick one out. David actually does all the work. He's quite good at it and has gotten lots of practice both here and in my old house. Bet he wishes he'd never let me know that he could do that. ;)

Before you invite me to come and paint at your house, I should tell you this one thing. I am not especially good at it. At least 1/4 of the paint gets on me and surroundings instead of on the walls. Never look too closely where the ceiling meets the wall. Or at the trim around the bottom. Didn't want you to get the wrong idea! :)