A few weeks ago when my husband was out of town, I painted our bedroom. It hadn’t been updated in nineteen years. When we first moved in, I painted it two pale shades of jade to match my Laura Ashley comforter. I stylishly divided the top green and the bottom green (covered the seam where the colors met) with the obligatory wallpaper border that the 1995 decorating trend demanded.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my green walls. I didn’t even mind the wallpaper border.
(Stop shuddering, it was pretty! A narrow border that lasted nearly two decades with very little fading, discoloring or peeling.)
But the comforter had seen much better days.
I found a new comforter, also Laura Ashley, that I liked and selected paint chips to match. Two shades, but instead of upper wall/lower wall, I complied with the current trend of three walls and an “accent wall.”
I don’t know why the itch got scratched this particular weekend, but I took down the border and washed the walls, painted, got new curtains and put the room back together in three days. I bought the cans at least eight months ago. (I had the comforter even longer!) I’d been waiting a long time to paint. As I stood admiring my walls, I realized I’d been waiting a lot longer—I was obviously channeling a twelve year old girl.
I painted the bedroom purple.
Three walls in a color called Watercolor Lilies.
The accent wall? Grape Bubblicious purple. Grape Laffy Taffy purple. Grape Ape purple.
It’s actually called, Lavender Sunset, but trust me, if Grimace leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, you’d lose him.
But I don’t care. I love it.
I did wonder what my husband would think. The pale Laura Ashley greens weren’t exactly masculine, but they weren’t purple, either.
But you know, since he’s a man, the joke I was prepared to tell was this:
When asked what my husband thought of the new purple bedroom, I would respond, “I’ll let you know as soon as he notices.”
But he noticed. (Good for him, right? Good for me, too.)
When asked what my husband thinks of the new purple bedroom, I can respond honestly with, “He said it’s kind of romantic.”
SCORE!
Even if you’re not a purple person, you have to agree that freshly painted walls, new curtains and bedding make an old room look awesome.
Almost awesome enough to motivate me to paint other rooms…
like the nursery…
The nursery I’d hoped to have done by my grandson’s birth—last June.
(any excuse to show off my BB! Ben is 3 months old here)
Once I decide on a color, I should buy the paint so when the itch strikes I’m ready to scratch.
Does Laura Ashley make baby comforters?
MARY LAMPHERE AUTHOR 
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