Under A Spell?

 There are moments when a decision doesn't feel like a decision at all.

It arrives fully formed. Complete. Certain.

As if it's been waiting for you to notice it.

That's how this one landed...

I woke up the day before NYE with a mad desire to paint the trim on the wallpapered wall in Witching Hour by Benjamin Moore.

Witching Hour is not black. It's charcoal with a pulse. Ink with a memory. A color that absorbs light rather than reflecting it back politely. 

And against the gold-lined wallpaper, it didn't compete. It anchored.

It changed the posture of the room.

The spell took hold.

The trim (baseboards and doorway) had been a stark white for years now... And an eyesore for me. In fact, the whole living/dining space is one eyesore because of the white walls and ceiling.

White is perfectly fine... If you have no imagination. No courage.  No commitment. (Looking at you, Pantone Color of the Year.)

But I wasn't afraid to stray from white. No. I've been overwhelmed by picking a color because I love so many. 

I wondered...

"Do I paint the whole rest of the room in Witching Hour or, perhaps, Railings by Farrow and Ball?"

"Maybe a soft pink to play against the dark grey of the Hygge & West wallpaper?"

"Or what about a deep blue or dark green?"

I'd order sample pots in the mail and paint swatches... On the walls... On the ceiling... On the trim...

I'd check in on the colors throughout the day to see how the light hits in the northeast facing room.

But I woke up on Tuesday morning knowing.

Not thinking. Knowing. 

I wanted Witching Hour at least on the trim.

So I taped everything off - which everyone knows is the true labor of painting. The prep work.

Then off to the Benjamin Moore section in the Ace Hardware up the main road from my house. 

Thirty minutes later I was home and coloring.

And I love how it turned out. 

And now that the white is gone from the wall, a new spell has been cast: I am able to better imagine a color to drench the ceiling and the rest of the walls with in the big room.

More adventure to come.