Colorwashing the Kitchen

Continuing the obsession, or shall we call it fascination and be kind, with color. It would be a good idea to finish one of these projects before embarking on the next. (I am almost done with the liner for my second Fiddlehead mitten, so there is some progress toward completion there. Especially with The Amazing Race kicking off tonight...)

Anyway, today's post illustrates my experiments with colorwashing. The inspiration for colors is the notecard in the next photo, laying on top of Benjamin Moore's Color Samples brochure. I love these little jars of paint. For $3.99, you can try a gazillion colors. (Well, five at this count, and I do need to focus.)

I'm looking for a  warm, yellow-orange on the walls, and from admiring Kristin Nicholas' blog and the tiny glimpses of her painted walls in her books and blog, am trying for a similar worn-in but glowy kind of color.

So far, the main candidates are Benjamin Moore Semolina (the upper swatch in the next photo) with Sweet Butter ( the second swatch.) This is the wall behind the refrigerator, where my experiments have been sequestered while the rest of the room gets a coat of paint on ceiling and soffits. I have until next weekend to figure this out.

Last, we have my first effort. I mixed a concoction of three parts glaze, one part water, and one part paint in each color. I brushed on long, diagonal strips of each, then worked the colors together with a plain solution of just the glaze. Color, yes, close to what I'm looking for. Technique, sadly wanting. Lots of brush strokes and unevenness in the flow of the colors. My neighbor asked if I was going to paint a green vine on it, and I thought, no Olive Garden in my kitchen.

Tomorrow, my plan is to prime and then do a base coat of the Sweet Butter or Yellow Lotus (Ben.Moore's dead ringer for my favorite yellow, Ralph Lauren Homestead Yellow), then use cheesecloth to work with the colors to try to get more of an effect of softly-edged, subtle shifts in tone.