The Perfect Teal Paint Color for My Den (Parts 1 & 2)

Hi Everyone,

This post contains parts 1 and 2 about my quest for the perfect teal paint color for my newly refurbished den/second bedroom off the living room. If you’ve already read part 1, please click the link below to skip to part 2.

If you’re here for the first time or wish to review, please begin from the top of the post.

 

Part 2 Begins Here

 

Hi Everyone,

I realize the post is quite late, however, I am trying to loosen up. After all, I’ve been writing this blog without fail a minimum of twice a week for nearly 11 years.

Besides, my darling son, Cale, came for a visit. So, we had a couple of dinners out and went to a movie in Brookline last night. Tonight, he has a wedding gig. (If you don’t already know, he plays the trombone.) I’m meeting him in JP (Jamaica Plain for most of you) tomorrow. And then, he’s coming back in two more weeks for another wedding gig!

Now that I have a working toilet downstairs and am back in my bedroom, Cale is once again sleeping in the den/second bedroom, only there’s no furniture. So, I got him a tatami mat and a futon. He said it’s terrific—very comfy!

 

Okay, back to the paint colors!

 

Today, we will focus on the den, but before we do, I will quickly go over what has been done and what we’re doing with the rest of the walls and ceiling throughout my duplex.

The primary bath is done and is lovely painted Benjamin Moore Cloud White oc-130. I’ll show you a new photo very soon.

The same color continues in the embrasure hall and then in the primary bedroom, which looks okay at night but lavender in the daytime, particularly the crown moulding.

 

It looks purple because of the reflection from the ubiquitous red brick outside my windows.

 

See what I mean?

The lower or garden-level entry and stairwell will be Knoxville Gray hc-160. Everyone who walks by remarks on the large strip of hc-160 and says the same thing.

 

“Oh, I love this color!”

 

Cale never comments about colors, but he adored this one.

 

The lights bring out the green undertone. But one of the things I love about this color is that it’s difficult to pinpoint what it is. It usually reads as an exceedingly muted yet saturated pine green, and it’s neither too dark nor too light.

 

The ceiling will be painted a new color for me.

 

Benjamin Moore Newt Green 2149-10

 

I also got a sample of Timson Green, another Laurel Home paint color. However, Newt, with its distinct brown undertone, got the gig.

It’s a lovely color, but Newt looks better with Knoxville Gray.

I got Samplize samples this time, and one of the painters stuck it to the ceiling for me. Of course, I forgot to take a photo. However, we both concurred that it looked terrific with the Knoxville Gray.

 

And, that, my dears, is the lower-level paint.

 

Upstairs, beginning with the entry, I plan to do the wallpaper I’ve been featuring for the last three months or so. I will put it in framed panels (one for each wall) because it doesn’t make sense to do it any other way.

 

We will continue the Knoxville Gray for the wainscoting and front door wall because the door is off-center, and anything else will look silly. However, I want a piece of the wallpaper in the over-door area.

 

This image better shows the overdoor. However, the jib doors look a lot better in the photo below.

 

Then, will continue the Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa in the kitchen. It’s already on the beautiful Crown Point cabinets. I want to repeat the Italian Ice Green 2035-70 on the ceiling, which will also be in the entry.

 

The living room trim (satin finish) and ceiling (matte) will be Benjamin Moore Cloud White oc-130.

Then, I would like to do the walls in Benjamin Moore Moonlight White oc-125 for a bit of contrast.

 

And now, for the den.

 

The quest for the perfect teal paint color that’s not too bright, gray, light, or dark.

What’s funny about my upstairs is that because there are no real hallways, it acts like an open-concept floor plan in that everything is visible to everything else.

Plus, we still have the pink issue. It’s not as big an issue in the living room, but it is for the den. Part of that is because of the current pinky-barf-beige paint color.

 

The other day, I picked up some new paint samples. However, the Beau Green was off-color.

 

The background is the paint color. It is not my paint chips that are off-color. The other colors matched quite well. This time I got samples in Aura and matte. I don’t recommend getting eggshell for samples, especially for dark colors because of the reflection when viewing from some angles.

I also got Venezuelan Sea, North Sea Green, and Dark Teal.

 

They are all gorgeous, but for my room, my favorite teal paint color was  Benjamin Moore North Sea Green.

 

Last Friday, I had one of the painters paint NS Green and Galapagos Turquoise on the wall. After all, Galapagos is one of the Laurel Home paint colors. That doesn’t mean it’s a better color than the others around it. However, it is a lovely deep teal paint color that won’t knock your eyeballs out. I very much like it, however, for my den, I think I prefer a color just a touch lighter.

Still… I pondered…

 

I mean, if no one is holding a gun to my head, I’m going to ruminate and ponder on which color to use.

 

Thankfully, Chris came by, and by the time he left, I felt much better, as talking it through really helped.

We’re planning on doing a “color drench.” That’s a newish term for the on-trend look of drenching the entire room in one color—or at least colors that are very close to each other.

However, painting everything one color is nothing new. Interior designers have been doing this for decades. Social media is what makes these classics “trendy.”

I still think I’d like the ceiling, coving and frieze to be a shade lighter than the walls.

 

Chris recommended that I do one of my renderings.

 

So, while Cale was at Aikido yesterday, that’s what I did.

Here’s how I did it.

 

I took a photo and made it as straight as I could. Then, I manipulated the color, making it bluer and greener with my photo editor.

Then, I put the image in Picmonkey, where I have all sorts of tools to make the walls any color I like and cover up the things I don’t want to see.

I duplicated the image and reversed it for the third wall on the right. This is North Sea Green.

Then, I got to work furnishing the room.

Okay, please stay tuned to see the results tomorrow for the perfect teal paint color for my den! I think it’ll be tomorrow, but it might be Tuesday.

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the outrageously terrific sales this holiday weekend. Please check out the newly updated HOT SALES pages for a preview of some of my favorite sales and items.

 

xo,

 

*********************************************************

Part 2 Begins Here

 Tuesday September 3, 2024

 

Hi Everyone,

I hope you had a terrific long weekend and aren’t too messed up about what day it is!

Luckily, I had an extra day to ponder the teal paint color in the den.

Per Chris’ recommendation, I did a rendering of the den. Well, actually, a few renderings because, as I’m always harping saying, we need to have a cohesive plan before selecting paint colors.

 

Well, let’s say we need a solid direction– a foundation for our space.

 

That doesn’t mean everything is rigidly set. No, not at all! In fact, the idea is to give yourself enough leeway to make changes along the way, if necessary.

So, let’s look at rendering #1 with walls in Benjamin Moore

 

 

Laurel, an orange drapery?

 

Yes, I quite like it with this saturated teal.

For those who want to see COLOR, this should make you quite happy. That is unless you don’t like these colors. I’m fine if you don’t.

 

But, here’s the important thing.

 

Nothing is done in isolation, especially in my space, where all the little rooms open onto the main living area.

 

 

 

Sometimes, North Sea Green looks like this. But most of the time, it looks far more saturated.

Like this, above. Oh, this is so English!

So, I returned to the lightest shade we tested, Fair Isle Blue csp-715.

This is one of the beautiful paint colors from the Color Stories Collection.

The thing is, it’s not that much lighter. However, it is less saturated.

That’s much better. So, let’s look at the rendering with Benjamin Moore Fair Isle Blue. Perhaps this will be the perfect teal paint color for my room.

Muuuuuuuuch better!

However, I have another problem.

It’s the coffee table I searched for for two years before finding one.

Yeah, this coffee table.

I can’t paint it black. I mean, I could, but I don’t think it’ll look right. I’ve always wanted to paint it white ala William McLure’s old coffee table.

However, I won’t do the faux finish on the top.

Below is the vintage sofa I’m getting in a few weeks.

They don’t make them like this anymore. The back is only 31″ high. This is the type of sofa Albert Hadley might very well have made 60 years ago.

Okay, this is going in my den. That is where my TV is and where I almost always used to work, so there’s no way I will have a white sofa.

 

Besides, I can’t have a white sofa AND a white coffee table.

 

To complicate matters, I found the perfect black coffee table, but I have nowhere to put the table I waited so long for. (Please see above)

And no, I can’t use either one in the living room. There is only room for a coffee table that is 18″ deep—max. My current one is 38″, and the black table I found is 30″. It’s a bit frustrating because 30″ deep would also be better in my den.

However, the new sofa is a scant three feet deep, so with the vintage Century table, there will be about a 40″ path in front of the coffee table. That’s plenty of space.

 

So, let’s assume I’m keeping my coffee table and that I’ll have Chris help me spray paint it shiny white.

 

Below are two iterations with a white coffee table similar to mine and the walls painted Fair Isle Blue.

 

I love the gold drape but am unsure about the teal sofa. I long to see that color broken up some more. Besides, the plan is to have a teal sofa in the living room.

Below is the second Fair Isle Blue rendering with a chartreuse sofa.

 

By the way, those are most likely not chairs I’m doing, and the rug exists, but I manipulated the colors.

 

Laurel, where did you get the fabulous art?

 

Ahhh… thank you. The image in the middle is from Ananbo, and the one on the right is from Benjamin Moore.

 

The rest I “borrowed” from the Harrison Gray Otis House on Cambridge Street. (The photos were taken in the fall of 2021.) On the left is a portrait of Mr. Otis. Surprisingly, the colors in this room are 100% in keeping with those used in the late 18th century.

Mrs. Otis’ (Sally) bedroom.

One last thing. I’d like to paint the ceiling and crown a slightly lighter shade of teal, and the best I could find is the one above Fair Isle Blue. That is Tropical Oasis csp-710

Paint colors tend to go darker as they go up the wall. Plus, I think they look terrific together.

 

Before I go, look what I woke up to this morning!

 

 

Yes, my ceiling is the color of pond scum, and I LOVE it!

It all began nearly 30 years ago with this image of Barbara Barry’s living room.

 

 

We’ll look at all of the colors together on Thursday, and I hope to have some new surprises for you, as well.

xo,

 

***Please check out the recently updated HOT SALES!

There is now an Amazon link on my home page and below. Thank you for the suggestion!

Please note that I have decided not to create a membership site. However, this website is very expensive to run. To provide this content, I rely on you, the kind readers of my blog, to use my affiliate links whenever possible for items you need and want. There is no extra charge to you. The vendor you’re purchasing from pays me a small commission.

To facilitate this, some readers have asked me to put

A link to Amazon.com is on my home page.

Please click the link before items go into your shopping cart. Some people save their purchases in their “save for later folder.” Then, if you remember, please come back and click my Amazon link, and then you’re free to place your orders. While most vendor links have a cookie that lasts a while, Amazon’s cookies only last up to 24 hours.

Thank you so much!

I very much appreciate your help and support!