Three Days That Felt Like a Week

Welcome to the 704th Metamorphosis Monday!

Choosing paint, at least for me, is one of the most stressful tasks ever! I hate it, I really, really hate it. Here was my thinking for the garage: I wanted a neutral color for the walls, definitely no red, blue, green, yellow, purple, etc… just something neutral and light, but dark enough that it would contrast with the white cabinets here in the garage. I was also hoping to avoid the ubiquitous gray that is the latest trend in all things walls, cabinetry, and trim. I’m just not into the color gray for my home–no offense if it’s your fave color. We all like different things, right?

I was also trying to avoid choosing a color that was almost the same color as the cabinets–but not quite. Put two whites together and most likely one of them (cabinets or walls) is going to look dirty or dingy. There needed to be enough contrast between the cabinets and the wall so the cabinets stayed looking nice and white.

Cabinets for Storage, Garage, Basement, Laundry Room, Home

 

I looked at a lot of neutral colors and at one point settled on a Benjamin Moore color called Edgecomb Gray that’s sort of a greige color. It’s a popular color that I’ve seen used throughout Blogland. Ultimately, I decided it would be too dark for the garage which doesn’t get a lot of natural light due to a huge magnolia growing right in front of both garage windows.

Solar Lights for Paths and Walkways

 

I decided to go with Sail Cloth. It looked nice and neutral and paired well with the flooring I had chosen for the garage. I should have purchased a sample to try but things were so hectic by the time I picked that color, I never got a chance to do that. The last few days prior to the first day or painting were spent moving things out of the garage and scrubbing down molding to get it as clean as possible before the painting began. After the first day of painting, I found out the paint company I had chosen could also paint the plantation shutters in the garage. The shutters had aged a bit over the years and though they cleaned up nicely, I knew they weren’t going to match the window trim paint once it was freshly painted again. So that meant another day/night scrubbing down shutters.

Sherwin Williams Sail Cloth with Farmhouse Gray Epoxy Flooring

 

With all that was going on with the painters here and the last-minute changes, I decided to trust the photos I was seeing online that showed how this color looked in rooms. I found 4-5 photos online of rooms painted in Sail Cloth and they all looked like a nice neutral except for one that looked surprisingly yellow. Since all the other photos looked fine, I decided to ignore that one yellow-looking photo, thinking it was the lighting in the room.

Sail Cloth Paint, Farmhouse Gray Epoxy Flooring

 

I popped into the garage mid-day while the painters were cutting in/painting. They had stopped for lunch and this is what I saw. Gasp! One of the painters sitting nearby said, “It looks yellow!” Arghhh!

Sherwin Williams Sail Cloth looking very yellow

 

How did this Sail Cloth color…

Sherwin Williams Sail Cloth with Farmhouse Gray Epoxy Flooring

 

…turn into this?!

Sherwin Williams Sail Cloth looking very yellow

 

As it dried, it did get better…not assss yellow.

 

This was definitely looking better but after the shock of seeing it when it was initially applied, I could never get that image out of my head. It’s not a bad color but it was definitely darker and more beige than I had expected.

Sherwin Williams Sail Cloth

 

I was also concerned that it was going to darken the garage too much once all the walls were painted.

 

Another painter who works for the company I was using had just painted a garage in Sherwin Williams Eider White and said it looked great. I purchased a sample that day and decided to go with it even though it definitely appeared to lean more toward gray than I wanted. Here’s how it looked once the garage was painted. Eider White actually looks closer to how I had expected Sail Cloth to look!

 

There’s enough contrast that the trim still looks nice and white.

 

Of course, it looks a bit darker in the shadows, but still neutral. You wouldn’t think painting a garage would be that disruptive to everyday life, but it is. You can’t park in the garage, you have to enter your home through another door and there are frequent interruptions throughout the day when issues pop up. It’s a relief to have this much of the garage renovation done and to finally be able to park in the garage and enter the house once again via the garage.

 

Amazing how paint changes depending on the lighting. Though the painting only took 3 days, I swear it felt like at least a week! I think it’s because there were so many changes made during those three days regarding the paint color, adding in the shutters, and dealing with ceiling primer that wasn’t actually covering as it should. One of the biggest issues in this paint job was the ceiling. The initial primer chosen for the ceiling (by the estimator, not by me) didn’t cover as it should. To his credit, the painter pointed this issue out and didn’t just ignore it. A better quality primer had to be chosen and the ceiling had to get primed all over again.

 

In many ways, I think garages are way more complicated than rooms. You are dealing with so many variables: interior doors, exterior doors, exterior paint on garage doors, interior paint on garage walls, grime/grunge on ceilings from 40 years of cars being cranked up, shutters/window treatments that have aged and changed color–something that doesn’t happen inside like it does in a garage, dents and gouges in the walls from lawn mowers, bikes, etc,  wiring from garage door openers and sprinkler systems, lighting…I could go on and on. I think having an interior room painted is easier after this experience!

 

The flooring is next–scheduled for the first week of August, then we’ll be done! I’m looking forward to sharing the final look with you in a couple of weeks! I hope following my experience proves helpful if you take on a garage project in your home in the future.

Epoxy Flooring for Garages

 

Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday!

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Comments

  1. Any home remodeling/painting project can be stressful! I’m sure once it’s all finished it will look perfect and you will be happy~ Thanks Susan

    • I know you’re right, Jenna! Who would think a garage could be so stressful!

    • Hi Susan, Things are really coming along, can’t wait to see it competed and put back together. Can you share what paint sheen you used for the garage? Thanks!!

      • Thanks, Debora! Sure, on the walls it’s a Sherwin Williams Regal satin and on the trim they used Sherwin William Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel, I think. I was told that if I went with Benjamin Moore, to go with their Eggshell for the walls because their satin is supposed to be a bit too shiny for walls. That’s just what I was told, so if you use BM, double-check that. My painter said SW satin would be great for the walls since it’s a garage and more subject to humidity.

  2. Tina W Reynolds says

    I painted 8 different samples onto my living room ceiling so I could view them in every light. I painted 3 samples above the chair rail and three more below the chair rail and took 6 long months to choose my dining room colors! Wow, what a relief to finally choose! But, my grandson, who has a great eye, chose the dining room ceiling very casually and we love it! He just looked at the fandeck and said, “I think this one will be better, and have more color to it!” Ahh, the stresses of painting. Still, it beats finding out that the wallpaper pattern is more involved than the swatches revealed! Thanks for sharing this post. This type of thing sure has happened to me. I love yellow, and once upon a time, painted my entry a bright yellow. Next morning ( a very SUNNY morning) everyone came downstairs and said, “wow, mom. Just wow!” As in, ” Oh-no. Wow.” We spent the week-end repainting that entry.

    • Wow, I probably would have lost my mind during those 6 months. lol
      That’s true about the wallpaper! Also about fabric. I was shopping in a furniture store once and another customer struck up a conversation with me. I don’t remember now if I had a fabric swatch with me or how the conversation started, but she mentioned that once she had chosen fabric and ordered a sofa to be covered in the fabric she chose. When the sofa arrived, she told the delivery guys that they were delivering the wrong sofa. They insisted it was correct and when she compared the fabric, she was horrified to see they were right! After hearing that story, I decided I would never order a sofa to be covered in a fabric unless I could at least see that fabric already on a chair or another sofa.

  3. I feel your pain! We were trying to pick a color for our family room addition & I had all those paper samples taped to the wall & then I got actual paint samples painted all over the place! We finally found a great color. Worse than that was when we had to paint the exterior of our house! That was something that EVERYONE would see!!! Plus, at some point, the house would be in the light & in the dark! Like you said, the colors look different in both! We finally found a color that looked good at all times of the day! I’m pickier than my husband so there was that too! :0)

    • I am really picky about color, too. That’s so true about exterior paint…everyone sees it! I think if you can find a color you like, it’s best to stick with it forever. lol

  4. franki parde says

    And, here to think…I thought “oak logs” were difficult…franki

  5. Beth from Iowa says

    Your garage is going to be beautiful! I don’t think I could bear to park in it! Do you have a drain in the floor out there? I would have to mop the floor up every once and awhile!!!

    • Thanks, Beth! No, no drain but I found out the company that’s installing the floor will come back and clean it every year for around $200. It may be worth it to get that done, although I’m hoping it will be a lot easier to blow out and keep clean once it’s not concrete and since I’ve moved so much “stuff” I was storing in there to the basement.

  6. The final color is nice, it will all be gorgeous when finished. One question…in the second from last photo with the shutter…is this the final coat? There are brush marks near the top which should not be there. Look carefully over it all as they can come back for touch ups. Put masking tape where needed. I know this sounds picky, but since we own a high end company I know how it should end up. After all, you are paying for a good job.

    • Thanks, Jillian…I will check that out. I’ve done the “masking tape” thing once already but I will definitely take a look again.

  7. Looks terrific! Congratulations on making it this far. Your garage is going to be fabulous! We need to do our garage too so I’m very appreciative of all of your hard work and stress! Thank you for sharing.

  8. P.S. It is the third from last photo, first photo with shutters.

  9. Jane Moore says

    When you get your garage floor done where exactly will the coating stop? Do you have a seam directly under the garage door or is the seam outside a little ways? If coating to the seam will some show when the door is shut or if stopping directly under door will painter just draw a line there?

    • It will end outside a little ways and they said that they will carry it all the way out to that seam that’s a few inches outside the door. So a small amount will be visible outside which will be fine with me.

  10. SharonFromMichigan says

    I have to admit looking at the pics at the beginning of your post I was kind of holding my breath to see how it turned out. I think the color you chose looks beautiful and your painters did an excellent job! I can’t wait to see the floor when it’s complete 🙂

  11. I really feel your pain. And I agree about how disruptive this all is (let’s not forget about all that storage that moved and basically went nowhere!). Glad you found a color that satisfied you. I like it much better than the sail cloth. Sounds like you’ve got good painters. Glad they didn’t have to reschedule you and could take the time needed to get it right.

    • So true! It will be so good to get everything back out and in its place once it’s all done. There’s still some touch-up to be done…mostly the ceiling.

  12. Hi Susan – I’ve been following your painting posts and am wondering what happened to Sherwin Williams “Neutral Ground”?? Maybe I missed a post!?
    Your garage looks so nice now and I wanted to ask if it is being painted with flat or glossy or eggshell, etc. finishes?
    Also, like so many others I’ve had the perfect shade, only to find it looked different on the wall. In my case, it turned out that the base color of the paint company was not totally white and had a bit of yellow in it. So every blue I tried looked greenish! A different brand of paint with a pure white base color solved that problem!!

    • I forgot to mention it in the post. I was going to use it after I decided against Edgecomb Gray, but again, was afraid it would be too dark. All the colors seem to be much darker once they are on the wall…so I think it’s better to go lighter than you think you want to get the color you do want.
      That is sooo interesting that the base of the paint can cause that! I never though about the base color being such a big factor.
      I prefer to use Benjamin Moore paint, but the company I went with mostly uses/buys from Sherwin Williams, so that’s how I ended up going with this color. I wish there was a website out there that listed great colors for garages that are light but not white. I really couldn’t find anything geared toward garages other than one article that said gray, white or beige works best for garages.

  13. Oh, I feel your pain choosing color. I once chose what I thought was a soft pink for my bedroom…..only to walk past it after it was all done and realize it was bubblegum pink and I knew I couldn’t live with it. With tail between my legs, I told my husband I had chosen a wrong color and though it would be a spendy mistake, we simply HAD to have it repainted. He agreed without making me feel bad and we had it repainted in a blush of pink which I dearly love even many years later. So glad you listened to your gut and didn’t just settle for a color you weren’t happy with. I think what you ended up with will look great with the floor and cabinets and shutters, not looking real gray at all! (I’m in your camp when it comes to grays.) Hang in there….there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel!

    • Thanks, Toni! Glad it’s not coming across as real gray. Yes! I think the flooring will be more drama free. Ha!

    • Oh, and I’m so glad you didn’t settle on the brighter pink. Color is so hard to choose, you really don’t know until you get a good chunk of it on the wall.

  14. Snowflake281 says

    I know exactly what you mean about choosing paint colors by emphasizing that you “really hate it”! A few years ago my husband & I had to choose 1 color for the entire interior of a home being newly built. We looked at the 8 or 10 choices given to us by the building company’s designer & I remember saying to her “are all these colors different”? Honestly, only 1 of them looked different! Haaaate it! Your color looks great.

    • Wow, that would be some intense pressure, having to choose one color for every room. I know—definitely stressful!

      • That’s why I’m trying to find two colors now instead of when I need them. They won’t break ground on ours for another couple of weeks! lol But I know how long it takes me to decide on paint colors so I’m not taking any chances. It will be the same for the garage (old house) when they have to repaint it. I like the color you chose and I’d love for you to comment later after all is said and done to see if you’re happy with that shade. I’m not a gray fan either.

        • That’s so smart, Nita! It’s not fun to be under the gun and having to find another color immediately. Better to find them early on and test them to make sure.

        • Oh, and I will def let you know how I like the color once the flooring is in and things are put back out into the garage.

  15. Looking good! It’s going to be beautiful!!
    I sympathize with the stress of choosing paint colors. Years ago I wanted my sunroom painted red. I have 9 windows (3 palladium) so it’s not like we’re talking 4 full walls of red. Picked out a beautiful color. It was right before Christmas, too, so the decorating in there looked marvelous. Fast forward not even two months after the holidays and I began to realize we were all on edge. All the time! For a sunroom to relax in, trust me, red was a big mistake.
    This time I let an interior designer help with the color choice as I was changing all the furniture, etc. anyway and she did a gorgeous job. Never looked back and have loved the soft creamy/yellow of the walls ever since.
    Yes, there should be a doctor on call in the paint stores to prescribe anti- anxiety meds while choosing paint!

    • Amazing that a color can do that! That’s a great tip to know, Anne. I love a soft, creamy yellow–that’s a bit like the Sugar Cookie color I have in my office and several other rooms. I do find it really soothing.

  16. Susan, paint is hard. And I think I must have some weird paint phobia gene in me. I initially dislike (hate) every paint choice I come up with. Upon seeing it I can breakout into a sweat and always have the immediate urge to say, “WHOA, no way…that’s gotta be redone with another color!” Ha!

    • It is! I may have that same gene! lol I really prefer to see a color in person somewhere before going with it. That’s how I found the Sugar Cookie color I have in my office, entry and kitchen…and the Raspberry Truffle I have in my dining room. Really helps if you can see it in a home before using it.

  17. Love the paint color, Susan. It’s the perfect hue with white trim. Can’t wait to see your floor install. It’s going to be gorgeous!

    • Thanks, Debra! I’m worried the floor may feel a bit too light in color but after looking at all the colors again, it was my favorite of the choices. Hopefully, it will look great once it’s in.

  18. That color looks nice, I agree with you gray is really overdone now. Can’t wait to see the finally results.

    • It has def been popular for many years now…just wouldn’t fit in my home. Thanks, Beth! Looking forward to sharing it when it’s all done.
      XXX

  19. SW Eider White looks great in your space.

    BM does have a great range of colors and quality products, but I actually prefer the way SW brushes on (as a long-time homeowner who *sometimes* paints her own walls).

    I switched to BM some time ago as I have a True Value hardware store 3 miles away and they carry it. Choosing paint color is something I love to do!

    • Thanks, Jen! I think if I had more time to play with it, it would be more fun. Will keep that in mind in the future…no fun choosing it in a rush, that’s for sure.

  20. Kathleen says

    Oh, Susan, I felt so bad for your frustration. I totally get it with the gray tones that have been popular for about a decade. They’re not for me either. Due to earthquake damage in Oklahoma! We had to repaint our inside. All rooms! I found the perfect totally neutral light beige color that I can lighten even more or darken a bit. So happy with the results. I’m following your garage project closely. Our 3 car is a mess. Needs repainting and the floor has multiple open cracks from those fracking earthquakes. We’ve put it off but have seen a friend use a composite similar to yours. When your installer comes, would you please ask if this product is appropriate for a situation like mine? I’m wondering if there is any flex to the product. I love life be the pattern you chose for your floor and I believe you’re going to be very happy Ethel walls. Taking everything out of our garage would be a bigger project than yours, if you can believe that! But we must do something about that broken concrete floor and if we’re going to empty the garage we should paint, too. You’ve done an excellent job of making decisions on the fly and it’s going to be a showplace garage!!

    • Kathleen, I love the idea of the light beige being lightened or darkened. I have Creamy Beige painted on my breakfast and kitchen and love it now but when I move to my new house I’d love to go lighter. I’ll get them to lighten it and check it our since I have plenty of time to choose.

    • Sure, I will ask them. Kathleen, the company I’m using is Granite Garage and I think they are in quite a few states now. You may want to call them and see what they recommend. Hopefully, the epoxy would work for your situation. I’ll try to remember to ask though…and will let you know what they say.

      • Thanks so much, Susan. Sorry for the typos in my post. I was hurrying to finish because hubby was ready to go and didn’t proof. Embarrassed! And Nita, your lightening of the color you like will work fine. Glad I could help from my experience. I don’t want to ever lose the formula for my perfectly neutral beige. I didn’t know that beige could have a green, blue or pink base causing the paint to be wrong. A very patient painter helped me. That’s how I ended up with my perfect blend.

      • Thanks so much for checking, Susan. Sorry for the typos in my post. I was hurrying to finish because hubby was ready to go and didn’t proof. Embarrassed! And Nita, your lightening of the color you like will work fine. Glad I could help from my experience. I don’t want to ever lose the formula for my perfectly neutral beige. I didn’t know that beige could have a green, blue or pink base causing the paint to be wrong. A very patient painter helped me. That’s how I ended up with my perfect blend.

  21. Mary Anne says

    That Eider White is a total winner! I’ll have to remember that one. Really nice.

  22. I may have missed this in a previous post, but is the paint you are using for the floor a textured, rough finish? If not, a word of caution. I had my garage floor in my previous house painted with a similar finish and it was not textured. First time I came home and it was raining, there was water on the floor from my dripping car and my feet went right out from under me! It was like glass. Highly recommend adding the texturizer to the paint (I had it added after that). I love the color you have chosen. It’s going to be beautiful.

    • Yes, the company I’m using uses a process that gives it some texture. They said that it won’t be slippery, I guess no more than the concrete was. I remember many years ago, a friend gave me some L.L. Bean slippers that were the type that had leather on the bottom. One day went out into my garage and I guess the bottoms were slightly damp or maybe the garage floor was wet. Anyway, my feet flew out from under me. It happened so fast, like I’d stepped on grease…it was so fast. So even concrete can be super slippery at times, depending on the shoes you’re wearing. I got rid of those slippers, never trusted them after that. Supposedly the surface isn’t that slippery–I’ll def let you know in a follow-up post how it is when I walk on it. I may even do a little test with some water to see how it feels.

  23. Hi, Susan,
    I’m curious, do you have to pay more when you make changes? And when the painters return in a year or two, is that extra on your contract? My painter is my husband and he just paints what looks good to him. Sometimes I get consulted beforehand.

    • Yup, had to pay for more paint and an additional cost for the painters to cut back in again with the new paint. It had to be done though since I didn’t want to be left with a color I didn’t I would like.

  24. Oh Susan, does anything ever just go smoothly? Oh well, it was a pain, but it looks great. And how weird. I agree, that color looks more like the Sail Cloth than the Sail Cloth! Glad that hurdle is over. Can’t wait to see the floor!

  25. Paint is so tricky. What it looks like in the store or in other people’s home is not what it looks like in our own home, etc. And round it round it goes. The Sail Cloth color did settle so I am glad for that for you. It will all look gorgeous in the end. XO- MaryJo

    • That’s true! Sail Cloth looked better once dry, but I do like the Eider White best, I think. Looking forward to sharing it with the floor installed. Thanks, MaryJo!

  26. Do you have a doorbell on the door leading from the garage to the house?
    This is a huge and stressful project but you will be so glad when it is over.

    • For sure! I do. I was just thinking how ugly it looks and I should probably replace it.

      • Why do you need a doorbell there? Do you leave your garage door up and people come in that way?

        • The doorbell was already there when I moved in. I always put my garage door down whenever I come home, although lately, I’ve left it up a couple of times because the engine of my SUV generates soooo much heat in the garage when I first arrive home…and I’ve been working out there a lot moving stuff out, etc…. But normally I put the garage door down before going into the house and it’s very rarely left up. When I first moved in 32 years ago, the door to the garage had glass panes in the top half…kind of a half French door. I had it replaced with a sold door because I didn’t like seeing out into the garage. I had a peephole added though so just in case I forgot and left the garage door up, I could see out before opening it. The painters did use the doorbell when they needed me or had a question, but since I normally close the garage door when I come home, it’s virtually never used/needed.

  27. Thanks so much for hosting this wonderful party each and every week!! Thank You!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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