With the primary goal to perk up the dirty lavender grey walls in the living and dining rooms of our new house, I analyzed lots of paint chips.
Choosing tea green paint color
Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with the color tea green for my dining room.
Then I developed a lovely collection of tea pots, tea cups, and accessories that I displayed in my dining room.
In our Texas house I initially painted the dining room green, which evoked tummy aches, so I played it safe by repainting with creamy yellow paint.
Meanwhile I analyzed the greens I liked most, collecting color samples to remind me for that day I’d try again.
Chintz tea sets destined for living and dining room
Moving into this new house, the extra space of a formal living room left us befuddled for practicality.
Preferring to have that extra space in a larger family room for everyone to gather and relax Texas style, I decided to think more Virginian.
The formal living space quickly became the left over room.
While mapping out where I wanted all the furniture to go before the movers arrived, the place that made the most sense for the piano was into the spare living room.
The dining room barely allowed room for the hutch and dining table, much less the tea cart, but we were used to that.
However, there was plenty of room in the living room for the tea cart to join the piano!
With the living room set across the entry way from the dining room, we dubbed it the music room.
Since my chintz and tea sets would be displayed in the living and dining room, I decided to paint them both tea green.
Considered the new neutral, green makes a great back drop of art allowing it to shine.
Settling on a subdued tea green paint chip, I anticipated the color imbuing serenity while evoking the flower gardens under the windows.
Renovations and crazy life so far
Since we’ve had an aggressively tight schedule since moving in, these rooms were a bit further down the list:
- March 2 – we moved from Texas to Virginia
- March 26 – we finally nailed the contract for this house
- April 27 – we secured the keys to the new house
- April 28 thru May 2 – we unpacked the new house
- May 3 thru 7 – I painted walls in the cave-like basement
- May 5 – day trip to Colonial Williamsburg: historic chocolate and the Civil War
- May 8 thru 9 – I painted the walls of my son’s cave-like room
- May 10 – we rejuvenated in the lovely spring gardens of Mount Vernon
- May 11 thru 13 – I painted my daughter’s dreary room
- May 14 thru 15 – I painted the bloody powder room
- somewhere in all that we shopped for new furniture that all arrived by the 15th
- May 15 thru 16 we attended our first Drummer’s Call in Colonial Williamsburg
- May 20 – my kids were invited by new friends to wear their 18th century costumes to celebrate Dolly Madison’s birthday at Montpelier, where they played in the gardens
Since our only possible stage for our upcoming Civil War Becoming History presentation was the unpainted main floor, we postponed the next paint project.
On May 30 we finally wore our costumes set against the dreary walls, which we explained was due to the war.
Painting the living room tea green
Once done with that huge homeschool project, painting commenced, albeit with another day trip to enjoy lovely spring gardens and programs at Colonial Williamsburg on June 3!
Apart from the sight seeing, the main reprieve from all the projects were the peonies springing into bloom and the bluebirds nesting nearby, colorful beauties not seen in San Antonio.
As we painted the serene shade of green onto the boring walls of the living room, I noticed our lovely views of rolling hills and the gardens of our yard and our neighbors, including the ha-ha wall across the street were enhanced.
Moving our furniture into place, we measured the remaining space for furniture shopping options for comfortable seating in our new music room.
After placing my tea accessories, and a Paula Vaughan cross stitch of flowers on top of a grand piano awaiting to be hung on the wall…the space looked classically elegant.
That’s a great effect for the first room seen when entering the front door.
I’m also shopping for great fabric for window treatments to tie everything together.
Painting the dining room tea green
Then we moved across the entryway to the tiny feeling dining room, which really needs to breathe a huge sigh to grow and allow standard dining room furniture to comfortably fit.
Then we shoved all the dining room furniture into the living room, to have clear space to efficiently paint three defined walls of the dining room.
Not seen in this picture is part of a fourth wall, which is the stairwell. Stay tuned for that!
As we transformed the lavender grey to tea green, the natural surroundings and gardens outdoors again entered the space, with a seamless flow.
After pushing the dining room furniture back into place, and adding all the floral chintz plates and flowers, the room came to life!
Future upgrades will include a new chandelier and window treatments.
Enjoying these transformed spaces immensely, I find myself with my laptop in the living room.
Impressionist surprise from sunlight dappled tea green
Interestingly I’ve noticed that as the sun rises to the east, which faces the opposite side of the house, the room begins to brighten in subtle effect, which continues through the day as the sun rises above the house.
But when the sun sets on the front side of the house, entering the living room, I experienced a mood shift as I watched the dining room mellow. (see header photo)
Who knew tea green would transform these spaces into impressionistic art?
