Come Along With Chong: Upstairs Hallway Painted

Hallway painted in Pittsburgh Paints' Aqua Bay

It's been a long time since we did any house projects. We have been busy buying things to decorate the finished rooms and have neglected bigger renovations such as the kitchen. However, a couple weeks ago, we painted the staircase and upstairs hallway. As always, we ran into some issues which have hindered us from finishing the job.

When we first decided to paint the hallway, we couldn't agree on a color. M wanted something light while I wanted a darker tone since I was sick of staring at white walls. After many squabbles, we settled on Pittsburgh Paints Swan Lake color. Once home, we dabbed some on the walls and to our horror, the color didn't match the light airy blue that was on the paint card but was more like a bright powder blue in a 50's diner. When we first bought the house, we promised that we would go with whatever color paint we got and see it as a challenge. This Swan Lake color was beyond what we could work with so we went back to Menards and were thankful to learn that they do free retinting. On top of that, if we weren't happy and didn't want to retint, we could pick out a new gallon and color for free. Deciding to not waste our gallon, we retinted it in a new shade: Aqua Bay.

When we dabbed the Aqua Bay onto the walls, we were very pleased with our choice. The paint, in different lights, would go from green to blue, making the stairs and hallway seem like they were two different colors. This shade complemented our other rooms, being a mix of the turquoise and blue in the master and office. We were able to achieve a soothing, relaxing color scheme for the upstairs.

Though we have the hallway painted, we only painted part of the staircase. Having no ladder at the time, we weren't able to reach the tall ceiling. From the lowest step up to the ceiling, we were staring at a 17 ft difference. We recently bought a Werner Multi-position Ladder but have yet to find the courage and time to traverse the 17 ft gap in order to finish the job. For now, we have a partially painted staircase to tackle.