Perhaps i could do that!

Today is yet another grey day — the sun hasn’t come out all week in coastal New Jersey! — but my gut is that , of my most recent finalists, that Lookout Point “might” just work!?! But maybe not perfect.

Painters are literally starting Monday but they will start with trim! We have all the trades lined up, with our contractor, like fireplace millwork still to do, and floors being refinished per a slightly smaller-sized new hearth, and the trades get crazy-busy in small beach towns like ours come March-April! Wish I had more time, but how long can one woman obsess!?! :-)

Here are some pics of the rest of the first floor:

Kitchen and powder room

Powder room

If after all this discussion you're still loving Lookout Point, consider having them mix it at 50% tint as suggested.

Here are the “before pics” of front living room, and as seen from adjacent kitchen/family room:

As follows, so you can see the vibe of the home which I want to keep intact, just “nicer”.

It’s a tiny room that’s all doorways, windows out onto the wraparound porches and traffic patterns everywhere!

This is the chat GPT rendering of the new design of the fireplace, but not shiplap above, and the fireplace tile surround will be glossy crackle blue (touch of aqua in it), 4x4 tile… white birch firelog gas fireplace conversion… Samsung frame TV, white marble hearth, and there will be new polished nickel sconces on the walls in other parts of the room. We are almost there!

Now!

What a fabulous powder room!

Thank you! Well, Jan, I will think about it! It is kind of hard to switch mental horses, literally 48 hours before the painters arrive, and probably I should’ve posted this invitation for feedback on pale blue colors two weeks ago (before I spent a few nights up till almost done and long days testing dozens of colors! After two prior weeks of only 7 hours day testing colors! Ha Han
So I don’t mean to sound ungrateful if I’m not 100% totally receptive of your suggestion that I completely switch my plan! But I will think about it!
I mean, when you ask someone’s opinion on Houzz, you have to be prepared for all kinds of feedback, even if it means entirely changing one’s whole design scheme around!

Til dawn I mean, ha ha! Not til “done”… but yes almost out of time is almost like done.

And yes, my Designer friends and advisors were also leaning towards the “paint everything white” concept (and add my pops of color in those few areas around the perimeter of the space that will accommodate any accessories or art ),… that “ paint everything white” aesthetic that is so popular!

My kids were saying, mom don’t do that thing where you paint everything white, I love the color in our house, keep it fun! But I can tell them that the designers all say to paint it all white and add the fun in things like vases and artwork, a throw on the swivel chair, pillows on the one bench… things on a mantle. I realize that you are strongly suggesting that I go that route!

The colored walls that you say “no to that” is the “ before” picture that I indeed was saying I wanted to calm down (and trying to change for for a very breezy, pale blue (but with a whisper of aura)…. but I see you are saying it should all be absolutely white on the walls except for artwork and accessories…

(And the two rows of 4x4 glossy waterworks pale blue/aqua tile that will go around the firebox) — I will quickly think about a quick about- face here!

It’s just a total change of mindset —-so I have about 38 hours before the painters arrive on Monday!🤣🤣🤣

^^

Yes, it is and just ONE more reason to not dilute the surprise of the paper by surrounding it with more WALL color! Let these other things ...shine

I am also taking “trace”’s advice and just ordered a 50% strength of Lookout point to try tomorrow afternoon when I get back down to the Beach House and when I think the sun is supposed to come out for the first time in a week because it has just been gray out here in New Jersey for almost 7 straight days! So I will test that

and I will consider throwing the whole “paint with color” idea out….and just going for a room that’s entirely painted white.

Ps This is family room side of the “kitchen-family room” — so now with the exception of the laundry room with the mermaid wallpaper and the aqua blue penny tile, you all have had a tour of my entire first floor lol! This front living room area that I’ve been asking about however is the first thing people see when they walk into the house and is the one area on the ground floor that has not been updated since we bought the house 24 years ago! 😍. It is our family’s happy place!

"the colored walls that you say “no to that” is the “ before” picture that I indeed was saying I wanted to calm down (and trying to change for for a very breezy, pale blue (but with a whisper of aura)…. but I see you are saying it should all be absolutely white on the walls except for artwork and accessories…"

It is your house!! : ) : )

Me?

I get a bigger entry rug, one you can hose with the blues and spa greens, Don't be afraid to walk on it and THIN enough for the door to fully open

You must do you.

Thank you, Jan!

By the way, where do you suggest to get a large entry rug that is right in the diagonal pathway in the front door to the main room we all hang out in, so Constant foot traffic, including with bare feet which I have found actually soil rugs at the beach town, even more than with shoes lol, and a dog who has rather frequent accidents,

Beautiful house. I would look at Ben Moore Navajo White or Gentle Cream, a nice creamy color would look good with the white trim and not be "all white".

I can see you had a clear blue color before and wanted a change.

Where do you get a rug like that that you don’t have to worry about walking on?

I purchased the rug you see in the picture for $99 on Amazon just to get me through the late summer and fall, knowing we were about to start a project, (and wanting to put something underneath the swivel chairs that had arrived to ground them for now).., (“as well as my $90 Amazon ottoman to just have as a placeholder through the end of the summer…!
but was trying to avoid the traffic pattern coming in the central front door across the diagonal. Also the dog makes messes!

But the last rug we had became so soiled with that traffic pattern that we had to throw it away. (And to spend something like $1500 on a rug that I know is going to get fairly destroyed within a year or two gives me pause but then wondering where to get a adorable rug that is also beautiful and soft underfoot.!)

I just Googled it and a seagrass rug is good for a beach house.

Thank you to all the kind Houzzers who have commented and helloed me process this decision! Let it be a sign to us all that summer cannot be far away, and may we all look forward to pretty light in the months ahead! After all, it is daylight savings time! And brighter summer weather cannot to far away! :-)
Some of us agonize more over paint colors than we should (me!)— And to have a safe home and family to enjoy it with, even in the midst of a “design dilemma” … it makes me thankful to have folks to bounce these ideas off with. And also so thankful for spring-time ahead!

I remember as a kid we played a game on long trips where each kid picked a color and we counted the cars going past that were the color that we picked.

Now the only way the game would work is if the kids picked black, white and gray.

We had color in our homes until the mass builders figured out that an all neutral color palette didn't offend anyone. Everyone could decorate with beige, gray or white walls and be happy.

It is great for resale.

Now this is what we are told is good taste:

I love that your children want some personality in the home where they live. They look outside and see all the wonderous colors mother nature has used to color our world and they want some of that in their interior world as well.

I wouldn't discourage you from finding a blue that works - the current blue is a bit too baby boy blue - but I would encourage you to bring in more colors in your art and decor. Bring in some warm colors, orange, red, yellow or even yellow green rather than all blue.

Think of your kids when they were little - did they want a box of neutral crayola crayons? No. Why not - because color brings us joy - it is happy.

Ok so that post made me cry! Happy tears! What a lovely story and narrative that is! And how did you know we have a yellow lab who looks just like that one picture you included?!?! :-)

Are you the Jennifer Hogan of NJ who I know?? Or another?! :-)
In any case thank you! The idea of the corals is a great one, to consider pops of. Ok enjoy your Sundays everyone and happy spring forward!

Good post on colors making people happy by Jennifer. I have to agree 100 percent

I am not from NJ, Central PA (near Hershey/Lancaster), but my niece lives in NJ and my sister is selling her home here and will be moving closer to my niece so she can help more with the grandbabies. She is in NJ today going to an open house.

Link to the lab art - https://www.wayfair.com/decor-pillows/pdp/rosecliff-heights-dog-on-chair-at-the-beach-i-dog-canvas-prints-w011406003.html?piid=1478252094%2C1478252067

Please keep us posted with some after photos. I agree about adding color and I love your bouse.

We have a mountain house, I''m not suggesting white walls like we have...just showing how much we love color. Here is a photo.

Speaking of color, I'm intrigued with Sigrids pink idea for your house...could be so amazing. Unexpected.

"Good post on colors making people happy by Jennifer. I have to agree 100 percent"

Ditto.

Count me in on the paint with color side. The very worst that will happen is you'll repaint.

I'm a bit lost by the idea that are blues only suitable for bedrooms vs blues that are suitable for a common space. I get that it has significance to you, Lisa, and you certainly should feel comfortable in your home. I'm not sure, however, that anyone else would have the same responses to the same blues. It's such a personal thing.

Thank you, to these most recent comments, also all so helpful! Yes, I will post. Hear some after photos around the end of April or early May when the tile is done and the Samsung frame TV gets hung, and the lighting is in, and everything is pretty much put back in place.! (if not by then, my husband will have my head! Ha ha ha ha) to the last friend who posted here, I don’t mean to imply that bedroom spaces are the only places for blues, I guess I’m just a little paranoid about choosing a color that just says “ bedroom!” — but I think paranoia might be part of what’s got me so hung up on everything here! Not wanting to make a mistake! And indeed, when at the paint stores, the color specialist there do seem to chime in pretty quickly about something that feels more like a bedroom blue and something that is not necessarily a bedroom blue!, And I’ve been told my colors are not necessarily a bedroom blue! Ha ha ha! Thanks folks!

Update to anyone who may still be following this! Here we are 10 days later but it feels like weeks! And I made my final decision about — dare I say it — sticking with my initial vision and desire for the color on walls (and my color in the fireplace surround tile), that being:

• the Waterworks Architectonics2 glazed crackle tile (4x4 field tile) in the Delphine (a very pale blue with drop of aqua perceptible) for immediate fireplace surround (then millwork..)
• the BM Lookout Point - a very pale blue with a drop of grey and green…
• and BM Simply White on trim, fireplace millwork, ceiling…)!
• the new marble hearth, in place of the old uneven red brick hearth, was installed on Friday, and now I await the painters!

But it isn’t painted yet!
I just really appreciate all the input and to those who advised the white walls and a white trim, with color as accents, art, upholstery etc., I almost “apologize” for my stubborn adherence to my original idea!! I am taking a risk and hoping it is good! Again realized the blessings of having a house at the shore at all, and that it’s ok to take a calculated risk… on the chance it comes out lovely!

The photo below shows the color that will be on the walls, on a board (don’t mean to imply the Lookout Point blue is going on the fireplace woodwork, it’s just propped up there, and all the woodwork will be built on the fireplace next week!). The 4x4 tile (in that tile finish shown), will essentially cover the now exposed brick of the existing fireplace.

While brick itself is of course nice, it was a bit inconsistent and rustic, and I am going for something a bit more polished and pretty for this fireplace facelift. Here is a bit of a before and after. (The red brick hearth is now gone and the inside of the fireplace was relined with a lighter buff brick)

Meanwhile, you all were so helpful as I sought input!
…To those of you who nurtured my adventure — in considering going ahead with the “color on walls” — you will have to stay tuned to see how it comes out!

Truth be told until the floors are buffed and all the furniture goes back in, prob in 2 or 3 weeks, there may not be much meaningful to show! Thx for keeping me from spinning out of control two weeks/ ten days, ago… truly so kind! ❤️

Congratulations on coming through and feeling confident in your choices. I look forward to seeing your "after" pix when you're ready to post them.

I've been following your journey and await the final photos, as well! Your kitchen and powder room are gorgeous and the fireplace transformation progress must feel so satisfying, Good luck!

(Jennifer Hogan,where did you find the vase you posted?)

Thank you!💕

May I say..........? ( apologies here )

I do not think you need that beige brick interior of fire box. Not with two other elements marble hearth AND the aqua tile.

I'd let that interior disappear, and paint it black. It isn't what you want to notice .

Oh Jan, it is already installed by hand by a mason. I didn’t really want a black interior. It would be the only black (or remotely dark) thing in the entire room — or house for that matter! Anyway, it is out in by the mason (half-brick) and the front facing edge of it will be covered with the tile. There will be a white birch firelog in there…
…what is the design issue for you with it being the buff brick inside?

It is already “put” in, not “out in”. (Wish Houzz would let us edit our typos!). Here is the photo of a friends fireplace where it was new construction and they used this basic look (in that case a liner) and I loved the lighter pallet!

Why do you prefer black paint on the chunky/uneven 110-year old brick in the interior?

Lisa, in case it helps, you can edit typos if you use the web interface; at least, you can on a computer. Possibly not worth the bother, but now you know the option exists.

Do you. It's too many materials for me, : ) If I loved the interior of a fire enough to do beige herringbone? I'd simply repeat the marble as surround, and then do the rest. No need for "tile" any color! Seem overkill and JMO.... The aqua blue is ON the walls. I edit. ...........ask ...."Do I need it?"

They didn't need another element here, here, did they? No........the hearth matches "surround )

The vase was an etsy find. That one has sold, but a very similar one is available https://www.etsy.com/listing/4439499935/handblown-murano-style-vase-vintage?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=murano+blue+and+green+vase&ref=sr_gallery-10-22&sts=1&content_source=77e739db-7fcb-49d1-beb2-935ccd88f702%253ALT0747778d7064a4100c3adeb8c1f67f5cf666aa99&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=77e739db-7fcb-49d1-beb2-935ccd88f702%3ALT0747778d7064a4100c3adeb8c1f67f5cf666aa99

Colors look less vibrant on the newer listing, but that could also be the lighting.

I love that you went with your first mind and picked the pale blue wall color. Can't wait to see the finished result!