The tale of the confusing paint names

When my second son left home to go to university we thought we'd have a bit of a move-around. Trying to fit all our family into an average sized three bedroom terrace has presented a bit of a challenge over the years but with liberal use of bunk beds, the creation of a stud wall partitioning the biggest bedroom, and an ancient caravan we just about managed it.

madmumof7's 7 children taken 5 years ago
A pic from about 5 years ago when all of my children lived at home

Now two have left home - DS#3 moved his stuff into the "teen annexe" (caravan) almost before we had pulled  off the driveway with his uni-bound older brother -so we have only 7 of us to fit in.

I have long dreamed of a nice space to rest my head so we reclaimed what was our room when we were first married, put a double bed in the smallest room for our teen daughter and the youngest three happily piled into the big middle room which has plenty of space for two bunk beds, bookshelves, drawers and a million cuddly toys.

And so to painting. My neighbour gave us some leftover light grey specially mixed paint which she was sure would be enough to coat our bedroom walls. It didn't. I decided rather than attempt to match the paint I would try creating a contrasting wall and chose a dark rich paint called "Urban Nights."
It looks wonderful. Well, I think so and that's the main thing isn't it.

Invigorated by our successful bedroom decorating I decided the hallway needed tarting up. Wandering into a DIY store with DH I spotted a great deal on a well known branded paint. We snapped up two tins of "Misty Mountain" thinking the gentle smokey grey would look lovely with all the wooden furniture I have painted white or grey badly in a (very) rustic shabby chic style.

rustic door and painted hallway
wall painted with Urban Nights
Time passed. DH found himself at a loose end and decided as a surprise to start on the hallway. He thought at the time it looked a bit darker than the guidance patch on the tin but shrugged his shoulders and figured if I had chosen it he would have to put up with it. He's very well trained.

I arrived home late at night. Was a bit surprised at the shade but liked it. I talked about it on my radio show the next day saying I would not like to be on that mountain when the mist came down - it was more like a misty mountain at midnight!


The next day DH prepared to finish the job when he suddenly rushed into where I was cooking in the kitchen and said:"I've had a horrible thought!"

Yes dear reader - you guessed it. The eejit had used the leftover "Urban Nights" paint from the bedroom leaving our two tins of "Misty Mountain" untouched. Which meant we didn't have enough paint to finish the hallway!

DOH!

Luckily we have a big desk in the hallway so he painted everywhere you can see leaving behind the desk magnolia!

Now all I have to do is decide what to paint with the "Misty Mountain".........