The Paint Chip Lied

We're finishing our basement.  This is a 3-year long still in progress labor of love we've been dreaming, designing, and re-designing since the first time we toured the house.  The previous owners did us a favor and framed out the rooms... heaven knows how lost we would have been trying to space plan a gigantic square on our own.

Pretty much the only thing I've done consistently with the basement project is change my mind.  Take for example the small 4x8 "room" to the right at the bottom of the stairs.  First it was going to be a storage closet.  Then a half bath.  Just last week hubby finished creating the dryer vent to make it a laundry room.  He's praying this decision sticks.

Then there was the tile job.  I mean, no, I want laminate.  What, you can't have laminate in a laundry room?  Back to tile.  Normal, beige tile.  Wait!  Is that grey and blue/green tile on clearance over there?!  Yes!  That's EXACTLY what I wanted!  In a square pattern on the floor.  No, wait, a diagonal.  And I want it in the mudroom too.  Diagonal pattern in both areas.  Wait, no.  Square pattern in one area, diagonal in the other.  What do you mean, Mr. Tile Man, you hope I don't come back down here before you get the tile laid?

So anyway, we're finally past the building and room assigning phase and now all that stands between us actually moving into the space is paint, baseboards, and carpet.  I have been poring over paint chips for MONTHS.  Watching home decorating shows and scribbling paint color names on my every growing idea list for the basement.  Reading magazines and tearing out pictures for inspiration.  And finally, FINALLY choosing the perfect colors and waiting with excitement at the paint counter at Home Depot while our personal paint advisor Rick mixes them up.

Then I actually went back a couple weeks later and bought different albeit similar hues of the same colors.  I'll use those other gallons eventually, right? Key Lime green is probably pretty versatile, amIright?

One room I've been super psyched about in the basement is the future Craft/Guest room.  This fabric sample from Ms. Amy Butler's Lotus series was my inspiration:

Grey Wallflower by Amy Butler

I found the most perfect shade of almost yellow... a delicate wisp of yellow called Candlelight Yellow.  Even the name evoked what I wanted that room to feel like... warm, inviting, comfortable.

So imagine my shock and horror when with the first swipe of paint I see not a light and luxe yellow but a glaring, fluorescent blend of lime and painful white.  Lemon Horror, you could say.  Letting the first coat dry didn't help.  Applying a second coat... HA.  Who am I kidding here?

The paint chip LIED.

I suppose I probably should have taken into account the fact that this room gets no natural light and is illuminated only by a gigantic, naked, energy saving fluorescent light bulb in the center of the ceiling.  I'm hoping the lighting will be slightly less harsh when a fixture goes over that bulb.  But even so, the paint just seems tragically bright.

So the question is... could you relax in this room?