Matchmaker, matchmaker...

Make me a match!
Find me a paint chip that won't make my accents clash!

Shamefully bad iambic pentameter aside, I'm in a current state of paint stymie.  You may have noticed if you know me in real life that I am hopelessly bad at decorating.  I'm also terrible at choosing color schemes and accessories.  About the only thing I'm good at, house decor wise, is symmetry.  Oh, and knowing right where to put the nail in the wall to hang the picture juuuust right... even without measuring anything first.  *sigh*

Our recent basement remodel (of which the decor I based entirely off an episode of the show "Myles of Style") has unintentionally made me start giving the rest of my house the interior design stink eye.  It's been 3 long years since we moved in and I'm finally starting to nail down my "style" as it relates to our house.  And sadly... our beloved terracotta living room was just not cutting it anymore:

Forgive the bare walls... this was during the tv moving downstairs transition...

So anyhoo, I consulted my "Idea Folder" (also known as "Where I Kept Ideas Before Pinterest Was Invented") and had an epiphany!  I like calm, serene, almost beachy looking living spaces!  Strange, really, since I am kinda high strung and hate sand.  Nonetheless, I ran straight to the paint store and came back with Bahamas Underwater Green... could that color name evoke any more perfectness?!  I had the living room done before lunchtime the following Saturday.

Too bad my wonderful husband completely deflated my elation about the terracotta-turned-turquoise room when he said, "Oh, I like it.  It reminds me of my bedroom when I was a kid."

WOP WOP. 

I was in denial for a few hours but when I took a second look... it really did look like the baby-est of baby blues.

On the upside, I love my cool new chair and sexy silk curtains!

Soooo, with my pride firmly stuffed in my back pocket alongside a coupon to Home Depot's paint department, I went back for more ideas.  Home Depot + Lowe's + Walmart = this pile:

Running the gamut from "Mermaid Mist" to "Lotus Leaf" to "Zensation."

It really shouldn't come as any surprise that I suck at choosing paint colors.  Let's review the evidence:

I painted the kitchen twice last year, both times beige.

I first purchased one color of green for the play room and then painted it an entirely different color.

I used the rejected play room green for the mudroom feature wall.  Hated it.  Picked an entirely different shade of green.  Also hated it.  Ended up painting it with a sample can of paint I used as an accent upstairs.  Finally loved it.

I painted the craft room a shade of yellow I deemed the "Lemon Horror."  A second coat improved it mildly.

I clearly have a terrible track record.  That lady at Home Depot should be ashamed that she lets me choose colors in the store without taking them home and checking them on the walls first! 

So, for better or for worse, I will be painfully reviewing all my options this week and choosing yet another shade of beachy turquoise to attempt on my living room walls.  If I didn't love painting so obviously much, I'd be dead from all the fumes by now.