My Blue Period

Extreme Blue Makeover

For a long time I entertained a fantasy in which I transformed the entire interior of my house to blue. I can trace the roots of this dream back to a long ago evening spent at the home of some friends. They set me up in their guest room and the walls were painted a deep sky blue. My eyes were so instantly happy at seeing this color, and again at waking up to it, that when I bought my house in 2006, the first thing I did was paint my bedroom blue.

In memoriam triptych of Satch by Linda Sheets. Scratchboard, paint and collage.

In 2007, some roommates moved in and took over that bedroom and for reasons I will never understand they painted is a muddy shitty brown. I moved into the spare room on the other side of the house and painted it bright blue. The minute the roommates moved out, I reclaimed my old room and again painted it blue, this time an electric blue. The color was so bright, in fact, that my friend Ann-- who did the painting for me since she's a pro-- wanted me to really stop and think if my eyes could handle that level of saturation. Well it's been three years now and I have yet to weary of the intensity.

After paint, before conversion to sitting room.

Having two blue rooms did not feel like enough for me. I got to thinking that if I painted all the rooms blue it would feel like being in a swimming pool at all times. Ever since I got over my aquaphobia and learned to swim in my late 30's, I have been a huge fan of pools. Add into this mix that I live in a concrete house-- essentially a waterless above-ground pool-- and the idea made more sense.

Portrait of Satch (RIP), Bubbles and Tatum commissioned by Henry for my 40th birthday. I love the lack of proportion.

Last year, I converted what had been my office into a meditation and yoga room. A big part of this transformation involved painting the walls and ceilings Sparky Park blue. If you haven't been to Sparky Park, please go. The blue is actually purplish, so it's not totally in following with the swimming pool rule, but it's still blue so close enough.

Sparky Park

Portrait of my old kitchen in Hyde Park by Kristen Scott. 

Passion Flower by Ann Woodall 

This past month, Ann came back and painted the kitchen blue. She also painted the little eat-in "dining room" blue. I was so psyched by the transformation in the "dining room" that I went ahead and converted it to a sitting room (pictured at the top of this post). And the sitting room is now entirely decorated in original works by friends and my son. Much of this work is dog-themed. The passion flower was painted by Ann, who also crocheted that groovy blanket on the couch. (Ann is so damn multi-talented-- you should check out her website-- Ann Woodall Studios--  and her Etsy shop.) The rug on the floor was crocheted by my friend Janice. Really, of all the joys the makeover has brought, I think the biggest has been stopping to remind myself just what a ridiculous number of outrageously talented friends I have.

The hall and bathroom also turned blue during the interior overhaul. I am so close to my all-blue goal now-- only the living room and laundry room remain. Have I gotten sick of the blue, decided it was a bad idea, come to have painter's remorse? HELL NO. I LOVE swimming around the house. So, then, in conclusion: Blue. Consider painting your entire house that color. Or any color. Monochrome -- it's the new polychrome. If you ever decide to sell your realtor will shake his/her head in sad disbelief and demand you convert everything to beige. But until then who gives a crap what the experts say, right? You want blue, people? Then have blue already.

Cows by Ethan Azarian

Dante and Tatum are smiling because they love electric blue in the bedroom.