URBANE BRONZE

This is our perfectly good kitchen island which we purchased three years ago when we gutted our kitchen for a full re-do. As you can imagine, I worried and fretted over which color the island should be--there were three or four offerings--and finally decided on "Moss Glaze" primarily because (I guess) it seemed to coordinate well with the beige walls and floor.  A year or so later in another fit of frenzy, we decided to rid the kitchen of  "Crisp Khaki" walls and give it a shot of "Caraway Shield."  Well, if you look closely at this picture, "Caraway Shield" has no business being anywhere near "Moss Glaze".  Were we colorblind, or could it be BC simply humoring me (yet again)?   No matter...the die was cast and we learned to live with the results.

As you already know, I took the fateful trip to the paint store, explained my situation, and purchased "Urbane Bronze" for the island, as well as the obligatory adhesive primer because...because, I guess, I needed it.  So...I sped home, wiped down the island and painted on the adhesive primer.  THIS was the end result of THAT.  BC blanched, but I assured him that two coats of Urbane Bronze would yield the absolute perfect kitchen island that would cause friends and strangers alike to pause, gasp, and break down because of the beauty and color coordination of our kitchen.

Monday afternoon, paint coat #1. 

In all honesty, the store did tell me it would take two coats.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I was too upset to take any pictures of anything.  Coats two and three were slightly darker versions of coat one.  It was so bad, BC and I drove to Super Target just to get out of the house and calm ourselves (OK--myself) with a heavy dose of shopping therapy.  We also stopped by our friendly ACE Hardware store where I bought a yet more expensive paint brush than we already had, a sheet of sandpaper and learned that problem paint situations are seldom the fault of the paint and MOST often the fault of a bad brush and a worse painter.  Despite the fact that I was painting walls before this ACE young man was born, I did listen and listened intently.

On Thursday morning it was what we, in the country, used to call "nut cutting" time.  I gobbled my cinnamon-raisin toast, threw down my one and a half cups of caffeinated coffee, and attacked that island again  And, whereas it's far from perfect, it is better after a full week of trial, a lot of error, and not a little frustration.  It proudly holds court once again, center stage.

Wait!  Is it me?  Perhaps my eyes??  Bad lighting???  Despite its promise to be "...incredibly rich and complex", my sinking heart thinks "Urbane Bronze" is nothing more than "Moss Glaze" in a semi-gloss disguise...Nooooooooo