Color Diaries.
Colors I've Lived With

I only write about paint colors after I'd trust them on a wall.

Thirty years, three houses, every room repainted at least twice. This is my honest record of the famous colors — the Hale Navys and Sea Salts of the world — judged by year five, not day one.

Read the LatestMeet Susan
Susan Hartley at home
Hi, I'm Susan. Not a designer, not a contractor — the person who has to live with the wall after everyone leaves.

Latest Diaries

On My Walls Right Now

Sea Salt · SW 6204The main bath, five years in. Still scrubbing clean.Read the diary →
Alabaster · SW 7008Every inch of trim in the house. The safe answer, chosen on purpose.Diary coming
Hale Navy · HC-154The front door, four summers of full sun.Diary coming
White Dove · OC-17The ceilings, because I finally stopped overthinking ceilings.Diary coming
Revere Pewter · HC-172The kitchen, over cabinets we keep meaning to replace.Diary coming
Evergreen Fog · SW 9130Our bedroom, second year. The jury is still out.Diary coming
Accessible Beige · SW 7036The guest room. Calm for them, easy touch-ups for me.Diary coming
Iron Ore · SW 7069One office wall, where every diary gets written.Diary coming
Susan Hartley brushing a paint sample square onto her wall
The House Rules

How I Judge a Color

Same test, every diary, no exceptions. It's saved me from repainting more times than I'll admit in print.

1.
Sample at 7 a.m., not noon. Anyone can love a color at noon. Morning light tells the truth.
2.
Judge it at year five. Scrubbing, fading, touch-ups. A color you loved on day one can quit on you by year four.
3.
Show the failures. Every diary includes the room where the color died. The brochure won't tell you; I will.

Come On In

The 1960s ranch where every diary gets tested — ours, lived-in, imperfect on purpose.

The house. A 1960s ranch, third house, last house. Every diary gets tested somewhere inside these walls.
The house. A 1960s ranch, third house, last house. Every diary gets tested somewhere inside these walls.
The main bath. Sea Salt, five years in — diary No. 1 started here.
The main bath. Sea Salt, five years in — diary No. 1 started here.
The front door. Hale Navy, four summers of full sun. Diary coming.
The front door. Hale Navy, four summers of full sun. Diary coming.
The hallway. Alabaster on every stick of trim. The safe answer, chosen on purpose.
The hallway. Alabaster on every stick of trim. The safe answer, chosen on purpose.
The living room. White Dove overhead, books everywhere, one very good lamp.
The living room. White Dove overhead, books everywhere, one very good lamp.
The kitchen. Revere Pewter over cabinets we keep saying we’ll replace. Diary coming.
The kitchen. Revere Pewter over cabinets we keep saying we’ll replace. Diary coming.
Our bedroom. Evergreen Fog, second year. Still not sure it was the right call — that diary will be honest.
Our bedroom. Evergreen Fog, second year. Still not sure it was the right call — that diary will be honest.
The guest room. Accessible Beige, because guests deserve calm and I deserve easy touch-ups.
The guest room. Accessible Beige, because guests deserve calm and I deserve easy touch-ups.
The office. One Iron Ore wall where all of this gets written.
The office. One Iron Ore wall where all of this gets written.
The test wall. Where every color auditions before it earns a room. Some never leave this square.
The test wall. Where every color auditions before it earns a room. Some never leave this square.

One Color, Every Sunday

A short letter about one famous color and what it's really like to live with. No trends, no hauls, no "25 ideas." Just the one thing worth knowing this week.