Paint Colors

Yesterday I finalized paint colors for a home and thought it may be interesting to share. It's an open concept home with the living/family room open to everything except the four additional rooms shown. I chose a soft, neutral gray with blue/green undertones for the overall paint color.



I can't wait to see them on the walls!

Opal In The Office

This weekend my sweet husband helped me paint my office (for the second time). The first time around I painted it pink, but after working in it for a year and a half it was just too dark. It would be perfect in a light-filled room, but this room gets hardly any light until around 4 PM and made for a pretty depressing work day.

BEFORE

(You can see in this photo below I have all the lights on and it still is pretty dark)

AFTER

I am so happy with it! The color is still pink, but it's so nice and light. The pink is very subtle.. I think my husband thinks it's a cream color.



It's Opal by Benjamin Moore.

Like my tissue box in the last photo? I was alternating.. paint, blow nose.. paint, blow nose... I'm pretty sure I have a sinus infection. :(

I have been so indecisive about my office for so long.. I just want it done! I finally had an "ah ha!" moment the other day. I realized the reason I couldn't commit to a design direction was because I do so much design IN this office that I subconsciously didn't want it to feel overly decorated. Does that make sense?

So it's going to be white and neutral everywhere with "pops" of color (ugh I hate that phrase so much). I guess sort of like this but on a much smaller scale:

[via Rue Magazine]

Just a couple more things to do... I'll have an final after soon!

Hint of Pink

I like how these spaces have a very subtle hint of pink on their walls...

[ sara gilbane ]

[ source unknown.. I think it was Domino? ]


[ Effortless Style ]

I've read numerous times that this is the most flattering wall color that you can put on your walls. And the first space doesn't feel "girly" at all.

I've thinking about this lately for a new client....

Fresh Striped Bathroom

The striped bathroom has been done many times before.. but I was excited to see a couple pictures of the striped bathroom Tobi Fairley did in the new Hampton Design Showhouse by Traditional Home. It feels very "fresh" to me. I love the colors!

[ via ]

[ via ]

I love the use of huge, fat stripes in the small space. I think I'll be using this treatment in my own striped bathroom.

And speaking of... MIL is here for a visit and I had planned on painting the bathroom with her. But unfortunately (and fortunately) I'm so busy the project is being postponed. Instead I'll be taking some breaks from work and we'll be finishing up some small little not-so-fun things that have been on my "to do" list for a while.

Painting a Stripe

It's been a while since I've had a DIY project on the blog! This one I did yesterday for FOUND (our booth located in Slate).

I started with this console we had in California:



Ew to the faux finish! But it has really good lines.

We don't need this piece in our new house, so I painted the piece to sell in our booth. I thought a stripe down the middle would be pretty cool. This was the first time I've done this, but it was SO EASY and turned out perfect! Here are the steps...

1. First you prime and paint the piece like you normally would. I used some mis-tint paint I got from Lowe's a while back in a Satin finish. I won't walk you through this step but you can check out my painting tips from this post.

2. Once your piece is primed and painted and has dried completely, tape the stripe down the middle (or where ever you'd like the stripe). I used a ruler as a guide to make sure the line was completely straight, so my stripe was 12 inches long. (this made things really easy)







3. This is the most important step! Paint over the tape with the SAME color as the piece. This "seals" the tape so there are no yucky drips underneath. I don't care what the advertisements say, there are ALWAYS seepage.





4. Once the "sealer" coat has dried, paint on your contrasting color. In my case, this was white.



I did two coats.

5. Now for the fun part!! Peel the tape off and you'll see a PERFECT line. I peel the tape off when the paint is still wait.. mostly because I am impatient.

(paint is still wet in these pictures)

Let everything dry overnight and then lightly sand with a fine grit sandpaper and you're done!

I'll take a final picture with the hardware when I bring the piece to Slate. If you are local, this piece will be for sale!

Paint It Black: Before & After

First, Happy Labor Day! I'm sure things will be dead around the blogs today, but I finally finished painting the dresser in our entry and I just had to share!

If you remember, in this post I was leaning back and forth on whether I wanted to paint it or sand it down to it's original stainless steel finish. Almost all of you said "stainless!" but I went black (for now) for a couple reasons:

1. I felt the room needed the contrast

2. It would have been pricey to get it to it's original stainless steel finish. I would have wanted it done right, so it would have had to go to a professional refinisher. $$$$

3. I can always have it stripped in the future.. it will always be stainless steel and the paint is only spray paint.

So black it was!

And here was the before:



And here is the after!





And I love it!

As you can see, I kept the original knobs, and also kept the feet silver. This gives a little nod to the original piece. I was going to replace the knobs (I even bought some new ones that will be returned). But when I put the original knobs back on temporarily, I realized they were perfect.



At first I was going to do lacquer gloss spray paint. I purchased it and did one quote but it was all wrong. So I sanded down and did Satin finish.

I used this spray paint:





The mirror and lamp are "just ok". But they were already owned and work for now.

Sleep

I'm back after a weekend at Duke University. My brother in law goes there and we helped move him into his dorm (he's a junior). It's weird - I missed living in a dorm but at the same time I really didn't. I guess that's what it's like, growing up and being an "adult".

Anyway, I have lots to do so this post will be short and sweet (and late.. sorry!). I titled it "sleep" because I am very tired; I never sleep well in hotels. I also titled this post "sleep" because after posting my Master Bedroom Inspiration post Friday, ironically some inspiration hit and I thought - maybe I should walk away from the cream walls and go with something dark. I've had a dark bedroom since 2004 and I am a firm believer that it aids in good sleep. And looks good.

This is what I'm currently pondering:



The name deep space (by Benjamin Moore) describes it perfectly. A color that helps you imagine laying in warm grass and staring up at the stars... who couldn't fall asleep to that?

Now please excuse me while I get caught up on work and sip my second Coke Zero in a row...

Spray Painting Furniture?

What do you guys think of Spray Painting furniture? I've never done it before. Wait, I take that back. I have done it, but the furniture was wicker. But what do you think of spray painting wood furniture?

Jenny spray painted this gorgeous piece:



I googled "spray painting furniture" and came across this great, short-and-to-the-point video from Rustoleum:



It demonstrates the best way to do spray paint strokes.

I have two pieces I think I will spray paint. One being my silver entry way piece:



And another being an old vintage dresser for the guest room. I'll of course let you know how it goes!!

On a semi-related note, my (super handy and awesome) mother in law is coming into town next week and is going to help me with stuff for the house. I have a long laundry list of things for us to do while she is here. I'm excited to make some progress on the house again! Some things on my two do list are..

+ paint master bedroom
+ make bedside tables (this one will be an interesting project)
+ hang new porch lights
+ finish office

Current Paint Loves

Since I'm on the topic of paint, I thought I'd share some paint colors I'm really loving lately.

Erika turned me onto this one, and I have been obsessed with it for a while. I would like to bring it into our home somehow!

Camouflage - Benjamin Moore

This is a really great gray.

Edgecomb Gray - Benjamin Moore

I really want to paint my office pink, but not baby girl nursery pink. I want the color of flushed skin. I really like this one!

Hallard Barn - Ralph Lauren

I think I'll try a swatch of this one too:

Cameo Pink - Ralph Lauren

Dreamy in Cream

Normally I'm a gray paint type of girl. No matter what the color is - brown, blue, green - I like gray undertones. But I am going to switch gears and paint our master bedroom cream.

The back story of this decision - I really had no idea what to do with our master.. I wanted something to just hit me. And boy did it ever! Matt's grandma brought us the most beautiful crewel fabric when our family visited. It was her mother's and it's so special to us. I'm going to use it as the focal point in our room, so I need to pick the paint color around it. The background of the crewel is a dark beige. So cream it is!

Here are some pictures of cream bedrooms that I have collected. Aren't they so relaxing?









I just need to pick a color now. I want something warm, light (but not too white), not too pink, not too yellow.

Do you have a cream paint color your love?

(ps - Today I'm guest posting some of my current favorite things over at i suwanee!)

The Stairway

Remember this image from Sarah Richardson?



Here is our staircase today:



Arg, iphone! Why must you put a crazy orange blob in the middle of the picture? The paint is blue/gray.. you can see it accurately at the bottom of the the staircase.

HOMEOWNER TIP! This stairway's ceiling goes very very high and I would have nearly killed myself trying to paint it myself. So I had the painters paint only this stairway, and I will paint the rest of the room (living room). It saves money to do the painting yourself, where you can. But it's also much safer to have professionals do the dangerous painting.

Have I mentioned - we are having both sets of parents and Matt's grandparents come stay with us next weekend for Memorial Day. It will literally look like a construction zone. I'll be sure share pictures once the painters leave to show you the chaotic mess that is our new house so far. (the patched wall is a good example).

Also, in case any of you ask what this paint color is - it's a Home Depot color-matched blue from Martha's old Lowe's line (but looks nothing like the swatch). So in other words, completely custom. I'll provide the formula once I take some better pictures.

White

I remember growing up my parents always had white walls. I used to BEG them to paint (future interior designer!) and they finally allowed us kids to paint our rooms. But the rest of the house remained white. (If only I had pictures. I picked lime green. It was actually pretty awesome.)

Fast forward, and here I am with our new home and I didn't even think twice about it - I wanted our family room to be white. There is just something about a white room.



















The family room is the only room we're having professionally painted.. the ceilings are too high for me to attempt it! I cannot wait to see how it turns out!

My all time favorite white is Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore. But since we have so much surface area to cover (all the ceilings, all the trim and the entire family room), I chose Snowcap White by Valspar to save money. It's also a very beautiful white and pretty similar to Chantilly Lace. If you're one a budget (like us), my advice is to save the expensive paint brands for smaller rooms with big impact.

Glossy Black

Saw this image today on Haven and Home.


[ Laura Resen ]

I want to paint the front and back of our front door at the new house HIGH gloss black.

I'm wondering if I should go with oil based paint, or latex + poly. Hmmmm.

Tales From a Busy Decorator

Tales from a busy decorator, in bullet form:

• When I designed the homes in California I went to local fabric stores like Home Fabrics to get my fabric. Home Fabrics is amazing and I really really miss that place. BUT now that I'm a "legit" decorator, I get access to To The Trade fabric stores*. Walking in them pretty much feels like I died and went to heaven, and my heaven is rooms and rooms of gorgeous color-coded fabrics hung on hangers. I went for the first time this week and came home with these samples:



If you're one of my Charlotte clients, most likely some of these swatches are for you!

* If any of you ever want to the trade fabric, shoot me an email and I can get it for you. bryn@brynalexandra.com


• Even though Martha isn't at my Home Depot yet, the Valspar rep at Lowe's snagged me this:



And yes, Lowe's still mixes Martha. Thanks awesome Valspar rep!


• Buying the house [if inspection goes well] couldn't come at a better time.. the more work stuff I acquire, the smaller my work space seems to be getting.



Such a mess! But just keepin' it real.

• Speaking of work spaces, my new office is the first room to be decorated in the new house for now. Here's what I'm thinking...



Pink! (they say it's the most calming color). Storage! Mad Men style Desk! (scored via eBay). Campaign dresser!

Okay.. back to work. Have a great weekend!