I had planned to post the second room I painted with my new paint "love"- the Benjamin Moore Healing Aloe- but I realized I needed something pretty specific for the room to "complete" it, so Brad and I are going to pick those up tonight and I will share that post next week. Sound good?
K, lets get on with this post already. ;)
So like I mentioned in the last post all about my little laundry room redo, I'm in the midst of a painting frenzy.
Well, I should say that hopefully I'm on the way OUT of the painting frenzy. Seriously, in the last week, I've painted four different spaces in our house. Two of which were a little tricky.
This was one of the easier rooms (the other being the laundry room).
This room is meant to be sort of a "formal living room" area. We use it as an office and a little sitting room. We actually use it quite often!
I've done a few posts on this space, so you're probably already sort of familiar with it if you've been reading for a while. :)
Here's the office side...
Before I get ahead of myself, here is what the paint in here looked like before...
This one was shot even before I painted the French doors black!
Really, it wasn't bad, but since we've moved in, I've been a bit indifferent to that golden tan shade that was used basically everywhere in the house. I LOVE it in certain areas, but others, not so much.
Also, since these shots (which were almost a year ago), I rearranged the furniture a bit and brought in the peacock mirror that used to be in the foyer. It lived in the family room at our old house and so I just kept seeing it over the couch... So I switched it a long time ago. The furniture and everything has actually been this way for over 6 months or so now. I changed it up shortly after that last office post.
So all those changes isn't what makes it feel new... It's all about the paint.
Funny how much paint can change a space. I am absolutely IN LOVE with this color. The shade is Clay Beige by Benjamin Moore. This is the same color I used when I painted our kitchen months back.
Don't you love when you find that perfect shade for your house? Of course, while I mentioned falling in love with the Healing Aloe shade I've been using lately, that light aqua shade is a bit different. It's not one you'd paint everywhere in your home, you know? This shade I used in this post could be used anywhere. It's just perfect for any room.
It's awesome because it actually looks different in every room too.
Neutrals like this can actually be the most difficult to choose. They all can read so differently. Some are too warm, some are too cool. Some can look a bit boring.
This one is absolutely perfect because it has a lot of gray in it. So it keeps the paint from looking too beige.
...Although it looks really beige and a lot more warm than it actually looks in real life in the photo below. :/
However, it's a warm linen-gray, so it really keeps the room from looking too cold. My mom and I recently went on a tour of homes and the big thing seemed to be gray paint. Like gray gray. One house had used really cool grays and it felt too cold. So you just have to be careful.
At our last house, we were used to a color like this. It was a bit more "putty" and maybe a bit darker. So I think that's why the warm golden tan shade threw me off when we moved here. I just felt like my stuff didn't look right with it everywhere.
Again, it looks totally different from real life in the photo below...haha. Just shows how much it changes.
This photo below is probably the most accurate depiction of what the color looks like in real life (especially over there to the right where it looks more gray).
My personal preference for paint is that I like to use neutrals like this in larger areas- kitchens, family rooms, living rooms, bedrooms... Because I don't want to become limited by slapping up a "color color" on the walls. I like to add and layer personality and color to the room with accessories.
However for smaller spaces like a laundry room, bathrooms, etc, (where you won't have a ton of accessories to layer), adding a bit of color on the walls can pull everything together and add interest.
As for the actual office space in here...
Everything pretty much has stayed the same. I did replace the knobs (again) on my beloved Ikea desk (Still holding up perfectly after 3 years of use!). Remember this photo from my office re-do years back at our last house??
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| post on this space here |
I mentioned in that post how easy it is to spruce up basic furniture by adding fun knobs. I actually used those black ones in our little "black suede" guest bathroom, and swapped them for some gold mother of pearl ones that used to be on the built-ins at our last house.
So yeah, again, when I "redo" a room, I try not to buy more stuff. The paint was the only new thing for this current space. Well, that and some pillow covers (I've had this set for a while, so I didn't really count them as newly purchased just for this little makeover). Everything else was just rearranged from other places or within the room itself.
It just works so much better with the gray ottoman and the blue tones in my blue and white vases/jars. It basically just pulled the whole room together nicely.
I also love how it looks coming in from the foyer.
It just feels more cohesive now.
I also love that it plays really nicely off the gold and crystal accents in the room.
Your home should reflect your style, not someone else's. Sure, it's nice to get inspiration here and there, but what makes our home feel like ours is that it's our unique tastes. It's no fun to always get something someone else has. So that's the beauty of getting custom things made like this. You can get exactly what you want for your space.
It's also a great way to support really talented people with small businesses. Mine came from this seller and I've been super happy with them. (and no, I was not perked in any way to link to her. I'm just really happy with mine!) She has SO many fabrics to choose from so you can get something unique for your space that works with your home.
I also purchased the lumbar style for the new chairs in our family room. I'll share more on this space soon!
And I totally realize this post is on photo-overload, but here's a shot of how nicely the color works with the neighboring original tan/gold in the dining room.
My camera battery died while doing this post so I snapped a quick kind of crappy photo with my iPhone to give you an idea. Oh and ignore the weird bench to the right... haha. It sort of floats around.
So yeah, long story short, I'm loving this color! Painting is so therapeutic to me. I've always enjoyed it and have never really been afraid to do it, but if you can get up the courage to do it the first time, you'll see that it's not that bad. I have two more posts to share from my recent painting frenzy I've gone on, but maybe after those have gone up I'll do a whole post on some of my painting tips that I always use to make it easy. I'll have to plan a post like that soon! Those kinds of tips are always helpful because I know painting can be a bit intimidating.
So what do you guys think?? What are your "go-to" paint colors in your home??
reference:
paint: Benjamin Moore Clay Beige (not sure of the exact original color or dining room color)
ottoman, mirrored chest, sunburst mirrors- Ballard Designs
blue and white decor- TJ Maxx, Antique stores
rug: Overstock (no longer available)
chairs: Sears
pillow covers: Etsy
peacock mirror: Wisteria
white couch: Rooms to Go
desk: Ikea
