This is my story

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New mommy to my son, Elijah Ryan. Wife to my husband and best friend, Nick. New homeowner and HGTV obsessed. Wedding Planner for Two Be Wed. Avid Pinner. Lover of writing, books, movies, vampires (not the Twilight kind) and Harry Potter. Enjoys lazy days, coffee and spending time with my little family. Here to share my tales of mommyhood, marraige, love and life.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Color Me Happy

In last few weeks our house has gotten a complete makeover. My amazing and talented hubby painted the entire downstairs (with the exception of Eli's quarter - that's next on the list) and I couldn't be more happy with the end result. Color changes a room and makes it feel more cozy and personal. Bye, bye builders beige, hello color! My house isn't in photo condition so no house tour now, but I wanted to share our new house colors so you get the idea.
Martha Stewart, Bedford Gray

Entryway, Hallway, Living Room and Master Bedroom: Martha Stewart, Bedford Gray

We decided on gray because we wanted a neutral but to steer away from tans and browns. Gray is such a cool, relaxing color and in my opinion, the modern neutral. It goes well with our dark wood furniture and any other neutral color (tan, green, brown) and makes our white baseboards pop.

I love it. If it were up to Nick, the whole downstairs would be gray but I didn't want to drown the house in gray - that's the whole reason why we painted! With the builders beige and our open concept, all the rooms seemed to run together. Now the rooms stand on their own and are defined, but still cohesive.

Martha Stewart, Caraway Seed
Dining Room, Bar: Martha Stewart, Caraway Seed

Our dining room is in the middle of house and didn't really stand out with the exception of our hardwood floors. I knew I wanted a warm color, another neutral and a little darker than the light grey hallways and living room.

The color is perfect! It goes well with the dark hardwood floors and dark wood cabinets in the bar area. And it totally sets the room apart from the rest of the house -exactly what I wanted! Our next step is to add a new chandelier, I'm going the iron route rather than crystal (see below). I like it because it gives it an old world feel without being to shabby chic or rustic. And it makes the room more formal. You know since it's a "formal" dining room and all, aka the room we never eat in.

Behr, Harmonic Tan
Kitchen: Behr, Harmonic Tan

So I know this may be misleading, "Your kitchen was already tan and then you painted it another shade of tan.." But it's not tan. I know it looks it and is even named it but it's actually green. Green with brown hues.

I know it's hard to visualize because it was for me too at first. But I wanted to paint the kitchen and I wanted it to be different than the living room and the dining room since they all intersect. Initially I thought yellow but it's such a hard color to find the right shade, and it can go real country, real fast. We didn't want any loud colors like red or orange, and since the house was already going in the direction of earth toned neutrals -green was the winner. I think we chose this particular color because it's not a "true" green. It definitely is green but a very mellow shade. Kinda of like an avocado. Only pictures will really do it justice, so you'll just have to wait until I get around to cleaning :)


Behr, Indulgent
Office, Master Bedroom Accent Wall: Behr, Indulgent

And finally the wild card: PURPLE! I know when I previously talked paint I was thinking a dark teal and then all of a sudden I got into this purple craze. Probably because purple and gray go so well together, but mention purple to a guy and they think homo. (no offense) So it took some selling on my part to convince Nick. And suddenly one day, he suggested we do a purple accent wall in our bedroom. Don't have to tell me twice!

SIDEBAR: Our bedroom was the first room we painted in the whole house. Mainly because we could keep the baby out and paint during the day. The purple we ended up with was not the purple we started with. Initially, Nick chose this color (shock!) and I chose a lighter, softer purple. He let me choose, knowing he would be right in the end and painted it the lighter purple first. After 3 days, we decided the soft purple was not enough contrast as an accent wall and we needed to go darker. Yes, I'll admit it -he was right.

Purple: Take II was a winner! It was the right amount of contrast that the room needed and our ivory headboard pops right off the wall. I liked it so much I convinced him to paint our office (the entire office - a lot of purple for one guy) the same color. It's a very deep plum color so again, great contrast to our light grey entryway, and there's a large window in the front so it provides enough light that it doesn't feel like a dark cave. It gives the room a very sophisticated feel, just what an office should feel like. Next step: add built in bookshelves to the office. I found this great DIY built-in bookshelves on Pinterest using Billy bookcases from IKEA (see below). I think it's going to be uh-mazing but I'm still trying to sell Nick (he's anti-IKEA).

Pinned Image


I like the painted backs, because otherwise it would be too much white but I'm not a fan of the blue. I'm thinking a light tan will go well. But this project will definitely be "to be continued.."


So that's our big makeover! I really am in love with it -every color and every room. It just opens my mind to so many decor possibilities and makes the house feel so much more ours. However painting was not an easy feat by any means. I can't take much credit because it really was all Nick. We got it done in a period of 3 weeks which is incredible considering we have a toddler. Most of the painting was done during nap time or at night. For the entryway, hallway and office, we got a sitter and stayed up painting til 4 AM. (What a night!) But in the end we saved ourselves $1500 by doing it ourselves and gives us something to truly be proud of!


Next time: House Tour!