Tag Archives: Color

Scope Creep

Posted on by
8

Our home is very open and you can see many of the rooms from different angles. It’s one of the features we absolutely loved about the place when we first saw it and we have had tons of fun playing with color and accent walls within the space.  In fact, I recently realized we have 15 different paint colors throughout our home.  Saying we aren’t afraid of color is maybe an understatement.

However, I’ve noticed the trend of having multi-colored walls within a room is getting… dare I say it… a bit dated.  I don’t know… I still like the idea, but I’m just not seeing the trend of accent walls as much as I once did.  And there are spots in our home that could use some freshening up.  So since we had the paint, tarps and ladders out, our little kitchen project crept into a few other areas too.

In our dining room we had an accent wall that we both were kinda done with.

Accent Wall

Tyson was feeling like the red was played out so he wanted to update that. For me, I wanted to say goodbye to the accent wall all together. We killed two birds and continued the taupe that was in the rest of the room and kitchen across that wall.

Dining Room Wall

This wall also bends down the stairs, around into the family room.

Old Paint Meets New Paint

We decided to cover the lower wall (which is a part of the family room) with Chocolate Sparkle to shift that room from having three colored walls to two.

Lower Family Room Wall

Tyson’s not super excited about the stark contrast where the two colors meet, but I like that the new paint balances and streamlines the colors that you see when you are in a particular room.

New New Paint

We also needed to paint this cut-out on our stairs.  This house has more pot shelves and niches than I know what to do with.  But that is a discussion for another post.

Cut-out Before

We will eventually frame in the shelf with molding (and possibly lighting) to accent this spot.

Painted Shelf

I also came home from picking up more paint and Tyson was ready to tackle this small hall off the family room.

Hall Before

More neutral paint… yes, please.

Hall After

The doors getting a coat of paint and some trim are also on our “to-do” list.  Someday… someday…  For now, the painting is complete and I’m happy to be living without tarps and tools everywhere.

Do your projects creep into other areas? How have trends and/or your tastes changed over the last few years?  And since I have kitchens on the brain, I thought I’d share this article on Hot Kitchen Trends for 2013.  Lots of things that we are considering which is always encouraging.  See any new ideas that inspire you?

Chocolate Sparkle

Posted on by
10

Phase one of our kitchen plan is complete!  Admittedly, this is probably going to be the easiest step, but it’s the first step in the right direction and I am crazy excited.  The walls are painted and already breathing new life into our kitchen.  Life that I had no idea it was lacking.

We brought the dark brown that was already in the family room all the way into the kitchen. It’s one massive wall that is finally finished in Chocolate Sparkle by Behr.

Chocolate Sparkle by Behr

It looks like chocolate pudding.  It is not.

Because the wall runs the width of our home, it is impossible to accurately photograph the entire area.  For funsies, Evan helped me snap a few pics with my iPhone Panorama feature.  We live in a split level so here is the wall from the kitchen… weird lighting and all.

Kitchen Panoramic

And here is the same wall from the family room.

Family Room Panoramic

We also brought the taupe in from the formal living room and dining room.  It’s Pronghorn by Behr and we had it color matched since it’s from an old line.  How about a little “before & after” action, shall we?

Kitchen Corner 1-BeforeKitchen Corner 1-After

Hmmm… that’s not looking super-dramatic.  Maybe from the other corner of the kitchen?

Kitchen Corner 2-BeforeKitchen Corner 2-After

Yeah… not so much.  In fact, that sound you hear is the air escaping my excitement over having this step accomplished.  Bummer.

In real life, you can definitely see a difference.  Painting the room has married the colors from the two main living areas that are connected by the kitchen.

The good news: Even with just paint, the space is already feeling more like “us”.  I’m not sure I know exactly what that means, but I know it when I see it.

All of the high spaces are complete and look fresh and clean.  This required a lot of time for Tyson on a very high ladder and me below loading the brushes and rollers with paint to pass back up to him.

Paint in High Places

The bad news: We are living with A LOT of brown. We are so happy with the paint, but it screams to have the cabinets and molding updated in white to balance out all the brown and orange tones.

More Contrast to Come

The two arrows point to the same paint color in two different areas of our home.  Once the cabinets are painted white, there will be a lot more contrast and a lot less brown/orange.  I just have to remember the transition has begun and none of this is permanent.

How do you stay inspired when a big project is in progress? What color have you painted that has created the most drama in your home? Could your friends see a difference when you showed them what you’ve been working on?  Well, the next set of pictures will have a little more contrast.  Promise.

Storage Solutions: What’s in Your Closet?

Posted on by
4

This past weekend we started reloading our daughter’s room and designing storage solutions for the space.  I have a ton to share over a few posts, so let’s get started.

First on the agenda was reinstalling Tessa’s closet shelving and doors.  As much as I liked the openness of having the dresser in the closet, I can’t get over how much space reassembling the closet created.  I know… a functioning closet equals tons of storage… who knew?!

Here’s the “Before”:

The guys moved the dresser out and the shelving tower was anchored in.

I noticed that the old closet rods had off white holders.

Just as I was thinking, “Should I paint those?” this happened:

Tyson accidentally cracked the top holder and the decision was made for me… new closet rod holders it is.  Yay!  The old ones would’ve seriously bugged me every time I opened the closet.

Once the new holders were in, Tyson rehung the doors.  This is like maneuvering a life size puzzle.

But when they’re in, they look… well… just like their suppose to.  I like it!

Then it was time to load it up.

First things, first.  Since we got rid of Tessa’s dresser, we needed a solution for those things that couldn’t be hung up… namely socks, underthings and pajamas.  For these, I was able to find collapsable boxes at Target in their dollar section.  They were $2.50 each… Can you believe it?!  And they are the perfect color.

I grabbed these in the same section.  They are exactly what we needed and the right price.

The rest I reused from before.  I picked up the purple and black damask box at Target a few seasons ago and I’m still kicking myself for only getting one.

I am so thankful for the purple paint we picked.  Everything I’ve found has worked with it perfectly.  I’ve also found containers in grey that compliment the bedding, but I am under strict orders: no grey.

The “After”:

Although we just restored our closet to it’s original function, I still love the idea of thinking outside the box and utilizing the space in a unique way.  So… what’s in your closet?  Have you come up with some creative storage solutions for a closet in your home?  Feel free to share your not so dirty laundry here.

PS. I’ll be linking this post up to the very fun blog “Organize & Decorate Everything”  There are tons of great tips there, so definitely check her out.

Colorama

Posted on by
6

We’ve got some serious drama going on around here and it’s all about the color!  I am diggin’ the deep purple walls that we just finished painting this week.  And I’m dying to show you the room, but at this point there’s nothing much to share.

Okay, okay… here’s a quick peek.

I have a hard time waiting to open Christmas presents too.  True Story.

We painted the room using Glidden’s DUO: Paint + Primer.  The color: Regal Purple.

I was concerned when we picked it out that it would have too much energy for a bedroom, but it really suits my girl.  It’s dramatic and cheery and we all keep walking into the room and saying “WOW”!

This paint was A-MAH-ZING!  Seriously… we got complete coverage in two coats.

Also, I think it’s so pretty with the Enchanted Duvet by KAS that we ordered from Bed, Bath & Beyond.

And now for the fun part… bringing everything back in and ACCESSORIZING!  I’ve found some great storage solutions and I picked up this cute guy that I can’t wait to put in the room.  Unfortunately, it will be another month before he makes his grand debut.

Since my last post about the Pinterest Challenge was incredibly long (sorry), I thought I’d keep this one brief.  We are spending the weekend getting things put away in the girlie’s room and getting the rest of the house back to normal.  That means a lot of purging that will need to be done.  And, I could seriously use your input.  What are your favorite tips for storage?  How do you keep young people organized? And what am I suppose to do with a truck load of stuffed animals?!  I think I’m going to need all the help I can get!