Making it Lovely » Painting

Wood Doors, White Trim

Making it Lovely — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:54:42 +0000

I left the doors unpainted in the front entryway. (Thanks for your feedback.)

The door between the living room and the stairway shows its age a little (it’s original to the house, so 100+ years old), but I think it has character. We, or a future owner, could paint or refinish it someday.

And with that… hooray! All of the trim in the house has been painted — upstairs, downstairs, and in the basement! Happy dance time. I can finally cross that one off my list.

All White Now

Making it Lovely — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:41:45 +0000

It had been a while since I’d made a major mistake in my decorating (although I’m fully aware that you may feel differently!). I’m feeling very ‘meh’ about the white walls in the kitchen. I love all-white rooms, but I’m afraid the look may not be for me. And Brandon likes it even less than I do.

I took the kids with me to a local paint store (big ups to Paulson’s Paint in Forest Park — my favorite) to pick up a few testers. There are so many subtle variations between shades of white, and I wanted to get it right.

I went with ‘Moonlight White’ (on the bottom) over ‘White Dove,’ both Benjamin Moore, because the latter seemed to be too perfect a match for the trim (Behr’s ‘Swiss Coffee’). Now that the whole room has been painted with two coats, the cool undertone up against the creamy cabinets and trim call to mind the pallor of primer.

I could be judging it prematurely. The next step will be to sew the curtains (which I have been putting off because I’m not sure how I want to make them yet), and then I’ll reassess. The kitchen is very white right now, but the full plan was to hang the new curtains and paint the lower cabinets. I’ll do it virtually in Photoshop first, so I can see if I like the look or not. I’m a little worried that it might start to feel a bit kindergarten-esque with the bright color I had in mind.

The above paint color shopping list was for testers. ‘November Rain’ was another option to look into if I didn’t like white on the walls, so that shows you the confidence I had going into this.

White Walls? Paint the Cabinets?

Making it Lovely — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 03:46:17 +0000

I’ve been thinking more about the kitchen and bathroom. All of you seem to be leaning toward dark or mid-gray walls, where I’m looking at it and thinking I want to go with white. So I was trying to figure out why I’m so drawn to the idea, when I’ve never been known to paint a room white before. Would it look cold? Sterile?

I’ve been toying with the idea of painting the cabinets a color for a long time now, but I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it other than on Twitter.

I think my kitchen cabinets want to be painted. They’re just sitting there, all plain and vanilla. They want to be colorful! I can tell.

— Nicole Balch (@makingitlovely) August 29, 2011

So here’s what I’m thinking. The kitchen is keeping its stainless steel appliances (though how I wish for a colorful fridge!), white subway tile, white trim, wood floors, and upper white cabinets. The walls would be painted white (or almost white), and the bottom cabinets would be painted a color pulled from the new curtain fabric. The bathroom keeps its hundred-year-old hex tile (damaged as it may be) for now. The sink is unchanged, the toilet seat gets swapped out for a black one, and the pedestal tub probably goes black too. The new black and white polka dot shower curtain is a cutie and makes me happy, so that’s staying, and I think the metallic stool stays as well. The walls get painted the same color as the lower cabinets in the kitchen for continuity, or maybe a shade that is similar but not exactly matching. I need to finish painting the wooden doors to the kitchen and bathroom white too, and put a coat of colorful paint on the wooden step stool. Make sense?

You know, like this.

photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

What do you think — can you see it? Still see dark walls as the better way to go?

Playing with Paint Colors

Making it Lovely — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:51:09 +0000

I write for My Colortopia, and they’ve just launched a new online tool: Color My Room. You can upload your own photo, or choose from one of theirs, and play around with paint colors.

There are palettes, suggested by me and my fellow bloggers, but you can also create your own. It amused me to be getting color advice from myself (hello, self!), so of course I selected one of mine. I chose my neutral bedroom Glidden palette of Silver Birch, Wild Truffle, Shaded Ice, Ground Nutmeg, and Driftwood Gray, but decided to try them in a kitchen. Because I’m still stuck on a color for the kitchen.

I chose one of their gallery photos instead of my own because it was the easier, faster option, and it was a good match for my white trim, cabinets, and tile. Let’s be honest — it was also a much prettier picture than mine. I like the lightness of Silver Birch, but Wild Truffle and Driftwood Gray are appealing too. I’m leaning toward a neutral paint color? What is this world coming to?

I have been sponsored by Glidden® brand paint to write this post but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Show Your Colors

Making it Lovely — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 19:06:59 +0000

My latest post for My Colortopia was all about my kitchen. It has been yellow for five years, and I’m thinking it’s about time for a change. I mean, I don’t stand on the countertops and take weird photos for nothing!

The room does look ages better than it did when we first moved in; I’ll give it that. Behold the before shot.

Right. So then Brandon and I redid the whole thing, and it looked like this.

And it still looks like that today, except with white trim. So now that I have new fabric in mind for the curtains, I’m trying to choose a new wall color.

I (like you, I’m guessing) love before and after shots. Over at My Colortopia, there’s a new Show Your Colors section featuring tons of them from their readers. I like seeing what real people have done to their homes (and imagining what I would do if I was the person that lived there).

If you have any painting projects that you’re proud of, you can share your before and after photos too. You can get a feel for how it works with the widget in this post.

Now, as for my kitchen? I’m thinking green. But that could change tomorrow.

I have been sponsored by Glidden® brand paint to write this post but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

My Weekend

Making it Lovely — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:38:31 +0000

It looked a little bit like this:

And a lot like this:

(All of which I enjoyed, very much.)

How was your weekend?

Painting the Dining Room Ceiling

Making it Lovely — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:00:51 +0000

I finished painting the trim in the room a year and a half ago. We put up the wallpaper ages ago, back when I was pregnant with Eleanor. (By the way, wallpaper hanging is not a fun job for pregnant ladies.) That ceiling though? Never touched it. It was white when we moved in and I had always meant to paint it, but it was good enough for a long time. Over the weekend, I finally decided to go ahead and paint it.

I wanted to match the wallpaper background, but go a shade darker. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what color the background is though. It’s gray, yes, but it’s kind of a pinkish purpley warm taupey gray. I chose as best I could, and as it was going on, it looked decidedly purple. Not good. It turned gray as it dried though, so I think I’m committing to it, at least for a little while. I have to roll the ceiling, and then do an entire second coat (at least), but I think it’s going to be worth the effort.

Living Room Trim Progress

Making it Lovely — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:56:49 +0000

I spent yesterday filling nail holes with wood putty, sanding, caulking gaps, washing, taping off the floor, priming, and painting. I have one more coat to go today on one half of the room, and then the trim in the living room will be done! After that I’ll begin the task of making our house look less like a disaster.

Painting the Trim in the Living Room

Making it Lovely — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:00:27 +0000

I’ve been meaning to get around to painting the trim in the living room for quite some time now. It was on my 30 Before Thirty list, but it was one of the handful of things I didn’t accomplish (because I was pregnant and had no energy). So I rolled it onto my Lovely life List, and I decided it’s finally a good time to check that one off.

Painting projects (or any projects, really) happen so much more slowly now with two young kids underfoot. I let Eleanor help paint for the first time, and then she wanted to look through the fan decks to pick paint colors for the house. Did you know the exterior should be green? With sparkles? So it has been decreed.

I’ve only painted half of the room so far. There’s a door between the living room and the entry, and soon I’ll move on to the front entry itself. I haven’t decided if I’ll be painting both doors there, and if so, which colors. I’ll probably leave the front door unpainted, at least for now. White is an obvious choice for the other, but I do like the look of black interior doors. What do you think?

p.s. Here’s a refresher on why I’m painting all of this wood trim in the first place.

Color Quiz

Making it Lovely — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:17:34 +0000

How do you find color schemes for your home? I think it happens somewhat intuitively for me at this point, but I know I used to have to see all of the colors together before moving forward. I do still pull from fabrics, like from a really awesome throw pillow, or wallpaper. Even if I’m not actually using wallpaper in the space, it could be a good jumping off point. What about you?

I write for My Colortopia, and they’ve just put out a fun color quiz. I took it and my results were pretty accurate! No pink, but they’re probably not recommending that to anyone (because I’m the only adult that wants pink walls, ha). I’ve embedded the quiz below in case you want to give it a try. Let me know if it was accurate for you too (I’m curious!).

I have partnered with Glidden/ Akzo Nobel Paints to participate in the My Colortopia program but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.