Making it Lovely

Tag: painting

  • Painting the Town Red

    Painting the Town Red

    Hot pink, actually. And bluish gray. And a third, to be decided upon color.

    I’m in New York to help a few people with apartment makeovers for one of the sites I write for. It’s exciting stuff! I’ll be painting three rooms in three apartments in as many days, and I expect I’ll be exhausted by the end of it. You can see what I’m up to by following me on Instagram or Twitter ā€” I’m makingitlovely on both. (Heck, while we’re at it, I’m makingitlovely on Facebook and Pinterest too.)

    Did I mention that there will be a film crew? I had to go out and buy some painting-friendly but cute clothes, and I now own several inexpensive pairs of cropped pants. Woohoo? (They’re not bad, really, even if I do feel like a total ‘mom’ in them.)

    I’m going to be spending some time in Brooklyn and Queens, so I’m glad to be venturing out past Manhattan for the first time. Here’s to you, New York!

  • Painting the Dining Room Ceiling

    Painting the Dining Room Ceiling

    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

    Living Room Trim Progress


    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

    Painting the Trim in the Living Room


    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

    Color Quiz

    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.

  • Budding Artist

    Budding Artist

    Our new easel has been getting a lot of use.
    (more…)