Grand Little Place

I’ve painted a lot of rooms.  A LOT.  Some of them have turned out awesome….and some have been on the short list for a repaint.   Right before quarantine started  (yes, all the way back in 2020!) I decided on a whim (with no plan or budget) that I was going to sell all of our office furniture and redo the room.  I had unsuccessfully tried MANY times to pull this room together and I was JUST SICK OF IT.   (Anyone else ever been there?) I pulled out a few sheets of paper and started taking notes about the space.  I haven’t always been methodical about my paint choices, and most of the time I have selected my paint first and then tried to fit the decor around the wall color…..but did you know that is actually the complete wrong way to decorate?  Don’t worry, it took me a long time to realize that too. I’ve learned from my mistakes and want to teach you my no-fail way for how to choose the perfect paint color and decorate any room!

 

Today I am just going to talk about paint choosing paint colors but I’ll be back soon to talk about how I solved the other issues too. I began by making a simple list, here are the things I listed out:

1. All non-negotiable pieces that would 100% be staying in the room
2. Items that might stay in the room

Using those items as my guide I now wrote down every color in my non-negotiable pieces and in my ‘maybe’ pieces.  After having completed that I studied the color lists for overlap between the colors.

Since this room opens up to the entryway (with a very specific pattern and color scheme) and the dining room, I made a new list.  Here I wrote down any colors that were in the adjoining spaces.  I looked at the tiles, wallpaper, artwork and furniture I could see from the office.  Then I compared the list of colors from the adjoining spaces with the list of colors in my non-negotiable and ‘maybe’ pieces from the office.  The colors in the overlap lists left me the short list of colors to consider painting the office.

The reason why I spent the time to make these lists and look at the various colors in my ‘have to keep’ and ‘might keep’ pieces is because when I paint the room I don’t want to send myself into a spiral having to hunt down the exact shade of XYZ to match my paint.  I don’t want to spend extra time and money finding the perfect accessories for the room when I already have things in there that I love.  By taking the time to take stock of what you already own it ensures that the items you already own and love don’t end up sticking out like a sore thumb or, worse yet, in storage because you love it but aren’t ready to let it go.  This is also the reason why most professional designers will choose artwork and fabrics well before they choose a wall color.  It is so much easier to choose a paint color and decorate a room around something already determined since there are thousands of colors to choose from instead of having to hunt accessories and furnishings that will work with the one color you’ve already painted.

I know that lists aren’t always fun and exciting (and don’t get me started on spreadsheets) but taking a few minutes to walk through this was insanely helpful to me so that I could get a clear picture of where to begin in making the office into a space that was functional AND beautiful.  It was also a great exercise  for me personally because I don’t believe that every single item in your home is always going to be your #1 most favorite, awesome choice.  Going through this list proved that idea to me because the common color in my 3 lists, that ultimately I chose to paint the walls, was one I NEVER would have chosen otherwise.  Admittedly I was nervous buying the paint (and I LOVE dark, moody, colorful walls) because the paint was out of my comfort zone.  Well guess what?  I stinking LOVE LOVE LOVE how the paint turned out!  Want to see????

Would you have guessed that the walls were going to end up brown?!  (Or do you see green?  The paint is a bit of a chameleon and different people see different colors.) After taking the time to really think through all of the non-negotiable pieces and the adjoining spaces brown was the obvious choice.  Trust me, I almost chickened out on the paint color.  I tried talking myself into something else, but I’m glad that I persevered (with encouragement from my husband who told me to trust my gut, love that guy) and followed where the clues led me.

This room has had the longest evolution arc of our entire home.  I can’t wait to show you more of the office soon, it is one of my favorite rooms in our home!

This was the first time I have ever formally sat down and put pen to paper to figure out a paint color and it won’t be the last!  This proved to be such a fool proof way to choose the wall color that I created a printable to help you the next time you are choosing a wall color too!   To get your printable (and access to my entire collection of pintable’s!) sign up for my email list below and you’ll quickly be on your way to the perfect wall color for your room!  Happy painting!

 

Don’t forget to pin!