Hey! We painted some walls. Ain’t that neat?
As Craig told you yesterday, my parents moved out this past weekend and that meant they vacated the master bedroom in our house and it was ready for us to move in.
But before we moved all of our stuff in, we were desperate to get the yellow-tinted walls taken care of. The best way I can describe the color that was in there before would be….butterscotch. Like the pudding. Delicious, delicious butterscotch pudding.
This color was absolutely perfect for my parents’ earthy, warm, lodge style, but we weren’t quite feeling it. As I mentioned when I showed you the moodboard for this room, we’re really looking for a cool, crisp, moody vibe in here.
To pick out the color, we pretty much broke every rule of the paint-choosing process. Not only did we not buy any samples or test out the colors in the room, but we also didn’t even really think about it too long. We walked into Lowe’s, walked up to the paint chips, picked some grays out and decided within about 90 seconds. The color we chose is Rocky Bluffs from Valspar. We had the nice paint lady color match it in two gallons Olympic Premium (because it’s no VOCs and low odor). We only ended up using about 2/3 of one gallon. Good to know. #firstimehomeownerproblems
It was important to us to get a gray that was slightly blue—because of the yellow-wood floors, we were worried anything too warm tinted would look mocha or brown on the walls. We also wanted to make sure not to go too dark. The back two bedrooms have lots of windows, but they are all covered by trees in the summer, which means there isn’t a lot a lot of natural light.
We got home, I changed out of my cowboy boots into something a little less adorable and started slapping some gray on the walls! I hate despise taping, so I went rogue and cut-in within a short, stubby angled brush that gave me lots of control.
After I did my cutting in, I headed to make dinner while Craig came in with a roller. The coverage with one coat was actually pretty impressive, but just to make sure we didn’t have any pudding seeping through, he went over it again a few hours later with another.
I have to be honest, when the color first went up, I thought it was entirely too blue. While I was cutting in the paint, against the butterscotch yellow, it looked so blue that it looked almost periwinkle. I need to remember that new paint almost always feels wrong when it first goes up. I mean, has anyone ever loved a color at first brush stroke?
But once it was all up, it was perfect! And now I’m totally in love. It’s so cool and crisp in there, without being overly cold or harsh. I’m really interested to see what will happen to the color in the winter when the light quality of this room changes. It’s a good thing we’re in love with the color, because we have a whole unopened can of it now. You might be seeing this gray throughout the house.
Before we loaded in our furniture, I took the opportunity to do the first step in Operation Trim Touch-Up. All around the house, the trim (especially the baseboard) is starting to yellow. Plus, the rest of the trim just has 20 years worth of wear and tear that needs a little refreshing.
There are lots of benefits to buying a house from relatives, and one of them is that they leave you an almost-full gallon of the trim paint. Thanks, Mama!
After a trip around the room with the trim white, we cleaned everything up and started to load in furniture. Including our pallet headboard.
And a recently-acquired $35 chair that Puppyface claimed almost immediately. It’s perfect for viewing out into the woods.
We loaded in our bed, a rug stolen from another bedroom and a few accessories and we suddenly had a livable bedroom!
We’re in love with the new vibe in the room. It’s almost cave-like, without being oppressive or cold. It feels so comfortable and cozy. It’s especially nice with the lamps on. Cozy, cozy, cozy! I just tossed in some red accessories to add a bit of color (without them, its a bit too neutral for our tastes) but we’ll be switching those out for purple, gold and teal accents in the future.
Oh, and in case you were wondering what’s on the other side of the room, there is an antique dresser, plus a giant awesomely gaudy mirror inherited from my grandparents. All of this is temporary. We have plans to paint the mirror frame in some bright color and use it as an accent in our guest bedroom.
While the gray has gone a long way to make this bedroom more us, we still have a ton to do in this room:
Make a reclaimed wood headboard.Paint the walls.- Find a new (hopefully purple) rug.
- Buy or make a bed. <——We aren’t too keen on the box spring look.
- Buy a king size mattress.
- Figure out new side tables. <——Our current ones do not work with the way the windows are placed.
- Buy and hang a full-length mirror.
- Replace our current side lamps with something different, possibly something installed in the headboard.
- Curtains.
- Change the bi-fold closet doors into French doors.
- Replace the ceiling fan.
- Cover up the popcorn ceiling with ceiling planks.
- Figure out what to do with the sconce on the wall. Keep it? Change it out? Remove it completely?
- Figure out some sort of art/design for on and above the headboard.
- Add some shelves for book storage.
- Hang some art, add some accessories.
Just for funsies, look at this before and after. It’s amazing what a little bit of paint can do…
Oh, the grey looks so cool and cottage-y! With the rustic headboard it’s such a nice contrast between rough and polished. Love it.
Thanks! We’re in love with it, too. Every time I walk past the bedroom, I want to jump in bed because it looks so cozy and comfy!
Perfect timing!! I spent yesterday painting/priming the living roomin our new fixer-upper. There are four different textures goin on in one room, and since we aren’t ready to rip off all the paneling and do sheet rock, I decided to at least make everything one color. No color yet, but a buttload of primer. I have faux brick paneling, wood paneling, and then some type of wall treatment that looks like giant argyle. I actually love that, and may do something fun with the paint there. It’s amazing what paint can do!
I am in awe of the floor in your room!!! I am praying for a Christmas Miracle -that when we lift up the carpet we will find glorious hardwood…not just sub flooring!
My next paint project is my new classroom. I am thankful that we are allowed to paint whatever cols we want as long as we do it ourselves. I like a homey, less institutional classroom! Can’t wait to make my new nest for the ittle ones!!
Wow! So many textures in one room! Those would all be great and fun…if they were separate. I think painting them all one color is a great idea!
Oh wow, that looks great. What a difference the paint makes!
Thanks! I’m constantly amazed what a $25 can of paint can do!
I love this! It looks great! We are thinking of redoing the paint and accents in our house this fall – we’ve lived there 6 years so it’s time for a face lift- and gray is one of the colors I am considering in the living room. We have a red couch so I need something that will work with that. We have white trim and hardwood floors so gray might be a good choice.
I actually really love how the red looks with the gray! We had a red couch that we LOVED (it was the same color/fabric as those narrow pillows on the bed) but it was destroyed in the tornado. Bummer!
Thanks for the motivational “Before and After” pictures. We moved into our house about a year ago, shortly before my Mother passed away from cancer. Needless to say I haven’t done a thing to make this house a home yet. My bedroom is bright red on one side, pink on the opposite side with a bright white line down the middle of it, my door and closet doors are purple. Its a nightmare! I’ve been been wanting to paint it and fix up this house but I think the depression had sucked all my motivation out of me. Seeing your pictures has put me in the mood to head to town today and buy the paint and hopefully get me going on making this place an actual home…
I’m so sorry about your Mother.
It can be so hard to get motivated to do thing around the house when you are dealing with such huge things, even if you know they might make you feel better. I hope the paint helps give everything a fresh, right new light. 
<3
Oh I LOVE this!! It is the perfect grey and goes wonderfully with the headboard. I also love the windows on either side of the bed. And puppyface in the chair is too cute. You must be having so much fun making the house your own. Great job!
I love the windows, too! We just have to figure out a way to do the side tables with them.
Love! I’ve been trying to find the right grey for months now, and was veering too dark over and over. I think we’re going to give this one a try ’cause I have the bug and I want my master bedroom decorated!
It’s definitely a good gray if you are looking for a blue-tinted one. So we wouldn’t get something too dark, we said we were going to pick a gray and then get one shade lighter. Not really all that scientific, but it worked!