paint color for our living room

We are dangerously close to starting our first floor renovation. So much so that I think its safe for me to start to consider things like paint color! Of course, I have an idea of what I would like to see in the room but narrowing it down to the exact shade is a whole other thing. When it comes to paint selection for this room, I have known since we bought the house that I wanted to do a darker contrasting trim. Back when we were using the space as our dining room, I liked the idea of doing a dark grayish blue color. But then, we painted our den Normandy - a darker blue - so that just seemed like too much. From there, I moved onto dark green and up until recently, I thought that this was the direction I wanted to go in. But now, I have had a change of heart and am thinking something more neutral. I like the idea of opening up the possibility to different accent colors in the art, pillows and chairs. One of things I have discovered having a darker room - our den - is that it is harder to hang art. While the room looks more "complete" with the blue walls, I have had to be very selective in what to hang ie there is nothing currently on the walls. With our living room, I want the freedom to put up family pictures, favorite photography etc. and not be as limited. I also want the room to really flow into the back hallway (which will be white) to create the illusion of a bigger space. Below are some inspiration images I am referencing as well as some paint colors that are under consideration. 

source unknown

This is my leading inspiration image as its the closest to what we actually have/will have in the room - chair rail, base, crown and a vertically paneled fireplace wall (I wish our fireplace opening was going to look like this!). I would describe the color as a beige with some gray and green in it. Our floors are mid tone like the ones in the image (not the amazing wide plank though) and the color seems to nicely bridge between warm and cool tones. 

When starting to thinking about paint colors for any space, I generally turn to Farrow & Ball first. Their more limited color palette is spot on and provides for a jumping off point if nothing else. For our living room, I was initially interested in Hardwick White, French Gray, Lamp Room Gray, Purbeck Stone and Pavilion Gray. When looking at paint colors, I always look for install images to see how the color seems to play out. With beiges and grays, its important to try to gather what the light is like when looking at reference images as these colors can change dramatically depending on their environment. From some image sourcing, I ruled out French Gray for being too green, Lamp Room Gray for being too blue and Pavilion Gray for being too cool in tone.

Hardwick White by Farrow & Ball

1929 Farmhouse design by Rafe Churchill

Purbeck Stone by Farrow & Ball

via wendell

I am leaning towards the Hardwick White but plan to order sample pots of both just to see how they look up on the wall. I also am interested in Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter which is probably one of the most popular grays out there right now. 

Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore

design by Taste Design Inc. via Home Bunch

I plan on pairing our "greige" trim with Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee on the walls. I have been using this white throughout the rest of the house and want to be consistent. I feel like I am still open to other colors at this point but am going to at least get samples of the three above and go from there. Paint can really be so hard!

Want to read more? Check out one or all of these related posts. 

picking paint colors
november 15, 2013

michigan + half painted walls
july 28, 2015

vintage inspired wallpaper
november 12, 2015

chocolate brown walls

I am helping a friend with her recently purchased new home and am trying to convince her to paint her basement family room brown. Yes - brown. A deep chocolate brown that is chic, unexpected and timeless. She is having a hard time visualizing the color so I thought I would do this post to help her out. See brown walls can be so good!

Perhaps no other designer creates better spaces with a brown backdrop than Tom Scheerer. He is a complete master - not to mention one of my absolute favorite interior designers.  Brown works well to highlight other colors such as purple and blue while keeping the base color of the room neutral but also impactful. In short, its a classic choice so embrace the brown!

from top left - via Country Living - via The Design Chaser - bedroom designed by Tom Scheerer - entry in home of Tom Scheerer - living room designed by Tom Scheerer - chair with pink curtains in room designed by Tom Scheerer - hearth room designed by Tom Scheerer - home of Paloma Contreras via La Dolce Vita - office designed by Tom Scheerer - dining room designed by Tom Scheerer

michigan + half painted walls

Last night, we returned from a whole 10 day vacation in Michigan! The week plus flew by and this morning I am tiredly getting back into the swing of real life. For anyone who has ever been to Michigan in the mid to late summer, you know there is just no beating it (personal biased opinion of course)! We started our trip with a couple days all the way at the top of the mitten on Mullet Lake. We then headed south for a quick 18 hours in Harbor Springs/Petoskey before making our way down the west coast to the town of Pentwater. I finished the week outside of Detroit at my parent's house celebrating my sister's upcoming wedding while Jeff and Booker made there way home via Saugatuck. It was an incredible time spent on the lakes with family and friends - new and old - and I look forward to many more summer trips just like it. 

Returning from being away, it can be difficult to get right back into the blogging mode. I usually get started by scrolling Pinterest, catching up on my Blogroll and reflecting back on inspirational things I did, saw and thought about while on our trip. One thing that stood out to me from our trip was a particular bathroom - I know sort of strange but this is how my designer brain works. Set bathroom was in the amazingly delicious American Spoon Cafe in Petoskey. American Spoon is a Michigan preserve company that also has a cafe that serves up its up its yummy products alongside other local fare. Last Monday, we enjoyed breakfast there before getting on the road and I am going to say it was one of the best morning meals I have ever had.

But back to the bathroom - it was understated and simple with the main design element being a half painted taupe wall. I am not usually a fan of "paint treatments" but this totally worked and I am dreaming of how I could do the same thing in our bathroom. Check out these inspiration images. 

from top left - via SF Girl By Bay - Hotel Henrietta via At Home In Love - via April and May - home of Heather Jorde via Design Sponge - Gerrit Rievald bungalow by Remy Meijers via Fresh Palace - via Inside Out - source unknown - home of Tim Ross and Michelle Glew-Ross via Design Files - via REMODELISTA