Paint Color Struggles

Painting the powder room this weekend was not the easy project I was planning on. Neon red. Neon red was the first color attempt fail. I purchased a pretty coral orange color and in that room it was painfully vibrant. At first I thought it was going to be a pretty color, then as I continued on and the sun started streaming through I felt like I was in a red room of pain. Doesn't help that it's tiny and you can barely move in it. Seriously, this color radiated out of the room like a neon sign. Epic color pick fail. Probably should have helped to read Sherwin William's article: "The Play of Light and Color," especially this part:

"Take the same can of paint and apply it to two rooms, one that receives limited natural light and another that's flooded with sunshine, and it will look and act like two different colors. For example, a warm orange-red paint in a room with a north-facing window will make the room appear brighter and warmer and help offset the bluish cast to the light. However, that same red-orange paint in a room with a west-facing window will become intensely vivid – perhaps overwhelmingly so – in the late afternoon."

The room definitely has a West facing window...whoops! I of course felt discouraged that I wasted my free Saturday painting with a bad color. Dustin went to Sherwin Williams to see if they could tone it down a little, but it was still too similar. This morning I had my mom bring me her peach color from her living room, thinking maybe that direction would be prettier and less vibrant. It was very blah. On one wall it looked like a decent tone, on the other it looked sickly yellowish. Started to feel totally lost on inspiration and went to take a nap (pretty sure the vibrant tone of red haunted my dreams):

I wish my phone captured the red glow the room gave off! You can at least see how crazy red and bright it turned out. The lighter color is the peach. It looks ok there because of the red reflecting off, but up close it did nothing for me.

After trying to find a new inspiration, I felt a little depressed because I loved my original inspiration so much:

Rifle Paper Co. Wallpaper and yes I realize the color above looks nothing like this! Sadly holding my phone up close to it, they are similar...dang color tones and light!

I stared at the walls for a little while and the idea of mixing my two paints together popped up in my mind. I thought, what the heck, not much more to lose. Poured a little peach into the red and stirred it up.

I had a great result! It made a toned down orange coral that wasn't giving me a headache.

I like to say it went from a violent sunburn to pale to sun kissed! Ok it's still a little burn, but toned down, thank goodness! Dustin and I think painting the light flowers on it will also calm it down a little. It isn't neon anymore which is always a plus and I think it looks good. It will be our warm pop of color room hidden in the kitchen. Need to finish the edges, paint the ceiling (oh yea, originally thought painting it the original crazy red color was a good idea - ugh!) and painting the wood work. Then I can get started on the million flowers I think I can handle painting. With that, we also need to reinforce the floor (another ugh - around the toilet the wood rotted and I can see a small hole through to our basement - not good), lay our gorgeous tile and then put the fixtures in there. On top of that, we were crazy enough to take on fixing our sprinkler this weekend, ripping out the fireplace tile (more on that this week) and have an unfinished island in our kitchen - our house is a mess!!! The weather must have made us a little ambitious...

Happy Easter!

Lots of Love,

Painted Bag - Rifle Paper Co. meets Martha Stewart

Last month when I was flying to Florida, I picked up a Martha Stewart Living magazine and my heart skipped a beat when I stumbled upon the Anna Bond article. On her Instagram, I have seen her amazing hand painted Kate Spade bag she did for Fashion Week in Paris - I die! So, when I saw she was talking readers through a how to paint a bag, I figured I had to give it a try. I loved the fun shape and color of the Baggu bag, plus the paint colors she chose. If you purchase the magazine it talks you through the directions and tells you where to get leaves to trace - go out and purchase immediately before they switch months! If you feel comfortable with painting leaves, I think you can free hand them. I practiced on paper free handing and then I started painting the bag. Takes a little patience, but overall it's a pretty quick craft. I love how it turned out!

Make sure you let the layers dry. You will also have to go over things a couple times to really fill it in, especially the light blue and gold.

Before and After! Yes, I got a couple to paint because they are so fun - one is maybe ending up as a Christmas gift for someone :)
Photos via me

If you love to paint, give it a whirl! I loved painting the Baggu bag because the leather was soft and I felt like the brushes glided over nicely. I know they are a little more expensive, but if you are wanting a bag that you love, they have great pieces.

Lots of Love,

Favorite Painting Tips

Staring at our newly painted living room, I decided I should share some of our favorite painting tips that we've learned. That and my cousin's husband was mad at me for not sharing these with him before he tackled their nursery haha!

So here it is, the painting tips list from our house to yours:

• Wait for a sale to purchase your paint, if you can wait and then stock up on the paint you will need soon. We love taking advantage of the 40% off sales at Sherwin Williams (They currently have 25% off if you are needing paint now).
• Put a rubber band around the paint can to have something besides the side of the can to scrap your brush.
• Add the pour helper onto the can of paint, we purchase ours at Sherwin Williams:

Photo via me

• Make sure you are purchasing the correct roller brush for your wall type. If you have a bumpy/textured wall, you will need a thicker roller brush.
• If you have a steady hand and feel comfortable, you don't have to put tape everywhere. This is mainly for your ceiling because tape can rip the ceiling - trust me, we learned this the hard way!
• Our favorite brush for edging and tight areas is the short handled brush:

Sherwin Williams Short Handle Paint Brush

• Use foil to cover things like door knobs, thermostats, hinges, etc.
• To paint stripes, this is the best tape to avoid puckering and movement of the tape:

• When you are done painting for the day, but not done overall, wrap your brushes and rollers with foil to keep them fresh. This avoids the dreaded cleaning every time you want to finish for the day.
• Plastic floor covers that you can easily move around and reuse seem to be easier to use than the cloth drop cloths. They aren't as expensive and on the cloth, if paint spills it can start to seep through.

Have patience and love your spouse - they are at least trying and practice makes perfect! ;)

Hope this helps cut back a little of the time and frustration that comes along with painting!

Lots of Love,