Treading in Color

The trend of board and batten walls seems to be an update to traditional wainscoting and I'm loving the look of it! It is fairly common to either go shoulder height with it on a wall or fill the entire wall. After seeing some pictures, I like both! I think it is a great way to add some interest to a space.  I think a full wall is easier to incorporate with wood trim because you can paint the full wall any color and part wall installation seems to look best white. I also like the idea of using it as a broken down catch all for coats in an entry way if you don't have room for the full locker system that is wildly popular in newer homes right now. VS .   I think I have the perfect spot in my house for this! (Josh Cichy HINT HINT) It would replace a storage bench we currently have but it's full of shoes (and sand) the kids never wear! I would love to maybe just use a basket for shoes and hooks for coats/backpacks/snow pants galore!  I'll keep you updated on ho...

It seems as though gallery walls are here to stay.  Whether they are to bring in some color and texture to a space or highlight photos you love, mine actually does both. In my master bedroom I have added a panel to mimic a brick wall and created a space for my photos. It just happens to be pictures from my husband and I's journey together from the start. There is a picture from our first international trip together, a picture from our honeymoon and even a picture from when we were on the plane headed to Vegas for his 40th.  The map at the top is from etsy and is of Fort Collins, CO where we met and fell in love. I love that this wall is the last thing I see when going to bed and the first thing I see when waking up. It's amazing to me that a gallery wall can be as organized or chaotic as you like. Meaning it can be a very structured rectangle of 9 of the same frames or a mishmash of all different frames and decor!   As I was searching 'gallery wall' images ...

Front Door Message Board ...not to be confused with "chalk" paint. The kind where you can write on it! I used black with my project but Benjamin Moore's chalk paint is now available in any BM color, the options are endless! But before we get into that let's think outside of the box a little. Maybe you went through a kitchen remodel and your stove was stainless steel but your dishwasher was black and your stove was white. Stay with me here, in the new kitchen your fridge is moving to the other side of the room and will be flanked with white cabinets for more storage. Your hubby is on board with a new stainless steel dishwasher to match your stove but not a new fridge. What do I do? Paint it with chalkboard paint and live with it until it dies and I can get my pretty stainless steel one to match all my other appliances. It was a step outside of my design box but it's only paint, right? white fridge "before"                  3 yr...

If you know me at all, you know I have always been a white (out of the can) ceiling girl. I think it helps to give the color you choose for your walls contrast and the undertone won't fight with future colors.  That being said, I do have a couple of different ceiling colors in my house. One of my favorite colors is turquoise and when we remodeled our kitchen I had to incorporate that color somehow! So I painted the ceiling in our VERY small back entry. I have a Moroccan Star light there and it helps draw interest to the space we use everyday. I also have recently had my husband help me paint my 1/2 bath on the main floor. I went darker, quite a bit darker and painted the ceiling the same dark color. Sounds crazy right? It is currently my favorite room in the house! The room doesn't get much natural light but it does have wainscoting painted white about elbow height on all 4 walls to help off-set the darker color. I have a very colorful piece of artwork in the space and I ...

My PPG rep Cullen Wolff was visiting our store location today from Sioux Falls and he seemed to notice I mention a lot of his competitors product, Benjamin Moore in past posts. So I told him I would mention his product too just to be fair. C2 is a smaller paint company that distributes their paint through Pittsburgh Paints (PPG). I've been selling Benjamin Moore paint for 8 years now and I've learned a few things along the way. They have several paint lines to choose from (ie:Classic, Preview, Affinity, Color Stories, etc) giving us thousands of colors to choose from, BM users are very loyal, and you get what you pay for when it comes to paint.  We've tried some other brands in the past (Ralph Lauren, Manor Hall) but nothing has excited me like C2. They are a company about COLOR! C2 was started by chemists who understand pigments and their properties and their collection only contains 496 colors. All of their offered colors mirror colors found in the natural world wh...

It's quite simple, but it's not easy. In short, a color consultant specializes in the complex effects of color and creates color solutions for a client's goals. A color consultant combines color psychology, current trends, demographic statistics, and color design theories to come up with a successful informed solution. Add to that  mix  the science of visual and physiological effects. On a recent trip to Houzz.com I came across this comment:        " A typical color consultation client is someone who has already taken 10 trips to the paint store, has stacks of paint swatches, has samples painted on the walls and can’t make up their minds what to do,” says Mary Nolte of  Kaleidoscope Color Consulting .  “They think they have no idea of what they want or like, but this isn’t true  — they just lack confidence and vision.”  This is so true! Believe it or not, I would say 25% of the time I am simply reassuring clients on dec...

So I am VERY opinionated about front door colors, paint them! Why not? Yes they made fade over time but I think it is a great way to personalize your home and make it a little more welcoming. When considering a paint line to use just make sure it is an exterior paint and remember that it is ok to only paint the front of the door that the outside world sees! When searching for a color, it is important to think of the color of your house, accessories you might use and different holiday decor. For example, what will your door look like with your Christmas decorations or your Easter wreath??? My front door has been yellow (BM 2152-50 Golden Straw) for several years now and I think I'm ready for a change! Ok, so my pictures aren't the best but I painted my door brown right after we moved in and the decided to go yellow about a year later-10 years later and it is still yellow. The picture on the right is my entry way, which is painted BM 2128-30 Evening Dove with my yellow fron...