Ever wondered what to do with those bare walls in your home?  That unused square footage along empty hallways or entryways ?  Do you add storage, or do you use that space as display for your art and photographs?  Well why not have both!

This wall space presented that very design dilemma:  how to take this busy family’s unused square footage in their upstairs loft and make it work for their lifestyle.  They wanted to display family photographs, but like most families, also needed extra storage. 

I tackled their dilemma in three simple steps:  first, by adding architectural interest that complemented the style of their home with the addition of a board and batten wall treatment.  Next, I introduced hooks and a storage bench below for added utility.  Finally, I allowed for space above the wall treatment for a mini gallery of family photographs.  Take a peek at the transformation!

Before:

After:

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I took a painting class years ago and it taught me one truth: I have very limited skills when it comes to recreating an image with paint on a canvas.   Grrrr, how I struggled with my first (and only) still life.  (Never never never again will I torture myself with a still life!!!)  Ugh.  One thing the art class did do for this left brain lawyer was kick the right side of my brain in gear and it forced me to get creative on canvas!   As a result, now and then I find it therapeutic to create little pieces of art for my home.  

Last year, I made this little winter berries canvas, and never posted any sort of ‘how to’, mostly because I didn’t think it was so great.  After bringing it out again this year, I realized I really do love it!  I was a fun and simple painting, and the little berries popping off the canvas are a fun backdrop to a holiday vignette. 

After some gentle prodding by several readers (and actually finding those darn pictures from last year) I’m offering up the quick play by play.   As with any non paint-by-numbers art project, you need to go with how you feel, what looks right to you because the beauty of art is its subjective nature.  That said, this is the technique that worked for me! 

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This is a post from a long time ago, but updated as of March 2012 (yahoo!), just in case you’ve ever wondered about the colors on our walls . . .

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I’ve received several emails lately inquiring about paint colors in my home.  Shelley recently wrote,

“Dear Kate,

I’m curious if you would mind sharing the paint colors on your walls in your dining room, stairs, and entry?  I so want to take my dated golden oak stair rail and replicate what you did with yours with the gel stain and glaze!  Thanks for the inspiration…now only if I can get a dose of courage as well.  I love your home!  Simply beautiful !  ~ Shelley”

Sure Shelley!  Some of the colors in my home are straight out of the paint can.  Others I’ve tweaked by blending my own color.

In our living room is Benjamin Moore’s Affinity ’Tranquilty’ but I had the guys at the BM store tweak it by pulling two drops of blue out of the formula to make it a hint grayer, so we dubbed it ‘Tranquility Tweaked’.

Here’s the formula for the Ben brand (which I love because it covers in one coat!)

S1  0x  3.0000; Y2  1x  1.5000; B1  0x  20.0000; O1  0x  19.0000

Here are three closest color matches to my custom formula: ‘Portico’ by Valspar, ‘Sea Salt’ by Sherwin Williams, and ‘Chicken Wire’ by True Value. .

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The dining room, kitchen, and family room are all connected as open spaces so it made sense to paint them all the same color which is Benjamin Moore’s ‘Camouflage’ a pale gray green.  It looks different in morning and evening light, a brighter green in direct sunlight and more gray in evening or indirect sunlight.

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In the foyer is a neutral tan color we painted many years ago and I’m sorry to say, the name is not on the can because it was a custom color, but here are some close color matches: ‘Wheeling Neutral’ by Benjamin Moore, ‘Churchill Hotel Wheat’ by Valspar, ‘Whole Wheat’ by Sherwin Williams, and ‘Classic Taupe’ by Behr.

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The kids’ study was recently given a makeover and the color is Glidden’s ‘Oyster Bay’

The master bedroom is another custom blend – it’s a mix of 1/2 Camouflage and 1/2 Misted Green, both by Benjamin Moore.  The closest color match is ‘Comfort Gray’ by Sherwin Williams.

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In the master bathroom is (shoot me now, I know) another custom color I mixed up with leftover paints …. but I’ve color matched it too so here’s a few close ones:  Valspar’s ‘Clothesline Fresh’, Glidden’s ‘Grey Leaf’, and Sherwin Williams ‘Silver Mist’.

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In my daughter’s room I painted the walls a pale gray green: ‘Thistle’ by Ralph Lauren.  Even though RL paints are not sold anymore at Home Depot (except for their metallics), HD still should have all the formulas, so don’t hesitate to ask!

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In my oldest daughter’s room, the wall color is ‘Blue Green Gem’ by Kelly Moore – a watery pale shade of Tiffany blue.

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In the home office, I hung the grasscloth wall covering, but I painted the non-papered opposite window wall in a very close match by Valspar called ‘Seafoam Storm’ which is a really gorgeous medium gray blue.  The back of the bookshelves are also painted with ‘Seafoam Storm’.

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In my boy’s room, we painted his walls an intense teal  called ‘La Fonda Villa Fountain’ by Valspar – it works well with the board and batten installation painted in Benjamin Moore’s ‘Dove White’.

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On the walls in my powder bathroom is Valspar’s “Seine” – a deep mushroom gray color with a little chocolate brown in it too.  I also installed beadboard wallpaper for a nice contrast.

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‘Silver Sage’ is one of those colors that you just can’t go wrong with ~ so it made sense to use it in our laundry room, but I cut it in half with some white to stretch it.

So there you have it, for anyone who’s ever had any questions about the paint colors in the CG household.  You can tell I’m a fan of blues and greens, as long as they are muddied up with gray.  In my opinion, adding gray softens hues,  reduces a color’s saturation, and creates a more soothing color, therefore increasing the chances you’ll be delighted with your color choice over time.

That said, regardless of what you choose, paint is simply the easiest way to transform the feel of a room.  Yours truly is guilty of picking up the brush on many occasions and changing the walls in my home simply because the mood strikes!

Are you as guilty as I am of repainting all the time?

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Hiya folks, hope you had a lovely weekend !  Today I’ll show you my step by step for the hand painted trellis pattern on our wall in our bedroom.

I wanted something elegant behind our headboard but also dramatic with a hint of shimmer.  My original idea was to use wallpaper with a subtle metallic pattern, but when I saw Kristen’s wall featured on YHL a few weeks ago, I decided to this was a much easier (and cheaper) way to add the large scale design I wanted without the expense of wallpaper.          

This 13’ x 9’ feature wall was not difficult, but it did take a lot of patience.  I created my own stencil, sketched the pattern on the wall, and then filled in the lines with acrylic craft paint, all in about six hours.  

Supplies: poster board; utility knife or sharp blade; silver colored pencil; level; painter’s tape; craft paint; artist’s Filbert paintbrush. 

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