This is one of those projects inspired by a fellow blogger and one I’ve had on the back burner for a long while.  It was time I got my act together and cleaned up all the old paint cans in my house and rounded up all the colors in one post as well.  I’ll get to them in a bit, but first, can I tell you about my paint can issues?

Exhibit A:

If you think that’s bad, that is only half of my problem. The other half is in that neighboring closet to the left which is also filled with another dozen old paint cans so it was time to get serious.  I can’t help it – call me a paint hoarder, what can I say.

So what happened was this, I touched up a lot of paint last week but in the process it became clear a lot of the old gallons were looking pretty shabby.  I turned to this inspiring post by the talented Mrs. Limestone – the one where she took all her old gallons and reduced them to pretty little labeled quarts. I’ve been meaning to do this for like ever and finally took the time to do it.

Hello pretty paint cans all in a row.

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I was visiting my friend the other day and noticed an old cottage screen door sitting by the side of her house.  I said, “Whatcha gonna do with that?”  and she said “Don’t know, doesn’t fit our doorway.” and I said “It’s really cool, can I do something with it for you?” and she said, “Go for it.”  So I decided to turn it into an architectural planter rack for some herb containers. 

I also made her some cute paint can planters too – I snapped a few pics of the door turned planter rack in my yard, but it’s headed back to her house where her hub will attach it to the side of their house.  But I have to say, I’m totally smitten with this door, the pale blue paint is all chipped and crackled and old and awesome and the arched panes on top had me at hello.  I will miss it when it goes so I’ll have to visit my friend as an excuse to stare at the transformed screen door that I love so much. 

For the rosemary, basil, spearmint, cilantro and dill, I made these paint can planters with the same technique I used three years ago for these gallon size paint can planters. 

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There’s been an ongoing debate in our home for over a year about painting some dark wood cabinets in our casa.  We have dark wood cabinets in our master bathroom and dining room, dark wood countertops in our kitchen and dark wood treads on our staircase too – all of them I love and would never paint.

I love dark wood, especially juxtaposed next to crisp or warm whites – the contrast is divine.  The debate in our home has to do with the dark wood built-ins in our windowless family room, which feels like a cave much of the day. I am so drawn to the look of white built-ins in a living or family room space, especially flanking a fireplace.

See how nice they look?

Bella Mancini Design

Globe and Mail

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As one of the bloggers over at My Colortopia, I get to answer inquiries and write articles about choosing color for the home, which really is one of my most favorite topics in the universe ever.  They asked me to write about my method for choosing paint color for walls so I’m going to share the easiest way! 

When you’re about to paint your walls something other than white or a pale neutral, I’m a firm believer in starting with something that will actually live in the space as a source of inspiration.  It can be a decorative object, a textile, something organic, a print or piece of art – anything you love that inspires you. Once you find that thing or that fabric, the easiest way to choose a paint color for the walls is to use that source of inspiration as your starting point. 

In my own master bedroom, I wanted a soothing gray with a hint of blue on the walls, so when I repainted it last year, I pulled my color from this Ikat toss pillow.

Fabric or artwork is always a great place to start, but it really can be anything that you use as your jumping off point.  How about the pattern on this loose tea canister?  Your wall color can be inspired by an object just like this. Imagine medium gray walls with vibrant coral or tangerine and spa blue accents, gorgeous!

To see a ton of inspiring color palettes, be sure to visit one of my favorite sources Design Seeds – a blog all about pulling color inspiration from both organic and tangible objects.  Also, be sure to check out the My Image Inspiration Tool – upload an image and palette will be generated for you!

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