Wanna sleep over?

(This is Monday's post - a little bit early, since I'm hoping to get a little advice on where to go next from the lovely folks at It's Great to Be Home...)

My dear, sweet hubby already thinks I'm a little loony, so he hardly raised an eyebrow when my reaction to an unexpected day off last month was, "oh, I guess I'll paint the guest room, then." Yeah, I kind of don't know what to do with free time...and there was this one, lonely, remaining room that I had yet to repaint. God forbid we have any evidence of the previous resident and her paint choices. (Well, that's not entirely fair, although she hired a local "consultant" who did terrible things elsewhere, this room was actually quite a nice color: Van Cortland Blue by Benjamin Moore. Unfortunately, it was the darkest corner of the house, and that dark blue was just the making of a cave. If you only know how often I'd lain awake at night wishing she'd painted the office or the front bedroom this lovely blue...)

But I digress, on to how I got it done! First step for me was to head into the basement and grab a smattering of leftover sample jars. Putting real color on the walls helps me decide what direction to go in. I had long considered gray as a nice way to tie the floor together. By the floor I mean the other rooms that you can see, along with this one, when you stand on the landing. Those rooms are: 

Bathroom, Hall, Office, Bun's room, Hall to 3rd Floor, Laundry Room

So, gray would kind of help. The Scotland Road is already a bit off in terms of tone in the palette, but she's a kid. And I'm not perfect. We had a million little jars of gray in the basement from when I was picking paint for the family room (Wickham Gray) and the Master Bath (Mineral Ice). So, I grabbed all those, along with the laundry room's Moonshine, which is a green-toned gray, and slopped them on the wall. I was this close to doing the Moonshine when hubs noted that "all the room on this floor are green." Whoops, I'd veered a little past "coordinating" to downright matchy-matchy.

So, Stonington Gray won the day. It's light, it's neutral, it picks up the tone in the curtains in the office next door, is on the same swatch as the Wickham Gray downstairs, and is kind of sister to the Moonshine down the hall. What do you think? First the new palette:

 Then the new room:

 
 I'll go a little further and tell you that half the fun of this new color was the opportunity to get some new accessories. I had received the shadow box for Christmas, to display a very sentimental outfit. To tie that in I tried numerous quilts and duvet cover combinations, hitting Target and West Elm no less than 3 times each in one weekend. I landed, quite by accident, with this West Elm quilt. Best part? The sale. Note, also, the discount I got on the charcoal plisse blanket that now graces the master bed. Love a good sale. "Suckers!" to anyone who bought it full price!

 

(crossing this off my 2011 list!)

Comments

[Liz @ It's Great To Be Home]

Great job! Now the fun part, adding in all the accessories and goodies! You're right, the room would look fab with a little more pattern and texture. Maybe a lumbar pillow out of the fabric that you used on the chair seat? Paint the bed frame red? Stencil a pattern onto the curtains? A gorgeous mirror on the wall behind the bed? A large woven basket at the foot of the bed? There are so many fun things you could do!

P.S. I linked you up to the blog party, thanks for joining!! :)

[Sharon]

I love the new colour and with the white sheers,hust perfect, great guest room:)

[Holiday]

Liz, I'm loving the mirror idea. Another way to brighten it up. And I totally have enough chair fabric left for pillow!
xo

[Elisa @ What the Vita]

This is definitely a great start to a great room! Target has a lot of great things in dark blue and they would go great in your room. Love the desk.