Home Design Cool

Hello everybody! It is beautiful outside and I’m SO excited about the project I finished up this weekend! I’ve been planning it for some time now and I finally bit the bullet and got it done over Saturday and Sunday.

This one was all about the long wall behind our bed in the master. It’s looked like this for some time now, about nine months:

I painted it before we got our new bed and I installed the DIY headboard last summer. I was in such a rush to get it done I didn’t even cut in at the ceiling or the baseboards. And it sat.

I was telling a friend the other day that know when I’m not sure about a project when I let it sit for months. I’m talking six months to a year, or even years, like the powder room. If I’m loving the direction it’s going I’m pretty good at making it happen fairly quickly. (Granted, quickly in my time is still pretty slow.)

So I knew within a few months that I wasn’t feeling the light color on that wall, or I would have finished it up. I told you here how I was waffling between a dark or light bedroom – I love both! And I finally figured out how to make both happen. :)

I had been thinking of how to make that wall a little more dramatic and had a plan in mind. Then it was solidified when I saw Sarah’s wall in her office. Her dark wall was so striking, I loved it!

So that’s what I did. I was at the fancy mall a few months ago and the wall behind the cashier at Pottery Barn was a beautiful dark gray – I asked what it was and that’s when I knew Peppercorn was the color I would use:

I got the swatch a couple months ago and checked it in the room – it matched the dark gray in the rug perfectly and the new mirror over the fireplace too. It was meant to be!

I started by painting the wall Saturday – no cutting in needed, my favorite!:

I had this mixed in an eggshell finish – I love a dark color in a matte finish but I wouldn’t recommend it. You’ll see every little scuff and want to be able to wipe it easily.

After the wall was painted I moved on to the trim work. I used simple mdf boards from Lowe’s – they come primed white. I got 13 boards so the total cost was around $80. I go back and forth on painting before installation and this time I did:

But I’ve decided I still think it’s easier to just paint it all after the fact. You have to spackle all the holes and gaps and even though I tint it with the paint color, you still have to sand/wipe it down and then do at least one more coat after that:

And eventually I’ll probably caulk this whole wall (I haven’t yet) and I’ll have to paint over that too. So, I think I’ll always be a paint-after-install girl. :)

I did a “frame” around the whole wall – mitering the corners like you see above. Then I did a board and batten look on the rest of the wall:

And I LOVE IT.

Like, stand in the room and stare at it, LOVE. My husband can't stop talking about it too, that’s when I know it’s a home run for us. :)

It is just perfect as an accent in this room. The headboard pops off of it even more than with the lighter color and even the navy blue lamps still look good:

I never ever take pictures at night but I couldn’t resist – it looks so good during the day but I think I love it even more at night:

You can see above that the other three walls are still their original color – that’s the next step. They will be that light gray that was on the bed wall soon – as soon as I get the ladder and extender paint pole out. :) I’m SO excited about how this room is coming together now, I’m thrilled with it.

This is how it looks during the day:

I still have to touch up smudges on the ceiling too, so ignore those. :) I couldn’t decide if I wanted to paint the base the same color as the wall, but I like it as is.

I planned the two segments on the wall so I could clear the headboard. I’m considering adding another line of the boards to make a third (bottom) segment – but I’m not sure. If I do it will mess with the headboard so I think I’m just leaving it:

It truly makes that wall a focal point now, which is what I think the room needed. Love it so much.

This room is really coming together now but there’s still a lot I want to do! The priority is to finally get the rest of those walls done – two coats on each wall which is going to be SUPER FUN. :)

Do you prefer a light or dark bedroom? I think when I’m done this will be a good mix of both. I especially love the board and batten look in this dark color – have you ever done something similar in a dark paint?

We’re off for spring break this week so I’ll be taking a few days to be with my family – I’ll be back Friday with a quick little DIY project for the closet! That’s another space I’m excited about! Have a lovely, warm(?), safe week!

Hello and happy Friday! It’s spring break for us as well, whoot! It’s actually warming up just a bit, right on time. I’m looking forward to spending time with my boys and perhaps working outside a little. We’ll see about that last bit. :)

I’m highlighting another fabulous blogger today, this time Michelle from Iron & Twine! Her home is just lovely and homey and so pretty, I know you will love it!

Her living room is beautiful – love the mix of the colorful pillows and the neutral walls and furniture. It’s filled with personal touches too:

Everything works so well together, right? So well done.

I love her simple updates to regular items too – these were boring cardboard boxes before, and look what she turned them into!:

You can find the how-to here. So many possibilities with that project!

Her kitchen has been transformed with basics like lighting and paint – check out the before:

And the after!:

I have been doing this blogging thing for a long time and I am always amazed at the power of paint!

Her IKEA Expedit project was so simple but brilliant!:

This corner is now the ultimate organized space – love it!

And her mud room/studio had me drooling – it looks like a beautiful antique store, right?:

I love how Michelle effortlessly combines the old and new to create such beautiful spaces. Be sure to check out more of her lovely home here.

Have a great weekend my friends! I’ve got a couple of DIY projects in mind – one big and one small. Hoping to get both accomplished. :)

P.S. I have the Pin It button installed but I ask that you visit Michelle’s site to pin any of these images.

First of all, THANKS for all the thoughts on the bathroom ideas I shared earlier this week! Many of you with multiple kids mentioned our type of bathroom is a Godsend, which I can totally get. And I was so excited so many of you mentioned the solar tube skylights – I’ve been wanting to put those in our master bathroom for YEARS. I didn’t even think of them for that room so I’ll have to compare the costs of doing that and the window. And for some reason I thought you had to get them online but I saw them at Lowe’s yesterday – I’m so happy to hear they’ve worked well for so many of you!

OK, next topic. :) I mentioned in the paint colors post that question I get the most is about the color of our family room. A pretty close second is about our sectional we purchased a few years ago:

This is it for “real” – pillows smushed and back cushions smashed.

We got this sofa three years ago after paying off our massive debt. It was our first big purchase that we paid cash for and it was a GREAT feeling. I searched for months to find the right, quality sectional that would fit this room. We ended up with the Lansbury sectional from Arhaus and we LOVE IT. It rocks my world, still.

Many have asked how it’s held up and how the cushions do and that photo above shows that, yes, the back cushions do get smashed:

Mostly totally because of this guy:

It’s rare that he sleeps ON the seat cushions and not the back.

As you can see above they do get pushed out of shape:

But thankfully it only takes a few minutes to get them looking good again. I LOVE this about this sofa.

I just put them on the floor and push my fists around on them to get them fluffed up again:

I work the filling back into the areas that need it. It takes less than a minute to get each one fluffed up again. And honestly, I rarely do this. That level of smush is from about six months of the dog and cats walking and laying on the backs of the sofa. So it’s not something I do often.

I am also in love with the fabric that we picked. I shied away from micro fabric, but when we were searching so many of you talked about how much you loved it. Our sofa is covered in micro denier, which is slightly different:

I’m not sure exactly what the technical differences are but I’ve noticed two differences as far as using it – it’s incredibly soft, seriously like bunny butt soft. And it doesn’t leave quite the shadows that the micro fabric does. You know, the light and dark when you wipe your hand over it?

But this stuff is very much like microfiber in that it cleans up incredibly well. Every few months or so I’ll take a wet rag and just scrub any spots I see and they disappear. Here’s some frosting that I found, and how it looked right after I wiped it off:

I never use any cleaners or chemicals on it – there’s just no need. Plain water gets everything out. (Although I have had it cleaned a couple times when we’ve had the carpets done over the years.) We’ve not had any major spills like red wine, so I can’t speak to that. But liquids do tend to bead up and not soak in, so that helps.

Also, our dog will occasionally “dig” at the cushions and so far we haven’t seen any damage from that. Also, the cats claws haven’t caused any issues either. It really is an incredible fabric and I would highly recommend it if you have animals or kids!

So after about five minutes of punching and rolling the stuffing in the back cushions, they’re back to looking brand new again:

This sectional was probably our biggest furniture purchase ever – well, it was for one item. We spent just as much for a sofa and love seat (that obviously offer a bit more seating), but this one is easily the best purchase we’ve ever made. It will stand the test of time, I have no doubt in my mind.

I wanted a quality piece that we wouldn’t have to change out for years and this is it:

When we were on the hunt for a new sectional many of you shared your experiences with different brands on this post – check out the comments for some helpful info! At the time I was looking into Pottery Barn and IKEA as well.

Do you have a sofa or sectional you love? Any you’ve had good or bad experiences with?