Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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One Of Our Favorite Bedroom Paint Colors

We finally painted the guest room! And Burger, as you can see, is THRILLED.

Chihuahua sitting on colorful bed with Sparrow Walls

No more over-spray marks from door painting forming a lovely “accent wall” over the bed. Huzzah!

Unapinted bedroom with colorful accessories

The color? Sparrow by Benjamin Moore. It’s a color we’ve loved for a while now (it was one of our whole-house-color-palette guesses from last year) and we thought the guest room was the perfect place to try it out since it gets a lot of natural light from that giant triple window along the back wall.

Colorful bedroom with Sparrow walls

Since it’s a deep color we used a tinted primer first, and as usual I did the cutting in while John did the rolling. Oh and we painted the ceiling first (Simply White like the trim, but in a flat finish instead of semi-gloss) just because it’s nice to do that at the same time while the room is cleared for painting if you have the energy. Sparrow is more of a brown tone with gray undertones than a cool/flat gray color (you can see from the paint going on over the tinted primer that the primer definitely had a cooler/grayer tint going on).

Hand using small paintbrush to edge walls in guest bedroom Sparrow

With all the painting done, we decided we were over the blank walls in there, so we dug through our storage room for some frames and a mirror to complement the new paint job. A few old Ikea frames ended up in a grid over the chairs across from the bed.

Seating area in guest bedroom with Sparrow walls

They used to hang over our sofa in the last house, and they contain a few of our favorite instagram photos with big linen-like fabric mats behind them for some texture.

Bedroom wall painted Sparrow by Benjamin Moore

Over the bookcase to the left of the bed we went with another one of those Ikea frames, but we added one of our picture hanging knobs from Target along with some gold ribbon (to tie into the gold mirror we hung over the bed).

Art hanging in bedroom with BM Sparrow walls

Here’s a panned out shot for you. The wall on the left looks weirdly yellow because sunlight is shining in and reflecting green from the trees, so the other photos are more accurate in terms of the color.

Colorful guest bedroom with deep gray walls Sparrow by Benjamin Moore

The gold mirror was an old yard sale find that used to hang in our last house’s laundry room, and when John held it up over the bed we both liked how it looked with the wall color. Originally we thought we might want to hang something on either side of it to fill things out (like some small candle sconces, ledges, or art) but there’s something simple and sweet about the gold mirror without a lot of other stuff going on.

We also switched out the luggage-tray-turned-side-table for something a little more substantial with a drawer for concealed storage and a cubby for a few books and magazines. We found two of these tables for $11 at a yard sale a few years back, and I’m glad to have a spot for this one again – especially since it meant we could add a nice big light that felt more to scale than the tiny one that used to sit on the luggage rack.

Side table in bedroom with colorful flowers and headboard

The flowers are just a grocery store bouquet leftover from Clara’s party (alstroemeria for the win, they tend to live for 3-4 weeks!).

We still have a few things on the to-do list in here, like adding crown molding, eventually updating the seating area to a sewing spot so the room gets more use, and making a new headboard (we’d love something more substantial – and maybe with an interesting shape). I’m sure we’ll also upgrade some of these working-with-what-we-have-items over time (like the art, the bedding, the rug, or the curtains) but for just a gallon of primer and paint and some stuff that was sitting around mocking us in the storage room we’re really happy with the new vibe.

Unpainted bedroom with colorful decor

The guest room is at the top of the stairs, so we both do that “ooh!” thing when we go upstairs now. It’s amazing how blind you can become to certain eyesores (like those over-spayed door marks) but when you finally take care of them it’s like a breath of fresh air.

After photo of colorful bedroom with dark Sparrow Benjamin Moore walls

What did you guys do this weekend? Anything fun? We had a nice balance of work and family time – and spent a lot of time being grateful for everything that Memorial Day stands for. Hope you had a happy one!

MORE PAINT COLORS WE LOVE

You can check out more of our favorite go-to paint colors by touring our homes in the menu at the top of our blog. We’ve also written these detailed deep-dive posts about our favorite paints: 

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Comments

  1. Jes-ka says

    I painted my kitchen walls a color similar to this in my last apartment. I loved the brown undertones so much — far more than I expected. It helped make my white cabinets and red cookware pop in a really exciting modern way.

    I even kept the paint swatch so I can use it in the future. :D

    Love it!

    Reply

  2. Taya says

    The paint and the accessories look great in the room! I love use what you got updates! Everything in there goes together without being to matchy matchy.

    Reply

  3. Matt says

    I like this paint a color, a lot. My wife and I are thinking of painting our bathroom a darker shade, and this looks like a great one.

    I have to say, though, we are both growing increasingly frustrated as we try to understand the “scaling back” you mentioned! I guess as long as it makes sense to you, that’s what matters. I just can’t understand why there has been such a decrease in actual, DIY content but not in the number of comments saying “That rug/pillow/whatever is from Target/HomeGoods/Pottery Barn.” If you are truly trying to do less blog and more family time, we (and likely other readers, too!) would be infinitely happier with more content and less repetitive comment answering!

    This isn’t meant to be snarky, by the way. We’re just still slightly baffled as to what seems to take priority in the scaling back! Can you shed some light on this?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Typing out a sentence or two (or cutting and pasting a response) takes a lot less time than doing projects and writing posts, but if it ever gets to be something we can’t squeeze in of course we’ll reevaluate :)

      xo
      s

    • Linda says

      Honestly, I think one of the aspects that sets YHL apart is the interaction between John and Sherry and the readers. If I just want DIY content, well, there are a lot of places that provide that. But to have someone responding to, ‘hey, how do I fix the hole in the brick if I remove an existing fixture’, or, ‘gosh, love that pillow, do you remember where you got it’ – well, to me in solidifies a very special connection between the authors and the readers.

      Although, YHL’s interaction tends to spoil a lot of blogs for me – I find myself getting frustrated when people ask questions and the blogger never seems to respond. :-)

    • Crystal says

      I love what you’ve done in scaling back and I think I’ve enjoyed the posts more than I had in a while. Between the amount of comments you were getting per post and the hectic schedule you guys seemed to have in finishing up the showhouse, Target line and taking care of your own house (all before Teddy arrived) I think I was having phantom feelings of being overwhelmed and left behind in the fast-pace of everything happening.

      Plus I’m re-evaluating priorities and trying not to let fear rule my life and thinking about staying home after baby #3 (and eventually moving my career in a direction I’ll find more rewarding while still leaving more time for family) so I totally appreciate the effort to focus on what really matters.

      Anyways, keep up the good work!

  5. jill says

    Looks great. Love that color! Wish I could paint a room in one weekend and put it all back together.

    I did a few things in my room… hung a mirror, added some plates to the situation over the bed, and painted an old door that will soon become a desk. Wish I could show yall pictures!

    Reply

  6. Julianne says

    Beautifully done!! Doesn’t look like a ‘using whatcha have’ room, at all. Amazingly cozy…and Burger adds the perfect touch! ;O)

    Reply

  7. bridget b. @623Designs says

    I really like the room. It’s always interesting to see how the different shades of gray end up looking on the wall. I’ll have to file this one for the future. I also like how you were able to use existing art in this space.

    Thanks for the reminder about your hooks. It came just in time! I’m adding a DIY display area in my daughters’ playroom for the artwork that they bring home from preschool. Over the weekend I was brainstorming ways to wall-mount some decorative knobs, but you guys have already figured it out for me!

    Reply

  8. Lori Reed says

    Gotta get myself to Ikea…I forget about the beauty of those frames…and my weekend? Trying to learn something new in the sewing department, did some UGLY sewing (please do not look below the surface! The couch cusion covers look okay from the OUTside but…yikes!) And for a change of pace I decopaged old pages from a book printed in french onto a thrift store score of an old violin case….NOW taking any and all suggestions as to what to DO with it! Maybe shoulda thoughta that before ripping tiny pieces of paper and practically modge-podge-ing myself to the kitchen counter became my life’s work! it came out really pretty…..suggestions?.

    Reply

  9. Eleven malec says

    Forgive me if you’ve already posted this elsewhere but where did you get those amazing linen mattes for the square white frames? Need them!

    Reply

  10. Laurie says

    Love the new guestroom. The color is gorgeous. Funnily enough, I was in bedroom makeover mode this weekend as well and my master bedroom looks very similar to your guestroom now. I went with crisp, white bedding but used a very colorful quilt folded at the foot of the bed with matching shams and some bright throw pillows. Loved it so much that I ended up re-doing my daughter’s bedroom in a similar theme and then decided she needed a whole new mattress but she said she slept like a princess so it was worth it! When are you having us over? :)

    Reply

  11. Kristine says

    What ever happened to that sofa bed from the guest bedroom in your first house? You sold it, right? I think that would’ve been nice here. Have you considered getting another sofabed for this room so you have more space for your crafts?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think a traditional bed is still what we prefer for this room (we hear it’s really comfy) since we’ll have a craft area in the office. I just thought a little sewing desk in the place of those unused chairs might be a sweet reason to sneak in here on Saturday afternoons.

      xo
      s

  12. Lisa E says

    Wow, you guys are really coming along. You two definitely work fast. Looks great! Those floral shams are so cheery, too! I have to disagree with Matt’s comment above. I am so happy you have scaled back because I thought your schedule before was insane! I know your family has always been your priority but I didn’t understand how a body could continue to keep that pace and your sanity, too, ha! I was actually surprised to see so many responses from you for this post because that can be time consuming as well. Question, (not a criticism): is it quicker to cut and paste and answer to a question that has been asked numerous times or is it quicker to update the post with the requested information. Just curious because I’ve no clue how this stuff works. I’m so not computer/blog savy! I had bought two of your hooks about a month ago and finally hung them this week. I’m using the skeleton key hook for bracelets and the dog hook for said purpose; dog leashes. That Burger inspired hook makes me smile every time I see it as it’s more visable than the placement of the other one. Keep up the great work. You have a beautiful family!

    Reply

    • Lisa E says

      Oops, I had one more question. I don’t see any discount codes that used to be posted for various vendors. Are they no longer offered?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks Lisa, you’re so sweet! Those used to be coordinated when we did monthly sponsor shout outs, which we stopped last fall – so for now we don’t have any to share. Sometimes googling for them turns some up though! As for comments, it’s unusually easier to update the post if we’re home and to cut and paste comments if we’re on the go (editing posts on my phone can get hairy) so we just do whatever’s easiest.

      xo
      s

  13. Diane says

    Cute and cheerful room…just right to make guests feel welcome. I must make a couple of suggestions (sorry, can’t help myself). Trim out that plain white lampshade or at least add a colorful tassel to hang down in front of the dark base…it kind of disappears against the wall and the wood nightstand. Place a mirror on the shelf in the nightstand to brighten up that dark little cubby and recover the leather bench which really weighs down all the bright colors. Even a neutral suede or vinyl would look better. Sorry, hope you accept these suggestions in the vein in which they are shared. :)

    Reply

  14. Emily, Our house now a home says

    I love the room. I am such a fanatic with gray walls. My walls are all a shade of gray. Not planned that way, but it was the only color that worked. Maybe it is the new neutral color? I always feel after long weekends I plan to do too much. With three kids, a DIY home improvement obsession, a blog, a dog, and all that comes with those things I always have too much and inevitably don’t get to it all. But there was some fun, laughs, a little relaxing, organizing, laundry (blah), DIYing, project finishing, so it was a success.

    Reply

  17. Nina D says

    Wow, that looks great! The paint just makes everything come alive.

    Alstromerias are my go-to grocery store flowers, too, but I thought I was lucky because I get 2 weeks out of mine. What’s your secret to 3-4?? I change the water every few days, give the occasional snip to the stems. What else can I do?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Sometimes I add the powder that comes with them which seems to help. We have a filter on our faucet too, so that might add to their life? Anyone else have tips?

      xo
      s

    • Aimee says

      Sounds a little nuts, but my grandmother always said to throw an aspirin (a real one, not Tylenol etc) into the water, so I do. My Mother’s Day bouquet of roses and baby’s breath is still looking pretty perky. Aspirin is basically a chemical replication of willow bark, which was used in days of olde for headaches and fever in the form of steeping a tea from it, so maybe being *natural* has something to do with its helpfulness.

      I pinch off leaves when they start to wilt, discard a stem when petals begin dropping off, and trim the stems every few days. Honestly, I never change the water in the vase at all, just add more when the level drops, so that dissolved aspirin stays in there.

    • Nina D says

      Thanks, Aimee & Sherry!

      I have used the powder that comes with the flowers, but I’ll try that aspirin trick and see what happens. Grandmothers usually know what they’re talking about!

  22. Meredith says

    Love everything about this; especially the paint color. The brown tones in it really make it feel like a fresh, different take on gray walls. And I’m speaking as someone who loves gray.

    Reply

  23. Adaena says

    We have our bathroom painted in Sparrow, but it was from Behr. I wonder if they are the same shade. In any case, you can’t go wrong with grey.

    Reply

  24. Sara says

    We used alstroemeria for our wedding reception :-) They lasted forever and we let loved ones take them home :-)

    Reply

  27. Michele Daggar says

    I love this! The wall color is fabulous and really sets off the bright spots of color. Well done. We spent the weekend pulling weeds and mulching gardens. Mucho mulching…..

    Reply

  28. Beth says

    I think this is my favorite room in the house so far! I love the mix of patterns and the WHITE bedding! The darker walls with the bright white and natural light! TWO THUMBS UP!!!

    Reply

  32. Jenna says

    What did you use to attach the ribbon to the frame so that it holds the weight of the frame? Love the look of that, but not sure how to implement.

    Reply

  33. Alena says

    I absolutely love the color scheme in this room and the mix of patterns. You guys really hit it out of the park in here. I guess it helps to have a consistent color palette that you draw from when making purchases, so when you “just pull things out of storage,” it all coordinates. I will be trying to unify my house a bit more. Love all you do!

    Reply

  34. KimH says

    Looking at those pictures makes me happy! What a cheerful space! I’m curious if the duvet cover is the linen one from Ikea – I got one a couple months ago and love it.

    Also, I get lots of inspiration from your blog and your book – very accessible and lovely projects – thanks for sharing them with all of us!

    Reply

  35. Jessie G. says

    Love what color can do a space. I am also a HUGE fan of using existing items in the home.

    This weeks we works on our “guest” room aswell. Got furniture from a family member so some rearranging was in order to work around my treadmill.

    I finally started reupholstering our dining room chairs. After all the seats are done then we are going to apply poly shades darker stain. The old Yellowpine pain is not so great now days. That furniture too is a hand-me-down

    Reply

  37. Julene says

    Oh man, I love everything about this room. The paint, the white duvet, the bright pillows and window shades, the white on the walls. When can I move in? LOVE! :)

    Reply

  38. Isabella Golightly says

    I love the whole colour thing in that room but I would have put the mirror over the shelving unit where the guests could use it, put the four pictures over the bed and something similar over the chairs.

    Reply

  39. Anne says

    Looks great! I need to look up all the grays you’ve used…..need a good lighter, cooler gray recommendation for a bathroom that doesn’t get any natural sunlight. (Have to keep the blinds closed due to view.) Also, I am sad I have not seen a point of purchase for your hooks! Wah! :) Would like one for a project I want to hang on the wall….

    Reply

  40. Jamie J says

    This might sound silly but did you cut the fabric into those squares? How did you get it to lie to straight? I’m a bit cutting challenged so I’m guessing I’d create a big jaggity mess. Did you attach the instagram pics to the fabric or is it just sandwiched in there? Love the color!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I just cut it roughly (it didn’t have to be perfect because those Ikea frames come with white mats, so the fabric goes behind the mat and looks like it has a clean edge around it. Then I looped clear tape from the back of the picture to center it on the fabric and put it all in the frames to hold them in place.

      xo
      s

  41. Corinne says

    I have to laugh…way back in 1988…my husband and I painted our room the exact color of your guest room….people thought we were crazy. Look at that …it only took 26 years for others to recognize our forward thinking. The room is spectacular!

    Reply

  44. Laurel says

    This looks amazing. Do you think the Affinity paint is worth the money? Or is Behr matching good enough. It’s so expensive : /

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      For walls we usually use Ultra Spec or Natura (they’re the low-VOC ones) and just use Affinity for painting cabinets or furniture. The coverage is really nice and the colors are nice and rich so we tend to prefer those, but for years we color matched without really knowing what we were missing. Once we tried the Ben Moore stuff it was hard to go back…

      xo
      s

  46. Jessica says

    I love love love that color! It looks amazing in the room! (And I still love those pillow cases – I lust over them every time I see them pop on the blog!)
    xoxo,
    Jessica

    Reply

  47. Lisa says

    I’ve never been one to use primer, because I have always reasoned that doing a coat of primer, to save on a coat of paint, doesn’t actually save any time! I’m sure it helps with how the end result looks, and i bet primer is cheaper than paint, so it makes more sense to use it I guess :) Have you guys ever used the paint that is paint/primer in one? Is this not good paint to use or do you just use primer because you already have it on hand from previous projects? Just curious! I LOVE the color you chose it looks so classy to me :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks Lisa! We’ve tried it once or twice but never really loved those all in one paints. It has been a few years though, so maybe they have gotten better!

      xo
      s

  48. Kate says

    I am hoping to paint my room, and I really love that color. Having not paired much, if I ask for help at Home Depot, will they know what kind/color of tinted primer I need?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Definitely! We have used a bunch of different primers to go from light to dark and dark to light and they have all pretty much done the trick (if you’re going from one light color to another or one dark color to another sometimes you don’t even need primer on walls). Good luck!

      xo
      s

  49. Megan says

    Wouldn’t the mirror make more sense in a place where guests could actually look into it? Like over the dresser?

    Reply

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