Alternate title: Breaking Out John’s Painting Belt
It was like old times. For those who don’t get the painting belt reference, check this out for further explanation. Anyway, as we mentioned yesterday, we painted Clara’s nursery. And instead of cloning the exact space that she enjoyed in our old house, we took the move as an opportunity to switch up the wall color. We figure since we’re working with the same furniture and even the same light fixture and curtains (since I was too sentimental to leave them behind) we thought a new wall color would make things feel a little fresher- like the room is subtly evolving over time as opposed to being totally reinvented (since many of the major pieces are staying the same) or a carbon copy of the last room (just because we’ve been there and done that).
When we were chatting about what colors we could do, we debated a few options: some shade of blue (but we thought it would be too much with the blue bedding, changing pad cover, capiz chandelier, and the blue in the curtain fabric), some shade of green (too similar to the past version), some shade of yellow (not present in the curtains or any other items already in the room so probably too random), some neutral color (too safe for a kids room, we wanted to have some fun), some shade of pink (hmm, but is that super girly? we’re scared). And guess what we went with?!
Since there were soft tones of pink in the curtains as well as in our DIY mobiles (that we have yet to hang) we thought it would fit in nicely – as long as we kept things on the subtle side so it didn’t get too bright and overwhelming. But we didn’t just want a soft ballet pink (or a baby pink like the swatch in the photo above). We wanted something with gray/lavender undertones. It’s hard to explain, so we’ll let the swatch cards do the talking:
See how the one with the arrow towards it seems grayer and more lavender than the others? We thought it had a nice muddy sophistication and hoped that it wouldn’t look too pastel-ish and girly, since we’ve always loved that Clara’s room is full of greens and blues and other non-gender specific colors. Not to say that the room isn’t clearly a girl’s room now, but we just wanted the color to have a bit more dimension than just a soft pink. Plus you might remember this whole-house-color-scheme post, where the second swatch on the top row was a little bit pink, a little bit gray, and a little bit lavender. That was what we were going for.
And in person it really does look dimensional and full of subtle gray and lavender undertones! The color is from Benjamin Moore’s Affinity line and it’s called Proposal (sweet, right?) but you know we’re too cheap to get BM paint for the most part, so we had it color matched to Olympic’s No-VOC paint at Lowe’s (which now not only has no-VOCs in the base paint, it also has no-VOCs in the colorants that they add, so it’s perfect for a nursery). Thankfully, we love how it turned out. It’s a hard color to capture in photos though (the subtleties and varied undertones aren’t always super apparent) but we did our best. Here’s the room before:
Here’s the room during painting (just so you can see our process, we pushed the big pieces into the center of the room and tossed a plastic tarp over them):
And here’s the room now:
Of course it’ll look a lot more finished (and less pink-washed) when we hang the art, shelves, curtains, mobiles, etc. And when we switch out the ceiling fan for the blue capiz chandelier it’ll hopefully feel nice and complete for the beanette. And now for an obligatory look-how-cute-my-kid-is photo of Clara sleeping on her daddy. Is there anything sweeter?
But back to her freshly painted nursery. Her room was always the priority for us because we’d like her to feel settled and we want her room to always be a place where we can escape the chaos of the rest of the house (especially since most of it will be “in-progress” for a loooong time). So stay tuned for pics when we get our act together and hang everything up in there for a more finished look. Until then you can find us staring at about thirty swatches on the wall in the living room…
Amy says
Quick question: I noticed in one of the pictures above your monitor next to the crib (we purchased the same one), but then I realized I never saw it in Claras room at the old house. Was I just not paying close enough attention or did you have it stashed away out of sight somewhere? Ours just sits on top of the dresser right now. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s always tucked to the side of the crib on the floor (since it’s a sound/angelcare monitor it doesn’t have to point at the crib or anything). We stuck it down there in both houses just to keep it mostly out of sight.
xo,
s
Jenny says
Hi John and Sherry,
I love your blog! Are you guys thinking about doing a timeline to let the readers know what and when your next project will be? I’m dying to know what you’ll start on next?!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jenny,
We’re planning to share a casual bulleted “to-do list” but as for what’s next we have no idea. While we plan and save for big projects we tackle small things every day or two randomly- just depending on our mood and what materials we have on hand. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Amanda says
This might sound like a stupid question, but I’m seriously color-challenged so I thought I’d run it by y’all.
We just bought our first house, and I’d love to paint the bedroom first. Currently, it’s a light green color, but I’d like to paint it a shade of purple. If I put the color swatches up on the wall like you guys do, will I get an accurate feel for the purples as the light reflects off the greens? Do we need to primer first and then put up swatches?
Thanks so much for a great blog. You’ve really inspired me to try new things and be less afraid of tackling the projects we have to do!
YoungHouseLove says
In most cases primer isn’t always necessary, but in your case we’d definitely recommend priming first and then picking a color for the best result!
xo,
s
Relevant Notes says
I love the color you chose! I had something similar when I was younger, and it works really well because a lot of bedding options will match as Clara gets older.
Kelly says
Excited to see the end result once you finish pulling the space together!
I noticed some other readers asked you about your ceiling and you mentioned that you had planned to wrap the space, but the color appeared too dark once on the ceiling. I was wondering if you two have ever tried to have a color mixed at a lower % of colorants, like 75% or something, to achieve a lighter shade? Or have you tried mixing your own lighter shade adding the color to a non-tinted base?
(I keep thinking about experimenting with the technique myself, but have yet to try.)
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! We have done a 50% more white mix and it came out amazingly- that’s what we pictured doing down the line in Clara’s room if we wanted to go with a lighter-shade-of-the-walls-effect. We must admit with all the white in the furniture and the trim we’re not minding the white ceiling so far though.
xo,
s
SarahR says
Can we see the living room swatches? I too have 8 cards (with three colors on each) hanging on my living room walls. I just can’t decide.
YoungHouseLove says
When we tackle that project we’ll be sure to post pics of all the swatches just like we did in this post! With so many paint colors being pondered and projects in mid-swing we’re trying to keep things organized so we’re not posting one tenth of each undertaking at a time…
xo,
s
Kelly says
On a side note, one of your readers asked about the ceramic animals you have on Clara’s dresser…. I have those in our nursery too, and I wanted to share that they came from Pottery Barn Kids and were an “in-store only” item. I believe I remember still seeing them there not all that long ago….
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for sharing that info Kelly!
xo,
s
fdr says
I checked out the brand of those white ceramic housetool christmas decorations: Pols Potten. I’ve no clue how or where they retail from. Happy Googling if you’re still feeling enthused about them.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks fdr!
xo,
s
Kate says
Thank you so much for the suggestion on where to take those doors. I have taken down 4 of those squeeky things and they are cluttering my crawlspace. I know where I am going next week…off to reStore, along with the 7 ft long old bathroom mirror.
bethany says
you guys seriously inspire me. i can’t believe you are already tackling projects and you JUST moved in and its CHRISTMAS to boot! We moved in October first and stuff is still hanging out in boxes in the garage. Whoo to the hoo and a big HOLLA to you both!!!!
Christine says
Oh, the room is just beautiful! I love it.
And seeing your sweet sleeping baby in that outfit “almost” makes my ovaries twitch! My youngest had that sleeper and I loved it. We are happy with our family the way it is now and we are finito!
Sarah says
Looks super, but you guys are wearing me out! Please take a break and enjoy the holidays. :)
Amy says
Love the color and love that you didn’t waste anytime getting settled in. I am a little concerned that I was WAY too excited to check your blog this morning…like, “they just moved in, what are they going to do first?! I’ve got to know!” I might have an addiction forming here!
Kayla says
When I first saw the pics in this post on my phone I thought it was tan/beige. I was so disappointed. So when I read it online, what a nice suprise. The color is awesome! =) Way to go guys!
Ashley L says
Absolutely LOVINGGGG that pink color!
erin says
Hi and congrats on the new color. I was wondering if you still love Clara’s crib now that she’s been in it for a few months? We registered for the same one and I hear the wood is a bit soft.
Thanks.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! Still love it. We didn’t have any issue with the wood even when we disassembled it, moved it, and reassembled it. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Claire @ Claire K Creations says
That’s a beautiful colour and a beautiful baby girl. I think she gets cuter every time!
Teresa says
Hey guys! I think that this is my inaugural post on your website! You may know this already, but I recently discovered that Benjamen Moore has contractor grade paint that is much cheaper and you don’t have to run the risk of color matching. The paint salesmen I talked to told me that the he would only spend the big bucks on the other benjamen moore if I was never planning on repainting the room again..and let’s be real…I will paint again! He told me that you would not be able to tell a difference on the walls between the two and from personal experience I can tell you that I LOVED the result! A whole new world has been opened up to me!!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow! That’s so good to know! Thanks for the tip Teresa!
xo,
s
maribel says
Looks great..pink is a good thing. My son is 2 1/2 and has his share of toys..thanks to family and friends. I decided to hold onto one birthday and christmas present to donate to toys for tots or some other charity. My question is, as Clara grows how do you plan on handling “living with less” and toys.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Maribel,
We ask family members for books only when it comes to the holidays, which should help keep Clara’s room from becoming stuffed with every toy known to man (of course we get her toys, but we don’t go crazy and get 500 like the grandparents would). We also rotate them out so she doesn’t get sick of the same thirty toys and instead plays with three in the morning and a different three in the afternoon and a different three in the evening, etc. So it really only necessitates having a toy box full of about 10-12 different toys, but they still feel exciting and fun for Clara since she isn’t buried in all of them at once. We know it’ll become more a challenge as she grows and toys get bigger and take up more space, but we love storage ottomans and baskets and hope that we can still keep from going overboard. Your donating one birthday and christmas present method sounds amazing- we might have to adopt that too!
xo,
s
Monica says
Great choice! I love the way it turned out!
Therese says
Love the color – and I have a question about color matching. How can I find out the number of the color I like? I have a Benjamin Moore color I’d love to have matched in that low voc olympic…but I don’t know what number to give them. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Color matching just means you bring a paint swatch that you like to the store and they scan it and color match it- so they can whip up a gallon of Olympic paint in the color of your Benjamin Moore swatch. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Kacey says
If you were going to choose a more “grown up” color to coordinate with Clara’s curtain fabric would you lean more toward a gray, a blue, a green, or a tan? I am using this fabric for curtains in my guest room/home office and my head is spinning trying to pick a paint color. The furniture in the room is a white West Elm daybed and a white West Elm parsons desk.
YoungHouseLove says
We’d probably go with a very light gray-green or just a cool greige (gray beige) for a more adult look. Glidden also has a color called Cool Cucumber which is a super light green tone with a smidge of gray that might be really subtle and sophisticated. Good luck!
xo,
s
karisa says
Do u have instructions on how you Hung any of your capiz chandeliers? I just scored one at world market for $25, normally 69!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Karisa,
We had a West Elm one, which was hardwire-ready. All we did was turn off the power and connect the right wires. Maybe you can find a tutorial on how to hardwire a light on youtube? Or google around for more details and photos? Good luck!
xo,
s
Kacey says
PERFECTION! That’s how I would describe your paint recommendation. I went to Home Depot today and picked up a sampler of Cool Cucumber for my office walls and a sampler of Almost Aqua for the ceiling. I have painted sample areas with both and I am loving them. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to make a specific suggestion for me. I hope to be able to send in some photos in a few weeks so you can see the progress I’m making.
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! So glad. Good luck!
xo,
s
bex mann says
Hi guys! love the room! Can you tell me what the color is right underneath the pink swatch you used? I’m nervous the pink you used might be a bit to lavender for our sweet baby pink accents in our nursery….thanks for the help!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Bex,
So sorry! We took them all down and tossed them back into our huge basket of swatches so we’re not sure what color that was. Maybe just bring home a ton of swatches and hold them up in your room? Good luck!
xo,
s
sew says
It is indeed the best picture of Clara. Very cute.