Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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A Soft Neutral Paint Color For The Nursery

Goin’ to the chapel and we’re…. gonna have a bay-yay-yay-by.

Ok, so that’s not how the song goes, but it is the paint color that we chose for the walls of the nursery (which is pretty sweet considering the name of the paint that we used in Clara’s nursery in our last house was Proposal). Honestly, color names don’t sway us. We’re pragmatic pick-our-favorite-swatch-not-our-favorite-name folks. But it’s always nice when they’re not something ominous. You know, like Sleepless Nights or Zombie Spawn.

Paint Top

Back when we shared our plans for the room with this makeshift mood board of sorts, a few commenters asked if we were going to paint the walls that bold green tone. We explained that we were planning to use that more for accents around the room (like a bold green closet door, a chair cushion, some art, and maybe a crib skirt) and were leaning towards a soft neutral color for the walls. Just so we can layer a bunch of colors and patterns on top of that as the little guy grows, according to his preferences – like we’ve done in Clara’s room.

Nursery Ideas

We’ve really appreciated that Clara’s walls are a completely goes-with-anything tone, so that as she grows we can switch things up without clearing and painting the entire room, but it’s still far from colorless or devoid of personality.

Fun Wall Corner Clara

But “something neutral on the walls” can still mean a whole lot of things. White? Light gray? Soft tan? Even a muted tawny-green or blue-gray can qualify. So we considered a few color pairings like…

  • a moody deep-ish gray ceiling, white built-ins, a colorful closet door, and light gray walls
  • a bright white ceiling, moody built-ins, a colorful closet door, and soft taupe walls
  • a colorful ceiling, white built-ins, a white closet door, and soft tan walls

And the winning combo was… #2. We just really liked the idea of some mushroom-toned built-ins (with a stained wood top for a little bit of added interest). Like this photoshopped rendering from last week…

Fjell Photoshop

… along with a bold green closet door.

So we just held up a bunch of swatches and considered things like the rug, the built-in colors we liked best, and some possible bold greens for the closet door. In the end it was between some more gray-based tones (on that bottom swatch) and some more mushroom-ish tones (on the top one). See how the darkest color of that top swatch is brown while the other swatch is closer to charcoal gray? We decided we liked the ones with brown undertones a little better than the cooler gray ones, so that’s how we chose Going To The Chapel for the walls, and then slid three tones deeper for our built-in color (Senora Gray). We opted to go with plain white for the ceiling (Simply White in a flat finish) just to tie into the white trim (since the built-ins won’t be going white) and for some nice contrast.

Paint Picks

As for getting it done, we just removed the rug, and pushed everything else into the middle of the room.

Nursery

We covered it with a dropcloth when we tackled the ceiling – and we ended up going with two coats, just to be sure we had good coverage. As usual, John rolled and I cut in around the edges – although I didn’t have to be perfect since we’re going to add chunky crown around the room, so that corner where the wall meets the ceiling will be covered.

Then it was onto the walls, which also took two coats. It’s harder to pick up in photos than in person, but the whole room had an obvious yellow tint before. You can see the difference most when you look at the areas that I cut in vs. the walls around them. This is before the paint was dry, so the difference got more obvious a little later, but I didn’t get a picture of that since we had already covered most of the walls by the time they started drying.

Painting During

But speaking of comparisons, here’s the room “before” (let’s go way back into the mauve trim days, shall we?):

Nursery Before

And here it is now (thanks to ripping up the old carpet, spraying the trim and doors white, laying some hardwood floors, and freshening up the walls and ceiling).

Painting Done

It’s hard to tell in photos just how different it feels in there! But just the fact that those door overspray marks are finally gone (you can see them in the first picture of everything pushed into the middle of the room) is music to our ears – er, eyes. If only they weren’t still in the guest room…

And here’s the room with some other elements that we’re hoping to work in later.

Playing 1

That’s our bike art (which will be hung somewhere else, since the shelves of the built-in will go there) and the slice of green on the mattress is just a long cotton dress of mine that I shoved in there. I’m a weirdo, I just wanted to see what a green sheet might look like. Of course the built-ins will be painted our mushroomy-brown-gray color and those bare walls above the crib won’t be bare when we really get things going. And that slice of old paint around the ceiling will be covered with chunky crown molding. Details, details.

We also brought up our armchair from the corner of the office when we realized that it would be great for the nursery – and once we redo the office there most likely won’t be room for a big plush armchair anyway. It’s still looking crazy stark in here, but it’s better than that pink-trimmed before – so we’ll take it!

Playing 2

Here’s our to-do list with around 11 weeks before this baby’s here:

  • clean out the room
  • get a rug (more on those two here)
  • research & buy dressers or cabinet bases to create built-ins along the crib wall (more on that here)
  • paint the walls and ceiling
  • find an armchair for all that late night nursing
  • build-in and paint/stain the dressers we bought last week
  • add chunky crown molding around the room
  • address the window (bamboo blinds + blackout curtains?)
  • paint the closet door a fun color (bold green?) and redo the inside for tiny clothes (add a second hanging bar, cubby storage, etc)
  • add sconces to the sides of the built-ins
  • create some sort of slatted or trimmed out wall between the built-ins for interest?
  • get the ceiling wired for an overhead light fixture (none of the upstairs bedrooms have them)
  • bring in a dresser/changing table (we’re 80% sure we’ll use the wooden hand-me-down from John’s dad that’s currently in our closet)
  • build custom shelves (since John did this for Clara, he’d like for this to be a tradition)
  • make a woodsy little cuckoo clock (since I made one for Clara, I’d like to make a charming little rustic one for the bun as well)
  • DIY a mobile
  • make/hang art (at least one or two prints will have a sea-faring reference, thanks to Clara’s baby boy nickname of “The Barnacle”)
  • figure out bedding (make a crib skirt, etc)

Is anyone else painting walls or ceilings? Or planning to paint some cabinetry or built-ins in a non-white color? I gotta tell ya, it’s more thrilling than it should be. #yolo

Comments

  2. Phoebe K says

    Great color scheme! I love where you’re going with this. Incorporating the bike art is such a sweet addition since John DIYed the frames.

    Reply

  5. Stefanie says

    Love the way this is coming together. Love the idea of using those new Ikea dressers as a base for a “built in”. I saw them in the store and fell in love but the $300 price tag had me skeptical. Can’t wait to see how you incorporate that fun green into the room.

    I am currently searching for the “perfect” chair for a nursery and keep coming across all of these great chairs at thrift stores but for us a rocker is essential. After some Googling I came across this http://interiorsbykenz.com/ikea-hack-strandmon-rocker-diy-wingback-rocking-chair/ which has given me hope that when I find Mr Right-Chair I can make into a rocker myself fairly easily. Wasn’t sure if a rocker was something that’d you’d rather have but if so that tutorial seems great..and looks like it could be converted back fairly easily.

    Hope you guys enjoy the “warm” temps today. Accuweather keeps telling me we’re heading right back into the frozen tundra this week. Ugg!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, they’re even saying lots of snow for us this week too! Clara is overjoyed about it, but it means delays for the showhouse so we’re sort of on the fence about it. Haha! And as for that amazing ikea-hack-rocker link, amazing!! Such a cool idea!

      xo
      s

    • Stefanie says

      My kids were out of school EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. last week (we’re in Fredericksburg) so today was a welcome day back for everyone. I’d be happy to not see another drop of snow/ice for the rest of the winter. Last week was such a mess all around that I’m ready for Spring to show it’s face any time now!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, us too! Clara had no preschool at all last week! It was kinda crazy because we only got a few inches of snow, but it was so cold the roads stayed icy in a few places.

      xo
      s

  7. Jenn says

    Looks awesome! I see that the molding on the built-ins will not be a color match to the molding in the room. How did you come to that conclusion? I’m excited to see the end result. Work harder John!!!! (kidding)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Since they pop out like a piece of furniture (they’re not on the same plane, they’re 90 degrees different from the crown that encircles the room) we think it’ll make sense to keep those the same color as the built-ins since we liked how that looked in photoshop. In our kitchen we leaned away from that idea because we had areas like this (where the cabinetry did not pop out from the wall, so it would literally have been like drawing lines of color in the middle of one long span of crown if that makes sense).

      xo
      s

  9. Amanda G says

    Excited to see the progress along the way of this sweet baby’s room. :) Have you thought of putting a changing pad on top of one of the built-in dressers to use as a changing station? Or is that too crammed? That way you wouldn’t need the extra dresser and would have more room for fun things! :)

    Reply

  11. Kristin says

    What great color choices! They will be great as the Bun grows. I might have to steal them for my 13 year old sons room. They are exactly the types colors he’s been asking for. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  12. Laurie says

    I had a similar coincedence with the paint color I chose for my kitchen/family room. I’m a very enthusiastic knitter and the color I fell in love with is called Knitting Needles.

    People are always confused when I tell them the color name like I named it myself or something.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That’s so funny! Sometimes it just works out! And other times you’re saying “it’s Carolina Inn Club Aqua” – which was the paint color name of our last house’s bedroom for a while (it always felt like such a long fake-name to us, like we were making it up as we went along! haha!).

      xo
      s

    • Jenn says

      Sherry–

      Carolina Inn Club Aqua is called so because the Carolina Inn on UNC Chapel Hill’s campus has bedrooms that are all painted this “Carolina Blue” color. It’s totally real :)

      –UNC Alum

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So funny! That completely makes sense! When I’m saying it I feel like I’m just stringing random words together! Like Colorado Hotel Fort Yellow. Haha!

      xo
      s

    • Ashley says

      I think it’s the Valspar Historical colors…our bedroom and son’s room are Jekyll Grand Dining Sea Mist. I just handed the guy at the paint counter the swatch and said, “That one.” Way too many words for a paint color…but it’s so pretty!

  13. Soffia says

    Ohhhhhh this is looking so wonderful! I adore the moodboard and I think letting layers and the small stuff “do the talking” colorwise is so smart ;)

    I recently did my daughters room, as she is growing rapidly (as children do – however the mothers dont seem to age a bit ;) Plese feel free to check it out: http://www.skreytumhus.is/?p=19654

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ahhhhh! I know! Part of me can’t believe there’s still more door-overspray in the guest room, and part of me can’t believe there’s just one room of it left (we used to have four rooms of it up here).

      xo
      s

  15. Jess says

    Lookin’ good! I’ve noticed that you have spend a lot more money in this room compared to others ($400 rug, $600 dressers.) Are you leaning toward more expensive things throughout, or are these just splurges?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think we’re definitely happy to spend more on things that we hope will last for the long haul (for example making a built-in wouldn’t be smart money-wise to do with something cheap/flimsy, so we were happy to shell out more for sturdy, solid wood dressers). In our last house we purchased an $800 dining table and a $1200 sectional after moving in there, and here we didn’t need to buy those again (we’ve just bought a $600 kitchen table along with $15 thrift store chairs), so it’s sort of like our savings for “good furnishings” gets depleted in different ways when we move into a new house, but we’d like to stay here a long time so it’s going more towards things that are permanent/built-in I think (like the tile and lofted ceiling we tackled in the sunroom conversion). It’s really all a balance for us though. Reusing our crib/mattress, a hand-me-down dresser, and an armchair we already have along with doing all of the painting/building/molding ourselves are ways that we can save money as we go too!

      xo
      s

  16. Caitlyn M. says

    As a matter of fact, the husband and I *are* painting this week. We experienced first-time-painters failure last weekend when the grey we chose for our bedroom turned out too blue, so we went back the drawing board and found a grey with more brown in it (BM Smoke Embers). It was all thanks to the lovely folks in one of your four random forum posts on Friday; the coincidence was wonderfully serendipitous. The only real hurdle is cutting in around a popcorn ceiling–what a pain! But if we can knock out the wall painting today and tomorrow, we should be able to do the baseboard and door trim before we visit family this weekend. Fingers crossed!

    Reply

  17. Amanda Bolan says

    We worked on painting ALL of our ceilings this weekend. We had some water damage from a previous bathroom leak on our living room ceiling and after 6 months of staring at it while I nurse my baby, we took the plunge. We have a deep teal dining room and we chose to do “Marshmallow” in there but the rest of the ceilings we are doing a moody grey – we have 12′ ceilings Moonshine walls with chunky 6″ crown so we thought the grey would add an aspect of cozy. Painting ceilings is no joke. They look fantastic though.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh man, Amanda! My condolences. Ceilings are our least favorite things to paint (well those and ceiling beams). You’re a hero for doing so many of them!

      xo
      s

    • Carrie Lea says

      I feel your pain Amanda (and it is actual physical pain). After painting my huge living room ceiling a deep olive color I resolved to never paint another ceiling a color other than white in all of my days.
      Then I painted the bedroom ceiling blue. Because I have issues sticking to my resolutions.

  19. Marcia says

    Those are some great colors! I painted the bathroom from this awful muddy medium brown to Revere Pewter last weekend, and I painted one of our bedrooms Paladian Blue this weekend. Let’s just say that my thighs are telling me to cool it with all the up/down on the ladder for our 9′ walls.

    Reply

    • Rachel says

      We painted our bedroom and master bath Revere Pewter last weekend too and are hoping to tackle our guest bath in the same color this coming weekend. Such a great color!

  20. Kaitie says

    Your paint chip looks really similar to the set I was looking at for my living room. I was going to go light, but seeing how bright and light your swatch turned out on the walls, I might bite the bullet and go a little darker! I have high ceilings and big windows (and I just switched out the old dark curtains for some breezy sheers), so I think it’ll work.

    The swatch I’m looking at is called Leather Saddlebury. I don’t know what a saddlebury is, but apparently they look nice in leather.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ooh yeah, with big windows and high ceilings I’d go darker with breezy sheers – it’ll make your molding pop too, which I’m sure is awesome since you have high ceilings and big windows! Haha!

      xo
      s

  22. Heidi says

    Such a great name! And the color isn’t too shabby either. We always seem to make our final paint decisions based on the color name and we just painted our kitchen, dining room, and living room Sherwin Williams’ “Mountain Air” this weekend. Now if I could just get the rest of the paint off my hands and arms I’d be good to go!

    http://jax-and-jewels.blogspot.com

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Heating register. They’re all on the ceiling on the second floor. I hate them, but almost every house we looked at that was a two level had them, so I guess they’re common in Richmond?

      xo
      s

    • Sara says

      We have those on our ceilings, too. They are our AC registers and our auxillary heat is run through them also. They aren’t pretty. One of our rooms overhead light is off-centered by 10 inches due to one of these. It drives me bonkers!

  25. Kaesey says

    This is looking good! I like the pops of green a lot. My son is crazy about green and would love the light gray/kelly green combo! I’m not going to show him your pictures. He’ll try to make me paint again. =)

    We’re not painting walls right now – instead, we’re trying to pick a color to paint the dresser in our hallway. I love the dresser itself but the wood tone is not working with our hall walls. (You can see the side of it in the hallway picture in this post http://kaesey.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/fresh-start/). The walls are Haze, by Behr. We have a lot of light blue/cardinal red/white going on in other spaces, so I thought I might do a shiny Chinese red on the dresser. Or maybe a teal? It’s got some raised wood detail on the front that will look nice all painted up and I’m itching to put some color in this space. Any ideas are welcome!

    Reply

  26. Wendy says

    Love the chair! Looks great in the room. Do you have a post on where that came from? Can’t wait to see how you bring it all together…you’re so good at layering art on the walls….I need to do more of that (we’ve been in our house a year and barely have anything hung up!)

    Reply

  29. Ariane says

    I love it ! Two questions though : 1) how do you deal with a freshly painted ceiling when you install crown molding (with the caulk and stuff). Wouldn’t it be a little easier to paint the ceiling once the molding is up ? 2) Is the top of the dressers going to match the color of the floor ? Thanks for answering ! Take care.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s actually easier for us to paint the ceiling before the walls (that way if paint drips on the walls they’re not painted yet). Then we like to paint the walls, and having both of those done before we hang the molding is nice and easy (we can pre-prime and paint the molding before we hang it and then just touch up spots on the molding). Caulk is white and paintable, so sometimes it doesn’t even show up on a white ceiling, and if it does we can just touch that up too. As for the dresser top, we’re planning for the wood to go with the floor (match perfectly = rough, so go = the goal).

      xo
      s

  30. Caity says

    My hubby and I find out the gender of our first baby a week from today!! Then it will be time to tackle the nursery. We are so excited :) We’ve had plenty of projects that we’ve tackled up to this point…but this is the one I’m looking forward to the most!

    Reply

  31. Audrey says

    Ahhh you have me dreaming of future nursery’s and I’m not even pregnant yet! Love, love the green color you chose. I have to tell you (and the world!) that we have used a mushroomy color called “porcini” by valspar (not BM) over and over its so amazing! Can’t wait to see the rest of the room!

    Reply

  32. Debbie C says

    I love how this room is looking! I’m really liking baby boy rooms that are more rustic/eclectic/sophisticated as opposed to the usual baby themes. Our little one is currently in our master closet now, but one day he will have his own room and the Barnacle’s nursery will be inspiration. :)

    Reply

  33. Jessica J says

    Hi, I am due April 15 around the same time as Sherry! We are around the same phase of progress with our nursery too. The furniture is being delivered this week! Its so exciting!! Love the paint colors you choose and I can’t wait to see how your built-ins turn out and the bright green door! We are having a girl and doing a black white and gray, starry night nursery theme.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That’s so exciting, Jessica! And congrats on your little girl. Doing Clara’s nursery was so much fun too! Gosh, that feels like it was just yesterday…

      xo
      s

  34. Rachel says

    I would be curious to see a run-down of your latest Ikea trip. We’re planning a trip there soon, and I always get so overwhelmed! I love to have ideas of a few good products before we go. (And shopping tips with a kiddo wouldn’t hurt,either. This will be the first time we’re taking our baby and I’m super nervous!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That would be fun! We got a few more things that we’re hoping to share in posts this week – and my kid tip = promise ice cream at the end, and hopefully they can hold out for it. Clara loves their cones so much it helps to keep her from going nuts in the aisles (she usually prefers to ride in the cart) and then when we check out and roll up to get her that ice cream cone she’s psyched beyond belief. Don’t know if that works for a baby though…

      xo
      s

    • Pamela says

      My Ikea tip with a toddler is to allow at least twice as long as you think you need. If toddler is too small for the Ikea playroom, just let him/her play in the children’s section. They have most of the toys set up and you just have to have the patience to supervise. My two-year-old tried every toddler bed last time we were there. Then, follow up with the ice cream, or a drink where toddler can pick the color cup he/she wants. We purchased the set of plastic cups to take home and play “pick your favorite color” for every meal.

  35. Christine says

    I loooove the green dress in the crib, you’re right it’s the perfect pop of green. And that chair is perfect, I love when things work out like that. I’m excited to see what the room looks like at the end!

    Reply

  36. Xani says

    Love that green! Have you ever looked at/used Farrow and Ball paint? They have the craziest names, including “Dead Salmon.” Painted my office their color Tallow- sounds gross but its a gorgeous creamy shade!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So funny! I’ve never tried their paint but a friend of mine has and LOVES it! I have heard the colors are gorgeously saturated (more pigments, hence the higher price tag). I’d love to try it someday.

      xo
      s

  38. Britney says

    You guys always pick the perfect paint colors. I love this one so much! This nursery will be gorgeous. I love seeing it come together. One quick question, I know you’ve mentioned this before somewhere but do you always use satin finish for bedrooms?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We used to use satin for nearly every room since it’s wipable and durable, but lately we have been using eggshell which is a tiny bit less shiny and it’s still wipeable and durable but easier to touch up too (the shinier something is, the more noticeable touch ups are for some reason). For kitchens and bathrooms we used satin though, just for more water/moisture protection.

      xo
      s

  39. JennP says

    I think you’re spot on by leaving the color off the walls! We picked hot pink as an accent color for our younger daughter’s room, but we went with soft gray walls. I’m always surprised how many people ask me why we didn’t paint the walls pink. I’m like, “pink walls, bedding, artwork and accents…? Um, NO!” It’s a nice balance of fun and girly, but still shows a little bit of restraint ;)

    Reply

  40. CampDallas says

    I am so impressed by – and a wee bit envious of – the size of the bedrooms in your home! We have nice-sized rooms, but yours?! Wow!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thank CampDallas! It might just be the giant area rugs (they seem to make rooms photograph more expansively). The nursery is 11.5 x 13.5, so it’s about the same size as the playroom in our last house.

      xo
      s

  41. Sabrina says

    I can’t wait to see it all put together! I am so excited for you guys. I have the worst baby fever but it isn’t the best time for us for #3 so I am living vicariously through you guys and my girlfriends who are preggo lol I am currently turning our gross 4 seasons room into a playroom. Every time I get sick of painting/cleaning/de grossing I look at this blog and all the stuff you guys are doing and I am like ok you can do this!

    Reply

  43. Marcella says

    A little more “piratey” than “barnicley” but 826 pirate store has some awesome prints that benefit an amazing charity.

    Also, congrats! I have a girl and a boy (in that order 30 months and 12 months). Totally different parenting experiences but amazing and awesome.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Love that too! Such a cool project! My only thought is that I might actually like nursing in stationery chairs more (I never had a rocker in Clara’s room, and also did a lot of nursing on the sofa) so I wonder if adding a new base would be worth it for me?

      xo
      s

    • Helene says

      So interesting. I could NOT nurse without a rocking chair with high armrests and a foot. I guess it all depends!

  47. Samantha says

    Ah! How fun! We painted our nursery this weekend, too! I went with Behr’s “Silver Drop”, which is pretty neutral. My colorblind-ish husband keeps saying “seafoam green” but it is most definitely a light, creamy grey! Heading to Ikea next weekend to pick up a dresser and crib. We moved into our house two and a half years ago, painted/re-floored pretty much the whole place, but this nursery is by FAR my favorite room to put together!
    P.S. Green is my favorite color, however we did not find out gender, so everything is very neutral. So glad you are going with green so I can live vicariously through you ;)

    Reply

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