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Painting The Wall Under Our Chair Rail Gray Horse By Benjamin Moore

We finally got around to painting the area under the chair rail in the office a shade darker than the stenciled wall above it so it feels more balanced (as mentioned here). It was a little top heavy with the stencil going on above the chair rail and nada happening underneath, so I slid one square down on the Benjamin Moore paint swatch with the wall color on it (which is Moonshine by the way) and landed on Gray Horse (which we also had color matched to Olympic No-VOC paint in satin). Total spent: $10 for the quart of paint. Das it.

Office Painted Under1

Office Painted Under2

Doesn’t it look more grounded now? Hence the title.

You might notice that we returned the matching metallic-y gold gourd lamps that we used to have in favor of these two that were also from HomeGoods (one’s a tripod desk lamp in ORB with a white shade and the other is a glass based lamp in ORB with a white shade). They don’t match but they definitely go, and it’s nice to break up all the symmetry just a little (mirror image desk + centered window + two matching chairs =über balanced, so we thought it could take a little imperfection).

The not-matching lamps might bother you without any art on those walls (yes, mom I’m talking to you) but I promise once we hang art there won’t be quite as much focus on the lamps and they’ll fall into the room and be just another layered element that will make more sense as the whole picture comes together. Or you’ll still hate them but will still love me as a daughter (also for mom).

Oh and we brought in the dark leather chair from the bedroom since the dark wood top of the desk looks pretty nice with that guy nearby (it just held mounds of clothes in the bedroom but actually gets used in here). And a bright green lumbar pillow that we already had (you know pillows are like nomads around here) tied in the new green desk chairs that we painted a few weeks back.

Office Painted Under3

Office Painted Under4

For some reason I’m especially enamored with the file cabinet thanks to the colorful accessories. Gray walls + white desk & cabinet + brown chair & desktop = a craving for color (hence the addition of the green chairs and a few other punchy accents).

Office Painted Under6

I tossed these books down with some stacked bowls and a ceramic pear and said out loud (yes I talk out loud to myself all day) “oh man, someone should base a room on these colors.”

Office Painted Under5

Then I realized that:

  • the yellow tones in the bowl and bottom book are in the chairs’ upholstery and the wall stencil
  • the green bowl mimics the color of the desk chairs
  • the dark gray book on top is just a shade or two darker than the darker gray that we just added under the chair rail
  • the turquoise in the globe and middle book are also in our desk chairs’ upholstery fabric
  • the glossy white from the ceramic pear relates to the white trim, desk, and file cabinet

Duh, we sort of did base a room around these colors. Purely by accident. Gotta love when you back into things like that (trial + error = not a bad way to go). So I highly recommend white + green + yellow + gray + turquoise. Oh yeah and some chocolate brown too (maybe someday I’ll ORB the globe base to represent that color, you know when I’m just sitting around twiddling my thumbs).

Much like every other room in our house the office is nowhere close to “done” (as in, it’ll probably take us a few more years of tweaking like our first house)…

Office Painted Under1

… but it’s definitely feeling more finished than it did a few months back when it looked like this:

OfficeArrange Before From D

So far we’ve:

  • built the wall-to-wall desk (more on that here, here, here, here, here, and here)
  • brought in an Ikea file cabinet (more on that here and here)
  • added a toy basket for Clara (function = the most important thing)
  • painted the walls soft gray (BM’s Moonshine – more on that here)
  • painted the chandelier indigo & added a huge drum shade (more on that here)
  • stenciled the walls (more on that here and here)
  • painted and reupholstered the desk chairs (more on that here and here)
  • painted the bottom half of the room darker gray (BM’s Gray Horse)
  • brought in a chair for the corner (Clara demands storytime in nearly every room)

Still gotta:

  • hang art
  • add some window treatments
  • figure out a rug (the existing one is too wide and not long enough)
  • add a floor lamp to the chair corner (for some height) along with a proper side table
  • tweak a ton of stuff (we’ve learned it’s par for the course for us… stuff evolves as we go!)

What have you guys been up to? Any other fellow WP’s (weekend painters) out there? It was a nice weekend for outdoor stuff too. Anyone seeding or weeding or transplanting? We definitely have the outside itch to tackle some of that stuff before it gets too cold…

P.S. Want to see our favorite neutral wall color that we’ve used in a number of rooms?

Comments

  1. Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says

    I really love that Gray Horse color (I may steal it for our living room!). The walls do look more balanced how that the bottom half of the walls is a smidge darker than the part that’s stenciled. I also love the leather chair in there (otherwise it just felt too light to me) and all the accessories on the file cabinet. Maybe you hang some art with turquoise in it! Great job :)

    Reply

  3. Sarah says

    Looks awesome! Love the tripod lamp, can’t wait to see what art you choose. The room is really coming together :)

    Reply

  4. diana says

    Looking great! But what happened to the original rug? I missed that one piece of info. I love the unbalanced lamps, i always like a break in the symmetry of a room. From all I know, the weight center (so the higher lamp) should be in the left bottom corner, but you shouldn’t take my word, as I am left handed. Love how it’s coming along, can’t wait for some height balance (floor lamp and art over the desk).

    Reply

  9. Lisa says

    Looks great!!! Have you thought about using roman shades on the windows? I decided to make some for my windows and they were super easy and turned out great. Just an idea!

    Reply

    • Marci says

      I was thinking roman shades too, maybe even in the fabric that you used for the chairs and in the dining room. Maybe it might be overkill but I just love that fabric so much. Office looking fab, even without any window treatments! I’d love to stencil my half bath with those exact colors.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, I love that fabric too, but I think it’ll be too much with the stencil and the painted built-ins in the dining room. Not sure where we’ll end up. Maybe something airy and sheer like white or soft gray – just to let the future art and stencil and chairs be the stars? We’ll have to see where we end up…

      xo,
      s

  10. Megan says

    Looking forward to seeing what you pick for a floor lamp. I’ve been searching for one but most of them look so college dormish to me.

    Reply

  11. mribaro says

    I like the grounding you did by painting the lower part of walls darker. It’s a pity photos don’t do justice to the beautiful stencil job you did – I’m straining my eyes but it’s hardly visible.

    Reply

  18. Liz says

    I have two very similar if not identical glass-based lamps and I’m pretty sure they’re fillable. I’ve left them alone because I like them all streamlined, but I also like the idea that I have options down the line. Is your lamp fillable? Any plans there if it is?

    Reply

  22. Stacey says

    Those chairs make my mouth water! That green is a stunning accent to the otherwise neutral room. I wait with baited breath to see what happens next in your beautiful home!

    Reply

  24. Gracie says

    The office is really coming along. I like the new lamps and the addition of the leather chair. Oh and I love the globe too!

    Reply

  25. Julia @ Chris loves Julia says

    This room is really coming together nicely. I love the lived-in look of the basket of toys. This weekend we RE-painted our guestroom and office after getting through one coat of the previous color and not liking it. We tore up the old carpet in that room to get ready to stain the concrete–but the carpet pad left all of this glue on the floor. Not sure what we are going to do now! Any clues on getting all that stuff off?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, I would ask around at the home improvement store to see what they recommend (maybe even bring a picture along with you on your cell phone or digital camera for reference). Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  26. Emma says

    Looks great. Not really sure about the lamps but I’ll trust your style and reserve final thought until after the artwork is hung.

    You know I just love that even though the main living areas of your home are different, they all blend well together. Good old Sue The Napkin!

    Reply

  27. Missy G. says

    In your “so far” list, you left out spraying the chandelier an indigo color and adding the drum shade. That is one of my favorite changes in your office!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oooh I would paint that glossy white in a heartbeat (as you mentioned there’s lots of wood in the room, and the wood table will pop against white beadboard).

      xo,
      s

  29. Suni says

    This weekend we spent time going through a million colors of paint samples for our basement redo. Settled on a yellow hue, just not sure which one. Also spent time outside planting over 100 bulbs!! Can’t wait for next spring.

    Reply

  30. Allyn says

    I aired out and scrubbed down my house. Is there such a thing as fall cleaning, spring cleaning’s less exciting brother?
    Because scrubbing my kitchen floor by hand is definitely not exciting.

    Reply

  31. gk says

    fellow WP here! did a first coat of grey paint in our master bedroom on saturday night (martha stewart “heavy goose” color matched to benjamin moore aura). the paint got surprisingly good coverage, so i think we’ll only need to do a second spot in a few places where we patched the plaster. also, i was very excited/proud of myself – for the first time, i tried edging w/o painters tape. i watched your video tutorial for inspiration/tips, and it went pretty darn well! can’t believe i’ve bothered w/ tape all these years.

    Reply

  33. Tracy says

    I am so digging your office. I love all those colors. And I am positively salivating over the tripod lamp. Would you mind sharing how much it was?

    Reply

  34. Kimberly says

    The office is looking great!

    You guys have definitely inspired me.

    -had a plumber over on Friday to see how much it would be to move my washer/dryer to the main floor ($500) – very do-able.

    -found two very old heavy brass lamps in my basement, they were my parents, and they were looking like something I needed to donate to Goodwill. I took your lead and decided to turf the yellowed, cracked ugly shades and I ORB’ed the brass bases. They look Ah.Maz.Ing. I bought two linen colored 14 inch drum shades from HomeSense (Canada’s version of HomeGoods) and will put them together once everything is dry.

    -I put the finishing touches on my ‘mood board’ for my new main floor ‘office/laundry room’ – this is the most exciting thing I have ever designed/decorated. I have told the hubby and kids that their computes and JUNK are getting moved outta the main floor den and it is going to be all mine!!!!!

    -we went for a nice long walk in crunchy leaves and we found 6 very large tree pieces cut up. My hubby got the van and brought them home. I am now going to make a tree stump side table with legs, woohoo.

    DIYing has taken over my life and I love it.
    Cheers,
    Kimberly

    Reply

  35. Carol N. says

    We have that same globe in our office. I’d never thought of doing the brass-look in ORB but now that sounds like a great way to update it. Thanks for the ideas!

    Reply

  36. Pia says

    Looks great. If I were you I would skip the window treatments. The windows are just to beautiful to be covered up. Looking forward to see what art you are going to use. White frames, I guess… Perhaps something related to your blogging journey?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think we’ll just add some roman shades that’ll be open most of the time- so they’ll still let the light stream in! We’re not really curtain closing people – haha.

      xo,
      s

  39. Jessica C says

    Sherry – you would be so proud of me: this weekend we got our pumpkins and mums along with a couple of blah clay pots which I knew could be transformed. An hour later, though, those pots were beautiful ORB (including one that we already owned, so they all “go”). My b/f was skeptical at first but now he’s a believer in spray paint! Unfortuantely, I still have to run all of the planned ORB projects through him, but I’ll take it – you’ve converted TWO of us!

    Reply

  40. Jen says

    Loving the Gray Horse! We used that in our master bedroom and our family room, and it is just the perfect shade of bluish-gray. Good choice!! :)

    Reply

  41. RA says

    I love how you take your time and do projects bit by bit and let them “speak” to you as you go along. I like how you are willing to change things when they don’t work, even after you have carefully considered them. I admire your design sensibilities.

    Yep; count me a member of your fan club.

    Reply

  42. Kristen says

    I love the darker color on the walls! It really does balance things out. No painting for me over the weekend – I’ve been planning to paint our half bath for probably a month now but just keep putting it off. There’s always next weekend, right?!

    Reply

  43. Ericka says

    I love the mismatched lamps – esp. that tripod one. And painting the bottom half of the wall one shade darker does the trick! The room is coming along nicely! BTW, I used to have a globe like that and I donated it. I wish now I never did that. Why I did it, I don’t know. I have a habit of getting rid of stuff I’m not using and then I regret it later. I am the opposite of a pack rat/hoarder. Not sure what you would call it. I’m a serial donater/thrower awayer:)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha- believe it or not I have the same problem! It comes from living in NYC and not having any room for anything- so I would ebay books and then want to read them again and donate clothes and then want to wear them years later!

      xo,
      s

    • Becky S. says

      I was thinking the same thing: WHY did I have to donate that globe, or the map of Long Island that we bought years ago in Port Jefferson???

    • Meredith says

      My roommate calls me an “anti-hoarder”. I really like to get rid of stuff. I agree with Sherry, it comes from having no space! (Or moving a lot. Nothing inspires a good purge like moving).

  44. dana828 says

    I for one LOVE the mis-matched lamps! Too matchy-matchy is annoying. :)
    I had high hopes of starting the (FREE!) dresser refinishing project that has been sitting in my garage since last spring. Then I read the instructions on the stripper (Citristrip) and realized I likely missed my window of opportunity for this year. It says to use it when the temp is between 65-85 degrees…and it’s already hitting the upper 30’s here at night and barely the 60’s during the day. GRRR! Summer was SO hot I couldn’t do it, and this fall has been SO busy. Guess it’ll sit there til spring now.

    Reply

  46. SFDC says

    The lamps are the best detail in the room; they make a HUGE difference! It really needed the weight of some darker accents, and have the same traditional feeling as the chair. Great choice. I wish the chairs were more of a kelly green than a chartreuse, and had fabric cushions with lighter contrast rather than the same color family), but that’s me. The great thing about them is you can pretty easily change them up when you want.

    I also think it’s nuts that you don’t have a nice iMac. I would worry about your eyes, posture and ergonomics!

    Reply

  48. MelissaG says

    I love this room so much….am contemplating if something similar to this could work in our connected living/dining rooms. I have a question….do you EVER get tired of painting etc? I know it’s your job. And amazing that you get paid for doing something you love. I’m all for that. But whenever I paint, I usually don’t want to paint for a long time again. A big part of that is that clean-up though too. Anyway, just popped into my head. It always seems like you are painting.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh heck yes! I have a love/hate relationship with it. Sometimes I’m dyyying to paint something (picture me looking around desperately for something to makeover to fulfill my craving) and sometimes it’s the last thing I want to do (but I remember how good it feels to be done and it gets me through!).

      xo,
      s

  49. Keely says

    The darker grey looks really nice!

    The other night I had a dream about you guys (for the first time. Don’t worry, I don’t dream about you on a regular basis, all creepy-internet-stalker like) where you decided that you were sick of responding to people’s comments all the time, so you decided to stop and instead were posting about changes to your house like 15 times per day. That would totally happen, right?!? It’d be all John-and-Sherry, all the time.

    Reply

  50. casey says

    TOTALLY love ya’lls blog! Think I’ve stalked the entire site completely *Gratuitous Mention. I’ve been super inspired and the hubs and I started building a chandelier out of 14 aqua glass Ball Mason Jars to go above our 7′ Harvest Table that we scored for $75!! Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

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