It was January when we painted three test swatches of gray on our dining room walls.
It took us just days to pick the color but apparently took us, yeah, um, FOUR MONTHS to finally paint the room.
I’m not sure what’s more embarrassing – our painting laziness or my rockin’ farmer’s tan. Anyway, I searched my brain for some sort of an excuse for the dining room paint delay. Maybe we were too tired at the end of the day in January that we spent painting the living room and hallway the same color? Or we were too distracted by completing the guest room for Sherry’s mom’s February visit? Or we were too consumed with patio and party prep to take it on before Clara’s birthday? Maybe. Or we just like to bounce around randomly and come back to projects after months of dormancy. Probably that. Either way, something got into us, and the room (finally) went from this:
To this:
I know, I know. It’s not a huuuuge difference. Heck it might not look different at all online. But the soft gray definitely feels a lot more polished. And ding dong, the witch swatches are dead! The color is the same gray that we used in the living room and the hallway (Benjamin Moore’s Moonshine which we color matched to Olympic Premium No-VOC paint) so we already had the paint on hand (we got three gallons of it a while back in anticipation). It’s just such a good soft gray color. Seriously, it’s perfect in all the rooms we have used it (even though they have different lighting situations going on).
You may recall that we wanted to paint these rooms all the same color to connect and unify the spaces (and then the kitchen, which is in the middle of all of them, will have a bit more color on the walls for interest). Maybe looking at the unpainted and then painted room shots side by side will demonstrate how even a subtle coat of paint can help things like crown molding and trim have a bit more emphasis. The room definitely reads a lot more crisp now that it’s painted:
It still amazes us how much a coat of paint can do to make a room look finished – or, in our mostly furniture-less version, at least make it look a little less forgotten. Especially when it’s covering up test swatches that have been there so long that we didn’t even notice them anymore until friends would say “which color did you pick?” and we’d say “oh yeah… those” (it was the bottom one, btw).
Even this subtle addition of color to the walls has helped us notice a few things. For example, we didn’t even realize how beefy the crown molding was in here until we painted (it’s about twice as thick as any other room in the house). And the soft gray looks nice with the built-ins on the back wall. It lets them “be the star” (as Sherry would say) but still adds that light I’m-in-a-cloud vibe and makes the room feel polished and complete. Well, as complete as it can feel without curtains, art, entryway furniture, etc.
Since this room didn’t have pesky wood-toned-molding that needed a bunch of coats of white paint (like the living room), it was MUCH faster to finish (the living room also called for beam painting, which we’re thankful this room also didn’t involve). So by comparison, this project was cake. We did one coat together during Clara’s morning nap (Sherry cuts in while I roll) and then did our second coat in shifts after the three of us ate lunch (since one of us was on Clara duty while the other painted the day away). It was so relaxed that it further underscored how crazy it was for us to put it off for so long. Sherry even snuck in a phone date with her Katie B (her blogger BFF) at one point.
Oh and see those white tags in the photo above? Allow me to explain. Sherry’s “painting clothes” may look like an ordinary black sweatsuit (yes, she’s from Jersey and proud of it) from a distance, but take a closer look. It’s an inside-out black sweatsuit. Otherwise known as her pajamas when worn the right way. What Not To Wear, here we come!
We also took – and then promptly deleted – a PG-13 version of the photo below. Let’s just say I was putting the “moon” in “Moonshine by Benjamin Moore” (and my butt is whiter than my upper arms). Go ahead, I’ll give you a few seconds to picture that calamity.
Ok now stop, you’re creeping me out.
All tomfoolery aside, we’re just glad to live in a test-swatch free home. But of course, now having paint on the walls is giving us the itch to do more in there. I mean, it’d be a shame to leave these nice blank-canvas grey walls totally blank for too long, right? Especially since we’re dying to knock out a huge opening to the kitchen and hang curtains and add art and dye those off-white chair slipcovers…
Eh. Maybe we’ll get around to it in a month or two… or four. You know how we roll. Have you guys painted anything recently? Are you a fan of inside-out-pajamas as painting clothes? Have you had swatches on your walls for over four months? Tell us we’re not the only ones…
Psst- When it comes to how we paint, this post and this post and the video in this post will hopefully help you out.
Psst again- We’re over on BabyCenter sharing how we made some swanky looking photo books for our moms (late Mother’s Day gifts are ok when you’re waiting on a book to be “published” right?).
Robin @ our semi organic life says
Do you think you guys will start eating in the dining room on a day to day basis? Or do you already? I always wonder about dining rooms and just 2 adult households…
YoungHouseLove says
I think we’ll probably always eat at the table (which will someday be an island in the kitchen) and save the big table for family stuff. Although sometimes we eat in the sunroom or patio (and even on the sofa, haha).
xo,
s
Robin @ our semi organic life says
yea my husband and I eat at the sofa a lot. We sometimes eat at our ‘nice’ table but it only seats 4 so hardly qualifies as a big dining room.
Kathi says
I am so loving how the moonshine makes the color in the bookcases really pop – looks beautiful!
Also – I wanted to thank you for all the inspiration your blog provides. Thanks to you guys, I have completely redone our master bedroom over the last few weeks. I painted the walls a medium toned gray, put together a new dresser (Birkeland from Ikea) and just finished painting some nightstands this weekend….I’ve been referring to yhl as i go for all your great painting tips – thanks!
Melissa says
A bit hard to tell in the pictures but just covering up the samples is a nice upgrade :) Amazing how we do stuff like that and then leave it untouched forever. I just finished a similar project (smaller scale) and I wondered why I had waited so long!
Aly says
Of course you’ll do what is best for your house, but when I saw the picture of your painted dining room with the office in the background I thought it would be cool if your office wall was painted apple green. It would be fun and you could change it if grew tired of it. That’s my two cents.
Barb says
WOW…it looks Mavalus!!! (in the words of Billy Crystal….)
Love it!
Corinne says
I was wondering if you guys had painted the dining room! I certainly notice the difference and think it looks great. It’s a subtle enough change that it’s not overwhelming but gives the room soem oomph.
I’ve had paint swatches on the walls in many of my house’s rooms since October of last year. Then, I narrowed it down to a small(er) number of swatches and have about 2 on the walls in each room. That was back in January. I’m still stuck on the kitchen though, and have a huge amount of paint chips taped up and swatches on the wall. It’s kind of hard to find the “perfect” color to go with an orange-y colored living room when you can see one room from the other, with only a small breakfast bar and a huge opening to look through between them. Gray tones seem to be winning though!
Ali says
We recently painted the wood paneling in our family room and then the kitchen cabinets (per your tutorials, might I add!). I was trying to find painting clothes as it had been awhile since I’d painted, then my mom suggested just turning some inside-out. Sadly, that had not occurred to me, but it’s brilliant! So there it is. :)
Jacqueline says
Love the colour! It’s funny how such a subtle colour makes a big difference (I know because we painted our living room CIL’s “Whiter Shade” – very risky of us, hah). And on the topic of painting clothes, mine is a t-shirt with the slogan “What makes me different makes me beautiful.” It doesn’t get the inside-out treatment…
orangesugar says
We just painted out bedroom after gutting, insulating and re-drywalling over a period of two weeks. The insulation that was there was super old and probably had an R value of 3. And whoever did the drywall had no clue, you could see tape seams and screw pops all over the place. I have learned time and time again that I can’t paint anything without getting it all over myself. I have a rockin pair of elastic waist tapered sweatpants and oversized t-shirt that I use as my painting/drywall attire.
Patty says
This is kind of silly (I rent, hence no painting experience), but when you painted the dining room did you also re-paint the already white molding with white paint as well? Or did you JUST stick to the walls?
Also – “Benjamin Moore’s Moonshine which we color matched to Olympic Premium No-VOC paint” so you pick Benjamin Moore’s colors but you try to match them to a different brand that is No-VOC? Why not just pick colors from No-VOC to begin with?
Patty says
I love the color choice btw!
YoungHouseLove says
We brought home a whole bunch of gray swatches from a ton of brands (including Olympic) but the one we liked best happened to be by BM (but we like Olympic no-VOC paint better so we color matched it). As for the trim, we left it as is (but I’ll probably get around to freshening all the trim in our house with a fresh coat of white glossy paint someday. Maybe in a year or two. Haha.
xo,
s
Katie says
Hi YHL,
I saw a tutorial on painting slipcovers and thought I would send it over. Instead of a solid slipcover, there could be a pretty patterned green slipcover in your future. Love the updates to the new house…keep them coming.
http://itsgreattobehome.net/2011/04/11/tutorial-customizing-your-ikea-slipcovers/
YoungHouseLove says
I love that project so much! We want to bring in patterned curtains so we won’t be adding any pattern to the chairs but it’s such an amazing makeover!!!
xo,
s
Katie says
Oh yes, I think I remember reading that. Well I guess if you don’t find curtain you like, you could always paint those!
Good luck!
YoungHouseLove says
Very true! Love a good backup plan. Haha.
xo,
s
Jennifer D. says
Just curious….is there a ceiling light fixture in the dining area? I don’t see one on the ceiling above the table so I was wondering what you are using. Or is that also on the to-do list? I want to replace mine and I’ve been looking for suggestions on what to get. I’ve been turning to your website for inspiration. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, that’s on the to-do list! There’s currently not a single overhead light in that room (so it gets very dark after sunset). Someday we’d love to add a big dramatic fixture over the table!
xo,
s
verucaamish says
I love that the paint is a subtle and profound difference. It makes the crown moulding and baseboard pop with a capital P.
Tierney says
The grey looks so great! I wouldn’t have thought that such a subtle change would make such a huge difference! I always end up using bright paint colors, myself. In fact, once I had paint swatches on my walls for (ready?) TEN YEARS! I just couldn’t find the right shade, and would get discouraged! The worst part? The colors were red.
YoungHouseLove says
And the winner is… Tierney! Ten years is a loooong time. Picture us hanging you a gold paint swatch shaped trophy.
xo,
s
Jami says
This will be us! I yesterday put two swatches of colors up Benjamin Moore Harbor Gray (too blue) and Smoke Embers (too dark) and we realized we should probably wait till we get the granite to actually paint. Now I will have two lovely large color patches on our wall when everyone comes over for our gender reveal party! I doubt anyone will be shocked by it though!
I think I’ll have to try out Moonshine though, it looks like something we were shooting for originally!
Lisa says
Curious if you usually use flat paint, eggshell finish or something else for walls or does it depend on the room? For the dining room what did you use? Does the no-VOC paint come in different finishes? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, the no-VOC stuff comes in all the regular finishes (flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, etc) so we opt to use satin in all of the rooms besides the bathroom and kitchen (where we use semi-gloss so it’s even easier to wipe down). Some people prefer flat since it hides imperfections and has no sheen but we don’t mind a very subtle sheen and more kid-friendly-ness now that we have a wee one (and want to someday host Thanksgiving and Christmas bashes for the whole fam).
xo,
s
Heather - Diapers & Divas says
Yes I have swatches on my wall! They’ve been there for about… 2 weeks. Maybe 3. They will be coming off this weekend since I decided to paint my new kitchen hutch a dark grey/blue with a punch of orange on the inside. Oh yeah! Can’t wait!
Redlilocks {Swoon Worthy} says
Definitely makes a huge difference and I love the grey you chose – it’s very similar to the colour of my living room and bedroom!
Speaking of transformative paint projects – I did a quickie paint job on my sadly neglected bathroom using a deep peacock blue! It’s similar to your guest bedroom and I LOVE IT.
http://gettingitswoonworthy.blogspot.com/2011/05/transformative-power-of-paint-peacock.html
YoungHouseLove says
What a makeover! Love it.
xo,
s
Erin says
So glad to hear I’m not the only one that paints with their clothes on inside out!
May says
I turn basically anything that I’m wearing (nothing too fancy, I guess) inside out to turn them into painting clothes. My daughter’s “painting smock” is just an old t-shirt of mine turned inside out, too! Great minds! :-)
Ashley says
We moved into our house about the same time as you guys made the big move. About a month into it we went on CraigsList for a new couch (the yellow/blue flowery cottage looking mess of couches we had just weren’t cutting it) So hooray we found a new beautiful brown couch and scooched the old ones into the dining room for “now”. Welp, now turned into this past weekend. I’m happy to say that after four months we finally moved those sad excuses for couches out of our dining room and into the garage. (It’s amazing how much bigger it is in there!) I just wonder how long the couches will set there before making the final plunge… oh well, at least the “seen” parts of our house look lovley… for the most part:)
Heather Andrews says
It looks really nice! I’m loving light gray tones right now. We’re planning on painting the kitchen & hallway a gray similar to that one of these days.
We once left paint swatch cards taped to our living room wall for over a year. Yeah, that’s kind of sad. But in our defense, they were red swatches. We wanted to make sure we were really committed to such an intense color before we made the plunge. I’m glad we did, because it looks pretty awesome. Someone once told me that all good southern houses should have a red room, and man… is it ever red. :D
Kirsty says
Looks great guys! I’m lazy about paint swatches too, I try to paint them under existing art or mirrors so I can cover them up while I ponder them all! The longest paint swatches have lasted in our house is about 3 months, but no one could see them so who’s counting?! ;)
Januarysgirl says
I have a pair of inside out yoga pants that I use for painting. I thought I was the only person who did that. But for some reason both sides now have paint so they no longer pull double duty (only single duty these days).
Nicole M says
I have been living in my house for a little over two years now, and I still have rooms to paint. I even have the paint for those rooms :P I also have a lot of photos and pictures that were going to be hung…still on my office floor! I have exactly 2 pictures hung in my entire house!
Speaking of painting…I’m actually going to be painting my nursery sometime this week. I actually asked you about any ideas you had for the room because I was second-guessing my colour choices (I posted the pic on your facebook page). I am definately going with the orange I picked and will post a picture of it when I’m done painting! Fingers crossed that it turns out!
YoungHouseLove says
Good luck! Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
xo,
s
Susan says
Love the gray! I am a swatch watcher also…wanted a granny smith apple green for our breakfast room and lived with four swatches on three different walls for approximately seven months. Wasn’t my first time either! Did it with some butternut squash yellows at our first house for the living/dining area. By the way, I have painted in the same t-shirt for about 10 years now…I love it! So many memories wrapped in all those colors!
Leslie says
You guys must be real pros! Not a drop cloth in sight! My floor would be a real mess in about 5 minutes! ;)
I love this color (we’re considering it for our living room too!)
Carla says
the color looks good John…and so do the walls…lol! Anyway, when it comes to projects, I’m a “do what I’m in the mood for” kinda gal. Even with paint swatches up, if you’re in the mood to create the pation, then let the swatches be, right???
Elle says
Hey guys,
Love the new colour- I have something similar in our guest bedrooms. Its really easy to mix and match different styles with a colour that goes with everything :)
Elle
xo
Jolene says
Ok now I don’t feel so bad… I have been living with a temporary wall (while we renovate the room on the other side) covered in paint swatches for some time now and no longer notice them anymore! The thing is I changed my mind after painting the primer on, and decided to paint my swatches on boards instead so I could move them around the house and take a look at them in different lights… Love the colour choice you’ve made – it’s a classic!
tosha says
I love it! I’m a huge fan of bright gray walls – I think they keep the room feeling big and open while providing the perfect canvas for fun artwork! What finish did you use? The photo near the door makes it seem like you used a semi-gloss? Also, when you have leftover paint, where do you store it? I would love to store paint in our non air-conditioned garage, but I’m afraid it will get too hot for it – where do you guys store your extra? GREAT job!!
YoungHouseLove says
We went with satin (we’ve used that throughout our house so far and love how kid-friendly and wipeable it is). As for where we keep paint, we have a basement work room where John keeps it. It’s not cooled or heated but it’s underground so it stays more temperate than a shed or something (doesn’t freeze or anything). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Eileen says
Hurray for the painting weekend! The gray looks great! My husband and I spent the weekend painting too. We tackled our new townhouse living room on Friday and Saturday nights, and got it done just in time for a Memorial day bbq. We went subtle too since we’re renting, opting for a pale green and beige. But it feels so much cozier than stark white! Sherry, I love the inside out painting outfit idea, but have to ask, didn’t you get hot in a sweatsuit?? Was in old shorts/tank top thanks to the heat wave here, but next time I may try the inside out trick :)
Also funnily enough I think that the late night painting affected my sleep, because I had my first YHL dream experience. Ha!! May also have been prompted by a Trader Joe’s excursion to Richmond Sat afternoon… I guess YHL was in my subconscious somehow. It was pretty funny – I don’t remember much of the dream except that John, Sherry, and Clara were all there- and Clara was talking away. Gotta watch out for the late night painting, I guess!
YoungHouseLove says
We actually did that painting on Thursday which wasn’t as hot as this weekend (which was smoldering, so I would have totally had shorts and a tank on – inside out of course, hah). And as for your dream about Clara she’s totally a little chatty girl. Most of it’s in her own language but she “talks” all the time. Hah.
xo,
s
Victoria says
I’m right there with you!! The hallway leading to the bedrooms and main-floor bathroom got partially painted last year,the wall you face as you walk down the hallway is a lovely green. Then a couple of months later one of the other walls got a test swatch of some oops paint that, when wet, looked to be a lovely creamy taupe and ended up being a melted-chocolate-but-not-in-a-good-way kind of brown. I’m still looking for another color to test so for now we’re living with the test swatch of gross on one wall.
Alison says
Looks awesome, polished but not overdone. Can’t wait to see what you guys do with the office- in my opinion it’s begging for a bolder color to draw you in and contrast with the shelves- so many things would look great!
Relevant Notes says
The walls look great!
Shannon says
Love the soft grey! We just painted our pale yellow horrible family room in a very similar color and adore it! I can’t wait for you to knock out that wall!!!!!!!
PS- thank you for being such an inspiration, I love your blog!
Mel V. says
I love it! It’s so subtle, but it takes the room from looking half-done to “when’s the photoshoot?”.
I’m also laughing about that picture of John – my brothers-in-law are currently video chatting with my husband, and they’re kind of half dressed right now too. Put some shirts on, guys, I don’t care how humid it is!
Jen says
I’m currently at 7 months with red swatches on my living room walls! Now I’ve decided to go with a more neutral color. Haha!
Sarah Webster says
We are in the midst of painting the entire main floor plus a basement bedroom and upstairs hall and bathroom, so in total about 9 rooms and the ceilings in all of them, 2 sets of walls down and 1.5 ceilings done. We are planing on: A similar grey in the hallway, a beige in main floor hallway+ the entry way, blue in kitchen, sage green in dining room, lighter sage green in 2 bathrooms, light brown in living room and a greeny blue in basement bedroom, and a crisp white on the ceilings :)
also we are about to install 7 light fixtures, yikes, I should go back to work even though my arms are about to fall off :D
Ashley says
Oh please. You guys shouldn’t feel bad; I had color swatches painted on the walls in every room of my apartment for NINE months. NINE. And all but two of the rooms are still white. And I finally got sick of them this weekend and just painted white over the swatches again! But I also painted the bedroom this weekend, so at least I’m making progress. :-)
Kim says
Was thinking of sending out a great big YAY for the room feeling a bit more complete, but then I realized that I can no longer justify MY undecided swatches on MY walls since now YHL has chosen theirs and finally painted! Shoot! It was so easy to say “Well, those pros over at YHL still have swatches on the wall, so it’s ok that we do too!”. Now I guess I really have to get to work! :)
Erin @ Out on a Limb... says
You guys just made me feel soooo much better about myself. I feel like a schizophrenic decorator sometimes. With 3 and 5 year old “helpers” things seem to take far longer to complete around here than they used to.
And take heart, I had paint swatches in the hall off my living room and in my living room for close to six months last year. Oh and a primed accent wall which ran the whole length of my living room, and stairwell wall. It looked like a hospital around here for months, and while it’s painted it’s still not ‘done’.
Thanks for your lighthearted inspiration. You guys are so talented and your home (and daughter) are beautiful.
Anna says
ok, taking it as a sign to get on with my living and dining room. I have grey swatches on the walls that have been there for months, begging to be covered up. I had an idea that the grey would look great against the white trim and tiles, glad to have it confirmed! Your room looks great.
Monique says
The gray really makes your bookcase pop. And yes, we have paint swatches on our wall.
We bought a house last year and it’s taken time to paint and make other changes. You guys amaze me with the turbo speed at which you accomplish home repairs and changes. I don’t know what you’re eating but I want some of the same! :-)
Rachel says
hehe… I totally had paint swatches on my walls for a year… maybe longer. My husband and I couldn’t decide on what color to paint, so friends would come over and say “What did you decide?” Then we would get to ask their opinion. I totally get the not even noticing them anymore thing. We also had a wider range of colors than yours were and in two rooms instead of one. Then we finally decided on colors that weren’t even any of the swatches on the walls- haha!
Georgia Rowe says
Ohh looks nice! I cant wait for the big Ka Pow to get rid of the wall to open up the kitchen! (e-x-c-i-t-e-d)
I could totally see some nice frames on the wall opposite the window… like ornate frames with nothing inside… if that makes sence… just the frame no inner.
x
Michelle Nagy says
After 3 years of tolerating my ugly kitchen walls, I finally painted over them with a few fresh coats of white. I can actually relax in my own kitchen now; it’s amazing! What was so ugly before? Lemme tell you: off-white brick wallpaper (!?!?) and (drumroll) a mural of Greece on the only free wall. And this mural was wallpaper, too. Everything had huge stains on it; I don’t know why I took so long to freshen the room up. I also wish I could post pictures on this thing so that you could see how baaaaaad it was.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh post pics on our Facebook page! We’d love to see!
xo,
s
Gaby says
Good for you guys! Our house had grayish(not as pretty as your paint)/purpley trim and doors throughout the place when we moved in 2 years ago. My husband was a rockstar and painted all of the trim a rich brown color, and we painted *some* of the doors, and…that’s it. Two years later, we STILL have doors that are gray! Drives me crazy! My brother-in-law is a contractor and said he’s got a sprayer that could cover the doors quickly, but he’s so busy, and my husband doesn’t like to paint, so the job languishes. If I could find someone to babysit my 11-month-old, I’ll tackle that job, I swear it!
Debbie says
For five months, my living room has been primed on 2 walls with SEVEN different paint swatches. My daughter’s friends – all 15 years old – used to place bets with one another before walking into our house on whether or not I had actually painted. They’ve now given up on me — not even wagers and bets are entertaining anymore.
c allen says
what is the easiest way to paint inside the 2 connecting (almost) door jams, I can get the tap on the sides of the trim, but the paint always comes out goopy looking
YoungHouseLove says
Maybe use a smaller or thinner brush without much paint on it (so it doesn’t look goopy)? Good luck!
xo,
s