I’ve said it a thousand times over, and I’ll probably be saying it forever, but: Paint is magic. Absolute sorcery and hocus pocus. Do you like how thematic this post is? Nah, me neither… but I do mean it! I’ve been spending a lot of time in people’s homes recently with my Color Chat service, consulting on paint colors and wallpapers and helping people bring color into thier homes in ways that make sense for them. And a good chunk of that time is spent trying to imagine how a wall that is currently grey/white/insert-color-here could possibly look good painted something entirely different. But the feedback I get once the work is actually done just speaks to the magical powers of paint and color! A note in my inbox this week said:
Just a note to say that we painted the walls that color we picked out and the whole family loves it!! 10 outta 10!
But onto this week and a mural that I installed in a home quite close to mine (which made for a short and sweet commute!)
Location: Maplewood, New Jersey
Brief: Focus the attention of the room away from the fireplace and into the rest of the living room.
Time Spent: 2.5 days
Color Palette Inspiration: The living space was full of color inspiration. Mint green, earthy terracotta, mustard, mauve.
Colors used:
Behr paint:
Wintergreen Dream, Vanity, Blue Chalk, Smokeshack, Cinnamon Crunch, Dawn Grey, Garden Salt Green.
Chantilly Lace & Cracked Pepper (remember, it’s the best black out there!) for the stripes.
Listened to:
BBC Radio 2 (Of course)
Suki Waterhouse - Memoir of a Sparklemuffin
Zaho de Sagazan - La Symphonie des éclairs (thanks to Jo Wiley’s The Infatuation)
The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy
Adrian Edmondson on Desert Island Discs - and had to try verrrry hard not to cry.
The living room of this home is the first room you walk into and the fireplace was taking all the attention from the rest of the space.
(Spot the Maplewood Quilting Co piece! That was very cool to see!)
The idea was to bring the mural around the fireplace and through the door frame to zone that side of the room and make the channel to the right of the fireplace feel more like a separate walkway to the kitchen.
We decided on Benjamin Moore Arcadia White for the rest of the room, which is quickly becoming a favorite white of mine. It’s a warm white with creamy undertones, but absolutely not cream if you know what I mean. It complemented the mural colors perfectly and this room now feels so grounded and homely.
I didn’t remember to take a picture before I started masking (I’m all business, you see!) but you can see how much warmer the space feels swapping the cool grey for a warm white:
And here’s the completed piece:
It was a last minute decision from the homeowner to wrap the doorframe and the molding and i’m SO glad that they were on board. These murals just become better with every corner they turn. I love all the new unexpected shapes that are created. Yay for shapes!
Their sweet pup, Parker was a most excellent companion and impeccably behaved. He came over for the odd head pat every now and again, but mostly just lounged in the sun. What a life!
There are so many great little moments throughout this mural, it was hard to capture them all, but I truly do love that door frame and the fact that you can look through from the dining room and get that little hint of what lies beyond in the other room.
I think we achieved the ‘zoning’ we were hoping for in this room, and what a fun surprise when you walk in the door to be greeted by something so happy and colorful.
Thanks as always to my committed, supportive clients who trusted me to go large like this in their home. What a joy and what a privilege.
Let’s just see one more before and after before I sign off :)
Ok folks, that’s it from me. I’m off to meet a man about removing some squirrels from our roof… ceilings…walls… wheeeee!
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.