Painting Wood to Transform This Space
It's not uncommon for me to go to a consultation and see dated, wood panelling and the client wanting to freshen up the space. When I see homes like this, I often hear one of two things:
- The clients are willing and excited to start painting the wood or
- The clients do not wish to paint over the wood but still want to refresh their space.
I'll be honest, although a room can get a refresh without having to paint the wood, I LOVE seeing the transformation when the wood is painted.
The Before
Let me start by saying my clients have a lovely home. When I arrived at the home, the "Mrs" showed me around. It was evident that they had already updated parts of their home except this one area. The area that I was going to be helping with was a room, off of the kitchen, that was fairly private. It's actually a great space. It's away from the kitchen, it's tucked away at the back of the house, but....it was dated. Here are some before pictures of the space.
Built in shelving, dark wood, old flooring
The other side of the fireplace where the TV was located
This is the back wall (sorry the image is so big) with some dated furniture
The last view of the room by the entrance. You may not be able to see but the carpet was very 'tired' as well. The beauties in this room were the artwork. Handpainted by the Mr's. mom!
The Transformation
Step 1 - Choosing the Floor
Before any work was done we went through different flooring options as I already knew my clients were game for painting over the wood. The main part of the home is hardwood and the flooring that was in this room was carpet. Before I talk any more about the flooring, what you also need to know is that this family has a really cute dog (you'll see further down). He's so cute but he's also a bit skittish (so sometimes accidents). Although I did have a carpet picked out (Mohawk SmartStrand®) that is great for pet owners, we also looked at other options. The "Mr." did not want laminate or cork so we also took a peek at Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT). Although 99% of the time I would never suggest butting up LVT (that looks like hardwood) against real hardwood, we happened to find one that was a super, close match to the real hardwood. As my clients were so worried that carpet would just end up looking like the old one, we moved forward with the LVT.
The 'Mr' did need to install quarter round on the base to give it a finished look.
Step 1 - Choosing the Paint
Although so many people want to choose paint first, it's actually one of the last steps. Once the flooring was chosen, we could then pick out the right paint colours for the walls to cover up the dated wood. Since this room tends to be dark, my client wanted something light - yet current. I suggested painting out the wood panels one colour and then the built in bookcases a different colour. Since the rest of the home's foundation palette is cream, we looked at many off-white and cream colours. We settled with Benjamin Moore Spanish White (OC 35) for the walls and Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (HC 172) for the built ins. I had my cabinet painter Paul do the work for my clients.
This is how Paul sets the space up to ensure the doors of the cabinets dry!
The End Result
I can't tell you how pleased I am with the end result! In addition to the walls being painted, I taught my client how to chalk paint her fireplace and I helped them purchase custom furniture for their space. Although there still needs to be some fine detailing with the decorating (pictures on the walls, an area rug), I was invited over to see it and I couldn't wait to share the images with you!
The 'Mr' still wanted his recliner so we got a more slim, modern one just for him! Furniture is from Urban Barn
Can you see the wall colour against the built in colour? It's just enough contrast without being too overbearing. BTW - this chair is the most comfortable chair I've sat in a long time!
Can you say, 'Holy Shit' with the fireplace?! My client did such a great job in painting it! She used Annie Sloan chalk paint (3 different colours).
OMG - how cute is he??? Sectional is from Urban Barn too! The perfect size for this smaller space. Once we chose the paint colour I took those samples with me (yes - I took paint samples right into Urban Barn to ensure the custom fabric we were choosing would the the BEST choice).
Ahhh...it's done!
It is truly amazing how a room can come all together when you pick the right choices (the first time). At the request of my client I sent her the 'before' images of her space. She couldn't believe how dark and cluttered the old space looked. The new space? Refreshed, crisp, clean....and hoping to stay that way for a long time! Here's one last peek:
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