Black Ceilings

A few weeks back while having lunch at Libretto I noticed that the ceilings in the bathroom were painted out black. I loved it and it got me thinking about painting a ceiling in my place black.

I'm very embarrassed to show you pictures (horrible pictures at that) of my kitchen.  I'm in the industry,  have the pleasure of designing some amazing kitchens and unfortunately I come home to this every day... 

My plans of renovating my kitchen will happen some time next year.  White cabinetry, marble counter tops and white subway tile will be happening!  In the mean time I thought my kitchen was the perfect ceiling to paint black.

I have to admit I was scared while edging but there was no turning back at that point.

I painted all my interior doors in my condo Benjamin Moore Black Jack and had some left over, so I thought why not.  It turned out better than expected, it's a soft subtle black and isn't too harsh against the white walls.  I can't wait to renovate!

images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 (me) | 7 (me) | 8 (me) | 9 (me)

keri
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The Painting Post - The Semi-Sponsored (3MScothBlue!), Yup That's My Mom Edition

Painting should be a good time.  If you go in with a can-do attitude, a little know how and your pro painter mother, it can be.  

Here's a little info on the nursery space.

• Room is about 225sqft to paint including underside of bulkhead
• No need to change trim, the base is already a white I can work with
• There is a bulkhead around 2 sides but I'm working with it, and making it work.
• The curtains are changing.
• The carpet is staying, I'm hoping the new wall colour will have the pleasant effect I want
• Two big sliding closet mirror doors, for a condo, not bad

Though the colour temperature varies per picture, I think you get the idea.  This is builder beige at it's best.  It's chalky (but not in the good Farrow & Ball way), and rough to the touch, nearly impossible to clean.

I mentioned in the title, this post is semi-sponsored. I was contacted a little while back and asked about any upcoming projects.  Of course I mentioned my own project, and was sent a few roles of new ScotchBlue 3M painters tape.  I hate for this to sound like I'm sucking up, but it really is the best painter's tape I've ever used.  Sooooo cheesey to say, but it actually made my life easier. And really, isn't that the point of any product you buy.  Is it cheap? No. It's going to cost you more.  But I would ask you, how important is a straight line to you? How important to you is what you're putting the tape on top of?  Then for the extra $15 bucks you spend on the whole project, its $15 well spent.

Here it is, stuck all over the place.  I ended up making it work on trim, outlets and on the inside of the closet.  I didn't have time or space (or paint for that matter) to do the inside of the closet, so a couple of inches past the closet doors, I stuck it down in a nice straight line.  Here is the real test of tape, does the paint bleed under? When I was done painting, and it was time to pull the tape off, I was left with, a nice straight line.  As far as painters tape goes, that's really all you can ask for. 

Edging underway, Gray Owl (OC-52) beginning application.  I had no idea how much paint this room would take.  With a little over 220 sqft, one Gallon ought to do.  But, I underestimated the under layer.  That builders beige was porous and dry, and begging for moisture.   I just had enough paint at the end, and truly, it needed a second coat, so I went out.  

Here is where I made a mistake, and I'm still kicking myself for it. This picture is of a dry wall. I had a couple of Home Depot gift certificates still left over from the wedding.  I had the paint matched.  Terrible choice.  I don't expect this is the norm, but the can of paint was not mixed properly.  The sheen was off, and the colour was off. A little blotchy in spots and along the edges it was much darker. You can kind of see it here in this pic. So I went out, again.

This time I did it properly.  I went out to Benjamin Moore, and bought a gallon of Aura.  Better paint, smooth finish, easy to work with. This cost me way more than the gallon at Home Depot, but if I had just done this at the start, I would have saved.  Learned my lesson here.

  All painted now except for the the wallpaper wall, which is still not here.  I might be losing my temper a bit with that.

All finished. Love the colour!  Gray Owl, wow, this is such a pleasant colour.  Its warm, its soft, its neutral without being beige!  Great Gray! The wall colour brought out the gray in the carpet and hides the yellow that the old beige highlighted. And look at the white trim pop!  I am a happy designer today.

Walls painted, ready for the next steps:  Crib, Wallpaper, Sofa, acc's.  

All coming together and I couldn't be more excited about this space.  Its not often I get to work on this stuff for myself, and I've got to tell you, it's a lot of fun.

More to come!

Bill
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Great Grays - Picking a Wall Colour

Decisions, decisions. Our lives are full of them and really, what would it be without them.  When you're designing, everyday is decisions.  Location of sconces, placement of furniture, and wall colours - always wall colours.

Finding the right wall colour can and should be one of the most fun parts to any project.  As you've been inundated, reading our nursery posts vigorously this past while, I've been choosing a wall colour.  I knew gray.  That much I knew.  But which?  Warm? Cool? Blue, red, purple, green, totally neutral?

I've settled.  But I will most definitelly share the process.

I began with some simple Pinterest, Houzz and Google searches.  Snapping up pictures, saving them to a dropbox (dropbox is my lifeline these days) folder and generally hording.

Then chips came out, as did my wallpaper and and a notepad.

Old favourites are a good place to start, as is the Benjamin Moore App for your iPhone.  I pulled out one of my all time favourite colours, Iron Mountain and began here. I've done a number of kitchen spaces, and kitchen cabinets, in this deep rich tone.  Its a warm, slightly brown gray. Look at the Comparison above.  On the left is Iron Mountain, on the right is Wrought Iron. Although its hard to see it on screen, hopefully you can pick it out a little, there is a blue that isn't in Iron Mountain, but brings a coolness to Wrought Iron that I want to avoid.

Yes I like Iron Mountain, as the above pics display, and I like that it's carrying a warm undertone without being red or purple.  Where do we go from here? Now I start comparing.

Here are a handful of colours, all next to Iron Mountain (right in the middle).  I really do want to stay away from blues, and red or purples too.  I don't mind if there is a slight hint of green, though it needs to be kept slight, because my wallpaper has a tiny green cast to the gray.  Looking at these, I'm realizing that I really don't want to go dark.  I've seen some beautiful dark walled nurseries, but I want bright and light - maybe I can find that happy medium? 

Now that I've got it down to a few solid (lighter) colours, I'll compare to the wallpaper.  I want to pull out one of the colours in the paper, without going too white. My trim is a pretty true white and I'm trying not to repaint it.  This is Gray Owl (the darkest), Intense White (the lightest) and something else in between, I honestly should have written that down!

After much thought, much comparing and much rethought, I've found my happy medium, Gray Owl (OC-52).  I love the depth to this colour - it's not a rich colour, but it carries a weight. And it pops next to the white trim.  Its gray without being cold, and it gives me a gray/neutral that I can work with for the rest of the space. 

I'm seeing some chevron pattern pillows on a charcoal sofa, all offset with a straight white crib. - And an as yet undecided accent colour.

Next up, the work. This room's not going to paint itself!    ...my Mom is going to paint it...   Ha!  I'll lend a hand too, but she'll most likely be done before I get the chance to help, she's a pro.

Bill
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Black on Black

During my many vacation trips to Bahamas I always fell in love with the colourful homes and buildings.  I mean who wouldn't want to live in something so bright!?  It's a refreshing change to the beige homes in my area.

This past weekend I drove past (and totally regret not taking any pics) two homes side by side completely black on black!  I forgot about Bahamas and fell in love!  With the help of Pinterest and Google I found some more amazing painted black homes!

I automatically think of contemporary when I think of homes painted black.

But the older, more traditional buildings / homes definitely have more impact!

The one above is my fav.  The high gloss black door is stunning with it's brass hardware.

How cute is this place?  I had to throw it in for good measure.

Benjamin Moore Black Jack # 2133-20

Benjamin Moore Black Knight # 2136-10

If I had a house I would probably pick either of those two blacks.  If only my condo corp. would paint my building black!

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keri

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Still a work in Progress

I've always had a vision of how my first condo would look...white walls, black doors and walnut herringbone floors.  Do you see it?  Well I'm halfway there!  As I sit here going through the before after pics of my living room I realize this is still a work in progress. I'm a hard girl to please.   .

I started off with someone else's paint colours and someone else's  floor choices, it was not a happy place.  It didn't feel like home until I painted all the walls Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC # 65.  The floors still need to be changed,  hopefully that happens this year.

There is still so much I would like to fix, add to or move around.  I debated posting the almost after pics because I feel it's still not ready...but then I thought, why not?!  So here is my work in progress.

 The white walls make the space so much brighter than it was before.  I also painted all my interior doors Benjamin Moore Black Jack # 2133-20.  See halfway there!  The next area is my dining room...wallpaper to be found, possible table to change!  I can't wait.

keri

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