Monday Morning - Guu and Paper

Welcome back from the weekend.  I feel like mine is still going, been a funny few days.  

Sampled some great japanese at Goo Izakaya, if you've never been, its a lot like a tapas bar. Order too many dishes and share them all with friends. Delicious.

And the paper went up!  Tada!  Finally, after months of waiting, it arrived, and we jumped on it right away.  

It's a grainy shot, so I'll keep it small - more to come!

Bill

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A Little Preview...

Just a little preview of some robots for my lil robot!!!

Stephanie
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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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Working Weekend - But at Least it was at Home

Finally finished painting - who knew that could be so much work?  Builder beige in a condo is surprisingly porous - took a little more time, and an extra coat I didn't expect to be putting on. Still all worth it in the end, I'll show you in an upcoming post!

Now didn't I tell you these were going to be everywhere?

What do you think?  Found this at Ikea - might look nice on the sofa I have yet to buy or get made (think I'm running out of time? Ahhhh!) and it pops so nicely against the (also purchased this weekend at Ikea) crib. 

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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Nursery Wall Coverings - Really Bill? Really?

I haven't been thinking wallpaper for the nursery.  Well, I thought about it, but I dismissed it rather quickly.  I was sure it would be too busy, that their would be enough going on without it.  I was sure that it would be too elegant, that it would add formality to an otherwise fun, playful space.  

I think I was wrong. 

Today, for whatever reason, I became interested in the idea again.  You see, I like wall coverings.  I like wallpaper and grasscloth and tile.  I like pattern and colour and texture.  So yes, thoughts started burning and churning and I became interested in the idea again.

I'm not one for overpowering a space, but an accent wall, the back wall of the space, would pop like crazy.  My wife is going to kill me.  I was supposed to keep this simple, but really, this is soooooo much more fun.

These two are just great.  Fun pattern, simple palette, just my style  

 Hilarious right?  Literally a series of goofy pairs of eyes.  Walls that are meant to be drawn on by your kids.

How much fun are these? Both are simplistic repeating graphic patterns, but they really couldn't be more different.  The top image is a series of musical instruments and animals.   Playful and fun.  The second could be played off a bit more seriously, which I like, but not formal and it will still make you smile.

Two more from Peek-A-Boo, this is their Trellis series.  It's lively, bright and happy.  A babies room should be bright and happy.

Fun in yellow, fun in blue.  

These are my colours!  The blue is maybe a bit, blue, but so close.  I need to see this in person.

Now you see, my interest was poked and prodded, and now its up.  I think we're getting some wallpaper.  

My wife is going to kill me. 

Don't ask don't tell? Better to ask forgiveness than permission?  When I find out dear readers, I will let you know. 

Bill
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New Nursery - The Colour Scheme

With Christmas fast approaching, drafting time is not something I have had in ample supply.  Tonight, I found a bit of time, and finished up the north wall elevation of the nursery.   This is my work space as I drew away tonight.  

West and North walls here.   I'll share more details with you and my thoughts on the room layout in a future post, but I thought I'd give you a sneak peek now.    

This teal blue is just gender neutral enough for accents.  And paired with grey's and creams like this piece of flooring I've been hanging onto will work well.  There are two photos from a few weeks back... 

...here they are, that I'm using as inspiration.  What I really like about them is that neither feels overly girly, or over boy(ly?!?!).  They're bright and fun and they have a sort of whimsy to them that I like.  That red, coral colour along with the teal/aquamarine/blue mentioned above are just the right pop of colour to add some fun to an otherwise neutral grey/cream room. 

Great colour palettes are tough to find, and very time consuming to develop. My starting point is from this great site I found Googling colour combos.   They take (generally) landscape photos and produce palettes from the colours in the image.  I can usually find what I'm looking for or at least a close suggestion that I can print to help give myself or my clients a quick understanding of where the project is headed.

I should be able to find some interesting scando patterns or tribal when it comes to accents around the room. For that picture grouping on the north wall either a series of drawings or  a mixture of pattern and colour.

So the process is moving ahead. Come the New Year, the hunt for a great pullout sofa begins in earnest, as well as a crib and a massive closet overhaul   

~

Take care, I'll check in with everyone a couple of times during the holidays. 
Don't drink too much, don't drink too little.  Have fun. Happy Holidays.

Bill

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