Kitchen update (power of paint again)

So this is an update performed just before we moved in - painting the kitchen. Everyone in the blog world seems to have done it so I' not going to post instructions - just pictures.  I'm also not going to post instructions because I didn't do it myself :) I started (with the side of the cupboard in the the lower left hand of 1st pic) but realized it would take forever and I was traveling heavily at the time so we had most of the cabinets professionally spray painted.

The before (which I hated - seriously blue lowers?)

As you can see we had tons of cabinets as the light wood cabinets in the office / mudroom can be seen from the kitchen.

Without further ado the after - sorry for the quality. My camera isn't very good.

 

Oh and notice in addition to the new color the light fixture over the sink.  There used to be a potlight there before. 

I was going to go with dark lowers and light uppers originally but so glad that I was advised against it during a color consult my agent organized for me. It was with Lesley Till @ Design In Sight who gave amazing advice.  She said with my dark floors and dark backsplash I should avoid the dark lowers.

What colour did we use? Benjamin Moore Wickham Grey.

First time painting furniture

So we accomplished the below on the August long weekend and here I am posting a month and a half later - yes I am ashamed of myself but I'm not going to beat myself up too much.

So when we moved in we found that the owners had taken the powder room mirror with them - it wasn't an exclusion so I didn't think it was cool but I wasn't going to pay them the $100 they wanted to return it. Instead I just put up an old mirror that I owned despite the fact that it it didn't fit in.  But the internet inspired me to paint it and without further ado here is the before and after:

Before and After

 So I'll admit its not as perfect up close. I can still see the reflection of the black underside of the frame in the mirror but it matters not - I'm proud of my thriftiness in reusing an existing mirror. To be honest I even like it better than he fancier mirror that the previous owners had - see below. I think my painted mirror has more presence and doesn't disappear into the busy wallpaper.  Would you agree?

Prior owner's mirror on left and mine on right

Master bedroom post-move-in

So the next few days will be a short series of what the place looks like now - post renovation and moving in with my possessions.  We already did the family room which I absolutely love.  Today is the master bedroom. Its nice but I can't claim love.

First the before - this is with the prior owner's possessions and a professional fish eye lens or something. I am really envious of the panoramic shots they take for real estate listings. I hated the wall colour.  I love brown in furniture and even more so in chocolate but on the walls it looked like poo in this room - no offense intended for people who like the colour.

So we did two things:
1) the room is now 2ft narrower because of the bathroom reno we did. The before was 13ft and the after is 11ft
2) We painted the room F&B Skylight
We didn't mess with the closets so no new pics of those
Excuse my husband's bed making abilities and the tattered blanket - its so hard to find a decent priced washable blanket!

After painting + moving in with my stuff 01

See the en suite door!

The room is quite serene now - good for sleeping. But I think I'm bored.  I have had that headboard for years and years.  It was cheap because it was a mistake - not queen and not king either.  But its so blah and a bit too beige.  So I think I need to Craigslist it and get a new upholstered headboard in a cheery fabric. And maybe curtain panels.  Doing these two things will make me happy. but alas I have put myself on a spending moratorium.

The bench at the foot of the bed is my favorite thing in the room.  Its a Christie's antique show find and I can't tell if its really old or just 20 years old. So I can't decide if I should repaint the legs to freshen it up or leave it looking battered.

That's it for this room - I think next will be the dining room.

Back with pics

Sorry I've been away for so long. I don't know if I mentioned but I travel for work so in the two weeks since I posted last I've been in 4 different US cities + Toronto. And we moved which was crazy because we had to pack over half our house in a day. And we unpacked all the main things so the house is at least half done.

But enough excuses - I just wanted to share what is probably my favourite room (bathrooms excluded!).

Its our current family room - the prior owners used this large bedroom for the same purpose. Here is the before from the listing. I hated the color on the walls - we called it baby diarrhea and it was high on the to-paint priority list.

Before - from prior owners - family room

And here's where we are now:

My favorite part is the rug - we picked it up at the Christie's antique show last year. It doesn't have a lot of red in but there's enough to tie into the accent wall. The rug is an odd size 7x10 which I didn't realize when I bought it. I also love how its one of the few traditional elements in the room but looks good (to me) paired with the modern ottoman, daybed and art.

Btw if you like the daybed / sofa it can sleep 3 when opened out.  Its from Design Within Reach.  As are the two standing lamps near the TV.

As for paint its F&B Borrowed Light for the blue and F&B Incarnadine forthe accent wall. We did colour match with Benjamin Moore but I hink it was a good match.

What's next for this space? I'm open to suggestions but I think the side tables need changing /  upgrading.  I'm not sure what look I need instead but I'm hoping it will just strike me - perhaps at the next Christie's show.  I also think I need to change the pillows and throw to a red and white scheme but I'm afraid to be too matchy.

More soon :)

Bathroom Update + Giveaway!

So I dropped by the house today and it is looking good.  In my last post I expressed Bathroom Worries. Well no more. With grout the tiles look so much better and the ming green marble is looking cool - to me at least. My key worry now is how to take good pictures for you given the space is so small. I couldn't take pics today because there was too much construction stuff all around. The showstopper so far is the paint - its so amazingly beautiful but so hard to see in pics.  Here's the cleanest shot I could get today. Its the hall bath (yes Hubs chose a floating vanity) painted in BM Whirlpool - see the ceiling corner to get a sense of Whirlpool color.

Main reason for posting though is the National Home Show. I bought tix the day after I bought the house but just got 2 tix as a gift.  The show is in downtown TO from Mar 16 to 25th.  Anyone want? Gotta be a follower (yes I'm trying to build a cult) and leave me a comment - I'll do some fancy random number thing to pick the winner (yes I'm hoping there's more than two of you!). Sorry tix gone. My contractor wanted them!

Paint

So since I don't love the colours of our current walls, hubs has offered to paint the house for me. I want a serene look that opens up the space so a light neutral. Now I don't seem to like any colour but blue (I do try) but am worried about being too cheery blue vs. "i'm light and bright but sophisticated" so we've bought samples of all the colours below. If you have colour suggestions do please let me know!

Source all pics: F&B website
(note all colors are F&B but we likely colour match):

Upstairs hallway and mudroom (ie darker spaces): Borrowed Light

Living room, dining, room, entry way and front bedroom (ie lighter spaces) : Skylight

Master Bedroom (going for darker): Parma Gray

Found some of the above colours painted online and they seem to be on the right track:

Borrowed Light

Source: Forum

Skylight

Souce: Forum

Parma Gray (seems the least likely to be what I want so far although I'm looking for a darker blue-grey since this is for the master bedroom)

Source: Photobucket