Getting Moody In The Bedroom
The deed is done! Rockport Gray is all up in this hizzy.
We love how much more things like the extra thick crown molding and the trim around the doors and windows pops now that the color is deeper and more… sleepy? Can you describe a bedroom color that way? In love.
It’s such a mutating color. Sometimes it looks lighter and grayer.
And sometimes it looks moodier and more mocha.
We think it looks especially good with our cheap-o Ikea curtains (Vivan panels for $9 a pop) and other crisp white things, like this old side table from our first house’s den and the white lamp shade on our floor lamp.
So yeah, we likey the new vibe in the bedroom.
Basically the room looked kind of soft and sweet with the light gray-blue walls before…
… but they were kinda similar to the walls in our first house’s bedroom (which we did love, but after 4.5 years with it we thought it would be fun to try something different).
It also felt a little too blue when you factored in the blue in the rug, the headboard fabric, etc. We just wanted something with a little more oomph. See how these side by side shots show how much more the molding and the fabric on the headboard pops? Now they stand out and say I am molding/headboard, hear me roar.
These vertical images might help you see the molding effect more easily (since they’re not as small). Doesn’t the trim almost look like it has been beefed up and whitened in the picture on the right? It’s all thanks to the contrast that the deeper and less airy color brings. Seriously, I didn’t repaint the molding or anything.
As for the process, we basically spackled any nail holes that we weren’t going to be using anymore (like the ones that used to hold the art up over the bed when it was on the other wall) and then sanded them so they were smooth.
Then we moved a lot of stuff out of the room, and covered the remaining furnishings that we pushed into the center of the room with plastic drop cloths):
We taped off the crown molding too (since on a step ladder I’m less steady handed). But I can freehand all the trim around the windows, doors, baseboards, and outlets without tape – so that saves us time and tape.
It’s amazing what an instant difference the new paint on the wall was. But it took us about five or six hours of prep/painting to get to that point. It’s a big room (16 x 16′) and we were also painting the entire sink nook (which is like another small room that’s attached with tons of windows and doorways to cut in around). So we just put on some music and got down to business. Painting business. Not funny business.
There was some of this (I’m the cutter-inner in the family and John is the roller):
And some of this (we actually painted the ceiling above the sink nook a color for the book photoshoots back in January, so we finally got to repaint it back to white while we were doing the walls):
As we mentioned, the room is 16 x 16′ – and we actually used less than a gallon of paint for this entire paint job (including the sink nook). Maybe around 2/3rds of one? Benjamin Moore paint (this was Rockport Gray in their Natura base, which is VOC free) has great coverage, so when we used Olympic to paint this room for the first time we used the whole gallon since we needed two full coats, but this time we only needed one coat and a few touch ups as a second coat instead of a full second application. Oh and we went with an eggshell finish for anyone wondering (it’s nice and matte but still a bit more durable and wipe-able than flat paint would have been).
There was still the same amount of house chaos even though we only needed one coat of paint this time. Because of course when you paint a room, at least one other room looks like complete insanity since all of the stuff from the room that you’re painting gets dumped in there. Like our living room in this case:
For those wondering where Clara was, her grandparents graciously offered to take her to the playground, lunch, and the library while we got this done. So thankful! We’ve definitely painted rooms while she napped and it has worked (like the bedroom when we painted it the first time) but it’s usually just a lot more choppy because we both work hard for the two-ish hours that she naps and then one of us has to watch her while the other one works (ex: I continue to cut in while John watches Clara after she wakes up) and then we switch (I watch her while he rolls).
And since you know we like to move faster than Edward The Vampire play around with time lapse stuff, we even shot this video, where we condensed our day of work down to two minutes:
Here was our little setup to catch the process on our laptop’s camera (which has a longer battery life when plugged in than our Flip HD, which can only record for an hour). Oh yes, we’re high tech around here. There was ottoman on side table action (we used iMovie to make the video, which comes free with most Macs and has easy settings to speed things up):
So whoop, there it is. Darker, moodier paint that makes us wanna sleep. Haha. And kinda makes us want to paint a whole lot of other rooms in darker tones since it’s amazing how much more substantial the molding looks. But when we stop to think about it, ultimately we like the balance in the whole house’s current palette, which consists of:
- some light neutrals – like the soft gray in the living room and dining room
- some happy tones – like the grellow in the kitchen and the light pink in Clara’s room
- some deep saturated colors – like the dark teal guest room and the back of the dining room built-ins
Should be fun to see what colors we end up with in the completely untouched sunroom, playroom, hall bathroom, and guest bathroom though. In the meantime, what are you guys painting? Anyone diving into darker colors? Or lightening up with something soft? Feel free to name your favorite wall color of all time – it’s always interesting to hear what you guys are loving.
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Gorgeous!! I love this color. I know you’re planning to darken the floors down the road, but I think the gray works well with the current color in the mean time.
The picture of your living room reminded me…where did you get the white garden stool that’s next to the sofa? I’ve been looking for one, but I can’t bring myself to spend $100+ on the gorgeous ones from Ballard Designs (I’m hoping you have a secret bargain spot!!)
HomeGoods! You have to check back a few times, but when you see one grab it since it’s usually $39 or less (we once got one for $24 I think!)
xo,
s
Woohoo! I was so hoping you were going to say that. I knew you had another one from there, but this one looks exactly like the one I’m in love with from Ballard Designs, so I thought I was out of luck. Off to Home Goods…
Good luck!
xo,
s
Grey is definitely my favorite color and seeing this makes me want to paint every wall in my apartment grey!
Also, Sherry, you look gorgeous in that picture! :)
Aw thanks Emily! I was a mess by the end of things. Paint in the hair. The whole nine yards. Haha.
xo,
s
Love the color. Makes a big impact. And your paint chip art blends nicely (although I wouldn’t be surprised if you guys switched it up). Good to know the differences in paint brands, I am using Olympic in the master as well, it’s not covering as well as the Valspar I normaly use, and it sounds like Benjamin Moore has even better coverage. I guess I need to splurge on my paint purchases a bit more.
I’m so glad you repainted. I like it SO MUCH more than the blue you had in there before! But I’ve really been gravitating towards gray a lot recently, so that’s no surprise to me. :)
love love love!!!
I wasn’t sold when you announced your plans, but I am now! What a subtle but big impact difference- looks awesome!!
Aw thanks Karen!
xo,
s
Fabulous color guys! I liked it in the bathroom, but LOVE it in a bigger space! Doesn’t the world just seem right with perfect shade of gray! I’m a fan of Martha’s Bedford Gray, but probably need to add Rockport Gray to my list of favs!
Stay cool today! =)
Love it!! I have been thinking about painting our master bedroom from light blue to a medium gray, and this definitely convinced me. It looks like it was meant to be gray all along!
What an awesome difference. I wanted to paint our living area gray (we only have one large living room/kitchen/dining combo) but decided to focus on painting just our bedroom gray, and this makes me want to go buy the paint today.
I love it! It even makes the clouds in the horse sunset picture more awesome. I looked at the living room chaos picture really fast, and did a double take…it looked like John sitting on a toilet. :-)
Haha, he’s sitting on a stool. I thought the same thing!
xo
s
I love the new paint colour guys! And you two snuggling up with Burger is cute, though it looks like Sherry scared him off. Haha
Haha, he wanted to go get his bone and play!
xo,
s
LOVE IT! Yay!
Love the gray, am in the process of painting combo living-dining room, was Warm Muffin, very yellow, now is a shade of taupe/khaki called Chic Taupe, that I had them half for the perfect shade. I wanted to do gray but my carpet is khaki-ish berber.
What do you recommend for a good trim, now that Im painting the trim is definitely next..
Love you guys and your blog too.
Mary Ellen
We love Ben Moore’s Decorators White for trim (in semi-gloss). Good luck!
xo,
s
Oh man, amazing!!! This looks so great. Holy bright trim, Batman! Things in there look so polished now. You should take the first $50 of your book earnings and buy yourself a new Sir Ramsey. You’ve earned it, and I miss him.
Question: I have the Hemnes bed from IKEA and my (insanely heavy) memory foam mattress sits down inside a box too – a little deeper than yours actually. I’m a 5’1″ single girl, and probably weaker than you (Katie’s chest bump would have sent me into the next county). Do you have any sheet changing tips? Right now my strategy is to heave my mattress up onto its side, balance myself on the wooden slats while carefully balancing the mattress upright, get the sheet half way on, lower the mattress back down at an angle, get the rest of the sheet on, shimmy the mattress back into its box, and then visit my chiropractor. My technique is too dangerous to be doing at home alone without a spotter. I know there are two of you so you’re already at an advantage, but how do you guys change your sheets?
Any other Hemnes owners out there?
Ooh anyone else have tips for Sayward? I basically don’t move the mattress at all except for picking up the corner a bit and shoving my hand (holding the fitted sheet corner) down into that corner and then let the mattress fall down and sort of hold that sheet in place. Kinda a weird description. Anyone else have tips?
xo,
s
The new color looks amazing and so does Sherry. Looking good, Mama! :)
Haha thanks Kate! I like how my bra is hanging out in that picture. Keeping it classy.
xo,
s
The new color makes the room more grown up. More like “we’re in our 30′s” bedroom. Haha. Anywho, I can’t believe what an amazing tranformation from the beginning to now. Totally unrecognizable!
Aw thanks Monika!
xo,
s
It looks so awesome!!!! You all amaze me with your eye for detail and pulling things together that I would never think of. Loving the headboard, too!
Looks so great! How long did you wait before moving everything back/hanging things back up?
Just about three hours or so. Paint is usually dry in an hour or two, but it doesn’t hurt to give it a bit longer just to be sure.
xo,
s
I LOVE it! I feel like the rug makes so much more sense now and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I just figured the wall color looked different in person. But now with the Rockport Gray, the whole room is gelin’ like a pair of Dr. Scholls.
Hahaha thanks Christie!
xo,
s
i think the horse artwork and the wood dresser in the nook are looking awesome with the new color! the horse pic particularly…striking difference with the grey!
With one coat of sexy moody paint in the bedroom, you two are all grown up now. Niiiiiiiiiice paint colour. Mmmmmmmarvelous
The new color really warmed up the space a lot. It looks great!
J or S, I have a question for you. You’ve inspired me to use BM’s Moonshine in a room in our house but I have always wondered what exactly do you mean when you say that you used the moonshine color and mixed in Olympic Premium No-VOC paint from Lowe’s? Does that mean purchase the moonshine paint and then take it to Lowe’s to be mixed with one of Lowe’s NO-VOCs paints? Thanks so much!! :-)
It means they will use the color formula for the BM color (they have it in the computer at Lowe’s and Home Depot) and they will use their paint as the base (Olympic Premium is no-VOC and a great budget option). Although lately we have been springing for BM paint since the coverage is awesome, color matching is a great way to go if you’re on a budget but love BM paint colors as much as we do! Haha.
xo,
s
Thanks so much!!!!!
I lurve the gray walls! I always had an issue with the rug + the headboard…like they never *quite* went together. The dark gray ties everything together nicely! Well done!
Now I can’t wait until you guys tackle the dark stained floors! :) As someone living in a house full of carpeting, I’m so jealous of those floors!
Aw thanks Carolyn! We can’t wait to tackle that too!
xo,
s
Wow! What a difference! I was originally pulling for the original color, but this color couldn’t be more perfect. Love it!
I’m dying to paint our open kitchen/family room combo Benjamin Moore’s Balboa Mist (I think. I haven’t painted swatches on the wall yet). But still working up the energy to tackle such a big space on my own. Soon!
Looks awesome! Amazing how different a room can look with just a coat of paint!
What a beautiful room – I can defintely see how the colour can change the whole look of the room. Love it! And love your site! Found you about two weeks ago & I’m addicted!!!
Aw thanks Amanda, so glad you found us!
xo,
s
We recently painted our living room Behr’s Cayman Bay (dark blue), and I’m so glad we did. It’s quite dramatic!
I think the gray looks good in your bedroom. I’d like to do my daughters’ room in gray, but probably a darker shade.
The color is gorgeous! This is almost the exact color we want in our master! The crown looks so amazing next to this color. Will you change bedding at all? We were thinking gray walls with white bedding, but hoping for a cover with pops of yellow, teal, magenta…something like that!
Pillows always change in our house, so those will probably change along with adding something at the foot of the bed (like a folded blanket along with a new bench, perhaps something upholstered)- we’ll have to see where we end up!
xo,
s
I don’t even know what to say, and that is a first. lol
you done good girl (and boy!)! Love it. such an improvement, even when I didn’t think it needed any!
Trish
http://www.mash-upchic.blogspot.com
Man oh man, this is makin me think twice about using GRAY fabric to make a head board. (I have the LIGHTEST pink walls in my BR) Now I’m wondering if I should do something with a bit of pattern in it. Hrrm..
wow! i love the gray. where do you get your large graphic rugs from? they are gorgeous.
The one in the living room is from a jossandmain.com sale and the one in the bedroom is from a local outlet (super cheap since there’s a hole in it that we could hide).
xo,
s
Everyone else has said it… but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the grey too! Great choice.
Aw thanks Jennifer!
xo,
s
Looks great! You’re really making me want to try this color in my house but we just finished painting almost every room so I may have to wait a little for the husband to recover ;)
On a side note. What brought on the switch from color matching Olympic to actually using Benjamin Moore? Do you find that its well worth the price difference? I see you mentioned you only used a 2/3 gallon vs a whole gallon, but isn’t the price more than double? Sorry for the boring question. I just trust your opinion more than most because I know you’re painting virtually all. the. time. :)
We first used Ben Moore paint on our office cabinets over a year ago and were really impressed with the quality. So from there we used it on things that were important/needed to be super durable (ex: painting our kitchen cabinets). Then we used a bunch of it for book projects since we were falling hard for it. Haha. And then we used a quart of it in our bathroom since we knew it would be durable and hold up to moisture. So now we might just be addicted to the quality (it goes on really easily, the color is a bit richer than color matching, etc). We look at it as paying more for better quality stuff and to save work/time. The price is about double though, so you’re right, it’s all about whether you want something cheap and you’re willing to do more work and risk it not being as durable, or if you want something a bit more high quality with better coverage that saves time.
xo,
s
Love it! What a huge difference it makes!
never saw it before but that side of shot of you cutting in totally looks like Rachel McAdams! Love the new bedroom color!
Oh yeah, that’s the one I get most. And the girl from Game Of Thrones (I actually see it most with her, just because we seem to be sister-ish, maybe we’re secretly related…)
xo,
s
I would love for you guys to do a tutorial video for painting–cutting in and rolling. You guys make painting sound so easy, but it takes so long to put up tape etc (obviously, I’m slow though) and I always feel totally wiped out by the process about 1/4 way.
We actually have a video all about how I cut in on our video page (see the button on the sidebar?) and have written a post about how we paint on our Projects page for ya. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Oh that’s fantastic! That color just pulled all the great pieces that were already there together and made it all so cohesive.
I have been thinking for a long time about getting rid of the gross beige I inherited with my house and painting my bedroom gray…this may be the push I needed to get ‘er done!
LOVE…IT….SO….MUCH! I wasn’t crazy about the original color to be honest but I knew you would make it all work eventually. I definitely agree that putting a home together is a PROCESS. Side note: How on Earth does Sherry look so pretty while painted. Your hair looks amazing? It makes me hate you just a little. :)
That hair? Completely curling because of the humidity. Not a good look! I promise, straight on = a hot mess.
xo,
s
LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am diving in to the darkest color. Black. Well, actually Cooled Lava from Valspar. I am painting the inside of our front door with it. I put a swatch of it up so far, and painting will commence tonight. We have lots of black framed paintings, so I hope it looks as fab as think it will. Black interior doors always look great on Pinterest. :)
Okay, I have to admit. When I first read you were painting the bedroom gray, my thoughts were “another gray room.” This gray is awesome, though! I love it.
For the record, Sherry – you look so skinny-mini in that picture! You’re tiny to begin with, but that picture seriously makes you look like you’ve been spending hours in the gym! Hot mama!
Aw thanks Blair! I can’t believe it took me over 2 years to get things back to where they were before Clara, haha. But at least it happened eventually. My mom said it took her a while after breastfeeding to go back to normal so I’m using that as my excuse too (since I nursed a while).
xo,
s
I was thinking the same. Hot mama! :)
I would just like to say last November I painted my room from a bright blue to a light yellow color. I’d had the blue for 4 years and was ready for a change. My (single, male) co-worker couldn’t believe I was going to paint “again”–”didn’t you just paint?” Me: “4 years ago.” Him: “Paint lasts a long time. Why?” Me: “Um, I want a change?” I feel validated that you guys are re-painting after a year and a half. :) And for the record, I LOVE my yellow room and it was totally worth the 8-10 hours it took me. (3 coats since I was going darker to lighter).
LOVE the color! It looks fantastic and ties together a lot of the new elements you’ve been introducing in the bedroom.
I just spent 3 days painting our new apartment ahead of our move this weekend… my arms are about to fall off! I do envy your ability to use those moody colors, what with your house being above-ground and all. We used Benjamin Moore Atrium White all over our dark, dark basement apartment, with a satin finish to bounce the light around more. I’d really love to embrace the darkness, but it’s much less moody and romantic when you’re bumping into things because you can’t see!
I absolutely love it! I really liked the old color but always felt it was kind of young/feminine … especially paired with the floral headboard. I would’ve been all over it when I lived alone, but I don’t know if my boyfriend would go for it now that we live together. I think this new moody gray is just perfect now! The room is still cheerful but a little more sophisticated and couple friendly, if that makes sense.
Love the new paint color- even though it’s darker, it makes everything look so crisp. And it seems to draw out some gray from the headboard too (LOVE!)
I’m a big fan of gray in the bedroom- so relaxing!
http://new1790house.blogspot.com/2011/12/master-bedroom.html
LOVE IT! It looks very similar to the color my husband and I used to paint our tiny condo living/dining area. I absolutely loved the walls for the 3 years we lived there. annnnd I think the headboard and rug look great together!! :)
Love it! Tackling wallpaper removal in our guest bath soon … this may be the color that replaces it! Thanks.
Love it! I’m on a gray kick around my house right now…I think I would paint every room some shade of gray if I didn’t think it would end up looking gloomy :/
This is gorgeous! Our bedroom desperately needs a paint job, and although we don’t have as many colorful accents, I have been searching for a great neutral shade to layer in with the existing grays and browns and creams. This is great inspiration!