It was January when we painted three test swatches of gray on our dining room walls.
It took us just days to pick the color but apparently took us, yeah, um, FOUR MONTHS to finally paint the room.
I’m not sure what’s more embarrassing – our painting laziness or my rockin’ farmer’s tan. Anyway, I searched my brain for some sort of an excuse for the dining room paint delay. Maybe we were too tired at the end of the day in January that we spent painting the living room and hallway the same color? Or we were too distracted by completing the guest room for Sherry’s mom’s February visit? Or we were too consumed with patio and party prep to take it on before Clara’s birthday? Maybe. Or we just like to bounce around randomly and come back to projects after months of dormancy. Probably that. Either way, something got into us, and the room (finally) went from this:
To this:
I know, I know. It’s not a huuuuge difference. Heck it might not look different at all online. But the soft gray definitely feels a lot more polished. And ding dong, the witch swatches are dead! The color is the same gray that we used in the living room and the hallway (Benjamin Moore’s Moonshine which we color matched to Olympic Premium No-VOC paint) so we already had the paint on hand (we got three gallons of it a while back in anticipation). It’s just such a good soft gray color. Seriously, it’s perfect in all the rooms we have used it (even though they have different lighting situations going on).
You may recall that we wanted to paint these rooms all the same color to connect and unify the spaces (and then the kitchen, which is in the middle of all of them, will have a bit more color on the walls for interest). Maybe looking at the unpainted and then painted room shots side by side will demonstrate how even a subtle coat of paint can help things like crown molding and trim have a bit more emphasis. The room definitely reads a lot more crisp now that it’s painted:
It still amazes us how much a coat of paint can do to make a room look finished – or, in our mostly furniture-less version, at least make it look a little less forgotten. Especially when it’s covering up test swatches that have been there so long that we didn’t even notice them anymore until friends would say “which color did you pick?” and we’d say “oh yeah… those” (it was the bottom one, btw).
Even this subtle addition of color to the walls has helped us notice a few things. For example, we didn’t even realize how beefy the crown molding was in here until we painted (it’s about twice as thick as any other room in the house). And the soft gray looks nice with the built-ins on the back wall. It lets them “be the star” (as Sherry would say) but still adds that light I’m-in-a-cloud vibe and makes the room feel polished and complete. Well, as complete as it can feel without curtains, art, entryway furniture, etc.
Since this room didn’t have pesky wood-toned-molding that needed a bunch of coats of white paint (like the living room), it was MUCH faster to finish (the living room also called for beam painting, which we’re thankful this room also didn’t involve). So by comparison, this project was cake. We did one coat together during Clara’s morning nap (Sherry cuts in while I roll) and then did our second coat in shifts after the three of us ate lunch (since one of us was on Clara duty while the other painted the day away). It was so relaxed that it further underscored how crazy it was for us to put it off for so long. Sherry even snuck in a phone date with her Katie B (her blogger BFF) at one point.
Oh and see those white tags in the photo above? Allow me to explain. Sherry’s “painting clothes” may look like an ordinary black sweatsuit (yes, she’s from Jersey and proud of it) from a distance, but take a closer look. It’s an inside-out black sweatsuit. Otherwise known as her pajamas when worn the right way. What Not To Wear, here we come!
We also took – and then promptly deleted – a PG-13 version of the photo below. Let’s just say I was putting the “moon” in “Moonshine by Benjamin Moore” (and my butt is whiter than my upper arms). Go ahead, I’ll give you a few seconds to picture that calamity.
Ok now stop, you’re creeping me out.
All tomfoolery aside, we’re just glad to live in a test-swatch free home. But of course, now having paint on the walls is giving us the itch to do more in there. I mean, it’d be a shame to leave these nice blank-canvas grey walls totally blank for too long, right? Especially since we’re dying to knock out a huge opening to the kitchen and hang curtains and add art and dye those off-white chair slipcovers…
Eh. Maybe we’ll get around to it in a month or two… or four. You know how we roll. Have you guys painted anything recently? Are you a fan of inside-out-pajamas as painting clothes? Have you had swatches on your walls for over four months? Tell us we’re not the only ones…
Psst- When it comes to how we paint, this post and this post and the video in this post will hopefully help you out.
Psst again- We’re over on BabyCenter sharing how we made some swanky looking photo books for our moms (late Mother’s Day gifts are ok when you’re waiting on a book to be “published” right?).
Nadine says
I love the gray I have gray in my kitchen and bedroom and one wall of the living room but now want white in the living room..(it’s so small and dark) What color white would you recommend and what finish? Also what white finish for trim? Aaaand would you paint low voc paint with the baby in the next room? You make me believe it might be doable to get some jobs done while my 8 month old naps and my husband is at work so I don’t get shot down ..lol
YoungHouseLove says
Yup definitely go no-VOC! We like Olympic Premium best because the colorants are VOC free as well as the base (not all no-VOC brands are). As for the color, lighting varies in every house so I’d bring home a ton of white swatches and just see what you like and have it color matched to Olympic Premium if it’s not from their line. As for the finish, go eggshell on the walls and semi-gloss on the trim. Good luck!
xo,
s
Nadine says
Awesome! Thanks for your help!
Terri says
Four months would be a dream! We moved into our house four years ago and most of the walls still have swatches on them. Congratulations on your success!
LARY says
I just noticed a cool ceramic dog guarding the hallway! Is it a new family member? Did it replace the old one? Every time I see any ceramic animals I think of you guys :)
YoungHouseLove says
He’s my big concrete greyhound! John actually got him for me about three years ago, but he was quite friendly with my ceramic dog until his untimely passing. So sad.
xo,
s
Erin says
Hey guys – why Olympic over Benjamin Moore? I’m going with a light grey this weekend in my dining room and was here to get your BM color reference to add to my swatch consideration.. I used Olympic no VOC on a project a few weeks ago and swore I’d never not use BM again. I blew threw tons of the Olympic.. although, it could be because the closest hadn’t been painted in 40 years. Of course, Olympic is less expensive, but I thought I learned a long time ago you get what you pay for with paint (am I wrong??). Would love to save the bucks and just hit up Lowes tomorrow…
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve learned that all of our rooms seem to call for two coats of Olympic No-VOC paint, which is still just one gallon of paint (which is just $23-ish) so even if I need just one coat of Benjamin Moore (assuming it has better coverage) I still have to buy a gallon which can be $50 for the no-VOC stuff. So since we don’t mind two coats of Olympic to save nearly half the price it’s worth it to us. But it’s definitely one of those personal preference things!
xo,
s
Hanna says
I have been trying to decide on the perfect gray color for our bedroom, and this post solidified it for me. We went with Moonshine and love it! It’s not too dark, but it’s not so light that it looks white. Any tips for getting a little bit of paint out of carpet? ;-) ha! The drop cloths we used were ANNOYING! We went cheap and got the really thin plastic ones and they were more in the way than anything. Kept sticking to us and it was HOT this past weekend! So…we ended up just pushing them out of the way. Only a couple spots on the carpet, but I don’t think they are that noticeable.
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, maybe try blotting them with lots of water (since paint is water-based it might lift out). And maybe some mild soap? You could also try very gently trimming the carpet pile to lift the painted tips off. Anyone else have ideas for Hanna?
xo,
s
Todd says
Please (please?!) tell me that the picture of Sherry on the phone and cutting in around the power outlet and HVAC is staged?? Surely you take outlet and HVAC covers off before painting? And surely you tape the trim?? And surely you use drop cloths??!
Todd
Alexandria, VA
Anal Painter
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, so sorry! We’re not really “staged” kind of bloggers. My little brush can do anything (I have a short handled magic little angled brush and it’s amazing) so I use it against trim and vent covers all the time (once I found that magic brush we were over painters tape except for around the ceiling since I’m short and can’t be as precise up there). As for dropcloths, we only use them in carpeted rooms because we’ve noticed that we can wipe up any small drip right away (or even let it dry and “pop” it off of wood floors). After years of painting (and repainting) it’s just what works for us- but we definitely know it’s not the pro way to go! We have our own weird Petersik method I guess. Haha.
xo,
s
Amy says
This might sound like a weird question. I’m not sure if my lowes/home depot carries benjamin moore colors. So to have them “color-match” it do i just go in with the name “Benjamin Moore moonshine” and hope that they know what i’m talking about? Also what is no-voc paint? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Our Home Depot/Lowe’s doesn’t carry Benjamin Moore either. But I have a BM paint deck that I use to pick colors and then I bring the swatch there so they can scan it if they can’t find the name in the computer. They almost always can though! As for no-VOC paint, it means that it doesn’t have any volatile organic compounds (which are bad for babies, pups, humans in general, and the globe). It’s just the healthy eco alternative to fumey traditional paint (and Olympic no-VOC stuff is still very affordable and doesn’t have any VOCs in the paint they add to color it, which is more pure than a lot of others). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Gracy says
Hi sherry,
can u pls let us know the details u included in the book?? well i am planing to make the same.. so would like to know what all details u included in each page pic as well as other stuff(like milestone )? and how many pages it took ?
Love,
Gracy
YoungHouseLove says
We just did a page of milestones at the end (just click the link over to the babycenter post to see that) and the rest of the pages were just photos of each weekly photo in order (with that first photo of our family and the last photo of the family a year later). It turned out to be about 30 pages since some of the weekly photos were on the same page and it was just bookended with those two family photos and the page of milestones at the end. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lauren says
I keep coming back to your website for ideas. Thanks so much for sharing thought process behind your choices (I’m such a noob)! I love the Moonshine color, and I’m considering using this somewhere in my house.
Did you guys paint the ceiling this color too? I’m debating painting the tray ceiling in the LR/DR in my craftsman house.
YoungHouseLove says
We left the ceiling the stock white color that it came, but Moonshine is a great color for the wall and ceiling too, if you’d like to bring the color up there. Probably can’t go wrong either way since it’s such a soft color!
xo,
s
Judy @ my house and home furniture says
I love your blog! I’m hooked… You guys are so gutsy painting without covering the floor and having painter’s tape. I’m so clumsy, I would have ruined the carpet when my boyfriend and I repainted the office. It’s so much work to repaint a room, let alone two! lol
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Judy! It definitely was a skill we acquired after years of work! So keep working on it and I promise it gets easier and your hands get steadier!
xo
s
Sara-Beth says
I LOVE the moonshine and really want to paint my bedroom that color! Only problem is that there’s not a Benjamin Moore anywhere close to me. Do y’all have a code/formula/suggestion as to how I can inexpensively get my hands on a can of my own moonshine oasis?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, I don’t have it, but here’s the page on their site. Maybe you can call and ask? http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/moonshine
xo
s
Claudia says
Hi! Great post. What is the paint color that is the backing of the shelves in this room..looks like a great navy. Thanks
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! That’s Dragonfly by Benjamin Moore.
xo
s