In my previous two houses I painted rooms whatever color I liked at the moment, without considering the colors overall in the house. Our first house seemed disjointed with a few different styles going on and a very random color palette.
In our third home I’m much more conscious of how the colors go together and striving to maintain consistent style and continuity. I did this with our light fixtures as well.
White
White is by far my favorite color choice for walls. Some pops of color are wonderful, but overall, I love fresh are airy white walls! The sunshine bounces off of them and they make for the perfect backdrop.
Trim
For trim, ceiling and my board and batten walls I use plain, bright white, right out of the can. This makes it super easy for touchups — and I have to do a lot of those with three kids.
At our last house, the homeowner chose different tones for the ceiling and trim. It was a problem to match every time I wanted to do a touch up, so I went simple in this house.
Walls
The house already had mostly white walls when we moved in. The only problem is that there are several shades of white going on! The kids’ rooms are pale beige. Our room and guest room are a pale gray. And the living areas are an even lighter gray. It bugs me a little, but not enough to repaint everything!
Over time, I would like to slowly paint the rooms the same color. I would probably go with something like Benjamin Moore Paper White. The color in our living room isn’t too far off from this selection.
Light French Gray
I love the way Sherwin Williams Light French Gray pops next to bright white trim. I used it above both board and batten walls, the entry and the dining room.
I also used it above the top half of the hallway (currently STILL missing chair rail and moulding panels.) It adds quite a bit dimension, while still reading on the white scale.
I plan on using the slightly darker French Gray to stencil the floor beside the pool this summer!
Newburg Green
I’ve been obsessed with this rich color ever since I saw it. Benjamin Moore Newburg Green a transformative peacock color that looks blue or green, depending on the light. I still find myself eyeing it in the boy’s shared room, trying to determine which it is!
I thought the dark color would make the room look smaller, but just doing one accent wall actually gave the room more depth.
Harbor Haze
I wanted to keep our guest bedroom gender neutral, but it was feeling pretty bland, so I painted the ceiling Benjamin Moore Harbor Haze.
I had southern porch ceilings in mind when I chose this. It shifts with the time of day between a cool blue and a pale robin’s egg blue.
I liked it so much I decided to paint this alcove in the master bathroom the same color. I also like to add continuity to the house whenever possible.
(I’m sorry I keep showing you a picture of my half-painted, pre-makeover bathroom! It’s not for lack of motivation. Ok, yes it is. I’m completely not motivated to start painting tile and re-caulking everything, haha!)
Courtyard Green
I looked at SO many greens for this door. I’m fairly confident I picked the perfect one ;) It’s bold, but not too blue or too yellow. The pop of color adds some personality to the all-white garage and goes so well with all the surrounding greenery.
And the best part is that it cost $7 and I did it in 20 minutes!
Black
I’m in the process of painting all of our French doors black. And again, I just used the satin black, straight out of the can! It’s simple to buy paint to patch it and looks great. You can see how I painted the doors, walls and floor of our entryway in this post!
And that’s it! I probably won’t add any other colors to this list to keep things simple, but I imagine I’ll continue to add a few accent walls and touches with these existing colors.
Tell me, what is your FAVORITE paint color in your home?
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Hi Kate – we are celebrating Mother’s Day today, thinking of you across the ocean to, hope your day is lovely and blessed. I so love the French Grey color, it is a warm shade and blends lovely with the white. Your home is coming on so beautifully, as you settle down you make decisions which is more you, bringing a pleasant character to the “home”, yes it is changing from a house to a home. Can’t wait to see the color change outside at the pool area, we are now having our winter season so it is easier to paint the outside as there would be no heavy rains to wash the paint off. The color outside has faded into a soft pink, yup, and the boys are not happy, I have seen a shade that would be perfect, I think we will get everything into order, paint, rollers and brushes as well as a our scaffolding so all is ready to go and get started. It is nice to see how you are enjoying your decorating ventures and your decisions are very wise. Take care and be richly blessed.
I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day, Elize! I laughed when I read the boys are not happy about the house fading into a pink color! What color do you have in mind?
Love the clean line, yet cozy feel of your home. Just wondering what finish you used for the pure White on your board and batten. I use pure white with a semi-gloss in my dining room but just wondering if the semi-gloss is too glossy for a small powder room. I’m doing half gray and white wallpaper at the top and white board and batten on the bottom, any suggestions?
I used semi-gloss in the bathroom too! It’s nice because you can wipe it down easily and I actually like a little bit of shine! Sounds beautiful. We’re on the same page because I just finished my boys bathroom in gray and white :)