If you’re just tuning in, we’re renovating a shared room for our daughters in 6 weeks as part of the One Room Challenge! My sweet mom loves to make any object or situation instantly desirable and charming by starting a sentence with, “There’s nothing like a _____.” Insert warm cup of cocoa, fall leaves, a bowl of spaghetti, a towel right out of the dryer, lines on the floor from the vacuum, etc. And today, I’d like to adopt her optimism, because after cracking open a couple cans of paint in the girls’ room this week, truly, there’s nothing like a fresh coat of paint to make a room feel clean, wonderful and so close to being complete.
To jog your memory, below is how it used to look just a couple weeks ago after we finished building the bunkbeds, but before we built the reading nook.
After a marathon of caulking, the raw wood needed to be primed before painted. Farrow and Ball, a sponsor of the One Room Challenge, sent us the primer and paint we needed for the room. Although we have used their paint before (most recently in our home office), it was our first time using their primer and the coverage was fantastic.
We’ve painted so much over the past 8 years, we definitely have figured out a system–Chris always does the rolling while I cut in–and can crank out a room pretty quickly thanks in part to just using the right tools. You can check out all of our go-to, tried and true, favorite painting supplies right here.
For the paint color, we decided on Farrow & Ball’s Wimborne White, a warm white that really brightened up the whole space without it feeling cold or stark. (Years ago, I ordered a free swatch card with all of their colors right here.) One of my favorite details is how the natural wood stair treads pop in all that white. We’ll definitely seal them before all is said and done, but I love the added warmth in that little slice of the room.
If you missed it on Instagram, we also finished up the wardrobes we shared last week and the way the rich black plays off of the soft, warm white feels just right in here. But! We’re excited to start bringing in the girls’ favorite colors before the big reveal next Wednesday. I ordered soft pink curtains and so many fun pillows and textiles. We’ll also be installing all the accent lighting over the next day or so–there is sure to be more updates before the final reveal. But, really, there’s nothing like a fresh coat of paint is there!?
See how the other designers’ rooms are progressing by clicking through the links below:
Jana Bek | Chris Loves Julia | Shannon Claire | Coco.Kelley | The Curated House
Driven by Décor | The English Room | From the Right Bank | Sherry Hart
Hi Sugarplum | House of Jade | Hunted Interior | The Makerista | Making it Lovely
Marcus Design | Pencil & Paper Co. | Megan Pflug | Place of My Taste | Suburban B’s
Waiting on Martha Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by CIH
Hoping you see this! Did you roll the bunks? Or spray them? We’re currently working on this project for our boys room and would love to know! Thanks :)
We rolled them.
I have had such a negative experience painting wood furniture. Despite our efforts to clean, sand, prime and use high quality paint, after a year or so the paint always begins to rub off and reveal the wood underneath, looking super trashy. You mentioned you would be sealing it. Did you mean you’ll seal the paint or the exposed wood on the stairs? If you seal the paint, please please tell me how you do it to keep it looking nice. Anywhere my kids touch their painted beds, it always wears off. :( Your project looks gorgeous!
Do you use a high-quality primer? That always helps. I was just referring to sealing the stairs–something I still haven’t done!
Love the contrasting colours! Can’t wait to see the reveal!
Love the black cabinets with all the white! Great contrast!
This looks freakin’ amazing! I’m anxiously awaiting the reveal with my cursor hanging over the Pin button. We are planning to build a house in the next few years and I already know that this will be the major inspiration for the shared bedroom in that house. Best of luck this week as everything starts to come together!