Painting Moulding the Same Color as the Walls

Thanks again for all your kind words. I'm still working on figuring things out. It's been so helpful to try things outside of my normal routine and to just slow down and be more present. I can't tell you how good it feels to be out of crisis mode for even a little while.

The broken arm wasn't the biggest deal, but the cast was a pain and I'm so happy it's off now! You don't keep an elbow casted for all that long or else you can risk losing some range of motion down the road. So I'm taking it slow while the break continues to heal, but hoping to start doing some more projects again soon and get back into that creative zone. I think finishing the glossy top coat in the music room is a good one-arm project to try.

When I did the primer coat a few weeks ago (which is what you see here still), I debated what color to paint the moulding on the walls. I think if I had left the baseboards and the chair rails white, the look would have been a little choppy and maybe too traditional looking, which might feel weird with such a bold color.

I think it looks really modern when everything, floor to ceiling, is painted the same color and the same finish. It makes the light play on the moulding lines in such a pretty way, and the full color wash is so much less jarring than stops and starts of different colors.

Kelly Wearstler's HUE

Nick Olsen in House Beautiful

Anthropologie

Thom Felicia

Aerin Lauder in House and Garden

Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles

It's a pretty look, right? I'm almost tempted to add more paneling to the blue room before putting the top coat on! I'm especially drawn the the Kelly Wearstler photo (the top example in green). I love the dimension of the panels! It's so much more interesting than strips of moulding.

Hello and Happy New Year!

Hi friends! Happy 2014!

I'm sorry for the radio silence - things have been quieter on the site than I meant them to be this week. Honestly, I've been getting a little burned out the past few months and I'm trying hard to shake off this funk, but I'm struggling a little. I had hoped the holidays would be a little more restful, but they were so crazy that I didn't really get a chance to hit that reset button during my time off. And sadly, it seems like every time I get this stressed out, something bigger happens with my health that forces me to slow down a bit. This time I fell and broke my arm at the elbow. I'm doing pretty good, and I don't need surgery like we thought I might. Just trying to take it easy for another few days. I'm hoping to use the down time to get re-energized and re-inspired. I'm hoping all the swelling goes down sometime soon too. I feel like a balloon! :)

A few days before I fell I managed to get a primer coat on the music room walls. The primer was tinted to be lighter and brighter (and a little less green) than the final color will be, but it's fun to get a sense of what the finished product will be. I can't wait to get that done!

I got a few other projects done over the holidays that I need to photograph and share, so I'll be back with those over the next couple days. Thanks for hanging tight while I get all this straightened out and while I focus on mending my arm (and my head). xoxo

New Piano!

We bought a piano as an early Christmas present! It got delivered a few days ago and I'm loving how it looks in our music room (which is still not painted - I need like a week of nothing to do but house projects).

I wanted something small since we have other big pieces of furniture going in there (the chesterfield and probably the tiger chest?), but I didn't want the smallest spinet size piano either.

This one is just a hair bigger than a spinet - it's like a small console piano. The back top opens up so the sound can be louder if you want it to be (the kids will not be taught that little trick though).

It's a touch more feminine than I had in mind originally, but I like that it's still very simple. And I really love the bow-like music stand.

The finish is a little roughed up, but it's not horrible in person. I think it will be easy to touch it up with one of those furniture markers and maybe some ebony Restor-a-finish.

The brass casters could use a good cleaning and some Brasso.

When we first saw the piano, the bench wasn't upholstered and when we came back into the piano shop to buy it they had sent out the bench. :/ 

The checkered chenille is not my favorite but I haven't had a minute to pull off the fabric. I hope the top of the bench wasn't too damaged. I can always cover it back up with a new fabric if it is though.

It was a really great price since technically it's a starter piano (we only paid a couple hundred dollars and they delivered it, which was huge for me!). It has a really beautiful sound though - not at all tinny like some smaller pianos can sound. It's been so fun to sit down a play and to help the girls with their practicing. Lessons start for them after the holidays!

Oh! Also, did you see my new rug? 

It's a silky Ralph Lauren beauty I scored on clearance at Homegoods! I love the way the light hits it and it is seriously so soft! Linus practically lives on it - I think he likes it more than his dog bed. (such a snobby poodle.)

Glossy Blue!

(someday my house will not be covered in a layer of construction dust)

Michael has a great eye and he has definitely become fluent in decorator-speak after years of hearing me yammer on about this stuff. He always has an opinion (and I love hearing his spot-on ideas), but he's also really flexible, for which I'm so grateful. He trusts me and is willing to sign off on most anything I am planning to do.

Kips Bay Showhouse

Because he trusts me so much and because I decorate our house as part of my job, he usually just lets me do my thing and chimes in when asked (except for the big decisions/purchases, of course). So I was a little surprised when out of nowhere he told me he would love to see blue lacquered walls in that little space next to the library we are planning to use as a music room... Uh, okay!!

Miles Redd

Miles Redd

We pulled out my paint decks and I was showing him darker blues with a healthy dose of green (like F&B Hague Blue and Ben Moore's Gentleman's Gray), but he was drawn to more clear and bright blues.

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Miles Redd

I told him I wasn't sure about doing an Yves Klein blue with our bright red door only a few feet away, but a bright blue with just a hint of green in it seemed really lovely. So I threw up five samples (all colors are Ben Moore -- the pale gray is from the other samples we were doing for the main rooms).

Pretty quickly I pulled out Symphony Blue because it was too purple in real life. Michael nixed Blue Danube (too green) and Gentleman's Gray because it was too dark (a fair point with all our dark paint projects in the house lately - mudroom walls, stairs, fireplace, bedroom walls...). We both were really drawn to California Blue and Champion Blue, so I painted out the other colors.

Michael says he'd be really happy with either choice, and I like both of them too. We bought a new vintage sofa a couple weeks ago that's a peacock blue velvet that I considered putting in the library, but now I'm thinking it will stay in the living room (some of you spied a sliver of it in this post). I like the idea that the bold wall color would be like a little preview of the sofa color. 

While I love the inky depth of color in Champion Blue, I think I'm leaning a bit toward California Blue, just because it would be fun to make a big statement in this really small space. There will be a big mirror in here probably and guitars on one of the walls, the camel leather Chesterfield, a piano and a rug to break it up, so the bright contrast might actually be really perfect. What do you think? I'm mostly just thrilled that Michael chose the direction and that he gets a room that's all his idea (for once!).

PS After I nail down the color choice, I'm going to do some experimenting on plywood with DIY lacquering vs just high gloss latex and I'll be sure to share what I learn. Lacquering walls is notoriously tricky, so this one might be a job for the pros. 

Valley House Tour: The Music Room

Just past the library is the room that's currently set up as the formal dining room. The room is not huge though, and in the kitchen (which I will probably show you next) has plenty of space for a long dining table. I think the only time we would use a formal dining room is when we have company over, and in that case we would need lots of extra seating. A small formal dining room just doesn't seem useful for us. And I love having everyone in the kitchen anyway. It doesn't bother me to not have a more formal eating space.

We thought it would be so cool to make this little space a music room. We'd put a piano centered against this back wall:

Probably a little settee here under these windows:

And maybe this chair in the corner here?

And a wall of hanging instruments here to the right, probably over a storage piece:

Sort of like what we did in the brownstone, but with Michael's other guitars up too:

I'd love to put in a really huge, special light fixture in the tray ceiling and maybe do something with the trim to beef up the moulding. Maybe a lacquered ceiling?

Speaking of lacquered, I want a really simple, modern piano, like a studio upright in high gloss white or black. And then I want to go unconventional on the bench, like tufted hot pink velvet or something. Here are some of my piano style inspiration photos:

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I spotted a few simple (but well-made) pianos on Craigslist that I think I could paint myself. I know some people don't like the idea of painting their own pianos, but I've asked two different professional piano restorers here in New York and both of them said it won't ruin the sound at all (think of all the pianos that are sold already painted), just that it might effect the piano's resale value.

I'm so, so excited about this little room. Right after Michael and I were married, one of our first big purchases was a piano (which we ended up having to leave behind when we moved to Boston). I can't wait to have one again now. It's at the top of our "to purchase soon" list (right up there with a new king mattress). :)