Remember the project I mentioned last week, in which I was planning to use my favorite color of the moment (and one of my favorite colors ever) to create the effect of a Jadeite bowl come to life?
Presenting: my Office-To-Nursery Makeover.
Here’s the before: I loved those chocolate-brown walls, but they don’t exactly make the room feel like a nursery. I wanted to brighten the space up and make it feel more feminine, and the first step was obviously going to have to be paint.
I toyed with the idea of painting the walls everything from pink to lilac to tangerine, but ultimately decided that pale green it would be – I just think it’s such a beautiful, chic, timeless color, and I like that it’s a soft pastel that doesn’t necessarily scream “baby’s room.”
After creating my mood boards, I narrowed down my choices to three Valspar colors: Alpine Peak, Apothecary Jar and Cool Mint (all chosen from The Paint Studio at Ace Hardware; they have mood-inspired palettes from Valspar and Clark+Kensington laid out similarly to how cosmetics are laid out at department stores, with bright lighting and drawers that make the color selection both simple and much more fun – helpful and beautiful).
What I ultimately went with: Apothecary Jar, because I thought that Alpine Peak might come out so light it would look nearly white, and thought that the undertones of Cool Mist might be a little more blue than what I was looking for. Minty-sagey green was what I wanted, and Apothecary Jar seemed perfect.
And here’s the result! I wanted to keep the carpet (because it’s one of my favorite things in our entire house), and had to work with the baby furniture we already had (dark wood crib and dresser, wood rocker, rattan toy box), so I thought that adding white, lilac and pale pink accents to the mint walls would make the space feel light and airy.
I love it so much. My favorite thing about it is that it’s a peaceful space that feels safe and cozy for a baby…but still feels like it blends seamlessly with the rest of our house.
Love this vintage-inspired tin balloon mobile.
My grandmother’s rocking chair from Costa Rica.
That is the softest stuffed dog everrr.
My son’s painting hanging over the changing table.
I turned the toy bag backwards to show the black-and-white polka dots.
If you’re in the market for a new paint color, remember: it is always, always worth it to test out the paint first on all walls in the room, to see how the shade is affected by different light sources (I’m lazy about this myself, and regret having skipped this step every single time that I do). Pint-sized samples of Valspar colors are just $4.99 at Ace Hardware, so it’s not a pricey prospect and can save you a ton of time in the long-run (and from July 2-7 visit your neighborhood Ace Hardware to check out the Star Spangled Sale, which offers instant savings of $5 off gallon purchases of Clark+Kensington and Valspar paint).
Also remember: if you choose a Valspar color and end up not liking the results, you can get a new color on them. This is a major plus, and should make you feel extra-brave about going for a bolder color than you might usually choose.
To learn more about the Valspar Color Guarantee, click here. This post was created in collaboration with Valspar and Ace Hardware.
