Paint Colors Used in House #2

I love a good paint job to tackle because it really does change everything! But I’m sad and happy that I haven’t had to paint a thing in this house. I picked colors that I have been happy with, but it’s mainly because we already did the trial and error at the last house.

Now, just because it worked in the last house does not mean it would work in the new house. I learned that lesson when I used the master bedroom paint from my condo to paint the master bedroom. I loved it in the condo, but not in the new house. I’m pretty sure it was because the trim color was not the same.

Condo Master Bedroom

But I used the paint color in our old living room as the color for the entire new house (living, halls, playroom.) Valspar – Fairmont Penthouse Stone. It is a great color that I have really loved. I've lived with it a while and not have not grown tired of it.

Old House Living Room

Current Living Room

All of the bathrooms were the same color, and the color was also used in our Master Bedroom. Benjamin Moore – Revere Pewter. This color is popular for a reason! It is a chameleon and changes with its surrounding. Very versatile color.

The boys’ bedrooms were the color I used at the old house for the spare bath. I used the color again when I changed Little JCrew’s room. It’s a fun grey that is warm. Bonsai

The Office was my bold color choice. I picked the darker shade of blue from our old bonus room. I really like blues and this one was my favorite. “Antique Tin” by Behr. I love seeing the deep blue color from a distance. It is such a moody color that I love so much that I want to put it everywhere, but then that would take away from it's magic.

The kitchen was the only color choice I wasn’t sure of. I knew the color of the cabinets and that decision was set and I did not want to change, but I didn’t think my ‘Fairmont Penthouse Stone’ color I chose for the whole house, would go with it being right next to the cabinets. I pulled the swatch that had the color of my cabinets on it. Since the swatches have the “family” of colors on it, I knew if I picked one from the swatch, it would go with the cabinets. However, I still have to go with the “whole house color” as some walls would be touching. I ended up with 'Barren Plain' on the kitchen walls. It’s a barely noticeable transition to the ‘Fairmont Penthouse Stone’ color.

That’s it for all the wall colors. I tried to keep the amount of colors down but did not want to be limited. When you buy a spec home, the builder usually only allows you to pick two colors. If you build a spec home, the builder has a budget for two colors and you are charged for each color change. I get it! It’s a much simpler task to just have one color to paint everywhere.

Now I can’t stress how important the trim color is. It can make or break a color for you. I learned this the hard way. I ended up choosing 'Simply White' by Benjamin Moore after seeing it used by Young House Love. It wasn’t stark white, but looked like it. Our old house had an off-white trim color, but it really was off from being close to white. (Sherwin Williams 'Pacer White.') It was like a dirty white. Nothing wrong with it, but it limited my choices in picking coordinating colors.

We used Simply White on the ceilings, trim, plantation shutters, closet walls and the laundry room walls. The laundry cabinets are also Simply White.

The fun color on the ceiling is Cooled Blue. I almost used it as the interior of the closet that is now Pfitzer’s, but decided against it. I’ve really enjoyed it being somewhere I see every day. 

As for paint colors on the outside, this decision scared me the most. I could repaint an interior room with no problem, but if I messed up on an exterior paint color, it would be an embarrassment all would see until I hired a painter to fix it. And who knows if my fix would be the final fix?

I had seen the color “Dragon’s Breath” painted on an interior door in a picture on Pinterest. I loved the color. It looked black, but had brown undertones in it. I loved it so much that I hung on to that picture and knew I would use it in the new house some how.

Inspiration

I went to the store to get the swatch and see the family of colors that coordinate with ‘Dragon’s Breath.' I then came back with my brick sample to make sure it went with the brick.

I picked Gargoyle for my exterior trim color (columns, facia, door trim).

Plymouth Rock was used on porch ceilings and siding.

Dragon’s Breath was used on the exterior doors, shutters, and lapboard siding.

I am so lucky that it worked on the first try. It could have been a disaster.

There you have it! Our paint colors at house number two.

Kitchen Curtains

It seems lately, we've been putting a lot of finishing touches onto decorations the house. (Rugs, more trim, etc). Curtains can really add that punctuation to a room.

The boys' rooms have the same exact curtains in there. They were versatile enough to go with all the bedrooms. The rest of the house has ZERO curtains. We have plantation shutters on the first level of the house with exception to the windows on the back of the house. I wanted those views to stay open, but we eventually hung shades to use in case we wanted privacy or to block the setting sun for those 20 minutes that it is right in your face!

But the kitchen nook was still feeling unfinished.

I don't remember exactly how I found Martha and Ash, but I started following them on Instagram. I watched them for a while and made it a goal to eventually purchase custom curtain panels from them. I measured twice and provided the measurements and a picture. Ashley then asked more questions and then recommended options.

I ordered samples and picked out what I wanted and then requested a quote. I then sat on that quote for a year! Once I was ready, I actually made the purchase and waited 6 weeks for them to arrive.

During that six weeks I got nervous! I started second-guessing how I was going to hang the curtains. Remember, my walls downstairs are made of Insulated Concrete Forms. There is 3 inches of foam, 6 inches of concrete and then another 3 inches of foam. I was nervous I would flub up the installation into the foam and the heavy curtain rods and heavy curtains would come crashing down as soon as I got them up!

When the curtains and the hardware arrived, it made me even more scared. I think I made a mistake ordering the curtains without thinking this through. But I continued to search through the many photos I took during construction to see if I could see where the "studs" were. In ICF walls, there is plastic webbing every six inches that goes through the foam and concrete.

This webbing can be used as studs and can support 300 lbs. On the foam, there was an infinti marking where the webbing was. The framing installers were suppose to line those up with each row of blocks.

I studied pictures of the drywall in that corner and saw now seams that they plastered the screw holes above the window! That's when I studied the ICF framing before the drywall phase.

When I zoomed in, I could see the infinti marking. I then measured ever six inches.  I easily found the studs on the outside edges of the window. They required a lot of umph to drive the screws in (to get started) so I asked for Mr. JCrew's help.

I couldn't find the stud in the middle of the window. I bought an extra bracket in case I had off-center studs, but there weren't. I then put superglue on the 3-inch screws and screwed them into the foam.

The corner bracket was cool. I had not seen one like it before. The down side to the corner, was that there were no studs there either! The corner was where the biggest curtain panel was going to be! I used superglue on those screws and drove them into the foam, too.

Once I had the brackets up, I let them sit there for a week. Then I hung the poles on the brackets and let them hang out for a week.

I finally hung the end panels up with no problem. I knew they would hold.

It was the middle panel I was hesitant about. The curtains and hardware hung out in my closet as I gained courage. My mom kept asking about when I was going to hang them. Then I waited even longer to hang the middle panel. Maybe I didn't need it? But that would be a waste of money.

I also waited to make sure that the superglue was set and would hold. I finally got the courage to hang the middle panel and put the curtain up. I left the ladder there to support the weight of the curtain.

I finally bit the bullet and removed the ladder. It stayed!!!


I bought my first ever steamer to use on these curtains. It took the wrinkles right out. I plan to use it on the boys' curtains. I thought the weight of the curtains would pull the wrinkles out, but they are still there after 3 years.

I purposefully chose the curtains to be the same color as my wall. I'm really digging "texture" with color on color rather than incorporating too many different colors into a space.

I am loving it! The view you see from entering the front door is my favorite. It makes you feel like the ceiling is much taller!

I chose pinch pleat top to give it a more formal look.

The measurements turned out perfect! They hit the floor just right. I ordered these before I found the rug, so the rug took up an inch of the curtains fall. I have since moved the rug over a little so the curtains can touch the ground.

I am loving adding the finishing touches to the house. The curtains are a favorite!!