As per our long-standing plan, our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore team efficiently picked up our donation items yesterday. This significant step, combined with our tireless effort to relocate countless frames, artwork, and various accessories into what will soon become Clara’s dedicated playroom – but for now serves as a temporary storage zone – dramatically transformed our guest bedroom. What was once a cluttered space, resembling this chaotic scene, underwent a remarkable metamorphosis.
The process of decluttering isn’t just about making space; it’s about setting the stage for a fresh start, allowing for creativity and new possibilities to flourish. We firmly believe that a tidy environment is the first step towards a successful home renovation project. Donating usable items to ReStore also aligns perfectly with our values, ensuring that our pre-loved belongings find a new purpose while supporting a fantastic cause. It’s a win-win situation – we clear out the old, and someone else benefits from quality materials, all while contributing to affordable housing initiatives in our community. This initial clearance was crucial, especially with our imminent deadline.
To this much more organized and empty canvas:
While the room isn’t quite ready for the arrival of the in-laws – who are scheduled to descend upon us this Thursday, a prospect that always brings a mix of excitement and frantic last-minute preparations – at least it has shed its previous identity as a glorified storage unit. The sense of calm and openness that now pervades the space is a welcome change, signaling the true beginning of our guest bedroom makeover. The transformation, even at this early stage, feels like a significant accomplishment and fuels our enthusiasm for the next phases of the project.
The reason the second “after” photo was taken in the dim light of evening is because, once our little one, Clara, was safely tucked into bed last night, we made a spontaneous decision. We opted to earn ourselves some serious “brownie points” by tackling the painting of the room. Yes, we confess to being total overachievers who genuinely relish the opportunity for extra credit when it comes to home projects. We logically deduced that painting would be significantly easier and far more efficient while the room remained completely empty. The exciting new bed is slated to arrive early next week – more details on that stylish addition will follow very soon – and with Clara sound asleep, we wholeheartedly embraced the chance to seize the day night and make tangible progress.
Our late-night endeavors paid off, and by the crisp light of morning, the room had taken on a noticeably different appearance. It was looking a bit more like this, hinting at the dramatic change underway:
The color you see there is a rather intriguing hue, best described as a stoney, pale blue, which subtly reveals hints of purple when viewed under different lighting conditions throughout the day. Our initial thought process behind selecting this particular shade was its inherent neutrality, making it unlikely to offend the sensibilities of any discerning guests. We also entertained the whimsical notion that, should we ever be blessed with a baby boy in the future, we would already have the perfect nursery walls prepared, ready for his arrival. It seemed like a brilliant, multi-purpose choice at the time. Gorgeous, right?
Okay, okay, we’re totally kidding! We simply couldn’t resist a moment of playful deception. That intriguing color you’re admiring isn’t the final paint at all; it’s merely a coat of tinted primer. Did we manage to fool you, even for a brief moment? We apologize for the momentary fake-out, but the opportunity was just too tempting to pass up. The initial reaction to the primer often provides a good chuckle and allows us to build a bit of suspense for the actual reveal.
But as you’ve likely shrewdly deduced by now, the presence of such a richly tinted primer strongly indicates one thing: we’re diving headfirst into a dramatic, dark paint color. We’ve been secretly yearning to experiment with a bold, deeply saturated hue somewhere within our home for quite some time, and the guest bedroom presented itself as the perfect canvas for this adventurous endeavor. Why not be a little daring and create a truly unique experience for our guests, after all? Our vision is for a dark, enveloping room that feels incredibly cozy and conducive to a restful night’s sleep. We’ve often found ourselves completely enchanted by some of our favorite hotel rooms, many of which embrace deeply saturated, moody palettes, and we aim to replicate that luxurious, cocoon-like feeling here. Furthermore, thanks to the thoughtful architectural design of having two generous walls adorned with windows, plus an additional window in the adjoining bathroom, the room actually receives a surprisingly fair amount of natural light. This ensures that even a dark color won’t make the space feel oppressive or cave-like during the day, maintaining a balanced and inviting atmosphere.
Let’s just say the color we’ve chosen is exceptionally dark and decidedly outside our usual comfort zone. However, for some inexplicable reason, we are geekily excited about it. Perhaps it’s the thrill of pushing design boundaries or the anticipation of creating something truly unique and memorable. The exact shade is so potent, it almost makes us want to wet our pants – just a little, of course! For now, we’ll keep our specific color choice a tantalizing mystery. Ooooh, secrets! We believe descriptions of colors, especially unique ones, can be quite tricky and often fail to convey their true essence. Therefore, we prefer to hold off until we’ve completed painting the room this weekend and can share actual photographs, allowing the color to speak for itself. We promise the wait will be worth it, and the final reveal will hopefully inspire others to explore the transformative power of dark, dramatic hues in their own homes.
Oh, and this project marks a significant first for us: it’s actually our inaugural experience using tinted primer. Given the intensely deep and rich color we have on the agenda for this guest bedroom, we instinctively knew that a tinted primer would be invaluable. We anticipated it would play a crucial role in enhancing coverage and, more importantly, in achieving the ultimate richness and depth of the final paint color. Therefore, without hesitation, we decided to give it a try. We opted for Olympic Premium Primer, a choice driven by several compelling factors. Firstly, it boasts a 100% VOC-free formulation, which is a major plus for both indoor air quality and environmental consciousness. Secondly, its affordability, at just $12 for a gallon, made it an economical and smart investment for the project. In terms of application, it proved to be remarkably easy to work with – none of the unpleasantness often associated with oil-based primers, and it emitted very little odor, making for a much more pleasant painting experience. However, we did notice that its consistency was a tad on the thin side. This meant we had to exercise extra diligence and care to avoid drips or to promptly wipe them up should they occur. This slight thinness might be a characteristic of all water-based primers, as our previous experiences were primarily with the more viscous, oil-based products from years past. We have our fingers crossed that this tinted primer performs its magic flawlessly, doing the trick exactly as intended. Our greatest hope is that it will significantly reduce the number of paint coats required, preventing us from needing a daunting ten layers to achieve the deep, luxurious tone we’re striving for. We’ve only purchased one gallon of the final paint, so we’re optimistically hoping that’s all we’ll need to transform this room into the moody, inviting sanctuary we envision.