Freshening up your visual surroundings can lift your spirits and help you transition when life changes – especially if you are one of those people who is particularly effected by her environment.
Kids grow up and move out. Careers change. Sometimes marriages end.
A bit of targeted redecorating can help you step forward with a fresh new start. Another lift of spirits can happen when you paint the ceiling the same as the wall color – let me show you when it’s a good idea to do that.
Maybe your ex-husband only liked dark colors and plaid, so that’s the kind of bedroom you’ve had for many years.
bedroom before
And now you get to choose what YOU want since you don’t have to worry about someone else not liking it. We chose Benjamin Moore Healing Aloe for this room.
fresh start bedroom design
In this bedroom, we didn’t even have to purchase new furniture. The fresh new color palette was established with paint color and new fabrics. See the pretty bedside lamp? The burgundy lamp base was painted gold and the dated shade was changed out with a new one from Home Goods.
The new curtains we chose are lovely, aren’t they? And you gotta love this fun art that just makes you smile when you see it.
The bedroom actually looks larger – in large part due to the lighter paint color than extends up and over the room. In this situation, I chose to paint the ceiling the same as the wall color. Notice there is no crown molding at the intersection between the ceiling and wall (more on this topic here).
This is when you should paint the ceiling the same as the wall color!
This not only downplays any odd angles, it also “takes the top off” the room altogether! Now the sky’s the limit . . .
Here, you’ll see a new color scheme in the living room. This is where it started before:
before
The dark television is now tamed with a dark color in the back of the bookcases. The gray-green walls freshen up the whole space and give a fresh perspective to the entire room.
Think a dark color will make your decorative items disappear? See for yourself how these colors pop against it:
befores and afters of the bookcase
Even the breakfast area got a bit of a clean-up. Dated valances and light fixture were removed, and the new wall color and orb fixture are the beginning of a new look for this area. New curtains will be selected eventually, but sometimes we have to take a step at a time!
I hope these befores/afters spark ideas for your own fresh start!
Speaking of fresh starts, I’m excited to help a new group of home stagers launch or advance their careers this Thursday through Saturday in my next Expert Psychological Staging certification course! I’ll be super-busy through the end of the week training, so this is the last chance I’ll get to post this week. In my previous post, many of you gave me some GREAT ideas for the paint color names for The Decorologist Exterior Paint Color Collection for LP SmartSide!!! Thank you so much!! I’ve also been posting more colors and color combos on The Decorologist FaceBook page, so if you have the time I’d love for you to pop over there and add your suggestions on those.
Here’s a new set for you to consider. Please leave your suggestions for the light and dark gray blues in this combo that pair with white trim and a gray roof:
Thanks again for all your help choosing these paint color names!
