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My Lady in Palladian

OUR 2nd HOUSE

The office makeover continues!   (insert crowd goes wild here – or just really bored moms with Cheerios stuck to the bottom of their fuzzy slippers saying ‘umm…okay’)

If you are new to this game, let me tell you what we’ve been up to…first we started with a very ugly & messy office.   It was painted the very breathtaking colors of Poo & Eww.

Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine offered us $300 to makeover a room and this space topped the list.  So we started out with a plan,

contemplated chair options here, got a new toy to spray the walls and ceiling…

and then pulled the trigger after some major prep work.

After two coats of sprayer-painting was complete, we were left with one heck of a brighter lighter space.  (you can see the before and afters in the link above).

 

Now comes the part in this story when I tell you about picking colors for the upper part of the wall.

You probably would guess that it would entail some sort of emotional breakdown on my part where I end up on the floor telling Jeremy to just pick a color because (and I quote) “I CAN’T HANDLE ANY MORE DECISIONS!  I AM ONE GIANT SMELLY BRAIN FART AND I AM GOING TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST IF I HAVE TO CHOOSE…AND YOU DON’T WANNA LIGHT THIS FART ON FIRE!”  And if you guessed that…you probably would be right.  It’s kindof amazing that I ever got pregnant.  or got him to marry me…or date me…or speak to me in general.  I’ll be the first to admit that.

In the end, we ended up going with Benjamin Moore’s Palladian Blue.  It’s a great muted but still slightly vibrant greenish blue that looked good with the adjoining office bathroom and was pretty enough to fulfill my dreams of a Kate-Spade-ish office space.  Did I mention that?  I totally want this space to be girly and happy with pops of color and inspiring just like the feeling I get when I peruse KateSpade.com.

For all you folks wondering – here’s what we used for the paint agenda – 2 coats of Olympic’s Zero VOC premium in Eggshell colormatched to Benjamin Moore’s Palladian Blue for the upper part of the walls, 1 coat of Kilz Premium waterbased primer & 1-2 coats of Valspar’s Premium Bright White Base in eggshell (no color or tint added) on the lower part of the walls and the ceiling.

(note – I normally use semi-gloss on trim – and flat on ceilings – but since we were spraying them all, I split the difference with Eggshell)

It also helped soothe my hyper-emotionalism when I saw how lovely my pots looked with the new wall color.  The front one is from the discount shelf at Target and the back one is from Lowe’s (love love love the color and the drippy bits).

I was able to help with the painting….as in I did all the rest of the painting all by myself (which to a toddler mom, two hours of silence is like a vacation).  I must admit, it felt really good to get something done.  And God bless the inventors of the zero VOC paint.  I mean, this baby would probably be born with three arms otherwise…although that could be kind of awesome when it comes to sports  – like wrestling or swimming.

And now through the magic of the internet – here is the finished walls!

Hello Palladian!

It looks crazy weird at this angle – but it’s actually much bluer…

and yes, once the paper comes up off the floor, it actually looks different (I’m such a tease!)

Next up – new lighting (err…old lighting in a new home)…and some furniture makeovers.

Oh and for the sake of keeping it real – yes, whenever I am making over a space, I move everything into a different room.  It looks like a bomb went off.  In this case, the office exploded into the dining room and the foyer.  I call it my ever-migrating mess.  It just moves from one place to another.  I would call it my diminishing migrating mess…but that would be a lie.  It never gets smaller 🙂

Okay – now here’s where it gets even more real.  Like unzip those harem pants and hold onto your underroos kinda real.  I am  going to attempt to post the furniture makeovers, the lighting redo and the big office reveal….

all of em…

today.

Still got your panties?  Me too.  Which is good…because I might pee a little I am so excited.  Hope you stick around for the ride!

Update : Looking for more info on something you see in our house?  We have a Shop the Bower House page with paint colors and links to accessories, furniture and decor!

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Comments

  1. Best upside to having three arms I’ve heard all day. Besides the ability to give Nicholas Cage movies three thumbs down? Yup. Got ya there.

    Really like the color. A lot. I may need to pickup that spray gun for when we finish our basement too.

  2. oh. em. gee. Katie! I LOVE IT! In a … ‘you may randomly come into your office one day and find me in the corner camped out with my sewing machine, or a good book, or just curled up for a nap’— way. 🙂 Just warning you now. Absolutely lovely and inspiring! Can’t wait to see the rest of it.

  4. Hey now….Nick was decent in…umm…hmm…ooohhh got one – Raising Arizona. Whew. Still reigning champion.
    xo – kb

  5. I painted my bathroom when I was 20(ish) weeks pregnant, God Bless Zero VOC paint! I had the same issue when I posted pictures on my blog the blue didn’t look right, either. I’m a sucker for blue and white together in a room. Your office looks great so far! I can’t wait to see what you do with it. And your post reminded me that I still have some work to do in my blue and white room… darn finishing touches! ^_~

    Here’s my blue room. Not nearly as big as yours, but it wiped me out.

    http://randomrantingsofaramblingredhead.blogspot.com/2012/02/quick-update.html
    http://randomrantingsofaramblingredhead.blogspot.com/2012/02/happy-birthday-mom.html

  6. Okay. I gotta say this… I absolutely love, love, love-love Palladian Blue. The walls look fantastic!

  7. That color looks great! Looking forward to seeing the whole room pulled together! Knowing you, it will be awesome!

  9. LOVE IT!!! The blue & white is so fresh & clean! I cant wait to see the complete finished room!! 🙂 Good work Katie

  13. Why does white trim and a fresh coat of paint make everything amazing? Love the color and I cannot wait to stalk your blog all day 🙂

  14. You are awesome. How do you put your personality in your posts? In my head I am witty like you, in my posts I am Ben Stein narrating the grass growing.

  15. So amazing what a difference some paint can make! It looks infinitely more ‘you’ already. Can’t wait to see the rest of the mood board come to life! xx India.

  16. You have no idea how much hope this post gives me! We are trying to purchase a foreclosure that has been neglected for the last 30 or so years. It has good bones but some CRAZY decor choices. This gives me hope that we can make it into a home that fits us 🙂

  20. It’s gorgeous! Absolutely heavenly!

    I’m dying to know… logistically speaking (with your work schedules and a toddler), do you guys tackle projects like this together (obviously minus you bailing during the spray painting, smart to do that) or solo while the other watches Will? Do you crank this stuff out over a weekend, take a vacation day, work nights after Will goes to bed? We need to get back to remodeling our Money Pit but I can’t wrap my head around the logistics with 2 toddlers on 2 different schedules! I’d love to hear how you guys swing it all!

  23. Meant to add… us email subscribers are getting posts from the day before rather than the post from that day. Does that make sense? Today my BP email was of yesterday’s post, not today’s. No biggie, just thought you’d like to know. 🙂

  27. Pretty wall color.

    As for the emotional-don’t-want-to-make-another-decision stuff, I think everybody hits that proverbial wall at some point. Pregnant or not.

    I know I did when I couldn’t find a shade of gray for my office that didn’t come up green, blue, pink, purple, ect. Just when I was about to give my office walls the proverbial “talk to the paw as I’ve had enough” I found the color that was meant to be and I’ve been happily spending much more time in this space ever since.

    Don’t let me fool you into thinking that I’ve got it all figured out though. I’ll be buying a new desk and bookcases for this room so now the question is…do I paint or stain the new furniture. I don’t know and probably won’t until I have everything in the room and beyond.

    Looking forward to seeing the final reveal.

  29. Lookin’ good, momma!

    I love the step by step – but I’m very excited to see the furniture and lighting posts (today?!)!!!!

  31. When I saw the title, I wondered if you had gone with Palladian Blue! It’s my absolute favorite paint color – 4 of the rooms in our house are painted that color. Of course, now that we are about to have our third boy, it probably looks like we painted most of the house blue (includes their bedrooms) because so many boys live here. That was NOT my intention – we only had one boy when I painted the rooms : ) I wanted that color in the bedrooms and playroom regardless of boys or girls, it’s just so beautiful and soothing!

    Enough rambling about my house…your office looks GORGEOUS!! Even with nothing else in it! I can’t even imagine how good it’s going to look once you get everything in place. I am one of those bored moms (well, not truthfully bored, I have too much painting to do today to be bored : )) who is so excited about all these updates! Thanks for them, and keep them coming!

  32. Love love love it. I can see white the beige trim in the rest of the house drives you crazy but you will get there. So excited to see this room transform.
    Lastly, thanks for keeping it real and showing the migrating mess. I sometimes feel my house is the only one where this happens and yours always looks so pretty in pictures.

  33. Cmon, don’t leave us hanging, show me something more before I go to bed, it’s been 9 hours!!

  34. That color is sooooo nice in there! I have been following the office makeover but had not commented yet. It is looking so good and I know it will be so nice for you to have a designated space for all your stuff and your business! I hope things are starting to get better with the transitions.

  35. Katie – It looks amazinggggggg! It’s going to be so light and airy and gorgeous in there. I can’t wait to see the reveal. I’m going to be clicking refresh all day. 🙂
    xo
    Cat

  36. Looking good. Hoping this will inspire me to finish our room which has the computer, piano, daybed, tv with wii, and big table for crafting….can you say multifunctional….right now just junky looking, LOL!!!

  38. What a transformation already – I’m going to be glued to here for the rest of the day waiting for the rest of the posts! That wall colour is fabulous. Go you!

  40. You just made this day so much better! Never thought I would be this excited for a Monday!

  42. oooh! the color is so pretty it makes me want to go home and find a room to paint just like it! 🙂

  44. Oh thank goodness! I am so excited to see the finished office and figured you’d still be in the middle of working on it. Magic of the internet, indeed! Happy posting. 😉

  48. Woo Hoo… I love a good makeover. Especially when it’s as dramatic as this one is going to be! Love, love, love the new color and how bright and white all the wainscoting and trim is!

    Can’t wait to see the final reveal.

  49. My bedroom is Palladian Blue and I love it. It’s so calming and it never gets old! Excellent choice.

  51. Gorgeous! And it’s just an empty room. Can’t wait to see the rest!! I still can’t believe you painted that jellyfish. I just love it!!

  52. I just wanted to say a couple things. First, the color is gorgeous! It already looks about ten trillion times better. Second, your writing style is absolutely joyful. I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of years now, and I don’t think there has been a post yet that has failed to hit me emotionally (usually it makes me laugh and smile, but you write about trials very poignantly and honestly). And I wanted to say thank you for that.

    And I can’t wait to see the rest of the office!

  53. LOVE the color! It looks great with the trim! I don’t know how you manage to do so much painting in your house. My husband and I repainted just two rooms and it was soooo hard to do with a baby (painting while she sleeps or the hubs painting while I keep her busy). Anyway, it turns out that we both hate the color I picked for the kitchen so we are going to paint it AGAIN. We are both DREADING the process and keep putting it off. Kudos to you for your painting cabilities!

    We also did what you did and matched a BM color to Olympic Zero VOC paint. I was under the impression that it was not actually zero VOC. The base itself is, but the tints they add when they mix your color contain VOCs. So I would still be careful with using that while pregnant. I’m sure it’s still much lower in VOCs than your average regular paint but just thought I would mention that to you as an fyi.

    Can’t wait to see the office when it’s finished! It’s gonna be great!

  54. love love LOVE palladian blue. we put it in our master bath and love it so much we bought another gallon for our second bathroom. it really is a perfect color. your room is lookin’ good!

  55. Yay! It looks beautiful. Palladian Blue is hands-down my favorite blue. I painted my living room that color, and I still LOVE it three years later.

    Can’t wait to see the rest of the makeover!

  56. Katie – Palladium Blue and Robin’s Nest by Ben Moore are the best! They are both in my house and are the absolute perfect green blues! Love the office, can’t wait to see it finished 🙂

  57. Love it! One of my favorite colors ever. In fact, I already forgot how poopy it used to look. 🙂

  60. this looks awesome! I mean, praise God for white paint because it is seriously the biggest difference maker I’ve ever seen in a room. love it! you are going to have so much fun finally having such a big office/craft/everything else only girl room for you to use! and i love that it’s right off the kitchen! oh yes… and the purpose of my commenting was to say i just got a free valspar sample of that palladian blue and now i can’t wait to use it! thanks! 🙂

  62. KB, I always get super excited when you post updates but this one takes the cake and cupcakes and cookies and bacon! The contrast between the before photos and the newly painted walls makes my heart sing. I can’t wait to see what else you have in store for us.

  63. OMG I could not be more excited about the extra office posts today. I have been stalking your website for about 2 weeks, sad about the lack of postage…BUT I know with you being preggo and toddler chasing I understand. SO HAPPY about the updates! You are amazing 🙂 I can’t believe how different the room looks with color. Whenever I watch HGTV Househunters or My First Place or something and people complain about paint or anything cosmetic I’m like “HELLO go to BowerPower and she will show you the power of a good paint facelift!!!” Love it.

  64. The Power of Paint amazes me every time. I love the colors and can’t believe how much brighter this room looks now. LOVE IT! I can’t wait to see the rest of the changes/updates.

  65. It looks SO GOOD! Amazing amazing. Maybe it will kick my butt in gear to finish painting my office. It’s been sitting half gray and half green (and half white–uh huh) for over a month.

  66. WOW! What a change already! Makes me wanna go home and paint the bathroom – sort of…

  67. “you don’t want to light this fart on fire” 🙂 Filing that one away for use at an appropriate (or inappropriate time). 🙂 loving the blue.

  69. WOW!!! It looks amazing Katie!! Well done. Can’t wait to see all the other reveals today. Sounds like you’ve been very busy! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂

  70. Looks great! Quick question. I’d love to hear how spraying the walls went? How did you make sure the trim didn’t get painted with the wall color? And would you say it was better/faster than rolling? It looks like you still cut in (which is usually what takes longest). Would love a review of spraying vs rolling because I’m thinking of getting a sprayer for furniture but if it makes room painting easier, I’m sold!!

  72. Panties still in place, waiting excitedly for the further updates. I am already so jealous of your office I might pee a little!

  74. The color makes the white pop even more. But how close is the office color to the rest of the house? I know you don’t like the “toothpaste” color of the rest of the house and the office color seems to follow that just a little bit. But then again, computer v real life=HUGE DIFFERENCE. Looking good, keep it up! You can dooooooo it!

  78. Keep it coming Katie!! So excited to see the final reveal….it’s already looking so beautiful. I don’t think you’ll ever want to leave that room!

  80. Gorgeous already! I love that calming blue color and the crisp white trim. Can’t wait to see the finished room!

  81. Oh, SO gorgeous!! I would replicate the entire look in a living, dining or bedroom!!! I’m seriously contemplating requesting a paint sprayer for my birthday!
    Would you so kindly list the paint names of the chips left to right on the edge of the wainscot? I waver and waffle over blues ’til the cows come home!

  82. Looks refreshing!!! Just wondering if you paint you vents on the wall? If so, how do you go about it?

  83. “Poo and Eww!” So funny! That’s why I love you, Katie.

    And the office…beautiful. I can’t wait to see the rest, although I have no doubt it will be as lovely as the rest of your house.

  84. Underwear – Gripped! I can’t wait.

    I love how it’s going so far! I. die. for that jellyfish art you picked. I want it sooo bad!

  85. I am loving this room. Your colors are very similar to our master. I am always so amazed what fresh paint can do to a room! Can’t wait to see the reveal.

  86. I painted the upper parts of the walls with a brush and roller so I just stippled the vents too and rolled right on over them 🙂
    xo – kb

  87. I think it does – but some folks don’t. I have really sensitive nose and hearing – I blame my bad eyesight.
    xo – kb

  88. I went around comparing the Palladian blue paint chip to all the other rooms and heres the synopsis – it’s much more saturated than our master bedroom/kitchen…and more blue than the toothpaste walls in the main section of the house/living room…and much more blue/green less gray than the reading room. All in all – it is the closest to the hallway we painted down to the basement and the dining room area down there (we haven’t shown that yet – so keep your eyes peeled for the future post).
    xo – kb

  89. Well – as a reminder, we sprayed the white and used a brush/roller for the blue. I think the sprayer would be great for larger surfaces – like if you have over 75% of a room in one particular color (like we did)…and when it comes to furniture – it is awesome – or like cabinet doors or something like that – but in general, I would not choose to use it for regular wall painting.
    xo – kb

  92. I definitely try to do what I can when he’s awake – but that is limited…so most of the projects happen when Jeremy gets home and can watch Will or after he goes to bed or on weekends. Most of the time – the prep work takes the longest – so I do that during the day – naptimes are like a mad rush to get things done. But yes, it is harder to get it all done.
    xo – kb

  93. Wowee, looking good! Amazing, actually! I have been dying to put some color on my walls. I have been stuck to white walls and bright accessories for so long that sometimes I think a little color will do me good.

    I’ll be back later today to check out more! You’v made an otherwise dull Monday very exciting. 🙂

    xo, emily

  94. Hmmm- you think I’ve posted less? Because I think my month’s count is like 21 right now…which is about right for me normally. Maybe I need to take a closer look 🙂
    xo – kb

  95. Yes – you definitely are right. It’s LOW VOC after the colorant is added…so yeah, it’s definitely necessary to have proper ventilation. Thanks for the reminder to say that!
    xo – kb
    p.s. For anyone looking – there are zero VOC paints out there available for preggos or greenies so it’s wise to do your research before settling!

  96. I can’t wait to see it all finished up! It is amazing what paint alone does to a room. I’ve been meaning to share a link from a friends blog. She is also a photographer and recently redid her office (they are also working on renovating/updating a new (to them) home). Her wall color is much brighter than yours, but I thought I would share anyway!
    http://www.emilycrumpphotography.com/2012/01/our-fixer-upper-exactly-1-year-later-tomball-tx-home-renovations/

  97. I hate/love you for including the Kate Spade link. I will now kill the entire toddler nap time looking at that damn website.
    Love the colors, love the pots.
    Do you love the spray painter? I’ve wanted one for awhile since we need to paint basically all the rooms in our house.

  100. Gorgeous… amazing transformation… Can’t wait to see it pop when you take up the paper from the floor – put up some things framed in white on the walls and get some gorgeous panels for your windows… it’s really come a long way from the brown – what were the previous owners thinking? yep, i’m glad you got a great deal… but what a difference!!! great job!

  101. I love the color and I must agree with everyone else that the transformation qualities of pain are unbelievable. I painted every room in my house over a week the same color before I moved in and the dross carpet was replaced. I am thinking about repainting. Any thoughts about whole house color schemes like your BF Sherry chose?

  103. I think whole house color schemes definitely work – but I also see the advantage of color. I say that as long as you have flow from room to room, then everyone shouldn’t feel the need to stick to a set ‘schedule of colors’…but if you have trouble with picking different colors for different rooms, then Sue the Napkin might be just the helpful assistant you are looking for 🙂
    xo – kb

  104. I think it’s more the 3 in day as opposed to a daily fix…It’s like crack I tell you 🙂 I just can’t get enough of sweet Will is all!

  105. LOVE LOVE LOVE the color! I’m in the midst of picking a blue for the top of my boy’s nursery walls. (Bottom half is white board and batten that is yet to be DIY’d) The whole picking out paint colors about puts me over the edge because WHAT IF I PICK WRONG AND HATE IT?? It might be the end of the world:) I’m about to the point of letting my husband choose between the two swatches on the wall, but then my OCD takes over and I get hot sweats thinking about him making that decision and not me. You’re glad you don’t live in my mind:)

  106. Here you go – from left to right –
    BM’s Silvery Blue
    BM’s ? (number was AF-485)
    BM’s Mountain Mist
    Valspar’s Portico (I LOVE THIS COLOR)
    Valspar’s 5003-3 (Sage Bud is the first color on this swatch and it was our old bedroom paint color)
    Olympic’s 503 (Sea pearl is the first listed color)
    xo – kb

  108. I’m in love with the Palladian Blue. So much so that I’m wanting to use it in my new great room (house will be finished in September and I’m already dying to paint). How do you think the color would play in a large space? The trim in all the rooms and the cabinets in the kitchen will be a creamy white if that info informs your advice.

  110. Discovered Palladian blue about 10 years ago. It has been my “go to” color ever since. Last month I had a 5 gal bucket mixed and kept rolling from room to room. Love it.

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