House of Turquoise

and teal, robins egg blue, aqua, sky blue, seafoam green, and ocean blue

Guest Blogger: Kristie from The Decorologist

Hey guys!  I’m Kristie Barnett of The Decorologist.  Today I’m sharing a project that required a major color makeover.  When my client bought this home last year, it was too dark for her sunny personality. There’s nothing like a whole lot of white to give a dated home an instant facelift.  With a backdrop of white, even hints of color pop – like the turquoise and pink you will see throughout this space.

white slipcovers

There’s absolutely nothing like a good before-and-after, especially when I get to take part in the magic! So let’s start with the “before” of the front room of the house:

DSC_7944

before 

My client, Christiana, wanted a breezy space with only a whisper of color on the walls.  I brought out lots of colors to show her, and she kept saying, “that’s too much color!”  We finally chose Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl for the walls and Chantilly Lace trim.  Gray Owl, a light gray with the slightest blue undertone possible, is the perfect backdrop for all her white fabric and painted furniture.

benjamin moore gray owl

At my suggestion, she actually painted the 1980’s glossy wood grandfather clock white.  The piano you see is next on the list for a paint makeover!  I have another client who no longer needed it, so I hooked them up and Christiana got to take this baby home for FREE.

white dining room


Maybe I can convince her to paint it turquoise!

white plates on wall

Again, the previous color palette was warm and fairly dark.  It’s difficult to imagine all the white furnishings in a space like this, isn’t it?

DSC_7943

before 

This inexpensive IKEA light fixture makes a formal entry a bit more playful.

white walls

The dining room serves double-duty as a homework and craft space for her children.  The lack of overhead lighting makes an opportunity for creativity – my client hung an old ladder from the ceiling and uses it to hang paper garlands, pom-poms, and other crafted lovelies.
 

gray owl living room

This is a “before” shot from the opposite side of the room.  The oak trim dictated warmer colors, not the cooler palette my client was hoping for.

DSC_7953

before

The bright, white trim makes a huge difference in the space.  The oak trim pulled your eye and chopped up the room.  With white trim and light gray walls, the entire room looks larger, more open, and quite heavenly! Christiana made all of the beautiful slipcovers in this house.  Her specialty is ruffled tablecloths, which you can find in her Etsy Shop, Ruffled Linens.

shabby chic dining rooms

As we move into the family room, you can see how dark this space was previously.  Although the paneling had already been painted, the brick wall dominates the space and the oak beams look dated.

red brick wall

before

To give my client a clean, fresh look in this living room, I chose Benjamin Moore’s Classic Gray for the walls, Chantilly Lace for the trim, Kendall Charcoal for the beams, and Gray Owl for the ceiling.  Of course she wanted a lighter, brighter room, but Christiana had no idea how much LARGER her room would appear with the new paint color scheme.

shabby chic living room

after 

Christiana ordered a large jute rug from Pottery Barn, and then we layered it with a smaller, graphic blue-and-white flat weave rug  I found on RugsUSA.

turquoise white living room

We found the vintage turquoise lamps at a barn sale outside of Nashville.  

turquoise lamp

I found this crafted paper wreath at a local antique mall.  That picture in the middle is of Napoleon!

white mantel

turquoise tray

white fireplace

white bookshelves

white kitchen

No major money was sunk into the breakfast room – a kitchen doesn’t need to be fancy to be beautiful. Ikea lighting, white plates, and a white ruffled tablecloth that my client makes for her Ruffled Linens Etsy shop are all that’s needed to put the focus on the outdoors beyond and the blue hydrangeas from her garden.

white kitchen

hydrangeas

I hope you enjoyed the befores-and-afters of this Nashville home!  Thank you to Erin for letting me share here again on her beautiful blog.  If you want to learn more about transforming your home by choosing beautiful paint colors, mixing high and low decor, and arranging furniture and accessories, please come visit me at The Decorologist! 

Comments

  1. This is beautiful! What a great transformation, Kristie! This is really inspiring!

    As an interior designer,I am always changing this around my house and I will be painting my bedroom in Gray Owl in a few days. Seeing the color in some of the spaces here just made me grab the paint brush a little earlier!

    Thank you for the inspiration!

    Big hugs to you, Erin and Kristie,

    Luciane at HomeBunch.com

  5. Kristie, Kristie, Kristie. Oh my goodness. What a gorgeous heavenly floaty home. I am in love with it all. Who cares what husbands think.Ha! This is sheer delight! Can you come to Ohio????

  7. The grey to me looks so drab and uninviting. The look she went for is "little girl room" and not chic in the least. But what really bothers me about this disaster is
    Painting a Grandfather Clock! That is disgusting. Its offensive that a precious antique treasure would be ruined like that. Horrific indeed

  9. Well, I am a fan of white, and these rooms are a showcase of white. I can imagine the house near a beach, and the clean, sea air wafting in through the windows, mixed with the scent of garden flowers. Lovely. As for the grandfather clock – I think it looks very pretty, but a turquoise piano would look marvellous and I would definitely be brave enough to do that!

  11. To the person who complained about painting a precious antique treasure….I had no idea clocks from 1980 were antiques lol.

  13. Tell me more about painting the grandfather clock..Did you have a painter do it, was in hand painted or sprayed? Do tell more about the clock.
    Loved the makeover.

    Thanks,
    Linda

  14. What a beautiful transformation! The thing that I love most is the painted grandfather clock. I would have never thought to do that and it looks fantastic!

  15. Thank you for your comments! And for anyone who is worried about that grandfather clock – it is NOT an antique heirloom, but is from the 1980's and had a glossy orange finish (I'm sure you know exactly what I mean). Believe me, that clock is much happier with a few coats of white paint 🙂

  16. I'm not usually a fan of all white (or white-ish) but this is lovely and what makes it are all the vintage pieces sprinkled around. The linens are very pretty. And I definitely vote for a turquoise piano.

  17. LOVE LOVE LOVE! I love white rooms! I would swoon too over that piano painted turquoise :-)Go for it! As the wife of a Registered Piano Technician, we've painted several pianos. (So much easiser/less expense than refinishing) There are definite "tricks" so you don't get paint into the playing mechanisms or how to paint so the parts can be easily taken apart for maintenance 😉 Do show us the piano when done.

  18. A Beautiful room! Maybe the person who was horrified by the painted clock misread and thought it said 1890's instead of 1980's? And the ceilings really make the room!

    While the room is not my personal taste, I can still enjoy the beauty of it! I bet your client smiles every time she walks into that room!

  19. I also wanted to ask, does the beautiful white look carry throughout the rest of the home? If so, would love to see more pics 🙂

  20. Amazing transformation. Just beautiful. If you have the guts to paint the piano turquoise it will be the show stopper of the room. Please do! Best, Beth C.

  21. This has given me the courage I need to paint our original wood trim white. What a difference!

  22. Color is truly transformaive! ..the house is really a completely different space!
    I would only have done one teensy bitsy thing different and that would have been to paint the clock a pale aqua..I think it would have been so pretty. It does make sense in white…but agua…the bomb!
    PS I will forever and ever hunt down the mate to that aqua lamp you found at a antique sale!!! to die for!

  24. The rooms are gorgeous!!!
    I sure wish I could buy the original curtains though….they would be perfect in my DR and LR :^) I can appreciate all of the hard work, and it is lovely, but red and yellow are just my colors :^)
    Blessings to you,
    J

  25. I wish this was my home. You have completely captured my design taste. Where can I find that tablecloth or did you make it?

  27. I like what you’ve done here. I have a big question for you. How do I keep Benjamin Moore Gray Owl from looking so powder baby blue at night? I have a painter painting it as we speak, and last night I just cried because it looked so light blue in the night lighting. Other than spending another $2,000 to have him repaint it another color…. what can I do lighting wise???? I love the color in natural light.

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