Fall ORC Week 2 Picking a Paint Color

Hello and welcome to week 2 of the Fall 2020 One Room Challenge! Before we talk about picking a paint color, I want to quickly thank Linda Weinstein and Better Homes and Gardens for hosting and sponsoring this event. It has been a bright happy spot during a rough year when we are all spending more time than ever in our homes. Thank you for continuing to host this amazing design event!

Let’s recap the to do list real quick and talk about what we have accomplished so far.

1. Pick color scheme
2. Patch walls, trim, and ceiling
3. Paint walls, trim, and ceiling
4. Source rug, bedding, pillows, curtains, lighting, art, and decor
5. Build headboard and nightstands
6. Install custom built closet system
7. Find vintage dressers/mirror and update if needed
8. Install sconces
9. Install rod to hang art and curtains
10. Style bedroom
11. Photograph bedroom and edit photos

Not bad for week 1, eh?! Unsurprisingly, this all took MUCH longer than a week. It’s time for a little behind the scenes look at what went into preparing our bedroom for this challenge! After the Spring One Room Challenge I was feeling tired but extremely inspired, and I immediately started dreaming up plans for our bedroom. Not only were there architectural challenges to consider, but I also wanted the room to flow seamlessly with the two rooms adjacent to it. Those rooms are the white, rust, and aqua en suite bathroom, and our olive green guest room. This was the point where I began to understand why people paint a whole house white, beige, or gray. It was so difficult to pick a color that would flowwww.

Design 1

I spent a long time looking at Instagram and Pinterest for inspiration and color schemes. At the time, I kept coming back to rooms painted in Farrow and Ball’s Parma Gray. Jewel of Jeweled Interior’s basement was a huge inspiration for my original design plan. I love the fresh blueish gray color paired with greens and gold finishes. I also thought it would look great next to our guestroom and bathroom. Below is the first mood board I put together for our bedroom.

Design 2

It’s pretty! I still like this design. The problems started when I tested paint samples. Unfortunately the bedroom doesn’t get much light and all the blue paints, including Parma Gray, looked dull and gray. The color was too similar to the blue-gray that our whole house was painted before we bought it. And that color can aptly be described as “hospital room”. Ew. After trying about 5 different blues, I threw in the towel and was back to waffling about color schemes. My second choice was inspired by this room from Anthropologie –

I thought the light green would look beautiful next to the olive green, but once I put it on the walls, that design was abandoned. It just didn’t work in our bedroom AT ALL, despite being a really lovely color. I got stuck here. In my head, the only colors that would work were blues, greens, or a white. It didn’t occur to me that the opposite side of the color wheel would be complimentary. Isn’t that the first thing they teach in art?! So much time would have been saved if I had remembered this little tidbit of information. Oh well, we still arrived here and maybe this will be a good reminder next time you are picking a paint color!

Final Design

After about 2 months of testing paint samples, I decided on rust/terra cotta. It was then time to pick the right shade. HAHA. Paint is so hard but so worth it in the end. I actually only tested 4 samples before landing on Benjamin Moore’s Spiced Apple Cider. The first few samples were wayyy too orange. Orange is one of my favorite colors, but it wasn’t the “look” I had in mind. On the other end of the spectrum, I tried colors that were too red or too coral. Spiced Apple Cider turned out to be the most perfect shade of terra cotta (when painted in our dimly lit bedroom with our exact lighting conditions – please make sure the color works in your own room before painting).

After finally picking a paint color, I played around with quite a few different design plans. I learned from the Spring ORC that I had to order things WAY ahead to make sure everything delivered in time to meet the deadline. Below are some of my mock-ups, including the final design! Let me know what you think and good luck to everyone participating in this season’s ORC. 4 weeks to go!