Back to work! The project we are leading this cold new year off with is an interior. To be more precise it is a living room in an old farmhouse. There are 5 other projects to talk about for the month of January, so lets get started.
Project #1
The trim is wide, beautifully stained wood, and the walls are textured plaster in this beautiful early 1900’s farmhouse. There was a wallpaper border that was removed, and the walls were sanded to give them a more uniform texture. The homeowner chose a nice gray green (Sage Green Light SW2851, to complement the stained trim. The color really made that trim pop. I love how the room turned out and the homeowner was also pleased as punch.
Project #2
The next project consisted of an entire main level paint refresh. The color chosen for the entire main area was Nacre SW6154. This house has a sultry southwest vibe with its textured walls and fireplace, tile choice, open ceiling and beautiful wood beams. The homeowners wanted to add some color to their space by painting the fireplace. I pulled four colors from the Sherwin-William’s deck for them to choose from that fit the description of what they were trying to accomplish. They chose a beautiful terra cotta color (Armagnac SW6354) for the fireplace.
They also had added pops of color by painting the doors vibrant colors. They wanted to recreate those colors and had quart cans for me to use for matching. However, the cans were old, the labels were discolored, and we realized it would be much easier if I manually matched the door colors. Doing this would make it easier in the future for the homeowner should they ever need more of the same paint color. The colors we matched were Forget Me Not SW6824 and Veri Berri SW9069, Blue Blood SW6966 and Jacaranda SW6802.
We also added some life to their basement bathroom by using Liveable Green SW6176. Framing the large vanity mirror are Spanish inspired navy, green, cream, and rust patterned tiles. It’s amazing how the Liveable Green SW6176 makes those tiles stand out, showcasing this already gorgeous feature. What a fun project!
Project #3
We next moved on to a house in Riss Lake, Parkville, MO, for some cabinet painting (lacquer). The homeowners chose the color for their cabinets, which is the same color as their trim…a matched white. We are also painting the trim on the back side of the house, upstairs and downstairs. We went back to the house the next day to finish up.
Tip: Say you want to paint your trim or cabinets the color they currently are but don’t know what color it is or have the can it came in. Did you know that you can take a piece of that trim or a cabinet door to your local Sherwin-Williams to have them match it for you?
Project #4
The project we moved on to next was basically an entire house repaint. We painted the walls, cabinets, doors, trim, and railings. The trim was stained, and all the walls were, if I had to guess, Kilim Beige. We painted all of the trim, cabinets, and bannister Alabaster SW7008. The walls in this open floor plan with high ceilings, (high enough we had to use scaffolding) are now Worldly Gray SW7043, in the main area, Anew Gray SW7030, in the Kitchen, and Soft Sage SW9647, in the Master Bedroom. The transformation was unreal, it always is with this kind of whole house paint color change.
For lack of better term, we castrated the pegged Newel posts. It had these decorative “balls” that capped each of the 6 posts. The homeowners aren’t planning to update them at the moment, so this was a simple alternative. Each of the caps were sanded to make them resemble features on the rest of the posts. I saved the balls for a rainy-day project. I plan to sand them down a bit more, paint them fun colors, and add them to a glass jar for a quirky decoration…or make my kids do it…whichever happens first.
Sometimes Chad and I will leave a jobsite once the crew is working away. Chad uses this time to do estimates if they’re in the area or project reviews with upcoming clients. During this particular project Chad and I met with some future clients for a Color Consultation. This happens to be my favorite part of my job. This particular couple needed help choosing colors for their kitchen, and two bathrooms. After matching tile, flooring, and bathroom vanity and kitchen countertops we were able to come up with some fantastic options for them. I can’t wait to share their story with you later.
Project #5
Moving on, to a ceiling repair and painting and foyer painting in Parkville. It was a subtle change, not even one that you could see a difference in if before and after pictures were taken. The ceiling was repaired and retextured and painted white to match the rest of the ceilings. The foyer was painted Worldly Gray SW7043, which seems to be the popular color this month. Sometimes the color change doesn’t have to be major to see a huge difference. Repairing cracks, and holes and painting over spots and smudges can make the area look clean and fresh.
Project #6
This month is closing with a special project near and dear to my heart. One of my close friends from high school and his wife hired us to paint all the walls in their house. Again, this is a situation where they had the same color, probably Kilim Beige, throughout their entire house. A couple months ago I did a Color Consultation with them and we talked about how to brighten and update their space. They chose Agreeable Gray SW7029, for the main parts of their upstairs and downstairs open areas. For the two bedrooms and two guest bathrooms they chose Silver Strand SW7057.
I have to give you a backstory on the color they chose for their master bedroom and bathroom. Dawn has been a purple fan probably her entire life. I have known this since I’ve known her and I love that she loves purple, but ya’ll know that purple is not my favorite color. Bashing purple is not my way, because I’ve actually come around to admiring a few shades I’ve seen, but any time I talk about how purple is not exactly my favorite color I think of Dawn.
Kevin’s mother is an amazing quilter, her craftsmanship is impeccable, and her end results are so gorgeous. She made Dawn and Kevin a beautiful quilt for their master bedroom. It contains many shades and variations of Dawn’s favorite color, purple. I used the purples in my color deck to match a prominent purple in the quilt then went 3 shades lighter on the color strip to get the right purple for their bedroom walls, Unique Gray SW6260. This job took 4 days to complete and made a huge difference in updating their space.
Tip: Their sweet dogs were a factor we took into consideration when choosing a product for their walls. Tag Emerald scrubbable paint. They needed a product that would be easy to wipe down.
And there you have it, folks, a month in the life of Unique Painting KC and me. It’s nice building relationships with customers and working with new customers almost daily. My job never gets old or feels like a “job”. I learn new things with every project and this year I’ll be passing some of those learning moments on to you. I hope you enjoy my 2022 Blog and remember, if you need help with color or design projects, give me a call: 816-500-7759.
