When inspiration sneezes all over you

Its funny how and when inspiration will strike.  I've been struggling with a color scheme for our green bonus room, but today I found something that has made it a little easier.

A new fabric line?  No.

Wallpaper samples? No.

Art prints? No.

Area rugs? No.

Just your everyday, plain old, ho-hum tissue boxes.  Its crazy but I can finally see the direction I want for the room.

The green of course, along with grey, navy, and yellow. I liked those colors but couldn't visualize them together, even when I held paint chips side by side. I guess it was hard to see 4 different colored squares playing nice together. But when seen as an abstract floral, it just all clicked.  I'd originally thought I'd go with red because that is a color found throughout our house, but this room is visually and physically separate from all the others in our casa.  Now on to finding fabric so I can get some pillows made, and of course I need some spray paint to liven up a few accessories.

Woo to the hoo! I'm so excited to get started.

Apple green it is! {bonus room paint}

We went to Lowes and got 4 color samples the other night, slapped some squares of paint up on the wall, and checked them out at night then again during the day.

clockwise from top left: Valspar Prairie Brush, Valspar Apple Green, Valspar Garden of Paradise , Olympic Guacamole

After a little debate, G told us her favorite. It was mine, too!!!

Unfortunately for The Hubs, it was the only one he never pegged as a fave (he liked upper left and lower right at night, then lower left during the day). Oh well, he was outnumbered. Honestly, I think I would have been OK with any of the 4 colors, this one just had the most vibrant and fun feel (and its for a toy room so we're going for vibrant and fun).

We got Apple Green color-matched at Sherwin Williams (who by the way have a 30% off paint sale for the rest of 2011) then got to work while little E took her nap.

G was such a trooper and helped out for about 30 minutes before she lost interest and asked if she could "watch mine own show."

No complaints here. I'll happily let the boob tube babysit so we don't have to stay up past midnight painting. Yes. I'm a horrible regular parent.

It's actually all finished but I've got to hang some stuff, rearrange, etc. before the big reveal. And I've got a super cool Pinterest inspired project in the works that will go in this room. Have you done any painting lately? Made any bold changes in your house?

Color scheme {bonus room}

So, we won't be hiring a painter. Whop, whop. We bought a new mattress. A new, guccimattress that blew the paint budget. But, I'm picking out paint colors tonight! Here are a few of the color schemes I'm considering, all courtesy of Design Seeds. You'll notice that the common element in each is GREEN!!! I love green walls and this room is pretty self-contained so we're going for it.

Love these autumnal colors and the 4th shade is very similar to the paint in the hallway outside the bonus room. Plus, that dark, almost black, grey is super awesome!!! However, it might be a little "adult" for what serves mainly as a toy and play space.

I also love the greys in this scheme but our current sofa is more of a taupey beige and might not work with this. We were going to replace it but that aforementioned mattress ate that budget up as well (also some super-lame, and unexpected dental work I had done today). But its speakin' to me with those pinks which would be great for a play space for two sweet little girls.

And this one just makes me hungry. For some Italian. In Italy. Cinque Terre, anyone? Again, love the grey, the white is perfect for the Ikea Expedit shelving we got, and our carpet is a dark brown. Plus, red is a common theme in our house and that accent would give some continuity to this room from the other spaces in the house.

So, what do you think? Any one scheme jumping out at you? I'm leaning toward the the last one but we'll see. I think I'll do some fabric shopping after the room is painted and hopefully that will seal the deal for me.

Bonus Room {it's Go Time}

Now that we're back from our respective jaunts, The Hubs to Qatar and the girls and I to Missouri, it's time to get the bonus room (office, sewing, toy, and craft space) completed. I'll have a floor plan, some very scary before pictures, and my general ideas for you in the next few weeks. We saved up a little extra cash while we were away so we're hiring a painter! Yay!!! For the whole upstairs actually. We have to get a pro in here to do our double story entryway so we just figured we'd have someone else knock the whole thing out for us all at once. Cause let's face it, it would take us 2 months to get the job done with an hour here and there. So, here's the paint I've got picked out for this multi-purpose room...


Its from the Pottery Barn Kids Benjamin Moore Collection and called Central Park. I'll have it color matched at either Lowes or Sherwin Williams and probably go with a satin/eggshell finish for washability. I really feel like green is such a neutral. I mean, flower stems are green and God pairs every color of the rainbow with them so I'm thinking it'll be a nice color for adding some punchy, bright artwork, white storage pieces, and a neutral sofa (probably a sofa bed).

Can't wait to share our progress!!!