Often I find myself wondering if I chose the wrong degree. I realized a little too late that I love interior design! I studied fashion marketing but my heart starts racing when I receive House Beautiful, not when I receive Elle magazine.
Adam and I purchased our first condo about 2 months ago. The house was pretty much in its original condition of 1989 and it needed some TLC. When we toured our place for the first time I was working hard to imagine all the changes I’d make. The floor plan was well laid out and it had nice high ceilings, and best of all it was in our preferred location—but everything seemed dated and depressing.
During the month of escrow I started looking into designs, finishes and materials I could use to spruce up the place. HGTV was always on my TV screen and my computer’s Pinterest page was active 8 hours a day. I wanted to find inspiration up to the last detail. I began picturing the style I wanted for the condo and how I was going to achieve it with every individual room.
One detail was always in the back of my mind—what colors will I choose for the walls? My current apartment has wonderful colors in the different rooms, but I didn’t choose them; An artist used to live here and he picked them all. Most people that visit our apartment always comment on how wonderful they are, but I humbly admit they weren’t chosen by me.
The color of the walls can sometimes make it or break it. It has such a big effect in the overall design of a place. I had no idea what I wanted; I knew I wanted a house that resembled a townhouse in Manhattan, but that is all I knew. I started using digital tools online to picture many different colors on the walls. Benjamin Moore has an online tool that helps you add their thousands of colors to your room. It is visually very helpful, but what I thought I wanted was not offering me much—it was boring and understated.
After several unsuccessful hours of trying different colors and shades on BM’s website, I decided to go back to basics and research how to do it. I looked in Elle Decor’s website for good articles on how to choose your paint. Among many great tips the writer mentioned different brands of paint. I had heard about most of them: Valspar, Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams among others but then the author wrote about an English brand called Farrow&Ball.
I hadn’t heard of this brand before so I thought it was worth taking a look. As soon as I got on their website I knew these were colors I could work with—their paint colors are inspired by historic color palettes. Farrow&Ball was showing me what I was looking for all along! One of the colors caught my attention: Black Blue. I went on my Pinterest page to look for images of rooms where people had used this color, I wanted to make sure I liked it. Apparently I was the only individual that hadn’t heard of Farrow&Ball. Many people had used this paint color for different rooms, from nurseries to living rooms. It was just beautiful!
The black blue could give the condo a nice rich accent without being too flashy. I showed the colors to my mother and she advised me to follow what my gut was telling me. You can order their paint (and their beautiful wallpaper) from their website—the paint arrived to my apartment in no time.
My mother-in-law is in town, so between my excitement and hers, we go to the condo every evening to see what changes were accomplished during the day. Last night when I opened the door I unexpectedly saw the black blue paint on one of the walls. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that my heart started racing with excitement and happiness. It is so perfect and it achieved just what I wanted!
The room looks designer-like, elegant and even larger! I wish I could show you the finished product, but it is half way done and I don’t want to ruin it for you. I promise that I will show you the before-after photos as soon as the walls are ready.
*Tip: Elle Decor has a great article “Color Picks from the Pros”
CALIFORNIA - PERFECT 