by KiM
desiretoinspire.net
A few weekends back, I decided to tackle my living room walls once more. While I'm a fan of dark hues, three years of deep grey walls had started to feel oppressive. The cozy cave vibe had worn thin. Below is the 'before' shot:
The original paint was Farrow and Ball's Downpipe—high gloss on trim and fireplace, estate emulsion on walls, with Plummett on the ceiling. Fortunately, only the walls needed redoing (I despise painting trim, and that high gloss might be permanent). I'm not usually into faux finishes, but I've long admired the plaster walls created by the Jersey Ice Cream Co. duo. So I decided to try it myself. Given my packed schedule and inherent laziness with painting, I devised a strategy. I grabbed two cans of Rustoleum's Chalked paint from Home Depot: Country Grey (medium grey) and Aged Grey (concrete grey). Following Jo's advice, I also bought several packs of cheesecloth. I applied a rough, thin layer of the medium grey over the dark walls, allowing some of the dark to peek through. Since chalk paint dries almost instantly, I added a bit of water. Then I brushed on the lighter grey in small sections and immediately dabbed with cheesecloth. Voilà! The result mimics concrete or plaster.
Here's a quick phone snapshot I took mid-process:
And here's the final result! (Some might prefer the dark, but believe me—a room with bigger windows letting in more light would have been far easier to live with.)
While browsing blogs for inspiration, I came across a photo that gave me a clever idea for hanging art unconventionally. I picked up some small black chain from Canadian Tire, attached it with tiny eye hooks to the bottom of the molding, and let it hang down (I might secure it to the baseboards to keep it straight). The gorgeous frames came from Highjinx—they originally held hideous still life paintings, so I painted over them with leftover paint I had on hand.
(I'm seriously considering selling the great leather sofa hidden under those tablecloths and replacing it with something more fitting for this room. Perhaps one of these options?)
Sources: raspberry vintage sofa + brass side table + pink tufted chair – The Pale Blue Dot; Moooi carpet by Marcel Wanders – The Modern Shop; sheepskins – Cowboy Kate Outpost; Knoll tulip table + black tall plant stand + blanket draped over sofa – Alteriors; floral pillow on raspberry sofa – Wild Rice Designs; knitted pillow – Hana Waxman; embroidered bat art – Caitlin T. McCormack; large portrait above sofa – photo by Amanda Margareth; ceramic cat + black side table – Highjinx; pink blanket and remaining pillows – Homesense; FLOS aim pendant by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. Everything else is random vintage finds.
