I finally made a leap of faith and chose a paint color for my office/mom cave. I had bought some sample paints in shades of green and let them “marinate” for awhile, and decided that wasn’t the direction in which I wanted to go. I started thinking that since I had such fun, bold (for me anyway) fabrics, that I wanted to keep the backdrop neutral. So, I opted for Concord Buff by Sherwin Williams.
Well, I got it up on the walls and let it sit with me for awhile. Then I got to thinking. Remember how I described the original wall color as “baby poo brown”? Well, the walls in the rooms leading into my office are the same brown color. In terms of room flow, you’re looking from a brown room to a yellow room. Then I start thinking about my kids talking about a local high school teams’ colors of brown and gold, chanting “Poop and Pee! Poop and Pee!” So when I look at this room, guess what’s playing in my head?
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| Poo colored room leading to my office |
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| Another contrast in the before/after colors since I hadn’t painted behind the storage piece yet |
I even looked at the upholstery fabric out to see if I could warm up to it some more.
Now, I know it doesn’t look that bad, but it was definitely more yellow than what I wanted. And, I didn’t want to be working down in this space, always regretting my color choice. Perhaps I should have just been more patient and waited for the Room Remix Paint Series. Alas, patience is not one of my virtues.
Did I ever tell you that I repainted our master bedroom the day before my due date? Went into labor early the next morning. Not the patient type when it comes to painting.
Now, on to Plan B. Since I couldn’t finish the room with one gallon of paint (flat paint sucks, literally – it absorbs the paint like a sponge), and I needed to buy another gallon anyway, I opted for Muslin by Sherwin Williams, instead.
It’s a creamier neutral, and works with the light tones in the fabric. So, I was up until midnight on Saturday night, painting. Much better. No more poop and pee anymore.
I’m in love with the Muslin color – it really hit the mark. And I’m having a lot of fun with the pops of color in this room as well (more on that in another post). The chair is obviously not reupholstered yet, but I wanted to see if I could get a feel for what it would look like. A work in progress…
Shall we take a trip back and review the before as well?
I still have a lot on tap for this space, but am loving the results so far!
Jenny
Linking to:
Just A Girl – Show and Share Day
39 Comments
Pam @ Our Adventures in Home Improvement
January 24, 2011 at 3:12 pmYou did a beautiful job! I think the new color makes the entire room look so elegant. Great work!
pk @ Room Remix
January 24, 2011 at 3:35 pmHi Jenny! Thanks so much for the shout out!
You had me laughing with your color comparisons :-). I do really like the Muslin paint in the space AND your pops of color. It looks like it's going to be a great mom cave when it's done and I can't wait to see…
vintage vine
January 24, 2011 at 6:35 pmMuslin is a great color!!! I will keep that in my file…thanks for sharing!
Elaine
January 24, 2011 at 7:19 pmVery serene. Looks like a great place to get some work done. Have fun.
theultimate
January 24, 2011 at 8:50 pmThat looks amazing! Great job! The color is perfect. =]
Rebecca
January 25, 2011 at 3:49 amI have a very hard time getting the PERFECT paint color. Once I found out that Sherwin Williams can tweak a color any way you want–it has seriously complicated my life.
In my Living Room, I painted an eggplant color on two walls. The first coat ended up looking a little too "Tinky Winky" purple. So I took my remaining half gallon in and they added brown. And I just did the second coat with the browner color and loved it!
Glad you were able to find a color you loved!
Kelly
January 27, 2011 at 1:37 amStopping over from TDC! Love your style! I'm a new follower 🙂
Lisa
January 27, 2011 at 2:54 amSo glad to find your blog from TDC also. Love your "punchy" lamp and look forward to reading more. I knew you were my kinda girl when I read "Muslin". I've painted our whole new-to-us house Muslin- it's my fave for years and years! My friend just caught the bug and painted her whole first floor this color too. Love how accessories pop with this color as the background. Your office looks great!
Come visit me sometime. Nice to meet you, Jenny! -Lisa
Cozy Home Scenes
January 27, 2011 at 3:24 amThe color decriptions were funny, but at least you found out you hated it before you redid the entire room. In the past 2 years, I painted my bedroom 3 times.I like the room and how you decorated it now.
Courtana
January 27, 2011 at 4:46 amOkay, I'm hooked, found you via TDC and I am LOVING the paisley fabric. Can't wait to see more. Cheers!
Emily @ Finding My Aloha
January 27, 2011 at 9:05 amLove it all! Especially calling it a mom cave. I love that! I might borrow that name 🙂
Terry
January 27, 2011 at 2:49 pmLove the new softness of the paint. The chair is cool with that fabric over it. Great accent in the room.
Jennifer V.
January 27, 2011 at 5:20 pmComing over from TDC too. Love your blog! Your new house is SO beautfiul! I'm jealous. Your mom cave is great – I'm going to have to go find this Muslin color…how makes it?
Jennifer V.
January 27, 2011 at 5:23 pmSorry, I meant WHO makes it? 🙂
Pat
January 28, 2011 at 12:35 pmLove the Muslin color. Very nice.
The paisley fabric is wonderul!
pk @ Room Remix
January 28, 2011 at 2:23 pmStill loving it, Jenny, and I'm enjoying following your progress, too! I'm glad you joined the party today. Have a good weekend…
aneyefordetail
January 28, 2011 at 2:30 pmOh no, another neutral I love!!! I just collected some new ones from PK this week, and now this ….Personally, I like yellows: always, anywhere! But this OC-12 is great. I'm looking at my fan deck as I type.
Your space is going to be wonderful! I haven't done a post on my new office space yet, so stay tuned. I did a video of the day we moved in with the TOTAL chaos in the room…and am going to do another video when it's all done. The lights go in today! It's a never ending process, right?
Suzanne@Meridian Road
January 28, 2011 at 4:01 pmI love your wall color! It looks so fresh and pretty. That chair will look amazing when it's reupholstered.
It's a great room!
Samantha
January 28, 2011 at 4:46 pmI really like the muslin color! It looks fresh and inviting and doesn't overpower the room. Visiting from the Room Remix Paint party.
Irene Robertson
January 29, 2011 at 1:22 amI love that color. It's so refreshing.
The Inspired Nest
January 29, 2011 at 3:28 amThat is a great color! And I love your fabric choice! Every mom should have a mom cave!
Lacy
Anonymous
January 31, 2011 at 3:23 pmIs the muslin a BM or SW colour?
Thirkellgirl
February 4, 2011 at 2:58 pmI have Muslin in my (tiny, open floor plan) house, and the switch from Martha Stewart "Butter" (I'm pretty sure that's the color) to Muslin was a HUGE relief. I can totally understand the difference it makes. Like your mom-cave, thinking of turning my (tiny, did I mention that?) living room (which has a picture window, three doorways and a pass-through to the kitchen (why?…)into a mom-cave with my writing desk which is now in the basement.
Bethany {3SonsPlus1}
February 4, 2011 at 8:44 pmFunny post! The new color looks great…the whole space is amazing and beautiful!
Red Lipstick
February 4, 2011 at 10:44 pmVery nice, classy! AND you have a TV in there! I've been thinking of getting one for my office/room I share with my house rabbits, I think you've convinced me!
Gwen
February 5, 2011 at 3:27 pmLove your final color choice! Where did you get this white desk? Looks so pretty and seems to be a great size. Thanks for posting.
AllieMakes!
February 5, 2011 at 5:29 pmOh My! I am SO jealous of your Mom Cave! It has a door! SOOO jealous of how beautifully it is coming along! Can't wait to see how it all ends up!
You should come link this up to my weekly Thursday through Sunday Making It With Allie Link Party! I think it would make a Fabulous addition!
AllieMakes.Blogspot.com
Rachel @ A Tall Drink of Water
February 5, 2011 at 6:30 pmVery nice! Love the fabric and the paint color!!
SHERRY HART
February 5, 2011 at 8:50 pmLove the second color…it is so sophisticated….great job!
Debra from Bungalow
February 6, 2011 at 9:24 pmThe color is perfect. Thanks for sharing it and your descriptions are great. It's looking good. 🙂
Carmie of the Single Nester
February 9, 2011 at 12:00 amI really love that desk and have been looking for one just like it. Where did you get it?
CalypsoInTheCountry
March 3, 2011 at 9:56 pmLove the color! What a great room – I need one of those!
Shelley
tale of many cities
March 24, 2011 at 7:12 pmlookin' good so far! 🙂
Workman Family
March 26, 2011 at 5:29 amIt is looking GREAT!! I am also curious where you got your desk. It is perfect!! Keep it up:)
http://www.workmanfamilyfun.blogspot.com
Laurie
March 30, 2011 at 4:00 pmLove the paint color! Looks great!
Michelle
November 2, 2011 at 10:03 pmI am SO glad I just found this post! I am getting ready to repaint my "formal" living room, and was thinking about Muslin, but I kept thinking, "Oh it will be so much easier to just paint Concord Buff" (the color of my other front room)…reading your post has convinced me that I need to paint Muslin in BOTH rooms! Thanks:)
Kacie
July 15, 2013 at 7:17 pmDid a search to find other uses of "Muslin" and I love it! We are putting this in our kitchen and living room. Our first coat was a bit yellow and it didn't match my sample board. On to coat #2 which I think will be great.
Janet
September 10, 2021 at 2:54 pmHow would you describe the concord buff? I know you didn’t keep it but I’m looking at it for a bedroom. It’s talking about in a post on how to pick a yellow. Yellows are so hard!
Jenny
September 19, 2021 at 4:30 pmIt’s kind of a buttery yellow. But the space that we tried it didn’t have natural light, so it would change a bit with that, I’m sure. Large samples are a must!