The painting is done! I’m exhausted. I think over this past week I have painted over 1000 linear feet of trim and I don’t even know how many square feet of wall and ceilings. Put it this way… A LOT! We said buh-bye to the overload of gold tones and said a happy hello to a brighter, yet calmer, Comfort Gray Kitchen.
If you remember, last week I posted how I was drowning and gold and wanted to change from Blonde to Comfort Gray. Comfort Gray is by Sherwin Williams and it is actually quite blue. We were able to paint the entire kitchen and dining area with one gallon of SW’s Harmony paint in eggshell. The Harmony is my go-to paint for walls. It’s low VOC and has excellent coverage. Our local SW paint store had it’s 25 anniversary sale last week so I was able to purchase all my paint for 40% off!
This is the north side of the house and you would think that the golden blonde walls would brighten the rooms, but strangely they didn’t. It’s amazing how light and bright the kitchen is now. All the antique white trim work received a brighter white coat of semi-gloss paint in SW Extra White. The white trim really helped to accentuate the gray, not to mention hide all the old wear and tear. The maple cabinets are still more orange than I’d like, but we’ll have to live with them for now. I have to be content with some things, right?
I can easily spruce up a staircase though! Years of greasy, grimy kid fingerprints instantly vanished with a fresh coat of paint. I think I heard my staircase thank me even. It needed something besides fresh paint. It needed artwork to help balance out the black of the Framed Chalk Board Wall and Thrift Store Storage Table.
I had three black and white prints I ordered from The Lettered Cottage a few years ago that I weren’t being displayed. I used my favorite tricks on How to Make a Gallery Wall to easily hang the pictures.
The black frames and prints help add interest and lead the eye up the staircase. My boys love getting into the action whenever mom has her camera out. They were actually behaving thank goodness. Normally they are gleefully jumping in front of the camera, trying to mess up my shot. Boys…gotta-love-em!
The main goal of repainting was to try to meld the gold and crimson color scheme downstairs with the sandy and watery tones upstairs. After painting the kitchen I realized the Blonde walls look too vibrant now against the cooler Comfort Gray. The plans are too take that far back room, which we use as our computer room, and paint the lower 3/4 of the walls white with board and add board and batten. And I think the kitchen table needs to either be stained ebony or painted black. It is 20 years old and is in need of refinishing anyhow.
Finally that brings us to the view from the family room. I’m standing on the fireplace hearth for this shot. The gold is just too much don’t you think? It needs to be toned way down and maybe a more neutral color is in order now. (Sigh) I was really hoping everything would blend perfectly but it doesn’t.
This is when I feel like the little girl in the book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”. It never ends does it? It’s like a domino effect. One change leads to another change, which leads to another, and before you know it my project list has multiplied ten fold. Too bad the piggy bank doesn’t multiply as well! So I’ll live with the gold for awhile longer and when I make changes I’ll be sure to bring you along this red, gold, and blue-gray journey.
Kim
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It’s looking wonderful! I’m watching this change with great personal interest. I’m awash in dijon mustard shades and wish to transition to some lighter grey-blues with grace. (and without re-painting everything at once!!)
It looks fantastic! I love that color!
its a wonderful colour…looking for something just like that to take the “orange” out of my everyday life…I love how it goes with the cupboards…mine are very similar to yours and right now my kitchen is a pear green…which is making everything look even more “orange” I think the coolness of the gray is toning it down…might have to get my hubby on that right away – Cheryl from Ontario
Gorgeous Kim! You have me thinking– …. I should be getting rid of my squash color in the kitchen.. BUT I do love it! lol Your gray is so very pretty and calming! Great choice!
Luv the way the ‘gold tones’ seem to be over taken by nice calmer neutral ones. You are ahead of me.. the trim never got done this weekend after all 🙁 The patio and outdoor furniture were tackled. A nice calming black! Pops beautifully off the verdant green of the back lawn and gardens.
My gold is being washed away by creamy whites, and an accent wall of pale green.
Like you I am trying to calm down the gold and crimson …
Luv the grey/blue you chose.
Cheers, Gee
That sounds pretty! Thankyou Gee!
I love the new colors, Kim! Everything does look brighter and more airy. I love the gray tones that are becoming so popular…I have been thinking of doing my living room in something like that. What a big job you had but it was well worth it. Love the gallery wall going up your stairs!
XO,
Jane
Thanks Jane! I never thought I’d go in a cooler color scheme but I’m loving it.
It looks wonderful Kim! I just live that color with your kitchen. I can totally relate to the SW Blond issue. We built our home in 2007 where every room was painted SW Blond or SW Restrained Gold. I am in the process if now picking the colors I want!!
I must have missed your wrapping paper photo hanging tip because I think that us genius. I have a photo wall I am in the process of hanging pictures for and will now be using that tip!
Thanks Karen! All the homes in our neighbor hood have the Restrained Gold and Blonde too! It was very popular. I’ve place the link to gallery wall post in this post to refer to if you need. 😉
It’s looking great! I think the stair rails (just the tops – the wood parts) would look great painted black. It would tie the other black accents together beautifully, and really update the look. I also think those chairs at the counter top would look great black. Or a grey/green (olive?). Yes – the list just keeps growing! It is all looking beautiful though. And it never ends. The homes of us DIYers are always a work in progress. Always evolving. Congratulations on a beautiful kitchen.
I totally agree. Those projects are all in the future plans. I have to ease these changes on the ol’ hubby or he’ll freak. 😉 lol. Thank you!!!
It was beautiful! Could you teach me how to make that arrangement plan on the table nAs a heart? Thank you.
Thanks Fatima! Here is the link to my post How to Make a Live Topiary. https://www.sandandsisal.com/2012/01/how-to-make-live-topiary.html
The comfort gray looks wonderful….i currently have the SW Blonde now…really wanting to make a change…I have noticed that you also have the PB Napolean red bar stools….I had recently had some ceiling trim work done in our great room, so since the scaffolding was there, I had them repaint the room since they were painting the ceiling and trim…therefore, need to wait a bit to invest in more painting in that area at least….yes, the domino effect…how can we ever avoid that!!
Fresh paint is always so nice, especially when the project is wrapped up and you can sit back and admire it. I agree about how changing one thing often leads to another project as my list is long and growing too. Your home is lovely and the new colour is very pretty. Painting the kitchen table and chairs, although a bit time intensive, is doable and really helps update pieces. Black would be nice, but have you considered white?
Love the fresh paint color. I might suggest you paint your counter stools also. I just did with ASCP and it made a huge difference as well as a pop of color! Great space and inspiration!
Oh your kitchen looks FABULOUS! We just painted our living room SW comfort Grey and i love it! Thanks for sharing!
I’m realizing just how popular this color has been! Guess I’m slow to the game. 🙂 Thank you Rachel!
GEtting rid of gold is no small feat… it’s not as versatile a color as I think we ALL believed back in the “day”. 🙂 I’m in your same boat, so we’ll commiserate, okay?? 🙂
Love the Comfort Gray!
xo Heidi
Thank you Heidi. I really do love the Blonde, I just have too much of it.
I am in love with Comfort Gray – Used it in our office (downstairs bonus room) and Sea Salt (one shade lighter) in the kitchen. It’s the BEST! Yours looks gorgeous…we’ve kinda got the same color scheme going with the PB pillows too!!
Thanks Amy! I have sea salt in my front music room. I love Sea Salt even more!
I love SW paint. I get a discount through my employer, but I think I’d buy it regardless. Great choice on the paint color! I bet you smile everytime you walk in your kitchen!
I’d like to suggest you paint the kitchen table and chairs and the stools– white! And the handrails up the stairs should be white as well. The storage cubby that is currently black with baskets in it, paint that your other favorite colors– Sea Salt or Urban Putty.
Love the comfort gray color! I’ll be interested in seeing your board and batten project. I’ve always wanted to do that! I’m also considering painting my table…or getting rid of it altogether, so I’ll be watching that too!
Love, love, love it! I know you think there’s too much gold in your family room, but in the picture it looks really pretty looking into the newly painted kitchen.
Oh you said it! You start one thing and it’s like dominos 😉 You think you’re done and you start seeing all the other things, that the new thing, made look “not so new”. LOL
But for now… the kitchen walls look lovely. Enjoy them 🙂 It’s such a pretty shade. You did a wonderful job :)))
Love the grey! I was thinking about going all white in my master bedroom, but I am loving the light grey!
Gray looks fantastic and it brightens up the room so much. Isn’t it amazing how just a paint color can change a rooms look? It looked good before but I do like this color better 🙂
Kim, your kitchen looks fabulous. I love the comfort gray! I recently just did a similar switch of colors myself. I used Pittsburgh paint color Honesty mixed in BM paint for my dining room/kitchen. I used to have my kitchen painted in a mix of BM Weston Flax and Hawthorne Yellow. It’s been nice for awhile, but it was too much of a contrast looking from the kitchen into the dining room. I decided to go neutral in the kitchen with BM color Muslin mixed in Lowes Valspar satin finish. I love it! I also painted my chairs black around my table, which is a nice contrast with the blue honesty color.
I agree painting your chairs and stair rails either white or black would be sharp. I also think bamboo blinds would be a beautiful touch and add texture. I’ll send the link to you When I post my two rooms to my Tumblr blog Kimpletelychic. Again it looks great! Good luck!
It’s so pretty! But, you are right-the gold has gotta go.
In our house, when we change one lil thing, we call it “pulling the thread-“it’s going to unravel a whole lot before you are through!
Do the rest of the walls in the grey.
I think doing your cabinets dark-like your island-would really bring out that gorgeous granite!
Your table/chairs could go chalk paint in white, dark grey (or another tone from your granite)and use accessories in darker colors to tie it all in
( runner, table stuff , etc).
Whatever you choose, just take lots of pix so we can see your progress!
I was snowed in all weekend, but managed to get a gallon of SW Comfort Grey before the snow arrived! I spent the weekend painting my yellow kitchen to the soothing blue/grey tone and I LOVE IT! Thank you for the inspiration! I painted all my trim & cabinets Dove White, and painted my table black. It looks great! Thank you again!!!
<3 Gina
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What about trying BM Stonehouse? I had similar gold issues in my home that I’m trying to freshen up and move away from (using blues and green, but still keeping some warm tones) and Stonehouse is warm but not gold.
The grey is beautiful Kim. I’m on a journey to change from red and gold everything to whites and greys. Thanks for the inspiration!
We have Blonde in our living/dining room right now. We have the same light colored table and cabinetry. We also have a tan couch and red accents! I’ve been looking for a way to transition from the warm golds to something a little cooler and calmer, but wasn’t quite sure how to pull it off. This gives me some inspiration! Thanks!
Thank you so much Jen! That table has since gone through a mega makeover and my hopes are to paint the cabinets next year after the holidays. We are really loving the Comfort Gray. It it now in our familyroom and kitchen. It’s a great neutral shade that almost any color can be paired with.