We used to love white on interior walls. In fact, our paint of choice was “mixing base white with white pigment added.” However, over the last 10 years, we moved toward color. Warm colors like taupe, beige, and whole wheat seemed necessary for warmth and style. White seemed stark or unfinished – like primer on the wall.
So when it came time to choose a color for Chelsea Moor, we put up some color samples. Balanced Beige (Sherwin Williams) was a contender – a beige-taupe. When we put it up, the strong light in the room washed it out, and an underlying pinkish tone showed up. (Not good.)
This is counter-intuitive, but I think that low light rooms need color – even dark colors – to add richness to the space. In strong light, paint colors tend to lose their richness and depth.
Color on walls ,with white on the ceiling, tends to highlight the shortness of the 8′ walls. And because the living room ceiling was vaulted, color against a white ceiling would create a distracting angled line.
Actually, these walls were screaming for white. But which white would be right? Picking the right white is no small matter. I turned to Remodelista – a design source that I read daily. Their post on whites most used by architects was a great help. The top choice for an all purpose white was White Dove by Benjamin Moore. They called it “clean, calm and a great backdrop for art.” Since we use Sherwin Williams, I chose a close match – Greek Villa.
We painted the walls, ceilings and trim all the same – flat paint on the walls and satin on the trim. The white color expanded and simplified the space, making the walls a backdrop for a more important element – light.
Dining room in process: Sunlight streams in and bounces off walls creating an active, changing environment.
Dining room before: The dining room was made from this cabin-like sun room.
Dining Room in process: An underlying design goal was to connect the interior to the outdoors. Landscaping will help the “outdoor room” rise to the occasion. There will be no window coverings. No window coverings at all.
Kitchen taking shape: Architectural features are highlighted by soft shadows. The island and base cabinet were painted a dark grey (Porpoise by SW) to ground them and connect to the concrete floor.
Kitchen before: We incorporated the old breakfast area into the new kitchen. The kitchen opens to the new dining area, which was the old sun room – behind the window on the left.
Here’s the new kitchen!
Thanks for sharing our Chelsea Moor remodel!
Roselind Hejl
Roselind Hejl's Austin Update 