Bedroom Progress: Walls Painted "Antique Silver" Gray

After a lovely holiday back in my hometown (spent eating good food, browsing antique stores, and binge watching HGTV), I returned home to my lovely little new home – with two days to spare in solitude. Don't get me wrong: I loved being surrounded by my wonderful family for a couple days, but I really savored some work-free, people-free time to myself. I stayed up late watching Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, slept in, wore my paint-spattered DIY leggings, ordered Domino's pizza, and got to work on painting my bedroom because I could not stand staring at those giant lavender diamonds for one more day.

Here's a handy painting tip from my brilliant bf: As soon as you open your can of paint and before you start painting, nail a couple of holes in the basin around the rim of the paint can – you know, the pesky area that always collects paints that ends up splattering when you hammer the lid back on. I nailed four at the four main positions of the clock – one at 12 o'clock, one at 3 o'clock, one at 6 o'clock, and one at nine o'clock. By putting holes here, any paint that pools in the rim will drain back down to where it belongs. Genius.

I'm glad I got the office painting out of the way first. The buttery yellow had a tendency to shine through the Pollination green – not so in the bedroom! I chose Pittsburgh Paints' Antique Silver and it coated the lavender walls almost effortlessly. I recently used my new nifty little Bosch GLM 15 laser measure to calculate the square footage of surface space in the room. I'm pretty pleased that my calculations turned out correctly and a gallon of paint did the job – with plenty left over for future touch-ups. It took two coats total... with a couple third coats in a couple areas (mainly where the diamonds wanted to peek through).

To say I'm pleased with how the Antique Silver turned out is an understatement. I'm enthralled with it. Sherwin-Williams' Anonymous was formerly my favorite gray. Not anymore. Antique Silver is the perfect shade of medium gray. I adore how my red headboard and lamp pop against it. I'm smitten with how the white trim contrasts with it. 

I still have a lot to do in the space. I'm figuring out what tables I actually want to use as nightstands. (I've tried like seven different options by this point – I wish I could find another great priced typewriter table!) I have yet to dig my colorful quilt and other decorating accessories out of moving boxes. And I want to find a big, fluffy white rug to throw down on the hardwood floor next to the bed. But at this point, I'm already soooo happy with the space. No more lavender walls. No more giant purple diamonds. It's all gray skies from here.

Painting an entire room all by myself feels like quite the achievement. I really feel it – in my arms, legs, and neck. (Thanks, 9-foot ceilings.) I'm putting off more painting until next weekend. And this week, I'll be digging into some moving boxes, decorating my office and bedroom, and spending my cozy evenings with hot cocoa, my new Pickwick & Co. "holiday"-scented candle, and a stack of old HGTV Magazines my mom sent home with me to devour.

So what do you think? Do you love the gray as much as I do? Or is a gray bedroom not really your thing?

The Lovely Side is on: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram