Eliza favors uncluttered, modern décor, so when she moved into her rental, she assumed she'd leave the walls white. Soon, though, the white went from simple to just plain drab, and Eliza realized that painting was a way to add dimension and interest to the space without adding 'stuff.' We teamed up with Glidden Paint this summer to work with Eliza and two other renters and help them explore how color can transform a rental into a home.
Eliza's first problem was picking a color. "I just couldn't decide whether it was better to go with a cool color to match what's already in the room, or to go with a warm color that would contrast with it." Nicole Balch, Colortopia Team Member and author of the blog, Making It Lovely, helped Eliza narrow it down to two cool blue options, Clear Blue Sky and Sea Spray. Eliza ultimately opted for the richer and more nuanced Sea Spray, covering two of her walls.
Eliza had two friends come paint with her, and with Nicole's help the room was finished in no time. They used Glidden Paint's paint and primer in one, and got excellent coverage with two coats.
The new color is a total success. Eliza loves how it brings depth to the space without adding any clutter, and appreciates how sophisticated the color is.
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Ercol Bar Stool
Love the new coffee tables. Where are they from?
congratulations Eliza! Your apartment looks beautiful with the new color.
Where is that couch from? What is the model? I love it!
The coffee tables look like their from the new Vittsjo line at IKEA.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80215332/
So now we paint our walls to match our art?
The new coffee tables look so much better. I think swapping out some of the art work and rearranging would be a good idea.
The wall color really livens up the space. I love how it plays off the color of the chairs and artwork, and makes the yellow pillows pop.
Hi, Nicole here. Eliza's is the most subtle transformation of the three that I worked on. The blue looks pretty on screen, but it was gorgeous in person – it changes with the light.
The nesting coffee tables are from IKEA. I also brought in a new lamp for her (in the corner) from west elm, and a pillow from Crate & Barrel. Eliza had some amazing art, and I had wanted to hang a different piece over the sofa, but we didn't have the proper hardware to do so. The picture that I did use is beautiful though, and has special meaning for her. I wish there was a closer photo so you could see it more clearly!
@KILODEUCE the sofa is the Karlstad from Ikea. Either the love seat or full sofa with add on chaise in sivik dark grey (we just bought one)
I don't find that accent walls generally add anything to a room, though there are exceptions. The colour here, however, is gorgeous and I've been eyeing that couch for some time.
I like the couch. I think the blue looks good but I would have maybe done another wall with it. Maybe two walls would have been better than one.
We did paint the two walls opposite each other, but it's hard to tell in the video because they focused on just the one.
Like the color in there - would have painted the whole room though, all four walls. Only reason to do an accent wall or two, in my opinion, is if you are using a deeper, darker color, which would be too much all around. (Or if a wall leads directly into another room you aren't painting, with no clear line delineated for where to stop the paint.) This color is not so deep, and I think the room would look better if they had painted the whole thing...the white wall around the windows looks stark....the view out would look nice framed with that blue paint.