This Is Not an SEC Office Space
Monday, August 29, 2011 at 09:00PM Not that there's anything wrong with the SEC. It is in fact the most glorious of all the football conferences and I celebrate the season beginning this very week. Ahem.
I just really like orange. (Though I've gotten number of "nice Tennessee/Auburn/Clemson" room comments from friends.) I've wanted to use orange my home for quite a while. That plus a total need to start over in my home office resulted in this project. I didn't look up its meaning before applying a thick coat of Valspar paint to this wall yesterday, but apparently it's right on. From ColorWheelPro:
"Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation."
I especially like the part about creativity. It's what I need in this space, which, until recently, served more as a home to outdated files of dental records and stacks of concert stubs and birthday cards and photos. So, a few weeks ago I started tackling it with my Girl Friday Lindsey, who spent about eight hours helping me separate the treasures (oh look, unused gift cards, a cherished letter, deed to house) from the stuff that just needs to go (computer equipment that may have gone with my Commodore 128, calendars from 2003.)
Then, over the weekend, my friend J. came to town and volunteered to help continue the project. She disassembled a desk, that, while served its purposed for a decade, wasn't what I needed moving forward (Dad, thanks for assembling, breaking it down, and reassembling it through numerous moves). (My new desk is a simple white Ikea number, with a matching white and orange filing cabinet; bookshelves/storage to come.)
We picked out this paint at Lowe's. The orange is a match to a Benjamin Moore color called "Startling Orange" (oh yes) and the white is Valspar's Du Jour.
It looked like this in the can. I was a little freaked out.
But, after a lot of prep work -- taping, puttying nail holes, drinking a glass or two of champagne -- we took the plunge.
Despite of, or with the help of, said champagne, the orange turned out pretty amazing:
Keep in mind that the beige wall here is still the "before" -- it needs to be covered with the white paint, which I've started. Nate's helping too:
So far, so good. I'll post more photos when it's complete and I have the furniture and art up. For now, I'm basking in the orange glow and planning what I'll write in this room. No football allowed.
Related Links:
The Gray Area: Adventures In Paint
Wordless Wednesday: Palm Beach 70s Bedroom Makeover
Paint Changes Everything, and Is A Pain
Benjamin Moore, Lowe's, SEC, Valspar, creative spaces, creativity, football, office redo, orange, paint in Friendship, Funky House, kids
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