3 ½ years ago my husband and I were fortunate enough to dive into the world of building a home. It was a dream of mine that I never knew I wanted until the opportunity was presented. The neighborhood that we chose only had 1 builder in the mix at that time, Ryan Homes. I had heard good things about them so I was excited to get started. I don’t think the Ryan Home people had ever come across a client quite like me. I think I was told on several occasions that they aren’t “a custom home builder”. Well damn it, why can’t you make my entryway look like the front page of Pottery Barn magazine? It was quite an overwhelming experience but so fun at the same time. Choosing layouts, picking finishes, and trying to imagine what the finished product would look like. The day we went for our design appointment was like Christmas morning! So many choices and possibilities, it was like being on my own HGTV show.

The hardest part was waiting for it all to come together. For those of you that don’t know me well, to say I am not a patient person is an understatement… I tend to be a bit impulsive and when I get an idea or vision in my head I feel this sense of urgency to make it happen immediately. Well, in the world of house building and design it doesn’t just all come together that quickly. Our poor project manager probably wanted to pull his hair out when I would drop in unexpectedly to check on progress or send him the 12^th email of the week to ask about changing something.

In the end, I am happy with the overall design and finished product of our home. My mission since we moved in and part of the journey that I will invite you on is working to create character in an otherwise cookie cutter builder home. I was spoiled in the fact that our last 2 homes were built in the early 1900’s and were just oozing with traditional charm.

You would be amazed how a space can transform by adding crown molding, changing a light fixture and painting over those builder beige walls. Oh, the builder beige walls…they are the bane of my existence currently. If you don’t know, typically a builder will have you wait to paint your home for a full year in order to be able to assess for settlement cracks, nail pops, and any potential issues with the foundation. Most house settlement occurs within the first year, so they like you to wait to paint so you aren’t masking any potential issues. So I waited, not so patiently for a year, and then I was ready to go with my HGTV whole home color palette only to discover how crazy expensive it is to hire a painter…like thousands of dollars expensive.

A year after we moved into our home we had a 4-month-old, so spending that kind of money on paint just didn’t seem like a smart move or a priority at the time. I mean hell, I had just figured out how to keep another human alive, function on 4 hours of sleep at a time, and make spit up covered clothes seem cool. (Okay, maybe not cool but certainly not as repulsive as I had found it to be before having children of my own) Painting was not high on my list of To Dos. Fast-forward almost 2 years later and still the only room painted in our home is our sons Calvin and Hobbes themed nursery (Check my portfolio for some photos!).

I have decided that things in our life have finally calmed down enough that it is time for me to dive into my endless list of house projects. So I took the plunge and painted our master bedroom and I must say I am quite happy with the end result. The color is HGTV Sherwin Williams Stone Eagle. I love it because it is a gray blue tone. Depending on the way the light is shining in the windows the color either looks to be a light gray or light blue. I highly recommend when picking paint colors that you get a sample and paint a portion of one of your walls. Be sure to get a feel for it at all different times of the day and under different lights. It can really change the overall feel and aesthetic of the room. Check out the before and after pictures and stay tuned for my blog post on styling our master bedroom walls and adding décor pieces. Until next time, be inspired and go create your own design therapy space!