When my principal asked me if I could create a Mario bathroom for his 2 sons I was thrilled. I grew up playing 8 bit Mario and was excited for the two little boys who would get to enjoy this bathroom. The oldest son (who is colorblind) helped me pick out the colors and was spot on almost every time... Except he wanted his vine to have a red top instead of the green top. When I asked him many times, he was certain, he wanted the only red top in town.

The most rewarding part of this project was having the boys show off their custom bathroom mural to their neighborhood friends. None of the friends could believe that I had hand painted the bricks, pipe, plant, and clouds. (Even I was a bit bummed out when they thought it was a vinyl wall sticker)

This sectional sofa, or as I called it 'The Green Beast', has been stumping me for some time. How do I design a room around this custom leather piece of furniture that sits in my Den? While I am grateful for my parents handing this substantial piece down to me... What do you do with a traditional KIWI colored sofa?! Is it green? Is it brown? Well... it's the color of kiwi skin.

After racking my brain over this conundrum I decided to go pull 50+ paint color cards from my local hardware store and sit them all out on that sofa. Systemically eliminating those that were not a good fit, I found 6 color cards that would compliment The Green Beast. Why not use all the colors that compliment the sofa instead of just painting the room one of them?! Well 6 colors may have been a bit much so I narrowed it down to 4 colors. What to do with 4 colors? Funky, chunky, horizontal stripes!

Why those exact 4 colors?
- Purple: Same purple as in my great room, used to tie the two rooms together to create a cohesive flow throughout the house. Purple also compliments and pulls out the green in the leather sofa.
- Blue: The husband loves blue, and always appreciates when I can add it to any of my designs. I also love the warmth it brings to the Den.
- Green: This green ties in the sofa so that everything in room seems placed there intentionally. No one would guess that the sectional sofa was handed down to me and not purchased for the room.
- Golden Yellow/Orange: This color was needed to add contrast and 'POP' between the other 3 colors. Putting this color onto the wall was terrifying , but I had faith in the process and in my knowledge of complimentary colors. After that first orang-ish stripe went up the husband was wondering if I had gone color crazy. In the end, it is a masterpiece of cohesive color!

    We found this house by accident and fell in love with the floor plan and the woods behind the house. It had already been 'designed' by MI and there were only a few changes that we were allowed to make, and some we had to live with. The exterior could not be changed nor could the lovely maple cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms. At first we debated if we should even buy the house seeing that we hated the maple cabinets and could build another house with options that we loved. We decided to make lemons into lemonade and went for this one. I'm glad we did because the design challenge was a great learning experience on how to turn a 'icky' home feature into something that looks designed on purpose.

KITCHEN: From dreaded builder grade maple cabinets to success!
     I'm am so very happy that I was allowed to change the flooring option for the home. Originally the plan was to put down maple flooring to match the cabinets. Can we say dated and blah?! I opted for the black wood flooring to pull in the black in the counter tops. I added black pulls and knobs to tie in the floor and create a custom look.
  

GREAT ROOM: Sophisticated Color (a work in progress)
    This room is still a work in progress. Eventually I will find a coffee table that I love and will invest in a large bookshelf/tv cabinet. I saw one at a custom Amish furniture store but of course it was $5,000. For now I can imagine how great it looks on my large blank wall.
   This room is my own design challenge. I love bright fun colors for my own house but wanted to keep this room formal and elegant. So far, I have done just that.

     This half bathroom on the main floor of the house started builder grade beige. Builder grade flat paint beige that is... This paint was used all over the house. It is my nemesis. All it takes is a visitor to accidentally brush against a wall and a highly visible and taunting blemish is left behind. Once I am done with the house, only eggshell finish paint will be left. Eggshell finish is your best friend for most interior wall needs. It is durable, washable, but appears flat.

BEFORE

paint: beige (I will not tell you the exact color because no one should purposely paint a room this color)
mirror: bronze/crystal (HomeGoods)
light: 3 sconce bronze with swirled glass globes (GreatIndoors)
towel bar: bronze with crystal accents (GreatIndoors)

*notice that I mixed the finishes. The toilet and sink are still polished nickle yet no one seems to notice or care

AFTER

stencil: Zamira pattern, they have so many more amazing designs at cuttingedgestencils.com
base paint: Dutch Boy, eggshell, Peacock Plume 
top stencil: paint: two shades lighter than the base

     Working with these large stencils is very easy when working on a large flat wall. The tricky part is when you run into corners, base boards, and the ceiling.
     A dense foam roller works best when applying the paint over the stencil. Make sure to use less paint and do multiple coats; too much paint on the roller will bleed under the stencil. The paint dries quickly and I even used my hair dryer when I wanted to move quicker than the dry time. I did find myself frustrated at times trying to avoid permanents folds in the plastic stencil while folding it enough to get into these tight spaces. Stick with it! Push your foam roller into the corners while holding the stencil in place. The design will not meet the corner (but no one has seemed to notice yet.) The top corners where the wall meets the ceiling were the most difficult areas. I did as much as the stencil would bend without ruining it and then used left over paint to free-hand the design into the top corners.
      The results are amazing! Designer wallpaper look for a fraction of the cost, and no wallpaper removal in my future! I'd say that is a win - win!