Wednesday, June 8, 2011

What I'm Loving...


Our powder bath door
I'm loving my new dark doors.
I've talked about this subject here before. It is something that I frequently tell my clients to do to their doors to help with the 'builder-basic' plague.
I wanted black doors, a la Thomas O'Brien, for my home and had my husband promptly paint ALL of the downstairs doors black. We set up a "paint room" in the garage that somewhat resembled a Dexter 'kill room'. My sweet husband painted all of those doors black and had them all ready to install in the house. Meanwhile, I was checking in on my Austin project, which I specified a dark door color for, and the minute I saw the color I picked for her doors I wanted it too and immediately thought "I have to change the color, like now, and Frank is going to kill me...and he's already got a kill room set up!". Soo, I got home that evening and politely told him that I wanted to change the color, which was followed by a laugh from him, because that is the sort of thing you would joke about after someone has been painting for 3 days! I then received a blank stare for what felt like a full minute and a loud sigh. I'm pregnant, so I get a lot of sympathy these days. Well, the doors are no longer black, they are a beautiful deep browny-black color and I loooove them! Thanks babe! ;-)

The door to our pantry

Our bathroom off of the sink area
What do you think? Do you love them as much as I do?
Speaking of our bathroom...I realize I keep promising those who are asking to show more of my own home and never do :-/. Designers are so much more critical of their own spaces, and they also are rarely "complete". Here are some details of our bath. I had to clean it up to show you the doors so I thought I would throw these in :-)



I will be posting 'my nursery journal' soon. I'm the worst. I haven't committed to a single thing for the nursery yet!...and I'm 6 1/2 months! I've ordered several swatches of fabric that hopefully will inspire me. The thing about being a designer is...your own home usually gets pushed back behind client's. I'm beginning the process though, and will document it here...if you are interested :-)


Happy 'What I'm Loving' Wednesday!


24 comments:

emily hewett said...

I LOVE the doors! I have been thinking about doing this in our home for several months, but I'm afraid Chris is going to fight me on it! :-/ What do you think? Should I go for it??

Emily

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

Emily, absolutely, it makes such a big impact! Will you do black or brown?

emily hewett said...

Well, I've been leaning towards black...but yours look fabulous! Do you think I should do brown? OH, decisions, decisions!

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

I don't know :-/ I loved the black but they were such a hard contrast and I wanted something softer. Black is definitely classic though!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Can you tell us what colour paint you used?

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

Thank you Anon, I used Night Horizon by Benjamin Moore :-)

Victoria said...

I love them! Gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Use satin finish enamel, not latex, gloss or semi-gloss. Also, don't ask a husband to do this unless you're pregnant or may become pregnant. ~hub

Allison said...

Oh Maria!!! They look so insanely good!!! Loving all of them!!

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

Hub ;-P
Alli, thank you!!!

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

Thank you Victoria :-)

Kim said...

Hi Maria! Came across your blog for the first time today via Remodelaholic. :) What great taste you have!! I loved looking through al your photos. Would you mind sharing a few of your favorite neutral brown paints for walls?? Good luck with the pregnancy!

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

Kim,
Thanks for reading :-) I was actually thinking about doing a post soon on some of my favorite paint colors :-) Check back soon. Thanks for the well wishes also :-)

Sandi said...

Looks great! What color black do you reccomend if you want black doors?

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

Thanks Sandi :-) I don't have a particular "go-to" black that I use, there are a ton out there. I highly recommend painting a sample and seeing how it reads in the lighting in your home.

Michele said...

Hi Maria,

I have just discovered your amazing blog via "A Well Dressed Home". I love your beautiful designs and taste. My doors seem so white after reading this post! LOL Would you use Night Horizon with dark grey walls?

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

Michele, I'm so glad you found me and through Emily :-) I just love her, we go way back to college days! I love my dark doors! Night Horizon is a great color but I highly recommend painting a large sample and looking at it witht the other colors in your home. Good luck!

Lily said...

Hi Maria,

I am dying to know who makes that chest with the nail head detail in the first pic, would you mind sharing??

Maria@Live Beautifully said...

Hi Lily! This is my home, so I don't mind sharing sources at all. The leather and nailhead chest is by Bernhardt, but I believe the piece has been discontinued :-/

Unknown said...

Oh my word I have finally found the perfect brown for my interior doors! I went to HD & had them pull up the BM Night Horizon. They made me a lil sample. I am sold!! Like you, I think black is a bit harsh, brown is softer. Can't wait till hubby goes to the hunting camp next weekend so I can get started. :::easier to ask for forgiveness than permission::: Seriously he never says a word.

Unknown said...

What I like about dark colors is that it creates a feeling of modernity and elegance. Glad that your request was granted right away. Now, you can enjoy staring at your newly painted deep browny-black door.

-Roosevelt Franklin @ ClearChoiceWin

Unknown said...

Love your details from you bathroom! Please please please tell me the manufacturer of your light fixture - the chandelier. I have been searching for one just like this for our master bath. We are renovating a home from 1906. :)

Anonymous said...

What color is your trim? I'm wanting to pain my doors this dark brown/black and can't decide what to do my trim and baseboards. Also, what's the finish you used for the doors? I have flat, hollow wood doors.

Anonymous said...

What color is your wall paint?