One Room Challenge: Week 2

Welcome back to the second week of the ORC. This week I crossed off the first thing on my to do list- painting the den! I stuck true to the idea in my mind, and painted the walls a charcoal color. With all the  white trim, paneling and brick, I knew the room could handle the deep color. I started out by testing several colors....

The two top colors are actually the same color, which is the one I ended up choosing. The two bottom left colors just seemed a little too cold and dark. And the bottom right was actually just a sample I had on hand from a long time ago, revere pewter. I actually found my final choice when I was browsing through the latest Pottery Barn. I love looking at rooms and seeing if I can find a paint source. I think it is a great starting point, however, they can always look way different in your room.

I really lucked out by trying this one. It is Mink by Sherwin Williams, and I had it matched at Lowes in a Valpsar paint. It was dark enough for some depth and personality, but not too dark like the others, seeming black. I love how it looks with the gold, which was my determining factor. This room is going to have lots of pops of gold! 

I also starting working on the bookshelves. They still have a long way to go. These shelves were originally in Stephen's office in our last house. And they were jam packed full of "man things" so we are having to compromise here and make them presentable for the den, yet still include some of his collectibles. I really don't mind because I think a mix is interesting and personal. However, it cracks me up to look at these photos with the book titles...we are ranging from everything from Nascar to Emily Giffin to Drew Brees to Design Sponge! One thing I did was flip the book jackets inside out so the white side was showing instead of the colorful book side. I wanted a more streamlined look and this was an easy way to achieve that. I also bought some large scrapbook paper in gold and white and cut custom sized book jackets for some smaller books. Loving this touch! 

I also spent a good deal of time researching fabric for my slipcovers and ordered some samples. Of course, the wrong sample got sent to me that I needed to get the slipcover going. And then, a strange thing happened. Once the walls got painted the dark charcoal, I didn't hate the gold and yellow fabric on the chairs/loveseat. Of course, I don't want to use both of them together, but I think one or the other could work. And that would just be so fantastic for my budget. What are your thoughts? The original plan was the loveseat would be slipcovered in a white denim {good for babies/dogs and a little more casual} and the the wingbacks in a light grey velvet. I will be adding in some blue and white, yellow/gold tones and possibly a pop of lilac or pinky-red. How is that for indecisiveness? Rugs will be switched around, throws, add pillows, lamps, etc. So basically we are working with a blank slate! Once again, would love your advice!

Here are the two pieces of furniture next to each other for comparison:

Don't forget to check out what everyone else is up to at the One Room Challenge...

thanks for checking in with me this week!