For many winters of discontent, when I’ve broached the idea to repaint our home’s interior, my husband and I would always talk ourselves out of it. There was always next year. To be fair, though, I can only blame myself for not pursuing it; because if I insisted, it would have happened. The truth is, the thought of doing it left me feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.

Finally Took the Leap

Until the pandemic. A restlessness came over me and inspired me to finally take a leap of faith. I started calling professionals for quotes and things fell into place. Luckily for us, we found a talented two-man crew who were considerate of our personal space working remotely during the five-week stint.

Admittedly, one of the best parts of our interior paint refresh was watching all phases of work and colors emerge because I was home the whole time.

Oh yes, it was work to get every room packed and prepped, and then to put it back together again. Despite that, I was eager to move forward and keen with anticipation. There was so much to keep me happily busy. I scrutinized colors constantly, and did my due diligence with online research sometimes into the wee hours. I watched too much HGTV. I visited paint stores countless times for paint chips and later for pint-sized cans to sample final choices.   

My Process with Picking the Perfect Paint

I quickly learned there was much more ado about picking colors compared to 18 years ago when our house was built. At that time, I gathered up a bunch of paint chips, and then picked my favorites. Done.

When I came across posts showing gray rooms turning baby blue (what?!), I got obsessive with my research. If it took us this long for an interior paint reboot, I wasn’t taking my chances! I vowed to myself that I would not need to have a room repainted for choosing unwisely. I do admit (a bit sheepishly), that I asked for a staircase do-over for a darker shade of green!

I learned about the importance of natural vs. artificial lighting and light reflectance value (LRV), which tells you how light or dark a color is on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the number, the lighter the color. Check out the Kylie M. Interiors blog post on this topic. This tidbit of information helped guide my color choices, and I ended up with colors ranging from 50 to 63 LRV. I didn’t want pastels; I wanted saturated but not overpowering colors. (FYI: Using Benjamin Moore paint, I had to look up the LRV on their website.)

About My Colors Then and Now

When you look at the photo slideshow on top of the page, take a moment to consider how beige was all the rage in 2003. Back then, we picked out a golden wheat for the main living areas and a beige with pink undertones for the upstairs bedrooms. A pale yellow was used in our finished basement and husband’s office, while white went in the guest bathroom. Today, we replaced these colors with greens, beachy tones and grieges/grays. However, two rooms stayed true to their original colors; the dining room remains a rich, deep red and main floor powder room a cheery peach.

From my research, current trends for neutrals are grieges (gray/beige blend), warm grays, creamy whites and beige; green-grays are also getting popular (one of my favs!). 

I love looking at other people’s homes as they undergo transformations and hope you will too. Let’s be real about what a house looks with an interior paint rehaul, so kindly excuse the disarray!

LIVING ROOM REVEAL: See how Revere Pewter transforms the room. In addition, read my tip that will save you time searching for the perfect area rug.

KITCHEN and HALLWAY REVEAL: See part two of the open-concept area of my house.

CARIBBEAN-INSPIRED BATHROOM: See through photos how how the St. Maarten/St. Martin island color influenced my paint and décor choices.