After 10 years in this home, we  or at least, I am ready for some changes. Goodbye, warm yellows, gold and greens..so over you.  So how do you update a 10 year old home? Well, you pick some new fresh paint colours, install some new lighting and perhaps change the kitchen’s backsplash.

So for the last few weeks, I’ve been walking around with paint colours, yes it does take that long to make a decision in my own home, and I’ve finally decided upon these.

I’m going with Grandma’s China (kind of an unfortunately name, IMO) above in the hallways, loft, living room and funnily enough in my master bath. It’s a lovely warm taupey/gray that works well with my warm fixtures, but still reads grey enough to give me that fresher tone I was seeking.

Picket fence will greet my guests in the entrance and front den.  It is also being used in my laundry room/mud room and is the main colour for my basement. It’s just a touch darker than Grandma’s China for those rooms that need a little more mood.

I’m using this grey/blue in the kitchen to bring down the red in my wood cabinets and it will work beautifully with the Ceragres Liverpool subway tiles in Portland, (the colour below) which I am having installed, hopefully before Christmas.  This grey/blue paint colour will also pull in the blue of my blue velvet chairs in the adjoining family room.

I am going with a significantly darker blue in the dining room. I had wanted to do Hale Navy but it was way, way too dark for my room. It was reading as almost a black and just wasn’t doing it for me.  This dark grey/blue is much softer and works better in my already moody (read..dark) dining room.

Fossil will be a lovely pale cream in my very bright family room and sun room.  It has a hint of violet in it which will work well with my current sofa and my blue armchairs.

I painted my office in Wish recently and I am in love with this soft dove grey colour. It works well with my darker desk and storage units and even blends with the beigey/pink carpeting.  It has been added to my favourites list.

My bedroom is going with a darker and more grey blue than what I currently have. This was a tricky one as I didn’t want to change the feature wall’s wallpaper but I wanted the blue to have more depth than the pale blue I have in there now. This one was the winner. And it also works well with Grandma’s China which will be in the adjoining master bath.

And last but not least, my son’s room is being done in this pale steel grey. He requested nothing too out there and since his furniture and flooring are dark, this will work well.

By the way, all the paint colours are from Benjamin Moore.

Picking out lighting, is one of my favourite things to do design wise, so, this was like an early Christmas gift. It’s been ten long years, since I chose what I have now and I’m so over it.  I had been drooling over all the warm metals with a touch of age, so these vintage bronze pieces were exactly what I wanted.

The top left is going in the entry (I can’t wait to see the pretty reflections this one casts), the top centre for the hallways, the middle centre in the laundry room, the bottom right, for the kitchen peninsula, the middle bottom for the kitchen table with it’s semi-flush version for the kitchen centre, and the sconces will live in the lower hallway.

 I SO CAN’T WAIT TO GET THESE ALL UP!

I’ll be sharing some progress on Instagram and FB, so follow me along for updates.