Yesterday I threw my old ass back out. Not content to just chillax and watch tv (ok, actually I already blew through all of my Project Runway back episodes) I’ve been whiling away the hours supine on the couch, browsing the internets with laser like focus. I need to pick a paint color for our great room. Yes Sanders already picked one for me and I know he’s going to be right, but I just wouldn’t be me if I didn’t hem and haw and try to second guess him.

Thanks in part to your feedback, I’ve finally reconciled myself to the fact that white is going to look barfy in that shady room. I realized that I want white so badly because I have a fear of commitment — white plays well with everyone.

And also because it loves to play with itself. Heh.

Plus I am kind of a colorphobe. This room is actually awesome, but if I had to live here I would wake up with the hives every morning.

So what I’m struggling with is, do I just pick a neutral? I think I have this fear that it’s going to go flat, dingy, or Martha Stewart on me. I really wish I could paper the whole room in gold grasscloth (yes I know the picture above is not grasscloth), but with 18 ft ceilings there is just no freaking way.

Or do I pick a pale color to give the room a little something something?

Here is the room again for reference. I want to wash that suburban band aid right out of my hair.

What color is your living room painted? Do you love it?

[Elle Decor, Wreckorated, Ad Russia x2, Elle Decor]

Up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane — it’s Sanders! Austinites from all over the city regularly travel down south to meet with Sanders, the super skilled, superhero of paint. Readers of this very blog have even benefited from his knowledge by taking advantage of Sanders’ expertise in our Ask Sanders column. And today this interview I conducted with him near the start of our working relationship is being featured over here by Benjamin Moore.

That’s because Sanders is the man.

Karly and I have worked with Sanders for years, and without his super help, I’m not sure either of us would have ever painted a single wall. But just look how awesome our houses turned out:

Karly’s nursery — a symphony in Harbor Gray (and lots of other colors).

My house — painted with Abalone gray and BM’s gold metallic paint.

You can check out the rest of our houses here and here to see some of Sanders’ other perfect paint choices. That’s right. I said the P word.

Did I mention that Sanders is also a nice guy and fun to hang out with?

Here he is with Ike when Ike was just a little shrimp. Sanders has two kids of his own, including a six month old, so he never gets mad when Ike won’t stop messing with the water dispenser at the store.

If you don’t live in Austin — well you’re missing out on Sanders’ charm, that’s for sure. But you can still write in with your questions, which we will review for inclusion in our ongoing Ask Sanders column. Just drop us a line at hollaback@design-crisis.com and we’ll see what we can do.

See? Sanders transcends space and time. He really is a superhero.

You deserve a break today — a break from my annoying, self centered preoccupation with silly paint problems. Ok, I’m also super busy with real life stuff, and I’m currently too tired to attempt painting with a toddler attached to my leg. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost my obsessive streak (is that even possible?). I have a date with Sanders this afternoon to crystallize my plans for world domination, and I hope to have a mostly revamped nursery by the end of the weekend. Right now I just need something interesting to nudge me towards completion… Something exciting! Something crazy!

Something like this:

Marie Claire Maison

I’m sorry, but why did I not think to create Ike a Bollywood themed bedroom? I love the little beds with Ettore Sottsass paint jobs.

On another note, I want to say, Hey! Thanks! For writing in with your thoughtful comments. You’ve all been such good, helpful listeners. Maybe you have problems that you need to unload? Tell Mama all about it.

So I had this plan, see, to paint a dark accent wall in Ike’s room, see. But then I got to thinking: is that a really dorky idea? I mean, I’m not indicting all accent walls, mostly because I already have one:

That would be the long wall spanning the kitchen to dining area. PS, I really need to reshoot this room because all the stuff piled on the chesterfield is making me stabby.

The other side of the wall. Don’t worry, those sconces and their damned infernal cords are gone, baby gone.

So I feel like an accent wall can work well if you have something of architectural interest to highlight.

Anna of Door 16 just painted her fireplace wall black, and I think it looks smashing. Karly has a black fireplace wall, too, and it’s the bee’s knees. But those lovely folks have cool stuff in their rooms. What about an accent wall in a regular old box shaped bedroom, with regular old 8′ ceilings, and regular old windows.

Nate Berkus seems to think it’s ok.

But sometimes I can tell it’s definitely not ok. Sometimes it looks like Trading Spaces got all up in the room and was like, hmmmmm… I like blue AND I like red… I just can’t decide… I know! Let’s use them BOTH!!!!

And the result is nothing short of vomity drivel. Although that is one hilariously spectacular photoshop job.

So, I ask you savvy readers, when is an accent wall ok? Is it ever ok? Tell me all your thoughts while I continue to repaint 18 different samples all over Ike’s walls. Patchwork is in, right?

It’s time for another installment in our Ask Sanders series, wherein some lucky reader has their decorating dilemma solved by our resident paint guru, Sanders Gibbs. It’s a dream come true, because in case you don’t already know, Sanders is a badass. But don’t take our word for it — if you live in Austin, go visit Benjamin Moore Hill Country Paints, where Sanders puts his talents to the test as store manager. Not in Austin? Catch up by reading this interview with Sanders here.

Without further ado, here’s reader Rossana’s question:

“My husband and I are in the process of painting the nursery. We have differing ideas about what this should look like, but we have at least found a nice compromise with the Ben Moore pear green. The gender is a surprise! The room is about a 10 x 12 room with lots and lots of windows and the one wall that is solid will be the one that we put the crib on, and this is the wall that we will paint Pear Green. Question is: what other color would be nice with PG?”

First of all, great choice! Pear Green is a bright and versatile shade that pairs (ahem) well with many colors. Sanders gave us a broad selection of gender neutral choices to pick from, and many can be mixed and matched to different effect.

Amp up the drama by mixing pear green with bold brights.

Or tone it down with neutrals. It works well either way.

For a baby’s room, you could play it sophisticated by painting the crib wall pear green, the other walls off white (Sanders gave us Mountain Peak White), and then adding in other colors through accessories and bedding. Or you could funk it up by painting the other three walls a jazzier color, and then using accessories in more neutral shades. Let’s take a look at some rooms with pear green and see how Sanders’ choices work in them.

This playroom in the home of Avocado and Papaya’s Jackie Kersh features a cute, classic palette of green, red and blue.

Here’s Sanders’ palette, which would work well in a gender neutral nursery: Pear Green with Chili Pepper Red and Peacock Blue.

Another playroom, via Cupcake Wishes and Unicorn Dreams.

And Sanders’ corresponding choices are Pear Green with Stardust and Violet Stone.

I know it’s not a kid’s room, but the color palette in this kitchen would be fab in a nursery.

Pear Green with Banana Yellow and Florida Keys Blue.

And then there’s this hotness — who cares if the Pear Green is on a couch and not a wall? Use your imagination goggles to see that this color combo is off the chain… Loves it.

Pear Green, Mountain Peak White and Silver Dollar. DRAMA. Add a dash of black here and there and you’ve got a winner for all ages.

And here are a couple more pretty palettes, just because I made them up all nice in photoshop:

The bold and the beautiful: Tequila Lime, Juneau Spring, Banana Yellow, Tangy Orange, and Pear Green.

Oh so quiet and sophisticated: Mountain Peak White (loving this white!), Silver Dollar, Taos Taupe and Light Khaki. Brilliant.

That’s it for this edition of Ask Sanders. Rossana, I hope there’s some helpful information here, and hey — maybe we inspired some of y’all out there to repaint. Or perhaps even have a baby… After all, what better excuse could there be to redecorate?

I’m leaving you with this picture of Ike and Sanders. Ike LOVES loves him some Uncle Sanders, mostly because Ike is obsessed with Sanders’ nametag, but also because Ike has good taste in people.

If any of you out there would like some professional advice regarding your painting dilemmas, send in a request and we’ll forward it to Sanders.

Thanks for sharing your expertise with us, Sanders!

Hello hello, blog buddies! I am back from the brink of certain death by bubonic infection, and baby Ike is feeling much better, as well. Along with heaping doses of Oprah, Supernanny, and baby Tylenol, your well wishes and kind words healed our sickness. It’s a miracle! Or maybe my resurrection is the result of these hot rooms that have my blood a’ pumping, because you know what — the gloss is boss.

Apartment Therapy

Yesss, paired with deep, dark paint, a glossy finish adds depth and — dare I say — an element of mystery?

A super high gloss finish like the one in this room by Miles Redd is like hot lingerie for your walls, and you don’t want to force your walls to wear granny panties, do you?

Studio Ilse

No granny panties here, just sleek sophistication. But make sure to smooth out walls before painting, because a glossy sheen reveals imperfections and no one wants to see that orange peel cellulite on your wall.

SR Gambrel

Why not spread the shine to the ceiling, while you’re at it?

SR Gambrel

And although black looks fabulously fresh in a high gloss finish, a whole rainbow of dark hues could work beautifully.

Head Over Heels

Elle Decor

Marie Claire Maison

Dark and glossy is grown up sexy, but use it sparingly. Much like makeup, you don’t want too much shiny, or you risk looking trashy.

Although a shiny finish does make for easy cleanup.

After months of zero zilch nada progress made on my home due to analysis paralysis, I finally made some decisions and got to work this weekend.  Everyone had awesome suggestions for my room last week, Sherry had the genius idea to use photoshop to test drive designs and I loved From the Right Bank’s idea to switch the black wall and paint my fireplace a bright color… but I wasn’t up for painting over black.  In fact, you all had so many awesome ideas, I almost had to spend another 6 months in hibernation trying to figure it all out.

But!  My mind was about to explode and I had to make a move.  I decided to go with my gut and laser-light-show it up.  A visit to the always brilliant Sanders sealed the deal when he gave his nod of approval and pointed me to the metallic paint (!!!!) display.  Sanders and I quickly agreed on pearl white and I was out the door with some fancy paint and lots and lots of tape:

I started by free-form taping the wall behind my bed, making each stripe about 1.5″ wide.

I continued around the corner and onto the 3rd wall.  I didn’t tape the entire 3rd wall, I let the design taper off so that there would be a spot for your eye to rest.  Fancy, huh?

I was actually pretty smitten with the kelly green tape (of which I used 180 yards) and was almost remiss to paint it all white, but green angles are too crazy for a bedroom and I had a plan and I was going to stick to it, dammit.

Ta-Da!  Laser-Light kicks kelly green’s ass!  To understand how amazing and fabulous this looks in real life, please take the awesomeness of this picture and multiply by eight hundred thousand, give or take.  It is seriously out of control.  Do you want to see more pictures?

A close up.  Don’t worry, we’re shopping for new lamps next.  (I will be taking Camilla’s advice and finding some with black drum shades)

Doesn’t the dog bed just make this picture?  What about the crappy bathroom door that’s about to be replaced?  Ok, Ok, focus on the wall… j’adore?

last one, promise:

Once Erin comes out of maternity leave, project #1 is to have her take some decent looking photos of this joint.  You’d think I could have at least photoshopped myself out of the mirror.  lazy lazy Karly.

This project was actually super simple despite my gigantor walls, from start to finish (including clean up) it only took about 5 hours.  With all that extra time left over, I decided to tile my living room fireplace.

WHAT?!  HUH?!  But, Karly, you’ve been indecisive about tile for months!

I know, I know, but Friday night I was having cocktails in Hope’s back yard when I spotted a stack of white marble 1/2 inch tile going to waste on her porch.  Apparently it had been given to her roommate who never got around to doing anything with it.  A few drinks in and I was ready to end my tile misery and make an offer:  $3 a sheet.  Done and done.

If I were to search the world over and could have my choice of tiles, would I pick this?  No.  But is it 800 times better than the bare fireplace I’ve been living with for the last year?  Can I get a hellz yeah?!

Here’s a close-up:

It’s marble, it matches my room, and it shimmers, so I’m happy with it.  Oh, and it was dirt cheap, so I’m really happy with it.  I did some web sleuthing and found out that in the real world it costs $11 a sheet here, still pretty cheap.

I have visions of finding the world’s most perfect tile one day and replacing this but until then I don’t have to hang my head in shame when the first thing people see when they walk in my house is a bunch of junky drywall surrounding my fireplace.

So, there you have it, my weekend in a nutshell:  cocktails and decorating, what more could a girl ask for?

PS. stick around this week as we have some badassical guest bloggers in store:  tomorrow Andrea from House of Slappy does a fantastic (I mean really fantastic) artist roundup; Thursday, the always lovely Tula of Whorange brightens up the joint with my favorite palette; then Friday, it’s lame old me again wrapping up the week.  Come on back now, ya hear?

I know it’s starting to become a little passe but I just don’t ever want to get over white walls and bright decor.  Here are some of my faves that I’ve seen recently:

via emma’s design blogg

via light locations

via desire to inspire

Oh, if only my house had the kind of quirky architectural detail needed for crisp, white walls.  Thank you very much 1984 for all your south austin residential blandness.

In other news, is anyone watching this new NYC Prep show?  I just don’t even know where to start with those kids.

Today, I’m in a funk. You know those days where, from the very moment you wake up and rub the sleep out of your grubbly little eyes, you just feel whack? Well, I’ve got a major case of the grumble grumbles, and the only things stopping me from throwing a rock through the window are A) the cost of replacing said window and B) the cost of therapy for my anger management problem. Whew! Crisis averted thanks to poverty!

Anyway, I refuse to sit and stew. So it’s up to me to find a happy distraction, and do you know what makes me happy and distracted?

Motherfucking Rainbow Brite, that’s what.

I mean, no one can be angry in the face of all that COLOR. Sure, I like black and white and brown and gray. A lot. But sometimes, I just need to visit a happy fantasy land, where Roy G Biv reigns supreme and the world is filled with sparkles. And hopefully donuts. I bet the guy who owns this renovated Art Deco house has a mountain of sparkly donuts in his rainbow painted cupboard just for me.

This dude does not give a rat’s rump about the oft touted “household color palette.” This is a shameless, unapologetic exploitation of paint, combined with an unadulterated love of the Corbusier, Bertoia and Panton triumvirate.

Did I already mention the animal skins?

But, the magical elevator alone is enough to make me forget all the things I don’t like about this house.

And for all its flaws — or perhaps because of them — I feel that this home is inhabited by a person who likes pastries, rides his bicycle in the house, and plays video games during business hours. Maybe Tom Hanks from Big lives here?

Whatever. It’s a vast improvement over Tom Hanks in Castaway or The Da Vinci Code.

Last Sunday, just after watching back to back episodes of my two favorite shows:  Rock of Love Bus and Tool Academy, I was ripped from the comfort of my bed by a prior obligation.  I had promised a few of my favorite ladies that I would join them for drinks.  Of course, I made said promise at 11 a.m., and was remiss to fulfill said promise at 11 p.m..  Yes, 11 p.m., on a Sunday.  What had I been thinking?  Well, anyway, I’m quite glad that I pulled myself together and scooted out the door because, not only did I have a great time with the favorite ladies, but I also met Michelle Marchesseault of Redstart Design.  

Michelle and her business partner, Rachel Shannon are notorious in Austin for their Op Art commercial and residential murals.   Using nothing but tape (only sometimes) hand painting, and a lot of math, these ladies put together the freshest non-wallpapered backdrops in town. 

The residential mural above was achieved using silver leaf.  Do any of you know how tedious that is?  The painting I did in my living room (by hand-cut stencil and latex paint) took a week and a half, I can’t even imagine how long this takes the ladies:

Perhaps if I had conducted an interview (per our Sunday discussion) I would have learned the answer.  But I was busy working so you dudes get pretty pictures and lots of unanswered questions.

This photo of former partner, Jason, does provide some insight on what a bitch this job must be.  But I have to say, that finished ceiling is out-of-control amazing, and totally worth the effort. 

Clearly, these ladies like ceilings.  Writing this post is only heightening my ever-present craving to scrape all of the popcorn off my ceiling so that I, too, can have the Redstart treatment.

The Vivid Walls of Austin’s Viva Salon

One of the many bedrooms for, ahem, the Real World Austin set

I love when artists and designers post pictures of their process.   Same with set building on DVD extras.  I could probably skip most of the movies I watch and just enjoy all the behind-the-scenes design goodness alone.  Ok, actually, I have done that before, it was pretty damn awesome.

This freeform latex and GOLD LEAF(!!!!!!!!!) residential mural Speaks directly to my heart.  Shhhh… can you hear it?

And I know that I was just getting all mad at Elle Decor the other day about their piss-poor butterfly trend prediction, but I really like the space above.  I’m 100% sure it’s the palette, and the fact that the butterflies aren’t all lame and colorful.

Speaking of animals I love:

This lovely horse is snugly nestled in at one of my favorite bars in town, the Red House.  There are plastic and painted horse heads everywhere, and that, my friends, is a motif I can get behind.

The mural at Frou Frou always caught my eye when I lived a couple of blocks away.  Somehow taking things I don’t generally like on their own:  red and pink, and putting them together, really does it for me.

The ladies of Redstart don’t just sit around contemplating repeating pattern and huffing paint all day, they also get their exercise on by participating in Austin’s own synchronized swimming troupe, The H2Hos.  

So, looking back on my Sunday night on the town, I have to admit, it wasn’t so bad after all, almost as good as Rock of Love Bus, almost.

So, I have this secret interior decorating weapon called Living Spaces. I bought the book for a buck at a Goodwill a while ago, and was amazed to find that its 1978 goodness is perfectly aligned with current interior trends, and maybe even a few upcoming trends that I will attempt to predict a la Miss Cleo. This bad boy was produced by the Whitney Library of Design, so you know it’s good. Anyhoodles, I’m starting a series based on inspiring images from the book, so let’s see if I can get this sweet puppy to fly.

Clean lines, natural surfaces, neutral backdrops — this ain’t your momma’s carpet infested house. Actually it’s a fat villa in Florence, and what I’m really digging is the colored trim against the pale background (please ignore the hideous table setting… yikes!). So I’ve done my very bestest to find some contemporary examples of trim that are not painted white or blended into the wall color. Why should all the other surfaces have all the fun, anyway?

Sorry, not sure where this picture came from, but let me just say that it takes some pretty powerful trim to distract me from the vintage card catalog in all its sexified glory.

If you’re really brave, you can dispense with the white altogether and bathe the entire room in saturated hues, like this pic from Domino. (By the way, has anyone received their January copy via mail yet? Anyone? Anyone?)

Sad story: this is NOT the picture I wanted to include. Months ago, I saw this gorgeous image of a very spare room with pale walls and maybe pale concrete floors, and the only color in the room came from the citron yellow window trim. I cannot for the life of me find the picture… I swear, I went all Captain Insano and searched for HOURS for it, and I’m really tired now. OCD sucks. If you know which picture I’m talking about, please send me the link and I’ll swap pics. Until one of you superfantastic readers can bail me out, you’ll have to make do with this pic from Apartment Therapy.

So maybe you like the idea of having non-white trim, but are looking for a little less contrast in value:

Even if you choose color for your walls, you don’t have to paint the trim white. Thoughts on this color scheme? Photo courtesy of Marie Claire Maison.

A more subdued palette of butter yellow and a pale purplish blue, courtesy of Apartment Therapy.

This twist on traditional features dark gray walls with medium gray molding, which reads as understated and sophisticated rather than cartoonish. Photo by Richard Powers.

Or perhaps you’d like to keep your Sanders-approved color on the walls, but still want to funk up the trim? Once you go black, you’ll never go back. Like, seriously — it would be a pain in the ass to paint over.

But, no pain, no gain, right?

Elle Decor UK reminds us to “Go With the Flow.” With gorgeously framed windows like those, (and a disco ball!) I’m feeling a lot more fluid.

This quirky room from Apartment Therapy might be enough to make me take the plunge. I love the Roy Lichtenstein look:

Color is fun, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with classic, clean and simple:

In these images from Bo Bedre, straight black trim sets off the crispness of the architecture and decor choices.

I love the simple black trimmed windows in this otherwise light and bright space. Image via the awesome decor blog, Roseland Greene.

Finally, I’ve been crushing over this gorgeous room since the always fabulous Door Sixteen first posted it. It’s the perfect mix of drama and breathing space, and the stunning architecture doesn’t hurt. I loooove the way the black draws attention to the windows, framing them like pictures.

White trim, eat your pale, listless heart out (but don’t worry, I still love you).

Wow, it has been quite a week here!  Between meeting Sanders, an illicit yacht party and my trip to Albuquerque, I’m just plum tuckered out.  So, what do you get out of this?  Why, my favorite thing to show you after a vaca:  select scans from my inflight reading material.  Yesterday’s inbound trip kept me filled with colorful glee vis-a-vis the fine pages of Living etc.  Ici:

The stairwell in a Montauk Island Beach home.

Yes, yes, that blue is not nearly exciting as the shades we’ve been drooling over this week, but get a load of this close-up:

Pool Pushers, photograph by Anthony Goicolea

A perfect portrait for a beach home or for my dining room, whateves.  Have I ever mentioned how much I like swimming?  AND staged photography?  I really, really love staged photography.  I want to marry it.

If you execute an art heist at this Long Island home and find yourself a little weary from throwing bricks and climbing in windows, you can take a nap here:

See how that ceiling-mounted wallpaper lovingly rocks you to sleep and whisks away all your worries about pesky little things like:  ”impending prison sentences” and “failing polygraphs”

Yep, no need to worry, I’m sure the federal guards will let you decorate your cell just like this:

Are you dudes getting the full effect of that high-gloss white vinyl headboard? Dreamy, right?  It’s eerily similar to the one I plan to make for my own bedroom.  I will invite you all over to drool over it once it is completed.  Through bullet-proof glass, of course.  I saw how you were eyeing the paintings in the first photo.

Speaking of paintings, I’ll let you have these (take them!  get them away!) but I’ll be keeping the mirror, thankyouverymuch:

What do we think of a red bathroom?  How do you envision the shower in this joint?  Is it tile?  Red tile?  I just don’t even know.  Help me out here.

Also in this issue were a couple more scan-worthy visions from other homes:

STICKER WALL!!!  It’s like a car covered in bumper stickers, only not stupid and annoying.

and finally:

A nice place for me to rest over the weekend.  Schew, I’m oh so sleepy after all this hard work Erin and I have done on your behalf this week, I feel like I really do deserve this entire room all to myself.  For free.