DIY Office Redo with Glidden – the "Before"

When the opportunity to select a room in my house for a makeover came across my email last week, I jumped at the chance.  As an interior designer, I knew that I could magically transform a room… after all, I had done it for my clients.  No problem, right?

Well…. the problem lies with the fact that in the 12 years we’ve been living in our house, our office has never really been completed.  It has turned into the “we don’t know what to do with it so let’s put it in the office” room.  David’s desk is a mess.  My desk is a mess.  Oh hell… I don’t even USE the office myself anymore because I can never keep my desk clear for more than a day or two.

But, I am up for the challenge and this gives me the incentive I need to get the job done.  I have a reveal to do by the end of the month.  No time to waste.  Time to shop for some new paint colors.

Want to see the “BEFORE”?????

So what am I going to DO with this mess?  I went to Walmart, of course, to pick some paint colors.  Paint is cheap, easy and the best way to transform a room.  Glidden has a new line of Tester Paints that makes doing it yourself so easy.  As a designer, the first thing I always tell people is NOT to go by the little paint swatch you pick up in the home improvement store.  Even if you tape it up to your wall, the color rarely looks like it does on the little card.  Why?  Because your wall is NOT a piece of paper.  Depending on the type of wall, the texture of the wall and the light that hits that wall… the same color of paint can look different in every room of your house.  If you are clueless as to which color direction to go in, check out Glidden online.  They have great tools to help you decide on what colors are best for different rooms.

ALWAYS get a tester and actually paint your wall to see what the color looks like.  Live with it for a day.  Look at it in the sunlight.  Look at it at night.  If you can live with the color after 24 hours then go ahead and buy that gallon.  Glidden testers are awesome.  They come with their own little brush!  How cute it this?

Glidden testers with their own little brush.

These are the colors I chose to test on our office wall.  What do you think?  Which color would you choose?  Leave me a comment and let me know, I’m curious if you think the same way I do.

Palomino Gold, Icy Teal, Antique Silver

The Palomino Gold looked a lot more mustard on the paint card than it did on my wall.  This reminds me of the color we originally painted our living room when we first moved into our house.

The Icy Teal looks a lot more turquoise than teal – that might not make a lot of sense to most of you, but for someone who studied color for years, it made a huge difference to me.

The Antique Silver looked a lot less silver and a lot more sky blue on our wall.  It looks a lot like the color we have in our bedroom.

Let me just add that it was really my 11 year old daughter who ended up choosing the color.

Want to try Glidden testers out for yourself?  From July 17 – July 30 you can get a $2.00 off coupon on one of the many Glidden testers from Walmart at Gliddentesters.com.

You can find out my decision and see the completed makeover by the end of the month.

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Glidden Testers/Paint. #collectivebias All designs, color selections and opinions are my own.