When we consider painting walls pink, we often envision rooms for sweet baby girls. How daring would it be, though, to paint a room that is used by the entire family, husband included? Pretty daring, as it turned out in my situation. 

I wanted to do something really different. For the past six and a half years, I had a great warm yellow/whole wheat color on the wall. It was nice, but it was in desperate need of a paint refresh. So, I decided to make a big change instead of just repainting the same color.

Of course, I can’t go without saying that it all started with a chair…or more precisely a settee. I had just nabbed this amazing 100-year-old settee from France.

The original gold patina is in almost perfect condition and I knew it would look amazing with a pale pink.

The settee was my starting point. I also had a stunning fabric just sitting around waiting to be utilized.

Again, the print was also perfect for the paint.

Not to air dirty laundry, but I didn’t ask opinions when sampling different shades of pink for our foyer and stairwell, which is a pretty large space by the way. Now, I could just say that I don’t need permission from anyone to do what I want to my house—and that is true. My husband has weathered pink floral comforters and other very feminine decor in our 24 years together without much complaint.  So, I was a little unprepared for what would happen when I began the full on project of painting our foyer and stairwell the amazing color of Hello Prism by Valspar. It took a LOT of convincing that it would look good, and this convincing happened after the first coat. I’m not sure he believes me even now, but I love it!

To be truthful, I really wanted wallpaper, but I have a very tall stairwell and I knew it would cost a mini-fortune. Having a daughter in college nixes most expensive projects these days, so I turned to the tried and true (and cheap) way of updating my space…paint. In all I only spent $100 on paint, but I spent many hours in labor. 
I knew I needed other pieces for my foyer and I went about hunting for new pieces that I already owned to give this space a refresh. A door that I found on a scavenger hunt a few months ago got cleaned up and brought inside from the garage.

The dresser I bought last year that I really didn’t have a place for finally found the perfect home in the downstairs foyer.


My daughter painted me an edgy portrait of Frida Kahlo for Christmas and now it hangs in the stairwell with a super fun antique frame I found in the local antique mall. What an artist, huh?

In the next few weeks you will get a glimpse of the upstairs and how I used a fun Victorian settee to define that space. Let me know if you’ve tried pink paint in adult spaces and how it turned out. I would love to hear your stories too!