Join me in Toronto for a another one-day guest room makeover, where a bold green paint choice transformed this homeowners windowless room into a fresh, versatile retreat. It’s another colour rescue!!
On Instagram, I announced we would be in Toronto in April. And I was open to doing a One Day Styling Makeover in the area. (Be sure to stay tuned to find out if I’ll be in your area! Or contact me if you’re in the Lower Mainland. Inquire here.) Angela reached out and said she had a guestroom/office that needed styling.
Vienna Holdip my Digital Content Manager, (me) and Angela
Paint the walls green
Here’s the room. I loved that her sofa was blue and at the time that she sent it to me my team was in town. So when I showed the room to Tricia Firmaniuk my Director of eDesign she said “Tell her to paint it green.”
So I did. Angela was a woman of action since this was Wednesday and I was coming to town on Friday. She called her painter, got it done and it’s so great now!
Don’t we all have a room in our house that looks like this?
And painting it green made it easier to find items off the shelf. Green is versatile but also trending. Not only do different shades of green tend to relate well, it’s easy to find green accents. For example, we added a small upholstered chair that turned the guest room into a sitting area when it was being used as an office.
How to add life to a windowless room
Today, over on YouTube, I’m sharing this transformation and talking about the 3 best ways to bring a sense of light and airiness to a windowless room.
She does have a sun tube in there so the room is pretty bright. But I also have a tip for you on what to do to hide the bugs that inevitably end up inside the sun tunnel so make sure you stay until the end.
But first, while I was there we ended up with a little too much art. Because I always want to make sure we have enough so the makeover spread into other rooms that afternoon.
When a styling session spills out into other rooms
This was her really pretty living room with one lamp. She did have a second one sitting in between the two navy blue chairs that she hadn’t committed to quite yet.
It was too small and while we were out of course I chose two extra lamps that ended up in this room. We left the large blue Audubon heron in the store but then went back to get it after I realized how great it would be on this wall.
Angela has a beautiful house that just needed some extra styling. If she wants an original piece on this wall, now it’s easier to commit to one when she knows how large it should be. And to look for something that relates to her blue chairs. After all, this wall was visible from the back entry of the house through the kitchen. When you have a nice long view point, it’s best to have something large that looks good from a distance.
The second lamp was placed on the sofa table behind the sofa. And now with the 4th lamp I added to this room (not shown) at night we have a lovely balance of soft lighting.
We had too much fun!
Watch: 3 Ways to Brighten Up a Dark Room
Back to where we started, the little uninspired windowless room she called for help on turned out so cozy! See what we did in today’s YouTube episode.
Oh, and before you go over to YouTube…
I know how overwhelming it can feel to pick the right paint colour—trust me, I’ve been there! That’s why I put together my favourite Samplize paint samples: timeless, versatile paint colours I use in real homes all the time.
These peel-and-stick samples make it so much easier (and way less messy) to try out colours before you commit. And since it’s 🇺🇸 Memorial Day weekend, you can use code MARIA20 to save 20%—just a little extra encouragement to help you love your space even more.
🇨🇦 for CAD, use code: SUMMER20
Shop all the collections here!
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The prior owners of my home put an addition on the back end of our living room, effectively removing our natural light. I’d like to add windows to the outside wall we have, but it’s north facing, and it isn’t a priority right now. I painted it Halcyon Green from Sherwin Williams (not quite a sage green) and installed red oak in a natural finish to complement the rest of my hardwood flooring. I have 4 lamps and 3 sconces. My artwork is all equestrian themed, which is appropriate to our life style on 5 acres with 2 horses and 2 donkeys and to my background as a lifelong horse girl. It’s one of my favorite rooms in the house and came together so easily. Working with restrictions like a lack of natural light made it a challenge at first but once I realized the trick is to lean into the coziness and stop trying to make it what it isn’t, it was so much fun. I will admit my couch is brown but that’s a temporary situation. My cat had been peeing on our furniture and completely ruining it. so we were just replacing the couches as needed to deal with the smell. We finally found a vet who figured out the problem and I’m in the market for a new, likely yellow couch, and I’m so excited.
Maria, I loved watching you tweaking small pieces as you walked/talked the room! I do that too! I mean a half inch can make a difference! The room is now so lovely and truly inviting <3
Maria- love that small space it just came to
Life the blue and the green 💕
The living space was also very pretty !
I’m sure the owner is just thrilled
Maria, I love your outfit today! You look so beautiful! Was the green chair already there or did you purchase it?
We found it the same day along with everything else. That’s why we asked her to paint the room green there’s lots available in that colour off-the-shelf right now 🙂 Thanks for your comment, Maria