What a difference paint makes

My house is small. It is just under 1600 square feet, which seems big enough until you add 2 kids, all their crap and a cat who thinks he owns the place. It is filled with the things that I love (as all homes should be) but it also has to house necessities too. Like my underwhelming home office. I call it an “office” loosely, as it’s just a corner in my living room. And it was pretty ugly.

This corner of my living room used to house a piano, which was suitable for the living room. But since creating my home office in this space, it just looked so out of place. I had those 4 silver mirrors over my piano when it lived there and just kept them there when I put my desk in. And I hung that file holder next to the mirrors to hold all my files that I needed constant access to, which was functional but ugly. It looked junky and I just couldn’t dedicate my energy to trying to transform this helpless space. My bookcase was cluttered and filled with random things, including my “witch shelf” (where I keep all my hippie things like sage and crystals and candles and tarot cards because I’m that kind of girl). I felt like there wasn’t really any hope for my office so I just let it live there, looking ugly next to my pretty living room.

Then one afternoon a couple weeks ago, I had an revelation: make it disappear! My desk and bookcase are wood with black legs, and my black filing cabinet stands out like a sore thumb against my tan walls. My laptop and stand are both black, which helps add to the eyesore in this corner. So I thought, if I painted the walls black, the black on my electronics and furniture would disappear into the wall! Genius! Let’s do that!

So later that day I went out to my garage and found some leftover black paint from my family room and my bathroom and got to work. I also decided to pick up some matching white baskets and a new print to hang over my desk. That was it. It was a 2 hour job and made the biggest difference!

A lot of people are afraid of color and would never consider painting any of their walls in their house black. But I say go for it! It warms up the space, disguises the ugly things in my “office” and looks pretty cool. I’m a fan.

What do you think? What’s the most outrageous color you’ve painted in your house? Did you love it or hate it and why?