...because home doesn't happen overnight.

Probably the most frequent question I get is “what color is your (insert inanimate object here)?”  I always try to respond back in the comments section where the question originates but, ultimately, I realize that’s not a quick and easy way to get information on paint colors used in my home.  So, I’m sharing my paint colors with you in a full post today.

The majority of our home is painted in Valspar (Lowe’s) Bonsai.  It’s a light, airy gray that changes throughout the day.  In the afternoon it takes on a greener hue and at night a taupe-y hue.  It’s the color of our main living space:  family room, kitchen, dining area and sunroom.  It’s the color of our 2-story foyer and bedrooms also.

3 of the 4 walls in our multi-tasking living room are painted Dry Riverbed also available from Lowe’s.  It’s a darker, muddier gray than the Bonsai.

Our powder room is painted one shade darker than Bonsai…Lowe’s Magic Spell

The 2 lighter stripes on the TV wall in our family room are Lowe’s Wet Dock.  The other ‘stripes’ are actually just the same wall color as the rest of the family room, Bonsai.

The mini-mudroom and laundry room are Glidden’s (Home Depot) Gentle Tide.  It’s a gray-blue-aqua that looks great in small rooms…the color of a perfect sky.

As I mentioned, the foyer wall is Bonsai (I tell you, it’s everywhere here!) and the cherry blossom art is Valspar (Lowe’s) Elkhorn Cactus.

All wall paint finishes are done in eggshell.  It’s a nice matte (gloss can enhance imperfections) but easily wipeable.  The exception to this in our home are our kitchen cabinets and island that we painted.  They are Sherwin William’s Greek Villa painted in a semi-gloss for added wipeability (not a word, I know).  It’s a nice, clean white but not too stark.

So, there you have it.  A little run-down of the major paint colors used in our home.  I try to stick to grays and taupes.  When I’m feeling a little risky, I’ll pick an actual *color* but in a muted and grayed-down tone…like Gentle Tide.  It’s not that bold colors are wrong, it’s just what I like to live with.

65 Comments

I’m so GLAD you posted this! I was about to sit down and email you asking what your paint colors are!!!!! Yay!!

Love your blog!

~Allison @ House of Hepworths

14.September.2010

This is the most beautiful home interior I have seen outside of a magazine!! It’s really jaw-dropping and serene. Thank you for the great info and lovely photos. Keep up the great tweaking!! Cheers, Bonnie

15.September.2010

So odd….I just looked at Greek Villa today at SW. I’m painting our stair treads SW Sands of Time and needed a white for the risers but went for their standard bright white instead. We live in the Pacific Northwest and the greys are killer here. I love them but something a little warmer just works better when outside it’s so rainy a lot of the time. Love your style!

Simply gorgeous…I love how that bonsai color changes its shade a bit depending on the time of day or lighting…I havent painted the interior of my new house yet, but im running to lowes to get a Bonsai sample. Thanks!
~Kenia

17.September.2010

Absolutely love the bonsai color! Now I want to repaint my rooms which were just painted in the last 3 yrs a taupey color. My kitchen cabinets and all the baseboards and trim in my house is SW Greek Villa too. Great idea on the cirlces on the bathroom wall I may try that on the wall behind my clawfoot tub.

17.September.2010

Judy – The circles would look great behind a clawfoot tub…if I had one, I’d definitely do it. It’s so easy and doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect…go for it!

18.September.2010

I am soooo happy I found your blog from scrolling through HGTV. My family are finally moving into our first home, and I have been desperate to find inspiration for my romantic/modern/whimsical sense of design (that I swear is buried deep inside my tomboyish mentality hehe). Then, I found you. Your lines, colors, shapes are just breath-taking! I can’t wait to incorporate it into my own home. The main problem I am having is trying to blend a child’s room into my more sophisticated taste. Any pointers?

18.September.2010

Robyn – I recently made over my boys’ shared bedroom (although our littlest one isn’t ready to give up his crib quite yet) and blogged about it here…

https://www.housetweaking.com/2010/07/06/layne-everetts-bedroom/

I’m going to feature it as one of my Feature Fridays, so bigger and better pictures of my kids’ room will be coming soon! Stay tuned…

23.September.2010

I love the colors of your room and I have a living/dinning/entry way to paint and I love the color you have. I went to lowes to see a paint sample and I can find it I noticed the colors have numbers do you know what the number of the color is. thank you so much.

norma

23.September.2010

Norma – The Valspar color number for Bonsai is 345-2; Magic Spell is 345-3; Elkhorn Cactus is 345-4. Does that help? Need anything else?

29.September.2010

What a great job picking out all the colors, they are perfect!! How did you paint the cherry blossom art? I’ve really been wanting to do that, and i’ve come pretty close to buying vinyl but I’d much rather paint it.

29.September.2010

Chyenne – You can see how Handy Hubby painted the cherry blossom art here…

https://www.housetweaking.com/2010/08/22/just-another-saturday-night/

and here…

https://www.housetweaking.com/2010/08/25/a-tree-grows-in-it/

Hope that leads to a fun wall art project in your near future. If so, send some pics my way!

06.October.2010

I love your color and decor choices. I also love your framed art in the bathroom. I have been trying to find those frames. Please tell…

06.October.2010

MJ – The art is from AllPosters.com…they have a great selection and even greater prices especially when you buy sale items. The frames are from IKEA but you could find similar ones at Target or other big box stores.

18.December.2010

I love your home as well. Was hoping to find the paint color of your kids/guest bathroom. Thanks!

18.December.2010

Teresa – Believe it or not, it’s Lowe’s {Valspar} Bonsai. It may look different than it does in our main living space because there is no natural light in the bathroom. {i.e., no windows} Bonsai is a great, no-fail color to use in just about any room. Not that other colors wouldn’t work, but it’s been a good neutral that can stand the test of time. I get bored easily and it’s been 3 years since we painted the majority of our home in Bonsai…and I haven’t wanted to change it once!

18.December.2010

Wow, Bonsai strikes again! That is so interesting that it takes on a lightly pinkish undertone in the bathroom. Lovely.

21.December.2010

I have been searching for Bonsai on the Valspar website. Do they still make this color? I tried looking up the number and I am having a hard time finding it!!

22.December.2010

Samantha – The color number for Bonsai is 345-2. As far as I know, it’s still available. I just had a few friends use it a month ago. Hope that helps you find it!

24.January.2011

Wow – I love the Bonsai! Thank you for posting this. I am going to get a sample of it!!

29.January.2011

Hello!! I live in Puerto Rico. We do not have a Lowe’s store down here. We have a Home Depot. Is there any way you can help me pick your colors in Glidden’s brand. Any help will be deeply appreciated. Thank you and enjoy the weekend! =)

30.January.2011

Omali – I’ll see what I can do…

30.January.2011

Thank you so much. Your house is very beautiful! =)

10.February.2011

I love that your house has a consistant color scheme. I am considering changing all of mine! I am very into the grays. One of my favorites is Behr’s Frozen Pond. It’s a gray-blue-green color and I love it. Right now it is in my daughter’s playroom which will soon be the library and I think I might put it in her bedroom when we get to it. I love that bonsai color and I think those stripes you have on that one wall may end up in my boy’s room!

15.February.2011

Your color palette is just lovely!! I was wondering…is the focus wall in your bedroom (with the fabulous mustard yellow barn door) also Bonsai? It looks a bit darker. I love it and keep clicking back to look at it. Great job!!

15.February.2011

Ashley – The wall that the barn door lives on is painted Valspar {Lowe’s} Bonsai. The wall behind the bed is painted Sherwin Williams Suitable Brown…it’s the focal wall and much darker.

19.February.2011

Hello, we are painting the stucco exterior of our Florida home “Bonsai”. But we are desperate for an off-white for the trim. Door will be Bran Muffin, which Valspar.com matched with Bonsai. What color did you use, for example, on your fireplace where the walls are Bonsai? The dot com is not matching Bonsai with any white or off white color. thank you.

20.February.2011

Mrs. Daniels – Our fireplace was already painted out when we bought our home {it was a spec home}, so I don’t know exactly what color it is. However, we painted our kitchen cabinets white and used Sherwin Williams Greek Villa for those. It’s a nice clean white but warm, not stark and no blue or pink undertones. It may not be as ‘off-white’ as you are looking for but it matches the existing builder painted trim {and fireplace} very well. Hope that helps!

22.February.2011

I am in love with your site! What color did you paint the back wall of your bedroom!? How did you make your fandelier?
Im in love with that room, especially the barn door- VERY CUTE! :)

09.March.2011

Your home is beautiful.. ! I am in the process of making my decision by tomorrow for spraying my kitchen cabinets. I want white, but I am hesitant to do SW Bright Reflectant White, as it may be too stark. I have a swatch of Greek Villa and I am torn between that and Alabaster. Do your cupboards appear white? My trim is bright white, so I am guessing against Greek Villa (which I believe my ceilings throughout my house are this) there is a little bit of contrast?
Help! Thank you!

09.March.2011

Dena – Our trim is just plain white builder…pretty stark. I’m not sure the exact color. The SW Greek Villa looks great with it. They are far enough apart {not touching} that you don’t even notice a difference. Not even me and I notice everything! I love the Greek Villa. It’s white but not sterile with no hidden undertones.

09.March.2011

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I called my contractor and made my decision with the Greek Villa. I am very excited to see the finished product in my kitchen!! I will post in a few weeks when it is all finished! You and your photos have been a great help!

10.March.2011

Dena – Good luck!

19.April.2011

UGH! I can’t find Valspar Bonsai – do you know if they discontinued it?? I just love that color!

20.April.2011

Ashley – It’s not available as a swatch anymore in most stores but you can try asking for it in the computer at the paint desk. I’m working on finding similar Bonsai-like paint colors so stay tuned!

20.April.2011

Awesome – thanks so much! We are buying our first condo and currently trying to select paint colors – and I just loved how the Bonsai looked in your place.

20.April.2011

I’ve been looking for a gray to use in our master bedroom and came upon your Bonsai suggestion. I’m bummed that Lowes doesn’t have it as a swatch! I’m going to Lowes tonight and I’ll ask them if they can still do Bonsai. I’ll let you know how I fare. And if you can find a similar Bonsai-like color in case they can’t do Bonsai, that would be wonderful! Love your blog!

28.April.2011

Okay, better late than never! So, I went to my local Lowes and was shocked to find that they still had the swatch for Bonsai displayed!!! Perhaps they are slowly phasing it out? Anyway, I was able to request a sample and I love it! I’m torn between that (Bonsai) and Weathered Fossil…

So, I’m guessing that if some Lowes are still carrying the swatches, you can most likely request a sample of “old” colors… Worth a shot!

Good luck, all!

25.May.2011

I would love to know where you may have gotten your Chandelier?

25.May.2011

Melissa – The capiz chandelier over the dining table is from West Elm.

16.August.2011

What a great idea for those of us that don’t have a mudroom. Your closet looks bigger than our hall closet that we want to transform. What are the measurements?

16.September.2011

where your fire place is, you have white curtains with metal rods. where did you get your curtains and metal rods?

16.September.2011

Ki – The metal curtain rods were from JCPenney a few years back. The white curtains were from IKEA.

06.October.2011

I was wondering if you had any luck finding a gray that was close to the Bonsai color from Lowes, since they don’t have it in swatches any more? Thanks for the fun inspiration, I am hoping to find a good neutral gray to paint our new home. Right now we are looking at Behr’s Silver Drop and Dolphin Fin, but I am hoping I can track down a sample of Bonsai to see how they compare.

06.October.2011

I looked on valspar website for bonsai and they didnt have it. went to lowe’s today and asked them to make me a sample of it and they pulled it right up. however, when i they opened the sample container it looked more beige than grey. maybe it’s just me or my computer but the walls in the pics look greyish….which is what i wanted….dissapointed. i found another color that i got a few samples on though, Valspar- warm chinchilla, silver lining, cement, and nimbus cloud. fingers crossed.

06.October.2011

Christina – Hmm. Must not have been the correct mix. It’s definitely gray, not beige.

06.October.2011
06.October.2011

Christina – Some Bonsai lookalikes here…

https://www.housetweaking.com/2011/05/12/bonsai-magic-spell-wet-dock-lookalikes/

Maybe that will help!

07.November.2011

Hi Dana! I Love your old kitchen/dining area, and I am sure your new space will bne even more amazing…I was curious as to your opinion regarding the painting of my dining room table…it is ethan allen, but looks so similar to yours, except for the color…
I want to paint it black and copy (gasp!) your dining chair scheme….
Any tips on painting this table? Do I need to sand it first or anything? Any project Ive ever done has been from flea market finds, and the oneness was just on me if I “messed” up…
Dear hubby may freak if I start this without a plan…as it was his prior to our getting married!!
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
Thanks!!

07.November.2011

Meeghan – If the table is solid wood, then sand it down to the wood first and give it a good cleaning. Then you can prime and paint it. Add a food-safe topcoat for durability and easy cleaning. Good luck!

23.November.2011

Why are you not on The Nate Berkus Show for the “House Proud” segment?

27.November.2011

Jeanine – Funny you should say that! I’ve been contacted by The Nate Berkus Show before but the timing just didn’t work out. Maybe once we get settled into the Underdog, I’ll submit a video/photos for the House Proud segment. I love Nate!

29.January.2012

I realize this is an old post but we used the Bonsai color for our entry & hallway. Just wondering what trim color you used?

29.January.2012

Crystal – The trim paint was just whatever the builder left us. Probably some sort of off-the-shelf white in semi-gloss.

17.February.2012

Hello, I’m not computer savy but was googling how to paint white over oak and found you and can’t find the picture of your bedroom with the barn door. Can you send it to me?
I would really like to see it. You’ve given lots of valuable info….thank you. I guess it is the blogs that were talking about the pic of your bedroom with barn door…but I couldn’t bring it up.
Carolyn

17.February.2012
27.February.2012

Dana, I’ve been following your progress on your new home, and I love what you guys are doing with it! We are just finishing up an Ikea kitchen ourselves :). It’s been a ton of work but I love how it is turning out. I came across this post on your paint colors, and my site, Involving Color, is a blog all about paint color. I would love to feature your paint colors used in your previous home and add them to my paint color galleries. You wouldn’t have to do a thing, just reply back and let me know if you’re interested!

27.February.2012

Jena – That sounds great! Feel free to use whatever images you’d like. I always enjoy a good link ;)

27.January.2013

I saw your blog and your house, from a post on pinterest. I LOVE what you have done with your whole house! We just bought our first place and I am definitely going to be doing some of the same things in my home! The colors are beautiful and light and airy and I love the fact that you posted where we can get the paint colors and the wall art. (I love orchids too!) Thank you so much for posting your home.

11.January.2014

How did u make fabrics that hang over washer and dryer?
I need to do this in my house.

13.January.2014

They are off-the-shelf curtain panels from IKEA that I cut and hemmed to size. I hung them from wire and hooks – also from IKEA.

03.February.2014

Does anybody have the paint code for the Valspar Bonsai paint? I went to Lowe’s yesterday and they don’t have the code nor paint chips any longer.

Can anyone send a paint chip? I’d love to use Bonsai and Magic Spell for my mother-in-law’s house.

Thanks!

04.February.2014

Thank you–I got the colors mixed up as testers and this week we’ll see how they look!

Dave

13.June.2014

I have been endlessly searching for just the right gray paint. I LOVE the bonsai color but I went to Lowes and they do not have the code to mix it in the computer. Do you have the code? I was so excited to try this color out!

Thank you!

15.April.2015

Does anyone know how the circles were made in the powder room?
Thank you, Mara