Phew! We’re keeping pace with our plans to do one room a month in our first year. We just completed my home office renovations with the help of BEHR Paint ! We painted, added new flooring, and brought new life to some wood panelling. So without further ado, I present to you my Pink Home Office – just in time for Spring!
Today also kicks off the It’s A Colourful Life Spring Home Tour (hosted by Dimples & Tangles and Jewelled Interiors). If you’re joining me from Effortless Style, Welcome! Check out my project gallery, and poke around a bit! Make sure you hop on to visit Southern Hospitality.
*BEHR Paint sponsored this post, but all thoughts are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make PMQ for two possible.
But before we get to all the lovely photos of the after, I want to talk about WHY we painted the wood panelling in the home office. Two words: bad shape. It wasn’t in the best condition: there were sun stains, holes, stains, and more.
Since this space will eventually become our nursery, we opted to put in the leg work NOW, instead of once the baby is here. That being said, the wood panelling just wasn’t going to work with my intended plans, so we opted to pain the space white, and do the back of our bookshelves in pink.
BEFORE Painting Wood Panelling
*all the before & process shots were taken on Dan’s cellphone – sorry for the different quality!*
Don’t judge me too hard, but this is what the home office looked like before we painted. I knew we were going to paint, so I kind of let it all go while we got our ducks in a row for the space.
Before we could do anything, we had to take down the shelves, remove all the hardware, and plaster the holes left-over from wall art and light fixtures.
We decided not to sand the walls because of the primer we used – Kilz Medium High Hide Stain Blocker – because as you can see, there are great discolourations from one panel to another, and even on the same panel.
Priming & Painting the Wood Panelling
Here comes the fun part! Priming the walls was a must because of the material. The Kilz Medium High Hide Stain Blocker required two coats to get complete coverage, but only because the wood panelling ended-up being more porous than we thought.
You can see the difference here between the first and second coat of primer.
And then the first coat of paint – Behr’s Marquee in Ultra Pure White – if we were just painting over drywall, we wouldn’t have needed to prime because of the one coat guarantee, but alas, thisis wood panelling. A whole other ball game.
Once we were happy with the white coverage, we added the accent to the back of the shelving in Behr’s Noble Blush MQ4-4u. It’s a very similar shade to Flamingo Feather M180-3 which we used in our renter friendly bathroom a few years ago, and a bit warmer than Belle Mia MQ3-05 which was my shade of choice in the studio’s pink & gold office revamp.
After all this was done, we re-attached the doors, and added the shelves back. While we were at it, we ripped up the old smelly carpet, and tried our hand at laying laminate flooring.
This rug was a different colour than the rest of the house, so we figured it would be a great space to test-out our skills in. Happy to report it was a success!
Our Pink Home Office Reveal
I’m sure you followed along on social media (particularly instagram) as I chronicled the installation of the flooring, so I’ll spare you here.
Once it was all said and done, we moved my desk back in, and I took a few weeks to decorate the shelves at my leisure.
Jan Taylor says
This is such a great room. I loved it but most of all, I love your sweet dog. He looks so happy and right at home with all your beautiful decorations.
Ariel says
Aww thank you! He is right at home wherever I am!
cassie bustamante says
LOVE the pink! it’s so so fun, ariel! i am contemplating a pink door for our house even though i am not usually a pink person! i don’t know who i am anymore. 😉 but seriously love this color choice here!
Ariel says
Ha! I can see it though! I think it would be fun for your place! Thanks for the kind words!
Teri Moore says
I actually love the look of painted paneling. I think it adds a depth and coziness. Christine and I rented a little cottage when we first moved to NC that had the original real wood paneling on every wall. It was all painted white and was the perfect backdrop for our first winter in the mountains.
Ariel says
Oh man that sounds lovely. A true memory!
We’ll be leaving it in the basement, but in this room it HAD to go white
Mary K Hunnicutt says
I love the pink and white! It really brightened up the space for all the eye candy on the shelves.
Ariel says
There’s so much eye candy! Thanks for the kind words!
jewel says
AHHHH!!!! Its sooooo perfect!!!! I can’t even believe that it is the same space!
Ariel says
Right?! The ceilings feel higher, the space is brighter, I love it!
Stephanie @ Casa Watkins Living says
This is so awesome Ariel! Seriously perfect. love all the blasts of color coming off the shelf and each decor piece. great job and kudos for doing a room a month. That just sounds exhausting but so well worth it.
Ariel says
Thank you so much! I really like how it all came together, feels perfect!
Jennifer @ Dimples and Tangles says
Ariel, Amazing job as always! Your styling is so inspirational and this is a night-and-day difference makeover!! Thanks for joining us for the It’s a Colorful Life Tour this week! <3
Monica Benavidez says
This all looks so chic, gorgeous, colorful and you! I am so jelly of all the storage space you have- the built-ins are swoonworthy.
JAMALA WALLACE says
Such a wonderful transformation! This room is filled with all kinds colorful inspirations. the way you styled the book shelves is fantastic!!!
Ariel says
Well thank you so much! It was a beast of a styling session, but so so so worth it
Charlotte Smith says
Oh my gosh… I do NOT envy you painting those built ins!!! But… the pink is perfect. I consider it a neutral and it looks great!
Ariel says
Right?! It was a TASK, but the end result is FAB
Kathy says
Your props are so amazing and look fantastic with the white and pink. Love all of it and can’t wait to see it as a nursery. The UPS picture made me giggle.
Ashley says
Love the post and decor! Where is the lamp from?
Ariel says
Thanks! I got a pair of them from Homesense before Christmas!
Eloise says
That dragon is incredible where did you get it??
Ariel says
It was a thrifted find! Not much help to you, sorry
vishal says
love your decor ideas great look The Desk In Front Of The Shelves.