Putting Navy in the Corner

Hey everyone! Happy Monday. Anything exciting happen this weekend? We had our share of adrenaline the last few days, as we battled it out in a fierce tournament of sniper rifles. Okay, okay. We took the Youth Group kiddos laser tagging. And it was a blast. A time filled with strategy, stealth, and stamina. Because, did I mention… it was ALL NIGHT Laser Tag? No? Well, now you know. Hence, the “stamina”. Let’s just say, our event started at 11pm. I’ll let you fill in the rest of the equation yourself…

SO, if I seem a little sluggish today, forgive me- we’re in recovery. 🙂 But what better time than to unveil a little painting project? Remember this guy, who hangs out in our corner-of-a-foyer? We call him- brace yourself for spiking levels of creativity- the corner cabinet.

We bought him at the Habitat Restore waaaaaay back in the day, not too long after we bought the house. The first thing that happened (pretty much right away) was a fresh coat of white paint to brighten him up.

Definitely an improvement. In the continued effort to brighten up that foyer, we painted the walls a light blue/gray and installed some board and batten, also painted a crisp, clean white. Things were looking up!

Buuuuuut, it almost felt too white. And a little boring. Crisp, clean, and pretty, but blah. I’ve always wanted to try the “paint the inside of a bookcase” trick, but could never commit to trying it. Until now. What better way to jazz up the space than to add a punch of color?

After thinking about which direction this room is headed, I landed on a navy. Why navy? Because I am drawn to blues. But even more than that, the light blue/gray of our walls, the yellows in the furniture, the grays in the ottomans, and the white in the shelves, curtains, and board and batten all feel very light, airy, and coastal. And what better moody compliment to those than a deep navy? Even though we do not live near the beach, we both have strong ties to the water. We both grew up going to the bay, spending summers on boats, I worked at the beach for two summers, and we were married on the Chesapeake Bay. So it’s no surprise that our home definitely has seaside undercurrents (heehee).

But back to that corner cabinet. First, I popped out the shelves. Instead of coating them in Neptune, I decided to keep the shelves white to add a little contrast.

After that, I used an angled paintbrush to coat the inside with the new hue (Neptune Blue by Behr). I probably should have taped off the top and bottom because I was leaving that white, but laziness got the better of me and I just went for it. Guns a blazin’.

A few coats later and our cabinet is sporting a new look!

I think it’s safe to say that I’m in LOVE. It is interesting. Moody. Charming. It adds some dimension to an otherwise white space. And now I can’t wait to start adding more touches of navy to other parts of the room- plans are underway (and some projects have even been started, one even finished!).

The tricky part is that I can’t display all of the same things I used to because of the new color. Darker items get lost, so it will be fun to re-imagine what types of things will go in there. And, of course, when I get something together- you’ll be the first to know!

So tell me- ever paint the inside of a cabinet or bookcase? What color did you use? Did you use a wallpaper with a pattern? Better yet, send me pictures and YOU could be our next Reader Feature! Click HERE to tell us more about your project!