Pepperberry Walls & Crisp White Doors

I have finally painted my foyer. It has been a long time coming. Buying the Pepperberry paint was what I requested for my birthday outing back at the beginning of September.
All this past week I was looking forward to getting messy in some red paint... I think I somehow managed to forget just how much work it is to paint a room. I also talked my husband into helping me finish painting the doors that still had not been put back up from when I painted the trim in the foyer. First things first though, the paint.

When we went out to buy paint, I knew I wanted something bold. We have a small entryway and I thought it was an opportunity to use a bright color without it being overwhelming. The color pallet I was choosing from was created from this fabric (purchased from Joann's - also seen in pillow form, on my hallway bench, and on recovered chairs - clearly I like these colors):

 

 
I was leaning toward orange, I think mostly because it felt safer to me than the pinkish red or purple alternatives. T.J. of all people encouraged me to go even bolder and pick the redish pink. My sister and I named it "raspberry" and Dutchboy apparently named it "Pepperberry" - I was combing Pinterest one day and found this picture - apparently this is a pepperberry garland. Who knew.

Before I started painting I remembered a trick I had seen (also on Pinterest) for conserving paint trays - I know it seems silly but even saving $2 counts around here... I wrapped my tray in tin foil, like this:

And it worked! It was successful in the end and now I don't have to buy a new tray for my next paint job. When I opened up my paint after sitting for a month and a half I saw something a little scary.

It was peachy and purple and alarming! I thought I had shook it up enough before I opened it. Apparently not.

I few quick stirs later we were in business. Pepperberry - looking a little peachier than the paint swatch, was ready to go.

No turning back now...

After the first coat things were looking horrible. It felt very much like a frat house paint job. I knew it would take a few coats, but this display was quite disheartening!

Things were looking a little better after the second coat (above). Meanwhile... T.J. and I constructed a kill room a'la Dexter in the living room by putting down a giant drop cloth so he could paint the doors while I painted the foyer.

 We were able to get all three doors we had taken off the hinges down on the floor and put 4x4's under them to prop them up. First T.J. rolled on a couple coats of this primer - which worked like a charm. Then he used the same white Behr paint I used to paint all the trim to finish rolling the doors.

Finished product time! Are you ready for the big reveal??

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Laundry Room Door

 
How classy is this chandelier? I can not get over it. FOUR DOLLARS! I paid four dollars for this chandelier at a flea market last month (read about it here, and its spray paint transformation here). I think it looks amazing with the rich red walls and the crisp white doors.

This art used to hang in our apartment in Charleston - it is a painting of Folly Beach's pier. I thought the pepperberry walls really picked up the red in the painting. I bought this frame for $3 at a flea market and spray painted it white.

One more before and after of the front door:

Can you believe the transformative power of paint? It blows my  mind!