Wall Colors and Wardrobes

Greetings from my bed! I have that weird allergies-turned-cold-turned-sinus-infection situation that seems to be going around. I feel well enough to get up and try to accomplish something in the morning and usually an hour or two in, I'm totally wasted and I crawl back into bed a broken woman. It's killing me to waste so much time (it's been days now!).

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Today I was laying here in bed (which is a really special set up - a mattress on the ground!) and staring at the wall color. I decided Knoxville Gray would be better in the master than on the built-in bookshelves. Last night I got about half the room painted before I started to feel bad again.

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You can see in the photo that we picked up some IKEA Pax units recently. Three 40" wide units for the bedroom wall that is shared with the closet. Michael and I will use the storage units for shoes and for some folded clothes.

We bought white units, but I think I'm going to spray them Knoxville Gray tomorrow or Friday. I love painting something the same color of the walls.

I want to add some special hardware, just like Emily added (here).


Or Jen from Made By Girl.


Tommy Smythe added vintage brass knobs to his built-in Pax units. I love how the black paint looks here. So lovely.


I want to create a similar vanity situation on the inside of one of the units too (for my jewelry mostly).

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Style at Home

And something like this is of course so stunning! I love the Venetian mirror and the details on the trimwork. 

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Fresh Home

What have you done to spruce up your Pax units? We bought the same doors that Jen from Made by Girl has above and I'm thinking about adding mirror to the insets. I think it could be pretty with the dark gray paint color.

21 comments:

  1. I have the wite pax closets as well! And I remember long discussions with my boyfriend on whether or not to paint them.

    We ended up not painting them but we did mount them with the sides of each element against the wall. So now I have my own row of closets and I'm so happy with them! It feels like I can go shopping in my own closet!

    I think that if I find the time, I might put masking tape on the edges or do something else to make them even more fun (every good store changes it's lay-out from time to time ;))

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  2. Can't wait to see what you do with your Pax system!

    Hope you feel better soon!

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  3. Hope you feel better soon Jenny! I love your ideas to paint out the units the same colour as the wall and add mirrors to the insets. It will totally make the room look larger!

    http://www.fullbellywornsoles.com

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  4. Have you ever heard of Overlays? Check them out if not, http://www.myoverlays.com/

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  5. When you say 'spray them' - what are you using to spray with? (obviously not spray paint from a can.)
    Thanks,
    Trish

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  6. Wish I shared having the Pax (and the Knoxville Gray) rather than the sinus infection :)! Love the idea of the closets being the same color as the walls - Lately I am loving ceilings painted the same color as the walls ... Take care!

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  7. I love the idea of adding in a little jewelry/dressing station to the closet. Might need to do that to my closet!

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  8. I would love to hear your technique for spraying laminate furniture from Ikea!

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  9. We went with the Hemnes doors (gray stained wood) for our built in PAX closets and painted them white to match our trim color. I couldn't get past the off white of their standard doors and even with the knot holes I prefer to paint wood over laminate. We also used handles from Target. I haven't done a full write up on mine but here is how they are looking right now:

    http://www.statelykitsch.com/summer-update/

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  10. Hi Jenny,
    Hope you feel better soon. What is the color you're using that's next to the Knoxville gray? My bedroom has a full wall of closet doors that I'm thinking about painting a dark color but leaving the rest of the room a lighter color as it's in the attic and has no demarcation between walls and ceiling.
    Thanks.
    Ursula

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  11. Will you use your new paint sprayer to paint them? I am curious on what prep steps you will take to paint IKEA furniture.

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  12. What a lovely reminder that the Ikea units can be blank slates for more personalized looks! I think people forget that all the time!

    Are you able to just spray them a new color or do you have to do any pre-treatments to make the paint stick to the surface?

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  13. Hi Jenni,
    Doing a saltwater sinus rinse every day has helped me a lot with allergies. It's great for dry climates - I am in Denver. I don't get sinus infections as much as I used to. The product I use is NeilMed sinus rinse.

    I love the Knoxville Grey and all that you do - you rock!

    Kristin

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  14. Oh I'm so excited...I had just had my husband pick up a sample of Knoxville Grey for our bedroom in our new apartment! How many coats are you using, if I may ask? I've seen the color vary wildly, and we're having to hire someone else to paint it because I'm on bed rest in the old apartment (meaning I won't see it until it's done, so I want to give clear instructions). It's an awkward situation to say the least :/ Thanks so much!

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  15. We did a little hack on ours... I didn't want to buy doors for everything, so we made some drawer fronts from IKEA's kitchen drawer fronts and some wood:

    http://instagram.com/p/bwtFwLNnBS/.

    I haven't done a full post on them yet, because I'm (still) in the middle of a blogging hiatus to make a new blog and a whole portfolio site, but here are some photos before we added upholstery nails to the doors and all the drawer fronts.

    http://visualvocabularie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PAX_wardrobe.jpg
    &
    http://visualvocabularie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/wardrobe1.jpg

    I bought the flat doors because I eventually want to buy O'verlays and paint them gold and put them on the doors.

    I'm SO excited to see what you do with yours! I particularly want to know if you come up with any good ideas to cover the holes for the shelving; they bother me greatly in the two we have chosen to use as open shelving! Although, you're probably just going to use doors on all of them. I'm thinking white tape...

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  16. I was going to suggest the Overlays as well. They have a lot of great options for customizing Ikea pieces. Here's their page of Pax Overlays: https://www.myoverlays.com/BuyNow.aspx?categoryid=21

    They might even work with you for a blog review. You never know! :)

    Feel better!

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  17. I never even thought of painting mine - silly huh? The space itself will be getting painted in the next few months so that may have to happen as well! I'm currently using curtians as "doors" since we a little tight on space. Can't wait to see what you do!

    Jenn @ HomeStyleReport

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  18. i'v always loved those particular ikea units & will probably use them when/if we add a bedroom to our home. they look so great with cool hardware.

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  19. Please add me to the list of folks interested in what technique you recommend for painting Ikea furniture :) Hope you feel better soon--I love a neti pot when my sinuses are clogged!

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  20. I'm new to your blog (suggested by my friend Liza) and I'm already in love. We too bought a "valley house" that has a similar victorian feel and we're slowly renovating to create a more modern/farmhouse feel. We have a very similar staircase that I can't wait to get my hands on and completely demolish - until then we deal with the mauve (yes, our house has a whole lot of mauve carpet, lucky us!) carpet running down the stairs. It's a slow renovation! Love the updates and have a feeling if we ever run into each other we'll be instant friends!

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  21. Great !!! Fabulous! i think this is incredible! Wardrobes is gorgeous and the makeover is totally amazing. I love it. You really did a super job with the Wardrobes! I use to do buy online Wardrobes as its time saving.

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I so appreciate hearing from you. Nice comments make my day! Thanks for keeping things light here, friends! :)