The Mold & the Beautiful

Now that we know where we'll be headed when we move back to the US, things have started moving quickly, and suddenly I am up to my ears in estimates, plane tickets, cancellation letters and to do lists.  It looks like I will be headed over earlier than Jady in order to get us settled in before he arrives and starts work.  

While I should be spending all of my time figuring out what will go and what I should sell on eBay, the siren song of online real-estate listings in Louisville is too tempting to resist, at least for some of the day:)  I have a few favorites in mind, but we'll have to wait and see if they're still available when we arrive in April to find a place.

In the meantime, the interior photos of some of these houses has me thinking about paint colors and molding... and what I would do if I lived there (always a fun game!).

One option for dealing with molding is to go with a monochromatic look, a favorite of Martha Stewart, where you paint the walls and the trim in one solid color.  Even the frame of the mirror was included in this paint job:

via The Garden Web

Another option is to play with subtle variations on one color, like this gorgeous mantle in the living room of our amazing friend, Cate West Zahl, in Charlottesville, VA.

Or this hallway, which plays up its extensive molding by using two shades of green.

And then you can always experiment with a monochromatic look by adding a surprise trim somewhere.  What a fun, unexpected pop of blue!

Another potential way to go is, of course, to paint your walls in a completely different color to your trim.  Here you've got a range of contrast options, from subtle to bold, with which to highlight the molding.

Home and Garden

Here is a fun project from 2nd Floor Living, where you can see the same room three different ways, thanks to a little help from photoshop.  (How fun is that?!  I might have to buy it, just so I can play with paint options like this all day long.)  Here is the before, with white on white walls and trim.

Here is the same room, "painted" in a light gray color, including the molding on the walls.  

 And the third option shows the walls in the same gray color, but now with all of the picture frame molding painted in a contrasting white.  

Which do you like?  

xo

Liza