So, it all started with paint.
My partners at Nautica suggested I try a new color from their new line of Nautica At Home Paints. Our bedroom has needed it quite desperately from the day we moved in, but the opportunity to try their new collection of paint-and-primer in one was a great time to get rid of the dungeon-look of our bedroom, and to lighten it up. A quick note: I was provided with painting supplies by Nautica, but this is not a paid post. They offered me a theme to begin brainstorming my room makeover: a favorite memory on the water. And wow… did I have some ideas from there.
I’m a city girl at heart. So while I imagine others are thinking of lighthouses, boats, beaches, sunsets and more, my very favorite memories on the water are staying in Chicago, overlooking the Chicago River. I showed them my idea, and based on this photo, they sent me a beautiful 16×20 canvas of this image to hang in my room, along with a customized color palette of paints.
Before we get too far in, let me just show you “the dungeon”.
It’s dark. I don’t know what that crazy stripe is supposed to be near the ceiling. The previous owners of our house had a TOTALLY different style than what we do. So I bounced a few ideas off my husband, and sold him on my vision of an industrial-themed bedroom. (It actually wasn’t hard to do. When you don’t say the words “ruffles”, “lace”, or “pink” to him, he’s pretty much on board.) My mom and I hit up Menards® to do some shopping, got some great advice from their paint experts, and started our work on creating an industrial-inspired bedroom!
Covering dark brown paint – one wall was nearly black – was going to be a challenge. Or so I thought! I will confess right now that I’ve had an emotional attachment to another brand of paint for a long time. I was of the opinion that everything else out there was inferior. It turns out I was wrong – the coverage of the Nautica At Home Paint was amazing! We did need a light second coat – but that’s typical of any paint, no matter what color you’re covering. My mom came to help with what we expected to be a frustrating job, and take a look at her first coat coverage here! We actually breezed through this room in one day.
As part of my industrial inspiration, I did something a little unusual – and I mounted peg board to the wall where we used to keep our shelving unit. By wall-mounting it, I was able to utilize the whole wall, and not just the space limitations of the previous piece. I added wire baskets to store some of our common catch-all items: important papers, books we’re reading, my laptop that I haul all over the house – I’m sure you have those same kinds of items that need space, too. But by mounting the pegboard (and did you notice that fabulous complementary color?) it actually draws the eye away from the front of a shelving unit, and toward the wall itself. Not only do we have more storage space, the room actually looks bigger this way. I finished the wall off with a 6-foot shelf, and added a few touches that I love – with shelf space to spare, even! Best of all, that storage area cost less than $100.
We also replaced our bed, which was a touch decision to make. In our last home, we had a much bigger room and it was perfect! But with almost HALF the square footage in our new master bedroom, we were constantly banging our shins on the footboard, and the tall headboard blocked most of the window. So opting for modern and no-frills, we got a new king bed with a much smaller footprint – and space underneath, even, for yet more storage.
I’m sure I’ll be making some adjustments (and we’re still in the great TV debate right now, haha) but we have both settled in and said to each other, this room is comfortable. This room is us.
Nautica’s goal with their new premium paint line is to bring the energy of the water to your home. When I relax in the brighter, more welcoming aquatic blue room, and look at our photo of the Chicago River, I can almost hear the sounds of the city, and remember the feeling of our weekend getaways there! It’s been a total transformation to a place that I love.
I’m so happy that Nautica At Home Paint is sponsoring a reader giveaway – one lucky winner will get a $100 gift card to Menards®! I’m going to make entry extra easy today – just comment below to enter. (When you leave your comment, be sure to provide the email address you check most often. It will not be published with your comment to help you retain your privacy, while also giving me a way to get in touch with you if you’re the random winner!)
Leave a comment below answering this question: what’s YOUR favorite memory on the water? Could you ever makeover a room to embody that memory? **NOTE: THIS SWEEPSTAKES IS NOW CLOSED. Thank you, Crystal S. for being our winner!**
Comment before Sunday, December 6 at 11:59pm EST to be entered. U.S. residents age 18 and above are eligible to win. Prize will be fulfilled by Nautica (note: Happy Hour Projects is not responsible for prize fulfillment). No purchase necessary; void where prohibited. Good luck!
i like it
nice post
wow looking good
My favorite memory of the water is going to the lake and out on the boat with my grandparents. Grandma would always bring Rice Krispie Treats!
Swimming! That’s what we did all summer growing up in our neighborhood pool. Sadly they tore it down last year. On Sundays, my family went on picnics where we could swim all day and cook out. It was magical in the summers around my house growing up.
My favorite memory on the water is the Disney cruise we took as a family! I have a lot of Disney stuff around my house already
That’s almost the same color as my master bedroom! I love the feel of it – calm and dreamy.
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com
My favorite memory on the water was going on a cruise with my husband to the Bahamas. We had such an awesome time, and I would love to incorporate a beachy theme in my home through the same color paint and white-washed furniture.
I used to live next to the lake that had a park, and we had picnics along the shore when my kids visited. Making over a room would be kind of fun because it wouldn’t be the traditional blues and sandy colors. Mine would end up green and vibrant and welcoming to the grandkids. Maybe that would be a fun guest room theme!
My favorite memory is from a trip to Hawaii years ago, just a peaceful evening with cocktails by the ocean. Every winter when it gets cold and gray I start thinking about painting the walls bright hues, hoarding plants and buying a kiddie pool for the living room…thinking I could accomplish some of that at Menards ;)
I grew up in Texas, so every other summer or so we would go down to Galveston and swim at the beaches down there. One time we took a ferry to a small island and there were porpoises jumping out of the water for a large portion of the trip. As a kid I thought that was the coolest thing in the world, and as an adult I still do.
My favorite memory is feeding the ducks with my Grandpa. We always had a great time together. He taught me a lot about animals and nature. I could decorate my bedroom with little ducks or birds on my walls to embody those memories.
When my kids were younger, we used to make a trip out every year to La Jolla to visit their cousins. We would lay down on the beach for hours building sandcastles and go inside the outrageously nice cool and refreshing waters. .
My summers at Lake Anna with my grandmother
By the way, have you ever written about how you manage your time? You seem to get a lot done. I was just wondering how you manage! Always good to know how others do it. :)
Oh, this is where the disconnect between what the photos show and what real life looks like happens. I currently have our former dismantled bed in my dining room, 3 baskets of laundry that seem to never actually get folded (just washed, dried, worn, and put back in the hamper) and I can’t even make my kids wear pants unless we’re leaving the house.
I started my one-hour theme because that’s genuinely all I can fit into a day (and when I write about it, that takes another 1-2 hours, depending on the project). This room overhaul took me like 10 days – and if you read here often you’ll notice that I haven’t written much this month, just trying to recover. Oh, and my mom even HELPED me so I have few excuses, haha.
Pretty much? I manage my time with coffee and letting the little things go. ;)
My favorite water memory is now! Our neighbors across the street live on the lake. We are fortunate enough to see the lake between two houses just across the street. And our new addition of a black lab puppy, loooooooooves the lake too. Sometimes she just runs across the street and jumps in. You really lightened up your room. The smaller headboard fills the space really well.
My fave memory has to be my honeymoon and the first time I ever went snorkeling! It might be fun to do an ocean-themed bathroom to remember it!
Adrian, I love the new look! My post goes up tomorrow! I can’t wait for you to see the Table~!
I love your new CALMING bedroom! :)
Hugs,
Karin
My favorite memory on the water was/is going fishing with me dad. Now we take my son with us.
My favorite memory on the water would have to be several actually. We used to live 10 minutes from Kentucky Lake and had a cabin cruiser we kept at one of the marinas. Every weekend was spent with friends and family soaking up the sun and making so many happy memories! We have since moved two hours away from the lake back to our hometown and I sure do miss our boat and the lake. What a nice change in your bedroom. Love what u have done!
I have to admit I’m not a fan of light colors on walls but this makeover may have changed my mind! I too have a specific brand of paint I prefer which was suggested to me by a close friend who is a professional painter and I’ve never stepped outside of that brand for fear of using an inferior product. And I especially have avoided the “all in one” concept. But given your results and he fact that we have a newly opened Menards here in town I am excited to try something new! Thanks for the review.
My favorite memory on the water is spending summer time in the beach house with my family.
My favorite memory is hiking to a waterfall in the NC mountains with my love.
We live on Whidbey Island in north Puget Sound (Washington). So naturally we see beautiful water mountains, and scenery everyday. One Boat trip stands out as a favorite romantic memory. We took a Sunset cruise through Deception Pass which culminated in awesome dessert bar We were celebrating our wedding anniversary. Great memory!
My favorite memory of water is being IN the water – snorkeling every day for a week on a Caribbean cruise. The first day I almost gave up trying to figure out the breathing, but after giving it a second trying, I felt pretty good about the experience!
I love the beach & all the colors of blue & green that are in the ocean!! I’m sure I could find a color or two that would give me that beach feeling!!
My favorite water-themed memory is from when I was about five. I went to a beach in North Carolina with my mom, grandma, and great-grandma. It was one of the last times all four of us was together. My grandma took me to the top of a lighthouse and scared my mom by holding me over the railing.
It wouldn’t be too difficult to makeover a room with that memory in mind. Lighthouse decor is easy to come by (my grandma used to have a bathroom decorated with lighthouses). And of course I could add the picture of all four of us.
taking my son to the beach for the first time was pretty amazing
My room looks like a dungeon also
My favorite memory is my honeymoon cruise. It would be a great theme for a room makeover
I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, loving the Great Lakes. Loved to sit at the city Park and watch the freighters go by. As a little kid it was so cool to look across Lake St Clair and see another country! I do miss it.
My favorite memory of water is hiking the trails above beautiful blue Lake Tahoe. No matter the season,, it is always breathtaking!
well here in texas i dont live by the water the river yes so when i frist got to see the ocean i was 14 and i was blown away by it i remember thinking like wow how big is this and how small i was anyways i thought alot then and now and i think i learned is just have fun and my memory is swimming in it and thinking gosh i hope i dont get big by a shark and seeing all the jelly fish as we rode jet ski’s
Growing up in the Midwest, there was not a lot of water, unless you count the flooding that happened like every other year! So it was great to move to California and later on to Florida and
have ocean or gulf water nearby. But cruising the islands is the best way to see the beautiful ocean water!
My favorite memory of water is sitting on Carmel Beach at the end of Ocean Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea. I remember spending the late afternoon and early evening there watching the crystal blue waves roll in and out. The highlight was sitting on that beach and watching the ocean blues merge into the beautiful golden orange “endless” sunset. I was so inspired that I got up early the the next morning and went to the beach. Wow what a treat to observe yet another set of blues – misty morning shimmering blues.
I remember when I was in Florida years ago, looking through the glass bottomed boats. It was so cool. Maybe if I got a wallpaper panel of under the ocean.
My favorite memory on the water is walking miles on the beach when I lived at Myrtle Beach. I enjoyed the sand, surf, and sandpipers.
I’m not sure I could makeover a room to embody that memory.