We built our dream home here on the lake 11 years ago. My older kids were 7 when we moved in and Grace was only 2. It was a year-long project with lots of late nights and endless decisions. Finally in March of 2006 we moved in and have been here ever since. We love our home, but we cannot avoid the reality that in some areas it is time for a room refresh.

A pic of me and my hubby finishing the floors in 2006….right before we moved in.

Room Refresh

After 11 years…or possibly sooner…it’s time to start updating a few things. A room refresh is needed for most spaces. A year or two ago, we re-did Grace’s room with new paint colors, bedding, etc. That transition from little girl room to teenager bedroom. She loves it and it will do her until she moves out…or stays here forever…whatever…I’m easy. 😉

When we moved in the house, my hockey loving 7 year sons room was a showpiece. We found this adorable hockey border, we painted it two colors two match the border, I picked up a light fixture that looked like a time clock, and various pieces of hockey furniture made its way into the room. But after 11 years…my now 19-year-old son…needs a new, mature space. 😉

He still plays hockey…but he’s long grown out of his little boy bedroom. We talked about updating his room after he graduated high school…which was over a year ago…and we’re just getting to it now. I’m sure we’re not the only ones who talk about house projects for years sometimes, before we actually tackle them. 😉

We knew we had a little bit of work ahead of us when it came to taking off the border, prepping the walls and finally painting this room over. I knew I was in good hands when I stopped into Gow’s Home Hardware in Bridgewater and had a chance to talk with their experts in the paint department.

Did you know that for the past 20 years Gow’s Home Hardware in Bridgewater has been one of the highest volume paint stores in all of Canada! From Bridgewater…Nova Scotia….that’s incredible! You can watch some of my chat with Al…one of the Gow’s Paint Experts here …

Loaded with the tools we needed we set out to remove the border and clean the walls.

I don’t know why we were so scared of removing the wallpaper? Honestly it couldn’t have been easier with the tiger tool and the wallpaper stripper spray, it came off easily with no damage to the walls.

We then used the Natura Safe Prep to give everything a really good cleaning. A boys room…after 11 years…requires a deep cleaning of sorts. 😉

Beauti-Tone Paint

We let everything dry over night and then started the painting! After years of building, renovating and selling houses, my husband has lots of experience and is an excellent painter. So he started with a coat of tinted primer that went on beautifully and we let that  dry overnight.

The next night we started with the finish coat of paint. We went with the Beauti-Tone Designer Series. Beauti-Tone is Canada’s #1 Canadian owned and Canadian made retail paint brand that is exclusive to Home Hardware.

We  applied 2 coats of the Designer Series after one coat of tinted primer. It went on smooth, with very little odor, compared to other paints we’ve used in the past. It provided good coverage, but with the darker blue color we were painting over, we decided 2 coats was probably best.

We choose the color Felicity (D35-7-0523-0) …and we love it! The room has a covered porch in front of it, so with only one window it is already a fairly dark room. I wanted something much brighter, with just a touch of gray that would give it that a peaceful and warm feel at the same time. I’m thrilled with how it came out!

Light Fixture

I picked up a new light fixture for the room at Gow’s Home Hardware as well. The James by Canarm is a 10″-3 Light, Oil Rubbed Bronze, Flush Ceiling Track Light Fixture. After seeing the light displayed in store, I decided to go with LED light bulbs and I’m so glad I did! The light fixture adds so much more light to this space and just brightens it up immensely. It’s functional and beautiful!

We are still searching for a headboard and a few new pieces to finish off the bedroom…but we are so thrilled with how it came out! As a 2nd year NSCC Business Administration student, he now has a bright, calm space to study and hang out and no longer be embarrassed by his room. 😉 I’m so happy for him and so happy to have this space done.

The before and after is pretty remarkable…the power of paint! 🙂

Of course, now we are completely inspired to keep going and refresh more rooms…after Thanksgiving. We agreed after 3 nights in a row of working till 11:00pm or later….we need at least a week before we start again 😉  We may tackle another bedroom that is going to be turned into an office space for me…so that is exciting! Back to Gow’s …and the Beauti-Tone paint chips. Fun! 🙂

*This post is sponsored by Gow’s Home Hardware. I was generously supplied the paint and tools required, but all opinions are my own.