Master Bedroom Update: “Green Tea” Walls

My friends at Ace Hardware graciously provided me with the paint for today’s post. My thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own.

I recently unveiled the moodboard for my in-progress master bedroom makeover with you guys…

I  hadn’t decided on the exact color yet, but I knew I wanted to go with a khaki/olive color on the walls, inspired by fabulous spaces like these on my “I Love Olive” Pinterest board:

So I pulled out all my paint chips and sat down and had a heart to heart with them.

Choosing a bold color for your walls can be a little tricky, and honestly, I have a hard time getting over my fears and committing to one… Especially a color like olive that can read as “puke” (or “toxic nuclear waste”) pretty darn easily!

When you want a color to feel sophisticated, the best trick I’ve picked up over the years is to go for the muddy version of the color. Pick the paint chip that’s as close to a neutral as you can find – with undertones of your desired color.

This quickly steered me away from the majority of the paint chips I had been considering – they were too saturated, too simply “green” – and straight towards the warmest and most beige of the olive/khaki greens:

Clark+Kensington’s “Green Tea”.

With all my walls that aren’t kitchens or bathrooms, I like to use the flattest of flat paints available, so I had this color mixed in several gallons of Clark+Kensington’s flat non-glare. It’s super non-reflective, which is perfect for our textured walls and darker colors in general!

I love the velvety, matte finish:

As you can see in the photo above, things are looking a little different over here!

It might not seem like a lot of progress, but here’s what was accomplished in order to capture these shots:

• Rip out carpet. ✔️
• Pry up tack strips. ✔️
• Grind down high spots of concrete subfloor with angle grinder. ✔️
• Fill in low spots with concrete. ✔️
• Wipe down walls to remove all the dust. (A SUPER important step, btw. I used my dry Swiffer mop.) ✔️
• Two coats of paint! ✔️

I spent a week working on the concrete floors, with no real visual feedback, so getting the new color up on the walls was a huge step forward! I love the way the light in this room interacts with the color – washing it out by the windows, and casting moody shadows at the far end of the room.

I have something special planned for this alcove where our dresser sits, but I’m a completionist and had to paint it match the rest of the room first…

Thankfully, this color turned out exactly how I had envisioned and feels so very calming and zen! As I bring in more colors and patterns with the rest of the design, I’m excited to watch the khaki green begin to function as neutral – and I can’t wait to see the brass bed pop against the darker walls!

Update – Houston, we have a floor!