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A few days after our phone call to discuss her latest project in Austin, designer Taylor Clouse sent me an email sharing some extra tidbits about the house. “It was risky suggesting to paint the ceiling green,” she noted. Green? I don’t remember a green ceiling! I thought to myself. Confused, I sifted through the photos of her client’s new build, and sure enough there it was: the kitchen and living room ceilings swathed in Farrow & Ball’s Vert de Terre. “In person, you almost don’t notice,” Clouse wrote, “but it actually helps the space feel larger.” As someone who writes a lot about DIY and renovation, I pride myself on catching these details right away—this one surprised me in the best way possible. It was so subtle, so smart, and such a good reminder that paint isn’t just for walls. As I looked around our very white, very boxy, very builder-grade apartment, I turned to my boyfriend and said: “Maybe we should paint our bedroom ceiling this weekend. And we might not stop there…” —Lydia Geisel, home editor
On Board: Off the Wall
Here’s a controversial opinion: Leave your walls white. While I love to see a room drenched in color as much as the next design editor, I’ve seen paint have the biggest impact on a space when it’s used in surprising places. Ceilings are just the start—I’m talking crawl spaces, basic wood tables, and kitchen countertops. Bonus: The smaller the project, the fewer cans you have to purchase and lug home.
- Our recent Home Front guest editor Delaney Lundquist (aka @tremont_home) and I share a similar obsession: painted bedroom storage. She can’t stop thinking about DIYing a giant armoire, and I really want to re-create stripes on an antique dresser à la Studio Atkinson.
- How does one create perfect stripes on said piece of furniture? With lots of blue masking tape and this genius applicator, which I’d desperately need to achieve straight lines.
- Designer Annie Cobb turned a small closet off her kitchen into a bar with a can of Sulking Room Pink. “I love little nooks and secret spots like that,” she told me after I asked how the idea came about.
- On the hunt for a new desk lamp, I unearthed this Pooky shade with hand-painted arrows that are so tiny they almost look like stitching.
- I became obsessed with funky trim after seeing how editor Owen Holmes painted a Greek key motif around this Brooklyn living room using Benjamin Moore’s Emerald Isle.
- Orange-toned wood floors are the bane of my existence as a renter. I love the idea of covering them up with a tonal checkered design, like the one in this L.A. dining room. Backdrop’s 36 Hours in Marrakesh and Brooklyn Cowboy would be my go-to pairing.
- Just when I thought DIYer Racheal Jackson couldn’t top this colorful shower, she one-upped herself by…
