We Found the Best Dark Paint and We Love It

One Room Challenge Week 3

We found the best dark paint color for our shiplap accent wall! Welcome to Week 3 of the Spring 2020 One Room Challenge. So glad you joined us! If you’re unfamiliar with this event then you’re in for a treat. Each Spring and Fall, 20 Featured Designers are selected by Linda Weinstein and the ORC team for a 6-week challenge where they each take us along on their journey to an incredible room transformation! Feeling inspired? Guest Participants, like yours truly, with a blog or Instagram account can register and join in on the action. This year, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the challenge includes an additional 2 weeks of work time which is so helpful for newbies like me and Hubby!

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SW Iron Ore vs. SW Carbonized

Are you a fan of dark, moody accent walls? I for one am OBSESSED with this look! There’s just something about the dark, rich color, particularly in bedroom spaces, that adds another layer of warmth and cozy vibes. I knew I wanted the shiplap in our master bedroom to be painted in a dark color. However, I couldn’t decide between old faithful SW Iron Ore (on the bottom) or SW Carbonized (on the top). I took to Instagram stories and, 75% voted for SW Iron Ore which only confirms that it’s the best dark paint!

We painted the entire shiplap wall with a paintbrush. The downside of using a paintbrush is the brush stroke visibility. However, in this space, I think a matte finish was much more forgiving. A paint sprayer would have been ideal because you just can’t beat that smooth finish!

Honestly, I don’t think you can go wrong with SW Iron Ore! The amount of lighting in your space will obviously have an effect on how this color appears. With natural daylight, it appears as a warm, charcoal color and at night, depending on your bulb type, it can appear as a much darker, almost black color. Either way, it’s the best dark paint around and, I’m so happy with my decision! If you’d like to see where else we used this paint color, then check the following blog posts:

Loft Alcove || Stairs Nook || Garage Door || Slat Accent Wall #1 || Slat Accent Wall #2

Does the perfect white paint color exist?

This was definitely the week of PAINTING! In addition to the shiplap wall, we also tackled 2 other wall spaces and our bedroom hallway. Our original room color, SW Accessible Beige, was too warm a color for my taste. At night, it was straight up TAN which has bothered me ever since we moved into this house, some 3 years ago!

Needless to say, the pressure was on to find a replacement color that would work better in our bedroom space and compliment the SW Iron Ore. While it was easy to find the best dark paint, finding the right white was easier said than done! I took to Instagram once again and contacted friends with white interior walls, compiling my list of white paint options. The 2 main choices that came highly recommended were SW Pure White and BM Chantilly Lace. When we tested both color options, the BM Chantilly Lace appeared too warm with a yellow undertone. The SW Pure White looked more like a true white and so that was the decision we made.

The role lighting plays on paint color

I think the pressure to find that RIGHT color is getting to me because I’m not so sure I’m 100% loving this white. The lighting varies so drastically on each wall in our bedroom that it’s becoming quite the challenge to choose ONE consistent color!

While the wall with the large window and our hallway both look great in SW Pure White, the wall on the opposite side of the room is picking up hints of blue and purple. I’m going to have to think real hard about my next move, so to be continued …

What else we did this week

Our photo ledge measures 6ft in length so as to be in proportion with our king bed. We used pine wood for the ledge and stained it with Minwax Natural Oil-Based interior stain to simply enhance the natural color and beauty of the pine wood. I also added some sheer curtains on both sides of our large window. This is another decision I’m not 100% committed to. I love the light and airy element these curtains provide, but I don’t know if they’re the best choice for our space.

This Week’s Agenda

It’s such a good feeling to check projects off our list! I’m going to be mulling over my paint and curtain decisions and thinking about what other options might be a better fit. Be sure to subscribe to our blog and follow us on Instagram to stay up to date on our personal journey in this event. You’ll also definitely want to follow along and see what the Featured Designers and other Guest Participants are working on! Anyone else having doubts about some of their design decisions?! Please tell me I’m not the only one?!

Aminah Chung