We’re “paint it before you replace it” girls through and through. So naturally, our Sauble Beach motel project was filled with unique uses of paint to make the bold and colourful statements we’re always after. We love the flexibility of paint: the colour options are endless, it’s not permanent, and it’s easy to achieve.
Here’s a look into how our high-low design strategy relies on paint and all of the ways it can transform a space unexpectedly — from simple stripe details to creating your own custom furniture.
UPLEVELING THE WALLPAPER GAME
We’ll always love how different patterns, themes and colours can come to life through a roll of wallpaper. For the guestrooms, we worked with Candace Kaye to create this custom, sun bleached wallpaper inspired by the Lake Huron waves. To really make the wallpaper stand out, we got creative with paint - the white stripe detail stands out against the soft beige tones, and the Pale Loden Green colour block is reminiscent of the turquoise water we know and love in Sauble Beach.
Junify Tip: Make sure you offset the ratio of wallpaper to stripe to colour block. Otherwise, you can accidentally create a design that looks off spatially. Plus, go lighter on the wallpaper and bolder on the stripe to make the strongest, most intentional impact.
Photo courtesy of Lauren Miller
CUSTOMIZING IKEA CABINETS
We’ll pretty much paint anything in order to bring the colours we want into a space. So, when we discovered these premium, slab style cabinet doors by Kitch Canada, we knew we had a win. They’re made to fit any cabinet configuration system (IKEA included) and take paint like a champ. The finished product is completely custom — hello design freedom! In this case we used Apricot Beige by Benjamin Moore.
Junify Tip: You can take the customization of these doors one step further by sourcing unique cabinet pulls. We went for round opal stone pulls with a gold base. CB2 always has great options!
Photo courtesy of Lauren Miller
EMBRACING TWO TONE SPACES
We’ve really embraced the monochromatic trend. It’s playful yet moody, and brings the eclectic and bold design flare we know and love. In the kitchen of our residence, we leaned into all the blush and pink tones, by layering two different paint colours, mixing in a fun glossy tile and sourcing vintage decor pieces. We even painted the ceiling for a more dramatic look!
Junify Tip: When going for a two-tone look, put the darker colour lower and the lighter colour higher. This ensures you don’t close the space in, and instead creates an illusion of higher ceilings.
Photo courtesy of Lauren Miller
GOING FOR THE HALF-WALL
Sometimes simply painting a full wall can be boring! We love going for the half-wall because it creates a graphic edge to the space, and serves as a great marker for any shelving, frames or other wall art. In the King Room, we added a small stripe on top of the half wall before returning to white, which transitioned the paint perfectly.
Junify Tip: If you can, emphasize any architectural details when doing this. Here, we painted the closet walls floor to ceiling before transitioning to the half-wall which created some visual interest by adding another layer to the space.
Photo courtesy of Lauren Miller
FAKING A HEADBOARD
We like to refer to some of our design decisions as cheap and cheerful because, let’s face it, we just can’t afford to do it all! In Sarah’s bedroom in The Residence, we faked a headboard using paint to frame out the bed and side tables. We had never done it before, and were honestly surprised at how well it turned out. We love the circular shape against the bed and the fact that it mimics a sunset. Headboards are overrated anyways!
Junify Tip: For the step by step instructions on how we achieved this arch, head to our blog post here. If you try this at home, make sure to tag us on Instagram so we can see your #MotelMakeover at home design moments.
Photo courtesy of Lauren Miller
To see the Benjamin Moore paint palette we used to transform our motel in Sauble Beach, head to this blog post where we give you the sources to each sunset inspired colour.
Have you watched Motel Makeover, Season 1 yet? Head to our Instagram and let us know what you think!
WATCH MOTEL MAKEOVER HERE