That’s the name of the new bedroom color. It may not be the easiest to remember, but it looks great on the walls. We chose the middle swatch from Valspar shown at the top of the photos and had it color-matched to an Olympic No-VOC paint in a satin finish. We liked that it leans green and is slightly more saturated than the shade we used in our previous house.
Here’s one last look at the room before paint (and mostly before furniture). Poor Ed the Bed was semi-disassembled — we removed one slat so he could slide forward into the middle of the room without hitting the ceiling fan while we painted around him.
About five hours later, after two coats of Carolina Inn Club Aqua on the walls, the room looked refreshed and cohesive. Surprisingly, one gallon of paint covered the whole room — we weren’t used to rooms this size and expected to run out and have to make a frantic trip back to the store.
The new color has a family resemblance to our old bedroom shade (Glidden’s Gentle Tide), but it reads darker and greener in person. It’s a deliberate move toward a bolder overall palette for this house, without letting the walls dominate the room. We discussed going much darker or brighter, but chose a mid-range tone so there’s room to add colorful curtains, artwork, and possibly painted secondhand furniture later.
We hesitated about painting the bathroom nook the same color because we considered doing something different there — a darker shade, a lighter tone, or even an accent treatment like wallpaper or a tone-on-tone stencil.
Ultimately, to visually connect the bathroom nook with the main bedroom and avoid it standing out awkwardly, we used the same Carolina Inn Club Aqua on those walls as well. We applied a semi-gloss finish in that area for easier cleaning since it’s close to the sink. The photos make it look a touch lighter than it is in real life — lighting can be deceptive.
We’re still debating whether to paint the mirror frame — leave it as-is, wait for the room to evolve, or just grab the brush soon and repaint it gray or white. Whatever we decide, we’ll share photos once it’s done.
In photos the color sometimes reads a bit lighter, but in person it sits comfortably in the mid-range — not pale and not deep. You can see from the swatch in the first image that it’s not extremely subtle, yet it isn’t overly saturated. We love that middle ground: crown molding, trim, and even Ed the Bed pop against the walls, but the paint still leaves room for bolder textiles and artwork.
Furniture placement is temporary for now — some pieces might be replaced, like the old IKEA dresser from our guest room. Sherry’s idea is to find two secondhand dressers that coordinate without matching exactly, refinish or paint them in bold colors, and place them on either side of the bathroom doorway for balanced storage. The chair will probably end up in the corner to the left of the bed.
We also like how Carolina Inn Club Aqua complements the duvet without matching it exactly — it echoes the fabric’s tones without feeling too literal, which could have been overwhelming.
With the lights off this shot shows the saturation more accurately — the walls and duvet work well together, neither competing nor appearing flat.
Yes, that’s still our Christmas tree in the background — it’s on the to-do list.
Painting this room felt like a big step toward making the new house feel like ours. We’ve officially caught the painting bug and are already thinking about tackling one of the larger living spaces next — if only we could agree on the color.
Psst — we’re sharing one of our favorite money- and space-saving baby tips over on BabyCenter. There’s also a short video of Clara making a dramatic entrance. Good times.