UPDATE: Live Creating Yourself has moved to alainak.com!

That's right...! After six beautiful long years stationed at livecreatingyourself.com, I've decided to make use of a url I bought years ago (ya know, just in case)... so I present alainak.com! New home to Live Creating Yourself, my styling portfolio, and all of my home tours! Not to mention it's got a shnazzy new design and everything. Worry not - all of my old posts and comments are there, too. Transferred over with the click of a button. Ch-ch-check it out! :)

Thanks LCY.com... it's been glooorious!

Dude's Room Update: Painting Before and After

Major progress to report on the teenytiny Dude Room! 

Namely, we painted. 

To tackle the project, I teamed up with Colorhouse - a new paint available at select Home Depot stores. Not only are they NO-VOCS, no reproductive toxins, no toxic fumes/HAPs-free, and no chemical solvents, but the color palette is amazing. They've curated a beautiful collection of shades, you can't really go wrong no matter what you choose.

See in-store display at Home Depot in Naperville! (Colorhouse will actually be available in the city Home Depots this Saturday!) Lovely, yes?

I knew we wanted a gray, so I narrowed it down to Metal .03 (center swatch) and Wool .02 (far right swatch). The dark swatch on the top is Nourish .06 which I plan on using on the door. That part of the project hasn't happened yet.

A requisite before to trigger your memory.

And here's an in progress shot to show you the drastic difference! The Colorhouse gray paint makes the walls look so much cleaner, brighter!

Furniture going back in...

THE AFTER (kind of)

So here is the room before and as it is now. I am hesitant to use the word after since it is not done... (new bedding is coming, and shelves are being hung in the corner).

We ended up getting a nightstand on clearance from World Market - I think it cost around $70 with the discount. The striped navy rug was an old one of mine I had loaned my mom a while back that barely got used. The black and brass CB2 corner hanging bar was hung above the nightstand for additional storage. The bedside lamp is West Elm which has actually been switched out because  1. even though I love the design, it barely gives off any light, and 2. we hung this wall sconce to clear up all the precious surface area on the nightstand for even more storage (see first photo at the top of the post).

The mini gallery wall is still a work in progress. I love love love the mirror, also a World Market find, and the wall clock and mini gray frame are cheapos from Ikea. The framed Chicago print was one of my first post-college purchases from good ole' Art.com. The buffalo check throw is from Schoolhouse and the Union Jack pillow was one I picked up in New Orleans a couple of years ago.

Crazy what a fresh coat of paint and some accessories can do, no!? Never underestimate the power of styling.

The dude and his roommate love the makeover so much, they now want to repaint the entire apartment. True story. So this "Dude Room" project just got a whole lot bigger! For what it's worth, I definitely plan on using Colorhouse Paint for the other rooms (they have a great selection of whites, which in my opinion is one of the trickiest colors to find)! There was also hardly any paint smell, which is worth its weight in gold, in my opinion. And it only required one coat, which a lot of paint companies promise and rarely deliver on.

I'll let you know as soon as I have more updates!

This post is sponsored by Colorhouse Paint but all of the opinions are my own.