Mini Makeover: The Breakfast Bar

This post is sponsored by Ace Hardware. All thoughts and opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Ace Hardware.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared my family room and eating area for the One Room Challenge; what I failed to debut in this challenge was the breakfast bar. This space is essentially part of that area but there was so much to do in such a little time; there was no way that I could do it all. After taking a short break from projects, I thought it was good time for me to tackle the breakfast bar and give it a mini-makeover.

If you remember, I mentioned a few posts back that I will be collaborating with Ace Hardware for most to all of my rental transformations. So far, I have collaborated with them on my ORC fireplace makeover, furniture stools, and on my master bathroom makeover, which all turned out great. I have really been enjoying visiting their store and exchanging friendly conversations with their employees. This past trip was pretty relaxing...I did not have my kids with me and the weather was pretty gloomy, so it was one of those days when mom just needed to get out. A trip to Ace was just what I needed to get my butt into gear and mind set on project mode. I used the same technique to choose my paint color for this project asI did when I chose my fireplace paint color. The only difference was I had a finished room to match it to.

When I was contemplating on what to do for this makeover, I originally planned to replace my vintage bar stools with acrylic ones and paint a cool pattern on the wall. Unfortunately, I could not find the stools that I had envisioned, so I kept the ones I had and chose to do a color blocking technique instead. I did not want to weigh the space down with a pattern in addition to my existing stools, so I ditched the whole pattern idea. With the help of Ace Hardware's, The Paint Studio, I was able to find the perfect paint color to transform this area. I went with Valspar's, Apricot Blush. Valspar paint brand is a brand that I know very well. It is my go-to brand when I am looking for paint with durability. In this particular area of the house, I NEEDED to use paint that is durable and can withstand kids. Haha! I have three kids and whenever they sit over here, they make a huge mess and the wall always seems to get dirty. It is really annoying, especially since my whole rental is painted in flat paint. Imagine it...little fingerprints, everywhere!

I have a wall of pink curtains in the room and I wanted to balance it out by incorporating some pink on the opposite wall. I wanted a subtle pink that was not overpowering and Valspar's Apricot Blush was just right. This paint color also has a peach undertone, which I thought was really pretty and it also matched the swatch perfectly. Sometimes when I paint walls or a piece of furniture, I get really nervous as to what the actual cured color will look like, so I was really pleased with how close the color looked to the swatch. If you know me, I am pretty impatient, so I did not even think to test the color out. If you plan to paint a room or any type of furniture, make sure you always test the color out prior to getting head deep into your project. Thankfully, Valspar's color selections are pretty much color guaranteed, which helped me out in this case. *Insider's tip, right now at Ace Hardware, they are having a buy-two-get-one-free deal on Valspar paint gallons. If you are looking to get some last-minute paint projects in before the weather gets hotter, stop by Ace Hardware and stock up on paint.

The color blocking technique comes into play in such a way that I only painted the half wall and none of the adjoining side walls. This technique adds interest to the space without taking away from it. It draws your eyes in. My goal to finish off this space is to add art in the form of a gallery wall. As of right now, I'm torn between using some sort of botanical prints or using black-and-white fashion images. I am really stumped, but I hope to have the walls decorated in the weeks to come.

This is how the breakfast bar area looked prior to me painting it. Pretty plain, right? Who knew that a splash of color could add so much interest? Honestly, I did not know how much of an impact it was going to make, but I look forward to finally finishing this space, so stay tuned to see how this room comes together.

*Stop by your neighborhood Ace Hardware for Buy One Get One Free on Valspar Optimus. Make sure you check out the color inspiration cards to find great color coordinating options. Gallons only. Limit 1 free gallon total. Offer valid at participating Ace stores 6/29/2016-7/4/2016. Free gallon must be of equal or lesser value.