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5 Easy Ways to Update Your Walls


Good morning and HAPPY HUMP DAY! I have a few photos for you today that I’ve been eager to share with you (Number 4 in particular!) … As you know, I’ve been working away on the house, planning how I want it styled, what decor I want to use and where but more importantly I’ve been trying out a few new things I’ve never done before! When I had Leo I knew right away that I wanted to step outside the box and get a little creative with his room and bathroom so my gears started turning and while my mind changes like the wind (lol) I I also wanted to try something that wasn’t permanent … and I discovered peel and stick wallpaper and decals! Anyway, Before I dig into that, thought I would share with you, my 5 EASY ideas on how you can freshen up your walls! I get SO many design questions on the daily so why not give you some tips here?? Alright, let’s get to it!

Jillian Harris Swiffer Tips to Cleaning a New Home

1. Fresh Coat of Paint: If you’re tired of your old walls and need to liven things up a bit, stop by the paint store, grab some chips, stick ’em on your walls and decide which paint you would like to go for! Brighten up your space with a nice white or light grey or get a little edgy with a POP of colour! On the walls in our home, we went for Cloud Cover by Benjamin Moore, Classic Gray in the bathroom and all of our trim and millwork is Simply White! These are by far some of my favourite neutrals right now!

Some of my favourite greys include:

  • Benjamin Moore GREY OWL: Our kitchen and dining room are painted this exact colour. This is a nice LIGHT creamy grey … that isn’t too stark and is classic and clean!
  • Benjamin Moore SMOKE:  Grey, with a hint of robin’s egg blue! Can you believe I would suggest color?! LOL. Again, a really timeless way to incorporate color is a grey with a subtle tint added to it, SMOKE is the perfect choice for someone wanting color but afraid of the commitment!  We used this colour on our new laundry room cabinetry.
  • Benjamin Moore THUNDER:  A VERY WARM almost brown grey, nice for that ‘equestrian’ or Ralph Lauren effect. Timeless and classic and definitely not too cool!
Jillian Harris and Justin Passuto

2. Wallpaper: Wallpaper is an AWESOME way to completely change the look of a room in your home! You can cover an entire room in wallpaper or you can do a feature wall with a crazy pattern! There are so many classic and unique patterns out there to choose from so have a little fun with it!! Have you checked out my collaboration with Milton & King?? We teamed up together to come up with three funky prints and they’re all pictured below!! The beauty of this wallpaper is it peels RIGHT OFF! So if you’re a little on the indecisive side … no worries! LOL!

Jillian Harris Love It Or List It VancouverJillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up Your WallsJillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up your WallsJillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up Your WallsJillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up Your WallsJillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up your WallsJillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up Your Walls

Tropic Like It’s Hot | Leo’s Spots | The Parlour

3. Decals/Murals: Stick on/peel off decals are HUGE right now and some of the patterns are so freakin ADORABLE!! The girls and I recently covered the walls of Leo’s nursery in the CUTEST little spots from Urban Walls!! You literally peel them off of the sheet and stick them on the wall one by one. Side note: I would recommend tackling these sorts of jobs with some girls over a bottle of wine, the job goes by pretty quick when you can have some laughs and vino along the way! ALSO … I just had this AMAZING mural installed in Leos

And then … check out that ship mural below!!! I just had this AMAZING mural from Anewall installed in Leo’s bathroom and it’s absolutely STUNNING!!! I’m in love and it just adds such a cool vibe to the space!!

Jillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up Your Walls Jillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up Your Walls

4. Wainscotting: In our old house Justin and my Dad did a little DIY wainscoting (AKA faux wainscotting), which is the most money friendly way to get this look! Basically, you put up paneling and then trim over the panelling … but you skip the ‘background’ stuff (you can google this if you’re really interested lol!!). And then in our new home we decided to make it a little easier on ourselves and we got all of our wainscotting materials and crown molding and trim from Metrie because they have such a great selection and they ship so fast! We also love them for the fact they can also help you with design and inspo! Wainscotting is timeless and adds character to any home,  it also gives it that high end feel without having to spend a bunch of money! AND, if for whatever reason this isn’t in your budget refer back to point number 2 and check out my Milton & King Parlour wallpaper, it looks just like wainscotting!!

Jillian Harris 5 Ways to Freshen Up your Walls

5. Shiplap: We have shiplap from WoodTone in our pantry and we absolutely LOVE IT!! If you want that cozy farmhouse feel in your home, then shiplap is the way to do it! I have a little insider scoop for you … WoodTone is coming out with DIY Shiplap paneling this fall!! Click here for more details and to put your name on their VIP launch!

Jillian Harris 5 Ways to Update Your Walls

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed these tips!! If you try any of them, or if you have tips of your own, make sure to share them with me in the comments section below!!

xo

Jilly


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      1. I’m sorry to ask because I know it’s posted I just can not find it. What color did you use on your front door on the inside? Nothing but ❤️ for Jillian!

          1. Hi Jillian, when do you plan to publish the blog with all of the details about your new home finishes?

  1. I just started to follow your blog and had a quick paint question. In this blog – 5 Easy Ways to Update Your Walls, I want to follow through on one of your paint ideas. Here goes my question>
    My bathroom fixtures (Tub and Toilet) are the BM #071 Cameo Rose colour. I can’t afford to change them out, however, could I paint the walls BM#2122-40 Smoke and my 48″ Vanity BM 1645 Thousand Oceans. What colour would I paint the 2 window frames. My bathroom is 10fX 10f.

    Thank you
    All the best to you and the new family.

  2. These are great love them all and who puppy??? Did you cut your hair to have bangs? Cute!!!!! Just love the all white I must show my daughter she likes few white also and would love It all!!!!!!! You are just so creative!!

  3. I would love to know where you got the white shirt you are wearing in this post, if you could let me know I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

  4. Hi Jillian!
    I love those little “irregular” grey dots. I have found them and they come in three greys… yours kinda look like ” warm grey” but I wanted to double check with you if you remember which grey you used (colour on computer screens can be deceiving).
    Thanks again!
    Linda 🙂

  5. Thanks Jillian for this post! Have been waiting for this lol. I am moving back into my loft this Fall after leasing it out & will be doing some updates. The moment I saw your hardwood flooring – loved it! I’ve been looking for something light but had warmth & wide plank. Going to local retailer that carries this line to check it out. Also going to freshen up the space & loved your wall & trim paint colours. Picked up paint swatches for Cloud Cover & Simply White – love them! Doing ship lap wall in bedroom as well. Excited! Thanks for sharing – love your designs!

    PS – excited to see next & final episode of Jillian & Justin (sad it’s the last one!) W aired them again today & watched a second time lol. Made me laugh & tear up yet again!

  6. I have a question having to do with walls, but mostly having to do with PAINT! What are your favorite types of paint for different areas of the house (i.e., Matte for walls? Satin for kitchen?) We are about to paint the interior walls of our new house (with BM Classic Gray 🙂 And we are also painting cabinets. We know our colors, but have no clue for type of finish.

    Hoping to get J & J in the states soon! Thanks!

  7. The wall color at my cottage is a rosy beige, can you give me some idea about what colors would like best with this, the paint is called cashmere beige

  8. Hi Jillian, your house is simply stunning…as are you. 🙂 I wondered if you could share what type of wood floors you chose for your home? Thank you so much!

  9. Hi Jillian,
    I was just wondering what color did you use for your kitchen cabinets?
    Thanks 🙂

  10. Hi Jillian, LOVE the paint colour cloud cover! It transformed our home to be so bright and cozy! one of my faves as well 🙂

  11. Jillian!
    I am in the middle of building my home!!!
    I check your website daily, and follow your instagram posts and videos religiously haha!
    I am eager and super excited to see your posts on your new home and where you have got stuff from !!
    any idea how soon until everything will be shared!! I would love to get all my inspiration from you before I have to decide for my own home !
    I just LOVE you !!!!!

    Carly

  12. Hi Jillian! I am looking to achieve a similar look to Leo’s nursery walls using the Urban Wall decals. Do you have an idea of how many sheets you used, or how far a sheet went in terms of square footage? Thanks, xo.

    1. Hi Ashley! I’d recommend reaching out to the Urban Walls team directly, they’ll be able to help you out!! XOXO

  13. Hey Jillian! I love following along and am eager for the paint post! When is it going to go live on the blog?! You’re colors are my inspo and i’m waiting patiently 🙂

  14. I am trying and trying and trying to find a blue bathroom vanity like the one above. Can you share where you got that?

  15. Hi Jillian !
    you mentioned that the colours of our house were “Cloud Cover”, but than you say that you kitchen and dining room is Grey Owl.
    Do you mean that your walls in those rooms only are Grey Owl or the cupboards in the kitchen are Grey Owl and the walls still remain Cloud Cover !
    I am asking because I have seen some photos and I love how light the colour is! looks so nice ! I would love to know !
    Thanks!

  16. Hi Jillian,

    I will be painting my baby’s nursery soon and I was hoping you could share what paint colour you used for the Kelowna nursery as well as your bedroom paint colour.

    Thank you for your blog posts – you make renovating less overwhelming 🙂

  17. Hi Jillian
    Im new to your blog and absolutely love it!! I was hoping you could tell me where you got the blue and white vase from? (The one in the picture with the white hydrangeas in it)

  18. Hi jillian!

    I am wondering what paint color you used under the grey dots in Leo’s nursery? I could not find the color that you used on your blog that you posted about paint coloring.

    Thanks !! 🙂

  19. Hi, can you please advise where the wall mural , blue and white, was from in the Episode Jennifer and Robert from Oct/16

    Much appreciated

    Lynne

  20. Hi Lady,
    What color of wall decals did you use for Leo’s room? I cannot decide on the color and I like the color you used. Thank you.

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