C.J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
Using Dunn Edwards DURA Paint For Office Remodel
We decided to renovate our home office and bedroom combo in our Sanibel Island home in late 2022. We planned to add shiplap, fresh paint, cute boho valances, and reconfigure the layout to make it feel bigger and be more utilitarian with an aspect of good design an organization. Then Hurricane Ian hit Sanibel Island and SWFL at a category 4/5 storm on September 28th, 2022.
Our home office/bedroom combo before remodel
This storm was massive and put off many of our plans for many months. When my husband and his father were safely able to come back to our home after the Sanibel Causeway (the only way on and off the island) and the island was passable at about one-month post Ian, he found lots of damage. Our home office/bedroom had a giant horizontal crack running down the wall, then had another crack that ran vertically in one corner.
One of the wall cracks from Hurricane Ian
We were extremely fortunate to even have a home still standing, as many lost their homes and businesses completely. These cracks (from the extreme shaking of the house) were minor compared to the big picture of Hurricane Ian’s strength. After we returned home permanently within four months, and fixed necessary things like our air conditioning (this is very necessary in Southwest Florida!), I applied for a campaign via Influenster and the Dunn-Edwards DURA paint brand.
Home office before paint
When you have a lot of expenses to put your house back together (we are still waiting on help from insurance at 7-months post storm), I knew this campaign would be an amazing opportunity for us. We love to try new paint and DIY products, as we have been DIY-ing our way throughout our almost 20-year marriage.
Our home office is also a bedroom for guests
See our popular Pinterest and YouTube project that we created as a solution for our dogs getting into our cat’s litter box in our home office/bedroom combo below or via our YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
Influenster and the Dunn-Edwards DURA brand agreed (yay!) I was a good fit for the campaign, which provided a one-hour Refined Color Session with a highly skilled brand representative (AKA a Color Influencer who ended up being a sweet creative soul named Ashley that is an educated and passionate interior designer), a Color Report from the Color Concierge team with everything we discussed in the session and paint color recommendations, Simple Sample wall decal-like paint samples, paint chips, two gallons of paint, paint sticks and a can opener.
Dunn Edwards DURA Color Report
The Refined Color Session is a great thing for anyone of any painting skill level. Paint colors are sometimes hard to pick out online and this session helped me decide which color was best for our project. I chose to do a video chat (instead of just a call, which is an option) after I sent Ashley some images of our project. She showed up prepared and ready to talk about paint and we even connected on our life goals and dreams. It was like talking to a great design friend. She was fun to talk to and made me feel very comfortable.
Dunn Edwards DURA Simple Sample
Once we chose some paint colors, I received a detailed Color Report and from there I choose which samples I wanted to see in person. Dunn-Edwards DURA has a Color Promise, which is basically a guarantee that you’ll like your paint color selection from the Color Session or they’ll work with you until you do.
The well-packed DURA paint
I chose to see three main samples, Crisp Muslin, Whisper Gray and Almond Milk. As soon as the samples arrived, I pulled them out of the packet and knew Almond Milk was a dream paint come true. I stuck the Simple Sample on the wall just to make sure, and I was right. It was a perfect fit or my vision.
Check out our IKEA daybed that we picked for our bedroom and home office combo via our Pinterest page or below!
Tommy and Carolyn Braden + DURA paint
Since I was able to receive two gallons of paint as part of the campaign, I chose Almond Milk in a satin finish for the walls and White Picket Fence in a semigloss sheen for our office/bedroom wall trim. They sent both to me in an extremely well-packed package along with paint stirring sticks and an opener. It was like a top-of-the-line valet car service, but for paint. I felt like I was unpacking something very special, and I was. I received all this comlimentary as part of the Influenster campaign, but I’d pay for it with my own money as the whole experience was great.
Dunn Edwards DURA painting guide
We decided to paint three walls and the closet, then place a sun-bleached shiplap on one wall. I have a plan to reorganize our desks and more in the room as well. We had to put off painting our office as we are still waiting on insurance to do a run-through with our law firm’s representative (oh, the messy things we are dealing with insurance-wise are nothing compared to our DIY messes!) so we can get a settlement.
The sun-bleached shiplap we chose for our office/bedroom
We start painting this week and I’ll post an update on the results when our home office and bedroom combo remodel is complete. As far as the Dunn-Edwards DURA brand, I’d recommend their product to anyone. The paint is thick, but not too thick, and very high-end. The results are posted below!
UPDATE: 5/2023
Sitting on our IKEA convertible daybed
Our office and guest bedroom room renovation is complete! We’ve decorated with mostly the same things as we already had in the room but we made a few changes and additions. After painting the room, ceiling and trim with the Dunn-Edwards DURA paint, we added the shiplap to the hurricane damaged wall. The paint was amazing! It covered in 1-2 coats and was everything we love about a good quality paint.
This design makes for a cute kid guest bedroom
Next, we moved our desks to the opposite wall and placed our IKEA convertible style bed against the shiplap wall and decorated it. We took the back off a VASAGLE cabinet we already had, and used it to store our battery backups, camera system cords and more. It was already vented, making it the perfect solution.
The shiplap was very easy to install
We used natural wood cat shelves (ones that our cats eventually decided they did not need as part of a cat wall project we created), for more of our vintage décor including some of our own vintage phones and pagers.
Our DIY media cabinet to store cords
We added vintage-looking hairpin legs to a wood apple crate that belonged to Tommy’s grandmother. It holds some files we need on hand, as well as some more vintage toys, including a Teddy Ruxpin story telling doll that my husband fixed so it would work again.
How we hide our camera system cords
I added boho style curtains to coordinate with another similar curtain panel that I have in my living room, my grandmother’s coveted Coca-Cola cooler, lots of photos I’ve taken of my fur babies over the years, and more of my husband’s vintage toys that he adores.
Our home office desk configuration
We also continued using our Ruggable rug, as this is a room where our cats hang out often in and they get hairballs sometimes. A Ruggable is a “peel and stick” style rug that is easily washed.
Our wood crate on pin legs became extra storage
Overall, the makeover helped energy flow better, as we can now both see out windows when we work (seeing sunlight when you work naturally helps your energy levels), the lighter paint color brightened the room even more and it’s even highly organized to be optimally functioning. We reconfigured our wire organization to help hide electrical wires too.
Retro phone decor
I still want to reorganize the closet, but I’ll save that for another project and another day.
Our favorite tv shows are in our room design
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C.J. (Carolyn) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.