In short
Jess Bennet (Dear Alice) reveals her living room makeover, focusing on choosing a saturated teal wall color and going “all in” with high-gloss paint on grass cloth, trim, and even the ceiling. She describes switching colors midstream, painting wood casement windows, and floating the ceiling smooth for a glossy “wet” look.
Key claims
dark, glossy, and bold finishes feel more finished than neutrals; sampling and emotion should guide decisions; ceiling color/finish is a major design lever; leaving windows/trim unpainted would break visual continuity.
Notable examples
walls moved from Ben Moore Tropical Oasis to one shade down (Fair Isle Blue, Ben Moore 715); ceiling painted Farm Fresh (AF-360); terracotta ceiling pairs with cognac/orange entry door; high-gloss over bronze grass cloth makes it feel “silk.”
Guests
Sue (co-host/friend who visited during the emergency color decision); Matthew (painter); Oscar (crew for Level 5 smooth ceilings); Barbara (neighbor who advised full “roots” coverage); Brett (friend who found the ceiling polarizing).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOJourney of Interior Design
0:46 to 2:16
Exploration of the living room transformation process.
“think you made the right call too i'm gonna say yeah good you i'm sure you if anyone could pull if a permit's Jessica Bennett.”
The Inspiration Behind the Change
2:17 to 4:23
Discusses the motivation for changing the living room's vibe.
“One kind of fun thing is I haven't seen the final reveal.”
Trends in Interior Design
4:24 to 7:58
Insights into current design trends and the evolution of styles.
“I, so my house was, um, published on Homeworthy at the very beginning of the year in January.”
Trends in Interior Design
7:59 to 9:31
Insights into current design trends and the evolution of styles.
“And I mean, there's a ton of interest in it.”
Trends in Interior Design
9:37 to 9:52
Insights into current design trends and the evolution of styles.
“For better sleep and a cooler summer, what's stopping you?”
Choosing Colors and Techniques
9:53 to 14:00
Details on the paint choices and techniques used in the living room.
“So I remember walking in the showroom by a piece that we have in our showroom by Highland House, and there's this console and it's grass cloth covered and it's high gloss painted white.”
Going All In With Color Choices
14:00 to 16:40
Explore the decision-making process behind selecting bold colors for home design.
“But then I was like, it's the only thing left.”
The Importance of Texture and Finish
16:40 to 20:00
Learn about the significance of ceiling texture and paint finish in design.
“And the warm tones from your wood to your ceiling.”
Reimagining Existing Spaces
20:00 to 23:20
Discover how to refresh a room using existing furniture and color coordination.
“sanding that you're gonna do and I honestly I wasn't in it for that I already knew my walls were grass and I knew high gloss would accomplish what I wanted to.”
Emotional Impact of Color and Design
23:20 to 26:40
Understand how color choices can affect mood and perception in a space.
“Since like the second coat Faroe Isle Blue was put on.”
Show all 14 chapters
Final Thoughts on Bold Design
26:40 to 27:40
Key insights on being bold with design choices and trusting your instincts.
“It shifts in your mind because you're just like, anything's possible.”
Choosing Bold Design Elements
28:01 to 29:41
Learn about the importance of bold choices in interior design and how they can impact the overall feel of a space.
“And even you guys, sometimes we have projects that we started in 2020.”
Emotional Journey of Design
29:41 to 32:01
Discover the emotional aspects of the design process and the value of having support during renovations.
“I'm like super, super stoked for you guys.”
Emotional Journey of Design
32:07 to 32:29
Discover the emotional aspects of the design process and the value of having support during renovations.
“And then there's an Alisane interior design.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:12Jess Bennett:Welcome to Dear Alice, a lifestyle approach to interior design.
0:22Alice Merritt:Hi guys, welcome to Dear Alice. Today, we have a fun one.
0:28Jess Bennett:like drum roll stuff like it's gonna be good i've been excited to just record this episode just because i have like my own opinions on it and i feel like i got a little sneak peek to it so
0:37Alice Merritt:yeah i'm so excited do you guys recall um a few months ago when i said i was gonna cut my hair off and get a perm or i needed to paint my living room it's done today is the living room podcast i
0:49Jess Bennett:think you made the right call too i'm gonna say yeah good you i'm sure you if anyone could pull
0:54Alice Merritt:if a permit's Jessica Bennett. That's real nice. Thank you, Sue. Yeah. I'm picturing, what's his name that used to teach aerobics in the 80s? Oh, yeah, Richard Simmons. That's what I'm picturing. Richard Simmons hair on my head right now. I don't think I could pull it off, but we did pull off the living room and that is what we're here to talk about today. Guys, this was a really involved process and I know how y 'all love interior design, so I want to take you on a journey, on the journey that I took in interior design. And if I can pay anything forward to you, I'm going to tell you all of it.
1:26Alice Merritt:So I'm going to take you. I've got pictures. So if you can tune in on YouTube or Spotify, you're going to want to see the reveal on this. We'll also be sharing it on our socials. And I'm excited. I want to say this too. The room is not complete. It is 90 % there. I still feel like I need to fuss and finick with it. and I need a big original piece of art over the mantle. And things are going to change, as they all do with artists' homes and designers' homes. So I just put my old furniture back in the room. I did a few little tiny tweaks and a little different furniture arranging. But mostly we're focusing on choosing the wall color, which I wanted to take you on that journey and how I came to the color.
2:13Alice Merritt:And yeah, that's today's podcast. Okay.
2:16Jess Bennett:Awesome.
2:17Alice Merritt:Yeah.
2:17Jess Bennett:One kind of fun thing is I haven't seen the final reveal. So you and I are both seeing this at the very same time. So I'm like itching out of my skin right now. Like I can't wait.
2:28Alice Merritt:I just barely, just with my own cell phone on Monday morning, I just hurry and just took some cell phone videos and pictures just to be able to show it in this podcast. So it also hasn't been professionally shot, but you're just a bunch of close friends. And so I'm just taking you on the journey with me, which I feel like will be more authentic than waiting six months until everything's dialed in and perfect and shot. And then I will have forgot half of the emotion that I went down. And let me tell you, I'm glad that I had to experience this because this is what our clients go through. And I did switch colors midstream folks.
3:00Alice Merritt:Yes, I did. Yeah.
3:01Jess Bennett:Like, I mean, the other color was on the wall or yeah. So I mean, after midstream. Yeah. Yeah.
3:08Alice Merritt:Yeah. That's like crazy. 50 baked. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was half baked. And I was like, I think there's the second coat coming, Matthew, the painter. So for the second coat, what would you feel about stopping by the paint store in the morning and getting the next shade darker? So anyway, I want to take you guys on that journey with me. And while it was still fresh, we said, let's hurry and record this. And then maybe down the road when it's really primped and polished and we have beautiful photography, then we'll share that in some sort of teaser episode or something. But anyway, so excited. Today is all about the journey.
3:39Jess Bennett:Like you said, we're going to get into your living room and I know we say I feel like just in general we're always just like the fat like the least expensive way to like change up the whole vibe of your room is to paint the walls and you like went an extra step because you went glossy and you painted your grass cloth and you floated your barrel so like I really want to get into all the details of what that was like because I'm like it's not as simple as just like you have a plain like drywall box that you're just going to like go to Home Depot and throw some paint on the walls. Like this was a very, very in-depth process.
4:15Jess Bennett:So I want to start from the beginning and be like, what was the itch? Why, why did you start? How did you start? And yeah, get us started on that.
4:22Alice Merritt:I'm glad you asked what the itch was because, um, it was very much that it was physical for me. I, so my house was, um, published on Homeworthy at the very beginning of the year in January. And when I watched the release of that, I remember being like, I'm so bored of this entry.
4:42Jess Bennett:Your home is amazing. So it's not like it was boring, but you've just lived with it. Yeah.
4:46Alice Merritt:And also I've been in my house for a decade. So I made these decisions over a decade ago while we were in the planning phases of the home. And then you build the house and it takes, you know, a year and a half or so to build. And then the finishes finally go on. So the grass cloth on my walls in my living room is this beautiful bronze grass cloth, which I knew I would love my whole life. I'd never tire of this. It's perfectly neutral, right? We've got white casings and it's a 10 foot ceiling room. We've got real wood windows in here that are casement. They crank out. I have a wood mantle that's been painted semi-gloss.
5:20Alice Merritt:All the trims were semi-gloss. The ceiling was white and it had a textured ceiling in the room. And as, you know, as design progressive progresses and things change in our own projects, we've really incorporated painting the ceiling in the process of it. So after living in the house for five years or so, I remember walking in those rooms and feeling like they don't feel finished. And it was because the lid was white. And so I was like, oh, at some point I need to just paint that ceiling. And I'm glad I didn't do it then because, you know, as things change too, your taste evolves and things evolve.
5:54Alice Merritt:And I was just actually listening to an expert that was at Design Week in Milan talk about the trends that they're seeing come out. And usually the way that the world works is Europe does it first and then it slowly catches on over in America. And so it's fun to cue into what they're doing because then you kind of get this slingshot of, okay, this is going to be coming in the next couple of years or so. So anyway, what they're saying is there's these verdant greens, lots of colors with green undertones. um full chroma colors we've seen jewel tones we are just seeing really really rich fully drenched spaces of course but they're no longer dry they're glossy and it's the mix and play of different finishes together they're even talking about the 70s shag rugs you know for contrast against smooth surfaces high gloss things wenge woods again um just you know when you think about wenge you always picture that high gloss but then on a shag rug which is really dry and high pile so it's this mix of materials it's this high with low and a lot of the walls that they're seeing is this high gloss paint so i was like i need to take the physical challenge like it's my job to be on the front end of this and to know what it feels like and to know how to design with it and what fabrics i'm putting with it and so i'm looking at this dry neutral room and i'm like we've been in this dry phase forever where it's all neutrals it's linens it's um you know the casual casual this california look the boho things um the baskets all of you know all of this and i think what we're about to step into is really intentional high design and i thought i gotta try it on i gotta see if it fits yeah and i was in the mood for a change and i was so bored when i watched my own room and i'm here i am presenting my home to home worthy and you know there's been over 100 ,000 downloads and lots of really kind comments, but it's not that interesting.
7:53Alice Merritt:It's beautiful. It's elegant, but for a designer, it wasn't that interesting. So.
7:59Jess Bennett:I mean, I, I do think so. And especially the way you style it. And I mean, there's a ton of interest in it. What you did is, I mean, next level though. So yeah. Jess, now that it's summer, it's so hard to regulate your temperature while we're sleeping. So we need to let everyone know about the cozy earth bamboo sheet set?
8:16Alice Merritt:Yes, we do. I'm actually telling everybody around me because these are magic in a sheet set. They're temperature regulating. I don't know how they do it. They don't have a thermostat, but it feels like they do. They are guaranteed to give you a comfortable night's sleep. They're made from viscose from bamboo and they just naturally wick away heat and moisture from your body, helping you sleep several degrees cooler. This is important in my marriage because I sleep with a big man and he's always hot and I'm usually cool and these are just so comfortable for both of us. They're kind of got a silky hand to them too so I like the dressier look that they have than a cotton sheet and I love that they keep us both really cool for the summer.
9:01Alice Merritt:They are beautiful, they're comfortable and they just, I don't know, they just feel so good on my feet and legs at night.
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9:48Jess Bennett:Sleep cooler, lounge lighter, stay cozy at Cozy Earth.
9:52Alice Merritt:So I have grass cloth on the walls. So I remember walking in the showroom by a piece that we have in our showroom by Highland House, and there's this console and it's grass cloth covered and it's high gloss painted white. And we also have the side tables of it. And I remember being like, you can paint grass cloth. We've painted grass cloth before, but sometimes when you're in the middle of making a decision, you're trying to try as you're seeing different physical things and things in your life, you're like, Ooh, that could, I'm reacting to it. And I thought, I want to feel my way through this process.
10:24Alice Merritt:I want to feel something. Suze often says, I feel nothing in a neutral room. right? And I was like, I want to feel something. So I'm going to let my, my gut guide this whole experience. And I want to see how I'm reacting to different things and let that tell me. So when I saw these grass cloth painted tables, I was like, that's what I'm doing. I'm not taking the grass cloth down. I'm going to paint the grass cloth. I'm keeping that texture because we know texture is a big player, but I'm going to high gloss it if my painter says it's okay to do it. So the idea all along was, I'm just going to paint the grass cloth a color and I'm going to make sure and include the ceiling in the process of it and what is what is my color and we we sell this color astrology book at alice lane and funny enough when you turn to august 14th my birthday um dark teal is the color is my science yeah oh my gosh full circle i know and also this rug that i've had in my living room for probably 15 years it's by thomas o 'brien it's called gilded teal So it's this beautiful off-white ground, and it's kind of like a clumped painting, and it has little bits of teal and off-white and brown that make this really beautiful offset sort of kind of inline checkered pattern that sort of waves through it like a clumped painting, like the dress of the woman.
11:38Alice Merritt:And it has that little bit of teal in it, and I was like, okay, I know this sounds like 1987, but I totally want to paint my walls teal, but not just any teal. I want it to feel peacock and I want it to be rich and I want to just feel completely swallowed by it. Enveloped. Yeah.
11:55Jess Bennett:It's more vibrant, I would say, than the 1987 teal that like is stuck in my mind. Yeah.
12:00Alice Merritt:Like you wore aerobics and biker shorts and windbreakers. Yeah.
12:03Jess Bennett:I was one, so I didn't. But yeah, I know exactly. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
12:08Alice Merritt:It's like hot pink and teal and leg warmers and, you know, Corvettes and all of that. No, this one's definitely like a richer oasis. In fact, when we had the podcast, it was in the spring and I was like, I'm going to cut my hair and get a perm or I've got to paint this room. And my color at that point was Tropical Oasis by Ben Moore. And that is the color I put on the walls. And when we sprayed it on and went in, of course, it's nighttime and all the windows are covered in paper. So I don't have any natural light in this room. And I was like, it's too light. and the painter was like I'm sure you're going to think it's too dark and I just remember being like this isn't the feeling I wanted so then we clicked it down a shade actually I had an emergency phone call I texted Sue 9-1-1 I need you to come over luckily we both live in the same city she came over with her little boy and we went in this room that was completely covered in plastic we unzipped the zip walls we went in there we turned on this fluorescent light that the painter hat in there and because it's high gloss oh by the way I went high gloss I went high gloss on the grass I went high gloss on the trim and then the wild card round I don't remember if it was your idea sue or trim oh no the windows the windows yeah I think we went back and forth on the polos
13:27Jess Bennett:and I'm like it's gonna be you're like should I do the windows I'm like yeah it'll be weird if like you just have these white boxes because you're already gonna feel because we always talk about like those tension bits when you look into a space and where does your eye stops it stops at contrast yeah and so if you leave your mantle white your eye's just gonna fill that shape yep you know in this like really deep box it's gonna fill all the window and I had already been
13:49Alice Merritt:filling that with the grass cloth I had the white windows and so I was like if I really want to feel something experience something different and really be the designer and take the challenge and the risk then I've I have to experience this for myself and I have wood windows so I was like I can paint them and I remember looking at my concept photos and there's beautiful French manner and the walls were turquoise the windows were turquoise and one of the windows was cracked open and you really felt that dimension of it I was like okay I'll paint the windows oh my gosh I can't believe I'm painting my white windows turquoise or whatever color and and then I'm painting the base molds and then the only thing left white in the room was my mantle I was like I can't paint the mantle white.
14:31Alice Merritt:That feels sacrilege. Like what? But then I was like, it's the only thing left. And I remember talking to my neighbor, Barbara, who loves design. Shout out Barbara. Um, anyway, she was like, it would be like, it would be like leaving your roots gray, you know, like, absolutely. You've got to go take it all the way, the full complete thing. And when I had that visual of like, oh yeah, no, when I want to go get my roots done as a blonde and cover up all those dark roots like you want that fully all in thing so then I was like okay everything everything's going to be that color but then Sue and I we were like we of course you're seeing all these concepts you're looking at tons of work and some of my favorite concepts have a different color ceiling and I was thinking I was going to do the designer trick which is do 10 % of the color of the walls as the ceiling so it's just a brighter shade of turquoise and I had concepts like that, which I loved.
15:28Alice Merritt:But then in the end, I was like, I think I need to pop it with maybe like a mustard or something like that. And I love that combination of this sort of blue with mustard. It's just so handsome. And I just knew I'd never be tired of it. So I was like, okay, that's what I'm going to do. But then when I brought Sue over, I had a couple of really large paint chips. I had this note of sort of terracotta peach in the mix. And we lit up like schoolgirls, like giggly over it and I was like that feeling that's the feeling I want to feel it's visceral guys it is yeah and I just want to say to you if you're going to make a change this you need to feel it don't don't do it so that you're gonna be like my future self will thank me in a decade if I do this smart choice of leaving my white windows white like go all in with it because you love design and you really do want to feel the completed feeling of it so we did we decided
16:24Jess Bennett:on the terracotta colored ceiling which was the biggest surprise to me because i was like that's yeah that's so rad and i didn't i wasn't expecting that yeah um yeah but as you walk in jess's house like you go through warmed cognac that orange like hermes door at the very like entry and so i'm like feeling these relationships of just like other decisions that she's made made sense that we're just like kind of taking a tonal step from that onto the ceiling so again you feel like you're in the same house so even though it was such a juxtaposition from what you'd experience it didn't not it felt like you it completely felt like you and like what you're drawn to like 100 and it's not like you're i don't know when you were talking about just like the neutral playing it safe like we're not we're not designing to resell yeah if it's if it's supposed to resell well because it's done in good taste yep you know but it feels like you and you're you're the one occupying the space and so why would you short sheet yourself yeah and like do it for somebody
Read the full transcript
17:23Alice Merritt:else that's that's so lame so lame yeah anyway yeah terracotta terracotta it is so knowing that i wanted i haven't seen this without plastic and dark windows shut your mouth desica bennett
17:43Jess Bennett:i know it's so fun so rad i was about to swear that's so good so good looking in that's uh Oh, man. Transitions, transitions, y 'all. And the warm tones from your wood to your ceiling.
17:58Alice Merritt:Yeah, the blonde floors. That is smoking. And like Corey said, the note from the front door being orange, which I made that decision in a vacuum last year, right? And then the grass turned out so great. The painter was like, I think we'll have to go matte on the grass. But then he wanted to experience it. And so he did go high gloss on it. I'm so glad we did. I'm so glad you did. The walls actually feel like silk now.
18:19Jess Bennett:No, I'm just like that. That probably like gave him 10 more years. Yeah. Yeah. Did he think that some would soak in more than others? And so you'd have like high spots of gloss and then low spots?
18:30Alice Merritt:He said he had to use a really fast drying primer on it because it would soak it. So he did some form of primer on it to get it ready for this. And it was white, which was scary to look at the grass covered in that. But it dried really fast and then it absorbed it well. And he had to do multiple, multiple coats of this. And depending on which light you look at, you know, the room in, sometimes the turquoise looks a lot brighter. But the orange door leading in and then feeling that terracotta ceiling is just such a fun payoff. Guys, if you feel like you want to move, just paint a room or two in your house.
19:09Alice Merritt:It's cheaper.
19:10Jess Bennett:Yeah, definitely.
19:11Alice Merritt:So fun. So what I wanted to say, though, is because I wanted that ceiling to be high gloss, I I needed to float my ceiling smooth.
19:20Jess Bennett:Which I think was maybe the boldest choice that you made because I feel like the easiest thing is to just paint the room. But really for having the contrasting ceiling that you did and putting it in a high gloss, you want that to be smooth. Having the texture on it, you're not going to get the payoff that you want. So which is a ton of work. I did it last weekend texturing my garage because we're turning it into a salon for my wife.
19:46Alice Merritt:Yeah.
19:46Jess Bennett:the most time time consuming thing so I can imagine yeah the additional cost from it um if
19:53Alice Merritt:you're gonna do this um you're gonna ask for a level five smooth finish so that you can go high gloss now the difference between high gloss and lacquer is gonna be the rounds of paint and sanding that you're gonna do and I honestly I wasn't in it for that I already knew my walls were grass and I knew high gloss would accomplish what I wanted to. The rounds of going over the baseboards and the mantle and the moldings and the ceiling over and over and over again. Honestly, the ceiling thing and the amount of fine dust throughout my whole home, the sheetrock dust, because they go on and to get it to level five finish, you got to wait for it to dry.
20:31Alice Merritt:And then
20:31Jess Bennett:you have to come back and sand it and put another coat on.
20:35Alice Merritt:It's pretty disruptive to live through. If you guys are building a home right now, get your ceilings done smooth.
20:42Jess Bennett:Do it then before all of your furniture is in your house.
20:44Alice Merritt:This is also incredibly expensive. I only did two ceilings. I also did my office across the way, which we'll cover in a whole nother podcast. We're just going to do the living room today. And then I ended up just doing an entry ceiling because I think I want to do a mural in that. So I went ahead and floated all the ceilings smooth while I had zip walls off and everything taped off. And this was a week's worth of work for Oscar and his crew. But we did it. We floated him smooth. It allowed us to do the high gloss ceilings. And I'm so glad that we did. It really gives you that wetness. And then against the texture of the grass, that contrast is just so, so amazing.
21:25Alice Merritt:I'm just showing them video. And you guys will have this on your screen, too. This is the painter finally removing all of the covering from the wood windows. to reveal, you know, light and nature outside. And it just finally looks like a window again, but covered in this beautiful teal paint. So my second coat of paint, my first coat was Tropical Oasis. We ended up using a color, one shade down called Fair Isle Blue. And it's a CSP color from Ben Moore. 715 is the shade. So that's what you'll see. And then my ceiling, I use Benjamin Moore farm fresh and it's um numbers af-360 so pretty yeah so so pretty oh it turned out really great
22:08Jess Bennett:i think doing look at how wet that ceiling is yeah i and and that like that the chandelier is
22:15Alice Merritt:on it it is just absolutely like a mirror like it's it's the way it reflects is just so pretty
22:21Jess Bennett:you get more bang for your buck from your fixture in your room yeah yeah it's like it's doing magic
22:26Alice Merritt:tricks for me in there which is so fun I think you made the right call with the high gloss paint on this like rather than doing a lacquer because I don't think you could have gotten the trim in
22:39Jess Bennett:the wall to be as close as they are now with a lacquer because you have to sand that a ton and sanding the grass cloth that's obviously problematic so yeah I definitely think you made the right call yeah looks so good yeah it's it's handsome but it's interesting that's so
22:54Alice Merritt:It's beautiful. It feels like an individual. And I know at one point, Sue, you and I grabbed my sofa cushion to bring it in because I have a blue sofa. And so this needed to look really great with the wall color. Yeah. And they look fantastic together.
23:08Jess Bennett:And I'm glad that it wasn't an exact match. Do you know what I mean? I'm like, that's why it became designer. It's like there's, again, a little bit of attention. It's not an exact match, but it adapted. I imagine it adapted. I haven't seen it live. I know. Since like the second coat Faroe Isle Blue was put on. but I mean don't those walls look like silk no it's incredible oh my gosh yeah I wanted to show
23:30Alice Merritt:this is the sofa um on that fair isle blue color and then this is how the room yellow
23:36Jess Bennett:oh the yellow with the terracotta with the cognac so that's what's been so fun is that
23:42Alice Merritt:is that I have to um I had to like figure out what to put back in the room and everybody's like did you get all new furniture and I was like well no I'm just painting my room and I was like so one of the things was I have these sheer draperies and I've had them in the house for a decade and you know custom drapes are a lot of money and rods and everything else and when I put the white sheer draperies up on these till walls guys it was not good I was like oh no I've got to remake my draperies I might even need to get new window treatments I mean new window coverings made because I have these black linen roller shades.
24:20Alice Merritt:Anyway, I'll just take you guys through this. Hopefully you're watching. So what I decided to do was put all the drapes on the right side, right, justify them, because I have this big white Thomas O 'Brien secretary. Very artistic of you. And the stack next to the Thomas O 'Brien secretary works. So for the moment, I'm going to hang out there and just keep rearranging the furniture. I had this beautiful yellow French chair in my entry way I ended up putting it here so good in my living room you can see the window is cranked open on the left side of the fireplace there and um the yellow chair brought it to life it brought the terracotta ceiling in um focus it played off the orange door and it's like a magic trick in
25:00Jess Bennett:there so color color blocking it's color blocking it is it's color blocking so good yeah so so good this is really funny fun because I'm like look at your the black marble again just back to that
25:13Alice Merritt:mantle like what a win that is marble yeah that didn't it's fun because your old house looks new again and fresh again when you pair it with different things all of this furniture is exactly the same right I've I've taken things out of the entry or out of other rooms and just remixed it but you get this entirely different outcome because of the because of color and because of pairing right even I have these vases on the mantle these ole resin vases and they're navy blue but in this room they become peacock my sofa it pulls the teal from it and adapt to each other guys yeah they really do it's so fun yeah hot damn look and look again add a tree add some greenery yeah that was that's my next takeaway is i've got to go to like tropical tropical cactus and tropicals and just get a really interesting tree i just ran outside and foraged some branches and just put them in in our crystal shell jar fill it up with water and was like I've got to feel something in this corner and um look at our Annie jar I know isn't she cute she's so cute and our Gwen Day bed and I just have a new lease on life now I just go in there and sit and you know what um I asked myself what do I want this room to smell like and right now I've got Antica Pharmacista lush palm and this really does just feel like resort hotel yeah yeah it's giving i cannot tell you how invigorating this has been like just just doing the the absolute opposite of what i had different texture right high gloss instead of dry not white casing no not the white casings like everything feels new and different it's it's wild i feel like a new person i've been like reborn
26:58Jess Bennett:I'm sure like you, when you get dressed in the morning, like, I don't know, just everything changes. It shifts in your mind because you're just like, anything's possible.
27:05Alice Merritt:I'm a teal. I'm a lacquered teal room. Totally. I feel like a different bird. I ran in there Monday morning and I just started playing around with it. And the morning light, this room's really pretty. I think that's another thing to consider is when are you going to use this room? Which is generally in the evening because we work all day, right? Other than on the weekends. But I love how this room looks in the morning. It's really, really pretty.
27:26Jess Bennett:so much more more interestingly with the dark yeah saturated yeah I think so too so I think a
27:33Alice Merritt:few um tips and giveaways would be don't be afraid of dark walls or gloss you gotta do it you gotta try it on it's coming anyway so you can be ahead of it um or you can wait until everybody else is doing it I would also say sample generously um on large patches I ordered so many samples a A lot of samples. So many samples. I was like having an identity crisis. And consider your ceiling too. Consider that. We have so many great, great projects going and the ceilings are such a player.
28:05Jess Bennett:I know. And even you guys, sometimes we have projects that we started in 2020. Okay. And they have a great wallpaper. And I'm like looking at the choice that I made in 2020. It's good. It's safe. And I'm consistently saying we should, we should go bolder on the ceiling. like let's feel something and usually in the clients are usually like yeah let's do it i think
28:25Alice Merritt:it's what makes you look like you hired a designer exactly right yep and you want to do you can do
28:30Jess Bennett:something bold it doesn't need to match exactly actually it shouldn't because otherwise because even the 10 trick it's fine but your shadow like plane is totally different when you like turn it out you know on its head it's gonna it's gonna look different anyway is so deep and dark
28:48Alice Merritt:that that reveal of that lighter ceiling just gave it a freshness. Yeah. You know, in fact, it's called Farm Fresh, which is really funny. It's so cute. Yeah. I love it. And I have to say another takeaway is just like let emotion guide your palate because this is really personal. This process is. And even though it was personal for me, I have to say everybody in my family loves it. Our friend Brett came over who helped with a few of the subs here, and he did not understand the ceiling at all. He was like, oh.
29:21Jess Bennett:Like after or?
29:22Alice Merritt:Yeah, after he didn't like it, which I also think is great. Yeah. Like to have it be polarizing. Like you made an original enough choice that it's polarizing. I think it's fine. It's a conversation. It's interesting. Everything's more interesting in this room now. Yeah. Oh, I'm so excited about this. Okay, let's go. Yeah. Anyway, that's it. Yeah.
29:41Jess Bennett:It's amazing. I'm like super, super stoked for you guys. That's, I mean, seeing Adam, like really excited about it too. I'm like, that's amazing. Like so yeah.
29:51Alice Merritt:You've been all in on it, which is so great. I know. Yeah. It's been really fun. Anyway. Yeah. I'm excited for you guys. If you take on the challenge, if you need any help DM me, cause I just barely went through this. It is, it is an emotional rollercoaster and you really have amygdala hijacked. So I hope you have your own Suzanne Hall on speed dial, a friend to come over and remind you who you are during the process and not to chicken out because the payoff is so, so worth it. So anyway, thank you so much for tuning in and listening. We'll keep you posted as the room continues to graduate into its like final resting space, but it was far enough to take you on the process.
30:29Alice Merritt:A few things before we go, the Alice Lane Summer Collection, Midsummer Collection is available now. So check that out at alicelanehome.com. We have two design services for you. We have a free service, totally complimentary. It's called Home Furnishing Design. This is our team of designers. There's 10 of them. They are so great, all design degrees, and they will help you with the Rolodex of all of the Alice Lane offerings. We have 200 vendors. They're going to get to know you. They're going to get to know your style, and then they are going to be your Disneyland Fast Pass for all things Alice Lane, and they're going to design your room.
31:02Alice Merritt:They're going to render it for you, take your measurements, and really help you get it right. That sectional math is really hard, getting the right size things, the right size rug. They're going to lay it all out in your room dimensions so that you know exactly what to buy. You will die when you see the rooms coming out of this department. And it's completely complimentary using all of our vendors and also the products that Corey and I are developing. And then we have another service, which is Alice Lane Interior Design. Sue, tell them about ALID. Yes, ALID.
31:32Jess Bennett:So we do full homes. So if you are like getting in, thinking about a new build or you want to embark on a big remodel, we can help you. We work with the architect, we do plan development, and we design everything, you know, from your cabinetry to your tile to your paint, you know, whether that be high lacquered or whatever the mood is. We really, we design for the human. And so we'll get to know you really, really well to make sure that this edifice that you're putting on the earth feels like you and your family and accomplishes what you want it to accomplish. So it's really, really fun. And for either of these services, you can go to alisanehome.com and you'll go to the design service tab.
32:08Jess Bennett:And then there's an Alisane interior design. If you're interested in that, you can fill out that application and we'll get back to you. And also you can go to the home furnishings design tab and we'll reach out to you for that as well. So we're anxious to help you. We're taking clients on both ends and we're just so excited. We love interior design and I think you do too. So let's have fun.
32:28Alice Merritt:Yay. Okay, guys, thanks so much for tuning in. We'll catch you next time.
32:43Alice Merritt:Hey, thanks for listening. If you like our show, please leave a five-star rating.
33:01Jess Bennett:I just want to give you the space to process it, Michael said. Elena paused. I don't think I want to see anybody else. This is the love story of real hinge couple Elena and Michael, written and read by me, Raven Smith. Listen to the free audiobook now.
From the publisher
Thinking of repainting a room but stuck on choosing the right color? In this episode of the Dear Alice Interior Design Podcast, Jess Bennett walks us through her personal interior makeover process — from color indecision to bold design choices that brought her space to life. Whether you're planning a full room redesign or just refreshing your walls, this episode is packed with practical tips and modern inspiration.
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