HGTV Dream Home / HGTV HOME™ By Sherwin-Williams Renovation Blog!

I had the wonderful opportunity to partner with HGTV HOME™ by Sherwin-Williams this year in Gig Harbor, Washington! In case you missed the Instagram posts and stories… It was an incredible experience exploring the 2018 HGTV Dream Home from start to finish, and I am excited to tell you about it.

First… Let me tell you a little about me… This will help set some context around this opportunity and help you understand why it has been so meaningful to me –

For me, proximity to salt water is everything. Simply being able to see or smell the salty sea can fill my body and soul with a calming and peaceful energy. It grounds me in a powerful way that I have not experienced anywhere else. Having grown up just a short hour away from the Oregon Coast, I found myself there more and more as I understood how powerfully it connected with me – until I was there nearly every weekend. I would spend hours hiking coastline trails and relaxing on the beaches with our family dog, Toula. You may remember her from some of my earliest Instagram posts! 

When my wife, our animals, and I moved to Olympia, Washington 2.5 years ago, I was thrilled to know that salt water was going to be closer to me than ever. The Puget Sound is now just a few short miles from our home. In fact, we only take one turn out of our neighborhood to get there. We spend time along the harbor nearly every weekend and love getting out on the water in kayaks with our dog, Evergreen. There have been quite a few times I have gone down there just to take a deep breath of salty air and relax. There is a song that I love that says “Salt is in my bones, and water in my veins…”, and I think that could easily have been written about me. I could honestly write pages about the way it makes me feel and the powerful emotions it provokes – but I think you understand where I am coming from. I like it. A lot. It means a lot.

Being just a short drive away from Gig Harbor, this gorgeous little town quickly became a favorite place for a day trip. A lot of Gig Harbor can be pulled straight from my childhood (and current) dreams… Especially the homes. And I would know… I was the kid who literally asked for a subscription to Coastal Living Magazine as a gift. It is a quiet, quaint, character-filled, waterfront harbor town. Sailboats and kayaks float past you from the downtown docks and you can find uncrowded beaches on the outskirts. Watching sunsets along the water or grabbing dinner with a view… It’s incredibly picturesque.

So, take all of that… and add the 22nd annual HGTV Dream Home 2018 to the mix. We are talking about the most beautifully built and designed homes of all time. Incredibly talented architects, designers, artists, builders, painters, decorators, and more…. Combined with the best materials, paint, furniture, accessories, and artwork. Right on the salty shores of Gig Harbor. It doesn’t get much better than this!

Pulling into the driveway, I could obviously tell we were in for something special. Even the garage had a gorgeous custom chandelier, saltwater views, and thoughtfully placed PNW artwork and charm. I could already feel a sense of calm throughout my body and we had only just taken a few steps onto the property. 

Walking into the living room was the showstopper moment… Floor to ceiling windows looking directly into the Puget Sound, soft and calming colors from the HGTV HOME™ by Sherwin-Williams Quiet Comfort Color Collection, and custom artwork that ties everything together. Who hasn’t dreamt of a room like this? The kitchen and dining area were all a part of this large, open space. It was easy to say that at this point… I was already inspired. 

Each of the bedrooms had unique design elements, color choices, and artwork on the walls. I loved how eclectic and fun the artwork could seem, yet it all came together in such perfect ways. I was somewhat surprisingly inspired most by the soft pink Quaint Peche color.. It felt like a true light and calming coastal color… Which is very, very me. But more on that soon…

As you can imagine, the bathrooms were perfectly designed and decorated as well. From a chandelier made with nautical rope and a soaker tub… To this perfectly placed ceramic deer and Edison light bulbs… Everything was so calm, relaxing, and peaceful.

There were small, quiet sections throughout the home filled with comfortable furniture and pillows. Places that you would simply want to sit with a cup of coffee and read a book… For hours.  I was particularly inspired by these as well – as it is something I could easily see myself enjoying. 

And I am not sure there is much that needs to be said about the outdoor space. Just, Wow. It was absolutely stunning. All I could hear were seagulls and small waves washing up along the shore. There was a fire pit, dining area, grass, and even a small dog house! Evergreen would have appreciated that. You could take steps down to the beach or enjoy a more intimate moment with the small table and chairs that was set up on a platform in between the home and the shore. Any of those options sounded alright to me.  

Now, there are quite a few parts of the home not pictured here. If I were to showcase the entire house, I would honestly need dozens of photos to do it any kind of justice. Every nook and cranny of this home was beautiful and tasteful. The design and colors flowed from one room to the next and as I have said quite a few times now, this filled me with a great deal of inspiration. So much so, that we decided to take on a home renovation project of our own so that we could incorporate some of our favorite elements in our own home!!

My wife and I bought our 1930’s historic home in Olympia, Washington about 2.5 years ago. We absolutely love the historic charm found throughout the home. As with many older homes though… It has needed some work and updating. We have been hard at work over the last few years and knew that up next, we would tackle our front living room and dining room! Using my favorite colors from the HGTV Dream Home 2018, Quaint Peche (HGSW2077) and Snowbound (HGSW4062), which are a very soft pink and soft white, we started creating our own “Dream Home”.

What I love about HGTV HOME™ by Sherwin-Williams (available at Lowe’s!) is that they offer different designer-inspired Color Collections. Each Color Collection has 20 colors that go together in any combo, which makes it easy to create a cohesive look in your house. The Quiet Comfort Color Collection in particular uses soft and tranquil hues to create a peaceful home. This is exactly the look we’re going for.

We sought to transform what was a dark and uninviting part of our home, into our own little oasis; filled with design elements that tied both rooms together, artwork on our walls that represented us… With a calm coastal feeling, as though there were saltwater views out of our windows as well. 

We loved the ceramic deer from the HGTV Dream Home bathroom and incorporated one into our dining room. We also loved the idea of having a quiet corner to simply read a book and relax and created our own! The Dream Home rooms flowed so well from one to the next that it was almost seamless. Finding some items like this woodwork by Nick Terrel helped us achieve that same kind of feeling too. 

We kept some of the walls very simple but also created our own mini-collage of photos and artwork that was inspired by the collections within the HGTV Dream Home; incorporating a few of our favorite things. 

We found small items like pillows, blankets, and photos (yes, I had the same exact pink in my wedding tie! No wonder I felt drawn to that color…) that helped blend the two together rooms even further.

And our big front bay window seems to let in more light now than ever. 

Evergreen even helped with the decorating… Until of course exhaustion kicked in. 

What we ended up with was an incredibly beautiful, calming space that will forever remind me of when I first walked into the Gig Harbor Dream Home. It is a wonderful thing to find such a great deal of comfort within your own home, and we are so grateful for that. We have already found ourselves spending more time in these rooms, wanting to entertain, and especially wanting to tell the story behind the renovations. From start to finish, this was a wonderful experience and opportunity and we couldn’t be more thrilled to now enjoy our own little slice of paradise.  

Thank you to everyone who made this possible!

-pnwonderland