Color Drenching With Alabaster: Our French Country Interior Paint Strategy

Introduction: The “Fresh Paint” Feeling

There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh primer to make a construction site feel like a home. This week, the painting crew arrived to get to work on our interior—and let me tell you, when you’re dealing with 18-foot ceilings, you are so incredibly glad you hired the pros!

We decided to have the crew prime the entire interior, including the garage. We saved a little bit of room in our budget by having them stop at the primer stage in the garage for now—we’ll tackle the final coat there ourselves later, and Larry and I are planning to DIY the epoxy floor coating together. It’s a great way to put our own hands into the build while keeping our costs in check!

The Color Drenching Strategy

For the interior, we decided to pivot from our bold exterior and try something soft and soothing: Color Drenching. We’re painting the ceilings, trusses, walls, doors, and trim all in one beautiful, creamy shade: Sherwin-Williams Alabaster.

I went back and forth for weeks on whether or not I should keep the trusses black to make them “pop,” but I ultimately decided to drench them in Alabaster, too. Painting them the same color as the ceiling makes the high ceilings feel even grander and softer, rather than chopping up the room visually. To keep it from looking “flat,” our painters are using different sheens—flat for the ceilings, eggshell for the walls, and semi-gloss for the trim and doors. It gives the room subtle depth without competing with our furniture.

Why Neutral Works

Because we’re keeping the “shell” of the house neutral and airy, we have the freedom to really have fun with our cabinet and countertop colors, which will be installed in just a few weeks. I am bursting at the seams to reveal those choices to you! Choosing a neutral base gives us the ability to layer in textures and warmer tones, keeping the whole house feeling like a calm, French Country retreat.

We still have a few months to go, but walking through the primed rooms, I can finally see the finish line. We are so much closer than we were at the start of the year!