• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header left navigation
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • about
    • services
    • team
  • portfolio
  • press
Annie Elliott Design, Washington DC

Annie Elliott Design

Greater Washington DC

  • book
  • blog
  • contact

I painted my office this weekend! Benjamin Moore’s Ice Blue

Annie Elliott | October 13, 2009

A three-day weekend loomed, and bossy color‘s world headquarters was in desperate need of an overhaul. This may be hard to follow, but stay with me…

It all started with the living room drapes. Sigh.


There they are, on the left. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with these drapes ever since I bought them 4 years ago. Objectively, I love them. In this room, I never really made them work.

But that’s another story.

Right now, all you need to know is that I finally decided to have these lovely, oversized drapes cut down into into two pairs for my office. It’s happening as we speak. I’m really excited about it.

For those to work, though, I needed a new wall color. Here’s where we started:


(Oh my gosh – here’s a BEFORE before picture, from right when we moved in, I’d forgotten about that oranger-than-thou accent wall. It didn’t last long.)

Back to the recent before –


Hard to believe this is where the magic happens, isn’t it? Embarrassing.


I wanted a paint color that would make that wonderful light green fabric – Beacon Hill‘s Florian, color Ming – look a little edgy. I’ve been loving the whole Robin’s egg blue color craze, so I tested some of those.

Benjamin Moore’s 2052-70 Ice blue won out. It was between that and 2051-60 Bird’s Egg, but I thought the lighter color ultimately would be better with the drapes. Let’s hope.

Anyway, no need to depend on the kindness of strangers when family’s coming into town :) Here’s my dad, handy with the tape…


…and my brother James (er, Jimmy Riot)…


And me, of course…


Yeah, yeah. Just get me another Diet Coke, wouldja?


Aaaaannnnd the reveal. The close-to-finished product, bossy color’s new and improved world headquarters, which willl be even MORE improved by the installation of the drapes in a few weeks.



Aahh. The office will never be this tidy again, so please take a good long look.


And stay tuned.


Note, added 10/14/09: I used Aura paint for this project and had, for the first time, an odd experience with little paint “crumbs” – dried flecks of paint getting caught in the roller and making it onto the walls. Odd. I asked about it on Benjamin Moore’s Facebook page, so I’ll see what they say…

Category: Color + paint colorTag: 2052-70, before and after, Benjamin Moore, Ice Blue, makeover, office

Sidebar

Subscribe

 

Bossy Color Blog

Categories

  • Art + accessories »
  • Bedroom »
  • Color + paint color »
  • Dining room »
  • Furniture + upholstery »
  • Kids »
  • Kitchen + bath »
  • Lighting »
  • Living Room + Family Room »
  • Renovation »
  • Rugs »
  • Wallpaper »
  • Window treatments »

View Portfolio

view Bossy Color's portfolio

Instagram

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Sep 10

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 17906571285498443
Pink, green, and a splash of dark orange come together to create this sunny, summery bedroom 🪷

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Sep 9

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 18104009318233584
It’s Wallpaper Wednesday! This week, feast your eyes on @timorous_beasties Fruit Looters. TB claims that William Morris’s Strawberry Thief pattern inspired Fruit Looters, but only the name indicates the connection: Strawberry Thief, Fruit Looters…get it? Whereas Morris’s iconic pattern is medium-scale, rhythmic, 2-D, cartoon-like, and muted, Fruit Looters is the opposite in every way but subject matter. The scale is huge, with the foliage “stripes” providing a geometric order, and it oozes TB’s trademark edginess. The crisp pattern is finely drawn; pull it apart, and each element — a flower, a bird — could be in an English botanical print. Fruit Looters comes in vivid, saturated colorways, some with a metallic sheen, and dramatic black is present in all.Recently, a client (who originally introduced me to Timorous Beasties!) and I used Fruit Looters wallpaper in her stairwell, in the Alabaster colorway. The drama. Oh, the drama!

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Aug 27

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 18339370936281789
SO much fun to create this entertainment space! This client already had a living room and kitchen…this space is for friends and family to relax, talk, and just BE. What’s your favorite feature?

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Aug 26

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 18618812233051872
Happy Wallpaper Wednesday! There’s no better paper to feature in August than Schumacher’s Citrus Garden 🍋 🍊.The Swedish designer, artist, and architect Josef Frank created the Citrus Garden pattern as a fabric in 1947. The hand-drawn, whimsical, quintessentially mid-century, irresistibly cheerful design exemplifies Frank’s philosophy: “The freer the pattern, the better.” I’ve used Citrus Garden fabric a few times, but shockingly, the pattern wasn’t on wallpaper until 2017!! 🤯 Deprived for so long!! As soon as the opportunity arises, I’m running, not walking, to get my hands on this wallpaper.@schumacher_midatlantic 📸 @angieseckinger

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Aug 19

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 17979208500097924
All of a sudden, novelty accent lamps are EVERYWHERE! Some are cute, some are…inadvisable ;) If you just can’t resist a lamp in the shape of a snail, my latest blog post has recommendations for proceeding responsibly💡

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Aug 12

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 18109874522009739
Happy Wallpaper Wednesday! Let’s talk about Cole & Son’s Acquario, shall we?Iconic Italian artist Piero Fornasetti designed Acquario for Cole & Son in the early 2010s. He was going through an ocean phase, captivated by its mysterious depths 🐠, so he developed this fish design and put it first on plates and fabrics, and then, luckily for us, on wallpaper. We just installed Acquario in the Print Room Blue colorway in a client’s tiny practice room (he plays classical guitar), and we LOVE it! That big old blowfish, just gliding along…he kills me.Featuring: @cole_and_son_wallpapers @fornasetti

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Aug 9

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 18436273279134156
Green, light blue, and a touch of navy come together to create a room that's bright, welcoming, and incredibly summery 🥰 🥰 🥰 #interiordesign #summercolors

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Aug 7

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 18065703698744445
Given that my brain is still on an academic calendar 🤷‍♀️ , I thought I'd do a little review and see which blog posts resonated with you the most in 2025-26. Who knew that a post from 2011 (!!!) is still in the top 5! Click over to the post to to see the year’s greatest hits. #interiordesign #designinspo

annieelliottdesign

View Instagram post by annieelliottdesign

Jul 24

Open post by annieelliottdesign with ID 18007861235943398
Get ready for a dramatic before and after! We transformed a playroom into a dining room, and the result is pretty amazing. (But still fun!) #wallpaper #interiordesign #diningroominspo
Follow

Looking for something?

Don’t miss a single post

 

Where classic and modern hang out and drink gin.

  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
American Society of Interior Designers Firm Partner

© 2026 · Annie Elliott Design · privacy policy