Color Drenched Pink Playroom Reveal

Safe to say, I love it.

It’s been a few months since I completed my last DIY home upgrade, so naturally I got the itch to do another. This time, the play room was my target, and I decided it was the perfect space to try out the viral color drenching trend.

This small room is located directly off of our living room at the front of our house. It previously functioned as my home office, until about six months ago when I realized that converting it to a play room was a far better use of the space. Toys, stuffed animals, and kids craft supplies had slowly started taking over the other rooms of our house, and since I work part-time now anyways, the office wasn’t getting much use anymore.

The room hadn’t received much of an update since the transition was made. The walls definitely needed a new coat of paint, and the room felt cluttered as I had some leftover office furniture still kicking around in there. Once I realized I wanted to give the space a facelift, next steps became immediately clear. I decided to finally give the viral color drenching trend a try. The color? Pink, of course.

Our oldest daughter is obsessed with pink. A true girls girl, despite my desperate attempts at being a sad beige mom. So, I knew that I had to make her wildest dreams come true and paint the room pink. Plus, with two little girls in the home, the idea of creating a cute girly play room for them was just too hard to pass up.

It’s now been a month since I first completed the project, and I’m ready to spill all my thoughts, tips, and recommendations. Here is my honest review of the color drenching trend, plus before and after pics of the completed play room.

What is Color Drenching?

Color drenching is the process of swathing an entire room in a singular paint color to create a cozy and inviting interior. Typically, this involves painting the walls, ceiling, trim, and any molding the same color. Since I’m constantly covering interior design topics and news, the color drenching trend has been fresh on my mind. This trend has seemingly taken over the design world over the past year or so.

Before & After

So, after vigorous color swatching and polling my Instagram followers in my stories, I settled on the shade Intimate White by Sherwin Williams (SW 6322). I have to give Meag from Home with Meag a shoutout for the initial color suggestion here. While I was skeptical at first thinking I wanted a darker, moodier shade, her recommendation ended up being spot-on, and I’m glad I went with it. Thanks, Meag!

I wish I had better “before” pictures of the room, but I’m notoriously bad at remembering to take them since I tend to jump into projects head first. In any case, this small room off our main living space still featured remnants of my home office – from the large bookshelf to the piles of DIY supplies on every surface. The walls were painted in the color Swiss Coffee by Behr. The built-in wardrobe in the corner of the room was matte black, which I painted when we first moved in, and I was definitely ready to say goodbye to the dark shade.

If I’m being honest, the thing I loved the MOST about this trend is how easy it was to do. No need to use painter’s tape or carefully cut-in your edges. Since the same color is going everywhere, you don’t need to worry too much about being neat and tidy.

Tips and Takeaways

I learned a few things while trying the color drenching painting technique for the first time. Here are my biggest takeaways.

Choose your color carefully

Picking the perfect color took longer than actually painting, seriously. I spent weeks looking at the color swatches, asking friends and family for input, and going back to the store to get more samples to swatch. While it was an arduous process, I’m glad I took the time to mull the decision over. It left me 100% confident in my choice. I thought I’d choose a moodier shade, but ultimately I ended up with one of the lightest options, and I’m glad I did.

Many of the designers I speak to for my work love using dark, moody shades for color drenching. While I don’t disagree, in the end, a darker color just wasn’t right for this space. My biggest concern was that the room comes directly off our living room/main entryway, and we removed the door so you can always see into the space. Our living room has a pretty neutral color palette, so a dark color drenched room directly off of it would’ve immediately drawn attention.

This lighter color isn’t as shocking and blends nicely with the neutral colors in the living room. I used decor to further tie the two rooms together. For example, the hints of blue in the play room match the blue in our living room’s area rug.

Use different paint finishes throughout

One tip for color drenching that I learned from my work as an interiors writer is that it’s best to use different paint finishes throughout your space just as you would when applying paint normally. For example, using flat finishes for the ceiling versus eggshell finishes for the walls and semi-gloss or gloss finishes for the trim/molding.

This small difference in paint sheen may not seem like a lot, but I swear it makes a difference. Since it’s a small room, I ended up using the eggshell finish paint for the walls and ceiling so I wouldn’t be left with a bunch of extra flat sheen paint. However, I did buy a sample pot of Intimate White in semi-gloss for the trim. Even though it’s almost impossible to notice unless you’re looking for it, I think it does provide a bit of contrast and distinction between the walls and trim, making it look more dimensional.

Curate your decor to match

Evidently, I did more than just paint the walls for this play room transformation. Once I decided color drenching was the way to go, I knew I had to update the decor too (and let’s be honest, the space was begging for it).

Color drenching is very on-trend right now, but it’s certainly not new. This paint technique is a perfect example of the phrase “what’s old is new again.” It is often associated with traditional-style interiors, which I leaned into with the decor. Brushed brass and gold, intricate details, and vintage accents can be found throughout the room. The light fixture, hardware, window treatments, artwork, and shelf decor are among the items I swapped out to help update the space.

That said, this play room makeover was definitely done on a budget! The artwork was purchased from Etsy and then printed off, I picked up the vintage gold-colored frame off the side of the road, the dollhouse was a free Facebook marketplace score, the pink toy box is another DIY makeover I’m in the middle of, and the hardware and curtain rod was purchased from Amazon.

Color Drenching: The Final Verdict

After all is said and done, I love the final result. It turned out way better than I expected, and paired with the convenience of the color drenching method, I couldn’t be happier. I’m definitely leaning into a vintage-inspired aesthetic for the playroom which feels natural with this look.

The effect is actually less dramatic in-person than I expected it to be. This is likely partly due to the fact that I chose a light color. I’m sure if I’d gone with a moodier shade the impact would be more intense.

However, I’m happy that the color drenching isn’t the first thing you notice when you walk in the space. Especially since I haven’t applied this painting technique anywhere else in our home. I was worried it would stick out compared to the rest of the house, but so far I don’t feel that’s the case – even with the playroom coming directly off the living room.

I think that’s the beauty of this technique. When applied correctly, its effect is elegant and understated, lending a serene and calming sophistication without overwhelming a space. If you’re on the fence about giving this interior design trend a try, I say go for it!

I Tried the Viral Color-Drenching Trend, Here Are My Honest Thoughts