It’s the Holy Grail of paint color – the Pantone wall of honorable hues! There it was, the first thing I saw as I walked into the Lowe’s in Waxhaw, North Carolina, PANTONE COLORS!!!!

I was armed with my iPad 4 that happened to have a beautiful lime green cover  and I started snapping away in the Paint Department! My daughter was with me and she said, “Really Mom? You’re embarrassing me!” Not two minutes later I spotted her looking at the colors and the paint names. She even picked out one for her room. “Sorry kid, we’re hunting for color today not picking out a paint color for your room.” What? I’m not mean, she already had a gorgeous color in her room, it’s Guava Jam by Behr. Click on the link and you’ll see. Can I mention Behr in Lowe’s post? Oh well.

So it was very hard to try to pick just one color to look at because they were all so beautiful and bright! My transition glasses started turning dark from all the brightness 🙂

Of course I went for the purple which just happened to be Beaujolais which is a very tasty color, if you know what I mean. After wiping the drool from my lip, we continued on to the Decor Department of Lowe’s.  The Decor Department always gives me the creeps because of that horrible blind cutting machine. You know the one that sounds like it’s cutting a concrete slab in a blender? By the way, did I tell you I used to work at Lowe’s AND Home Depot way back in the day? Yes, in the Paint, Decor, Kitchen and Flooring Departments so I am officially an Expert in just about every department in Lowe’s and Home Depot – and have all those crazy pins too – here are just a few I kept:

Ok, brag time is over now back to color. So I’m in the Decor Department when I noticed the monster machine was not on so I proceed to the curtains.

Here I found some super cute and colorful curtains for a girls room. My daughter said, “Mom, what girl would put those curtains in her room?’ Oh my young Grasshopper child, you’d be surprised. And she shot me the look.

So not only did I find super cute curtains for a girls room but then my mind when back to the paint department to virtually coordinate a paint color to go with these curtains. Of course there’s Cosmic Berry which I believe is STILL the number one paint color for a girls room – or at least by now, in the top ten.

Conveniently located right across from the Decor Department is the Flooring Department. I was first bombarded with a deluge of beige! I held my chin up high and walked right through it. Once I found this carpet board, I was able to breathe again. All was back to normal.

Although it was refreshing to see an assortment of colors much like digging into a jar of jelly beans, I was wondering how often they made a sale on purple carpeting? Not too often as I recall from my carpet selling days … beige …beige …beige …beige was it. Look how pretty that Grape Jam color is? If you had a gray wall, this would be the carpet for you!

The flooring department also includes tile. Look what I found just steps away!!!! Yes, this was a great board to put on an end cap. Very awesome if you ask me, I mean really, look at my face! So fun oh and please don’t judge my outfit, after all, it was evening hours and I’m in Lowe’s. Nuff said.

Then came the ugliness. See the thumbs down? Yes, thumbs down on most of the area rugs hanging in this isle. Are they 100% wrong? No of course not but they are the very typical and safe colors and styles that you’ll see in  most homes. Think outside the box when it comes to choosing your decor. There are beautiful things lurking in Lowe’s you just have to find them – and I’m going to help you!

Having said that, look what I found! It’s a thumbs up! I found a runner that had some great color and a fairly cute pattern on it. This was a good sign.

But … here’s the BIG love! Look at this area rug! I couldn’t contain myself and had to love on it. Great color, perfect size for most of the living rooms or dining room or even a bedroom. There is so much you can do with your decor if you choose neutrals in an area rug. Now I’m not talking a boring solid beige that really does nothing for a home but colors that are trendy and a pattern that catches your eye. Buy this one and tell them Donna Frasca recommended it 🙂

So that was my adventure for a Tuesday night at the local Lowe’s. I have so many more great finds but will share them with you in my next post. If you need help decorating your home, let me know! If you’re local to South Charlotte then I can come to your home. If not, I have a great virtual service that is just the cats meow.