Behr Marquee Launch and a California House Tour

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Behr paint. In fact, earlier this year I made my love for them even more official when I joined their “DIY Expert” team and began bringing you monthly projects done with their oh-so-fabulous Marquee line of paint. Marquee has been available online and in select stores for a while now, but just this month the Marquee line launched into the majority of stores across the US, making it more readily available for everyone to try. To help celebrate the launch, Behr DIY Experts and other bloggers and media gurus from across the country gathered at Behr’s headquarters in southern California for a weekend of fun, and I was so delighted to be a part of that amazing group.

Getting to California from my home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was quite the adventure in itself. Donnie is the travel wiz in our family, so he is typically the one that orchestrates our trips, and I rarely travel without him. I was a little nervous, but he assured me that I could do it, and off I went in the wee hours of the morning to catch my flight. Imagine my delight, then, when I ran into my friend Amy from The Blissful Bee during my layover in Dallas! She was headed to NYC for an event with Better Homes and Gardens, I was headed to Orange County, and we were only one gate apart! Talk about a small world!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

{Look at how cute she is! And clearly I am sporting my “I have been up since 3:30 am and have been traveling all day” look. Don’t judge. 😉 }

My day got even more delightful when I arrived in California and was greeted at the airport by my sweet, sweet friend Chelsea from Making Home Base! She and her adorable daughter made the trek up to visit me at last minute’s notice, and I was beyond thrilled to get to spend the afternoon with them. We checked out the area, we ate yummy food, and we eventually made our way back to my hotel so I could check in.

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Love this girl!

And speaking of the hotel… have I ever mentioned that my hubby is obsessed with travel points? My hubby is obsessed with travel points. Because of this, we are in all sorts of “clubs” and “membership programs,” and when I checked in, the sweet girl at the desk said to me, “Oh, I see you’re part of our blah blah blah program, so I gave you a free upgrade.” So let me just say that a normal room at this particular hotel was extremely gorgeous, so the upgrade was out of this world! It was seriously bigger than my first one bedroom apartment. Amazing. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you probably saw my little Flipagram video, but here is are a few pics in case you missed it:

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

And the area surrounding the hotel wasn’t too shabby either 😉 :

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

But anyway, onto the reason I came to California in the first place! Our first stop with Behr the night we arrived in California was to visit the Sunset Magazine Idea House. Behr supplied the paint for the entire interior of his gorgeous house in Manhattan Beach, and it certainly was a beautiful testament to their amazing paint! Sunset Magazine’s goal with their idea house each year is to showcase trends for decor and design in the local area, and as you’ll see the house is extremely representative of California style– modern, light, sleek, and stunning!

There’s a lot to see, and this post is getting long already, so I’ll try to keep the commentary to a minimum and just let you gaze at the lovely house! Here’s what we saw when we pulled up:

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Gorgeous, right?! And that was just the first look. Let’s head inside…

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

I was in love with the dining room table, and that high ceiling was just fab!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

Just off the dining room was this cozy little lounge area. You can see the small butler’s pantry area as well.

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

The office– so cozy and truly California-esque!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

I see so many white kitchens in blogland, and I adore them, but I loved seeing this dark kitchen that feels fresh and welcoming. And that backsplash– swoon!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

You always hear home decor people say “get the furniture off the walls,” and I think this living room is a prime example of how following that rule really makes a room look cozy and inviting!

Heading outside…

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

Comfy seating area and ah-mazing pool!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Another view of the pool from the master bedroom deck. We heard that the Duck Dynasty family owned the house behind the pool and that they were considering buying the idea house as their guest house! {Don’t quote me on that. That’s just the rumor! 😉 }

And speaking of the master bedroom…

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

It’s pretty incredible! Love that light fixture!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

And the master bath… we could have had a party in there since it was so big!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

I think this may have been my favorite room in the house. It was designed as a “retreat” for the mom in the house {oh so that’s why I love it… 😉 }, and I just fell in love with the moody, cozy vibe. The walls are painted with Behr Marquee’s Naturalism, and now I think I need to find a way to incorporate that color into my house!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

The playroom was another favorite. That mural is fabulous– it was super textured and really added a lot to the room.

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

And you know this second bedroom was right up my alley… aqua, chevron, and tons of beautiful texture? Yes, please!

Needless to say, It was a completely amazing night, and what made it even better was getting to spend it with these incredible people:

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Photo: BehrPaint

From L-R: Mandy {Sugar Bee Crafts}, Kate {Catching Up with Kate}, Lindsey {The Pleated Poppy}, Christina {The Frugal Homemaker}, Caylin, Jennifer, Jennifer {Clean and Scentsible}, Debra, Amanda {Small Home Big Start}, Kim {Newly Woodwards}, Robin {All Things Heart and Home}, Liz {Liz Marie Blog}, me!

And just when I thought the visit couldn’t get any better, it did. We spent all day Thursday touring the Behr facility, learning everything from how they choose and name the colors, to how they formulate the paint, to the science behind it, and we even got to see paint actually being made, packaged, and shipped off to Home Depots around the country!

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

From top left: The beautiful Behr Marquee color display {look for it at your local Home Depot!}; Paul the painter demonstrating Marquee’s one coat coverage (Most amazing painter ever. We were all trying to figure out how we could get him to come to our houses to paint!); The tools the pros use!; Color swatches in Color Marketing– pretty pretty!}

Behr Experience | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

(c) Behr

We even got to do a craft (painting picture frames) with the Marquee paint– so fun!

After a yummy dinner at Watertable, the restaurant at our hotel, and a quick walk around Huntington Beach the next morning, we headed home. I almost got stuck in Dallas due to an issue with our plane, but I made it home eventually! 🙂

Clearly it was an awesome trip! I already loved Behr paint, but seeing the passion of the people behind it and how much love and pride goes into making it, I am sold for life. If you’re interested in seeing projects done with Behr’s new line of Marquee paint, check out my living room, master bathroom, entry, and desk— love!

I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour of the Sunset Magazine Idea House! Come back tomorrow to check out my fall home tour!!

Delightful Sign Off

15 Comments

  1. Nicole @ simply Nicole says:

    That outdoor space is INSANE. What a gorgeous home! I wish they had homes like that here outside Philadelphia 🙂

  2. Sonya ~At Home with The Barkers says:

    Ok…the paint color Naturalism is fantastic! I’m so jealous that you played with all of those fab paint colors! Thanks for sharing your trip with us Abby! Have a great day ~Sonya

  3. That house is gorgeous! What an awesome opportunity for you 🙂 I probably would have moved in right then and there!

  4. Wow, that is amazing! That sounds like such a fun trip. And what a beautiful house! I think I’m gonna have to convince my hubby that I need a “retreat room for mom” in my house 😉

  5. Fun post and what a great opportunity!!

  6. Kim@NewlyWoodwards says:

    So fun to read your recap – it was such a fun trip and I loved getting to know you better.

  7. That back patio is amazing! I loved watching your trip on Instagram 🙂 I can’t wait to try this paint in our downstairs bathroom!

  8. Selene Galindo says:

    What a fun trip, Abby!! And what a bonus getting to see and spend time with your bloggy friends!

  9. Robin All Things Heart and Home says:

    I loved loved loved meeting you face to face my sweet friend! You are as genuine in person as you are on your beautiful blog~ sending love ox

  10. That looks like an awesome trip! We just painted our entire house in behr and that paint is great! I love all of their colors!

  11. Krista @the happy housie says:

    Oh my! Wow!! What an amazing trip -so cool that you got to tour the Sunset house and see the factory and meet up with all those other fabulous bloggers including Amy and Chelsea!! Yay – what a great time!!

  12. Great post Abby! I get to live the weekend all over again! It was so wonderful meeting you and hope that we will be able to meet up at another event again! xo

    1. justagirlabby says:

      So great to get to meet you too, Jenn! Hopefully we’ll get to do it again sometime! Have a wonderful Sunday!

      ~Abby =)

  13. Marty Walden says:

    Such fun and an amazing house. Wish I could have gone with you gals!

    1. justagirlabby says:

      We missed you, Marty! Hopefully they’ll do another trip sometime… that would be fun! Have a great evening, friend!

      ~Abby =)

Comments are closed.