The Inside Man | Presented by Valspar Paint and Apartment Therapy

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5 Simple Projects from Valspar Paint

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Looking for a home improvement project you can finish in a weekend or even an afternoon? Here are five, all of them pulled straight from our recent Inside Man program with Valspar Paint, where we used color to transform one room in the homes of five guys across the country.

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Fall Colors from Valspar Paint

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Nature can be one of the best places to find color inspiration, and fall is is a great time to look for it. Rich reds, golden yellows, and deep greens are everywhere. Valspar Paint is ready to help you turn those inspirations into reality with five palettes for fall.

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Helpful How-Tos from Valspar Paint
Check Out Our New Site!

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Did you know that Valpar Paint has a brand new website? All the Valspar Color Collections are now online, and you can search for specific color chips by name or number. What's more, there are several new features, including helpful how-tos for everything from prepping trim to reusing old paint tools.

Thinking Outside the Gallery: Art from Everyday Items
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This summer, we've focused in on men's style at home - from furniture and lighting to room makeovers. Looking back over the posts we noticed some stylish artwork ideas from these featured guy's homes that are made from everyday items — giving you a two-for-one shot of goodness — nice looking wall decor AND a budget friendly solution.

Decorating With Bold Colors
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The spaces Maxwell has revamped for Inside Man have all had a major factor in common: bold color. Is is undoubtedly easier and safer to decorate in neutrals — but fear shouldn't determine the aesthetics of your home! Color can transform a room, making it brighter or cozier, more cheerful or more sophisticated, and it can be a cheap fix for a 'blah' interior.

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Inside Man Q & A's
We're Here to Help with your Decor Dilemmas

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Q: I have an open loft and I need to get a dining table that can double as an office area. I also want it to be useful for cocktail parties, and maybe even be able to have a sit-down dinner party at some point. I want something that can work as both a desk and a table and won't look awkward. Can you point me towards some good options? - Sent from Paul in Chicago

And the Readers' Favorite Room Is…
The Inside Man

Earlier this week, I asked readers which of the five "Inside Man" room re-dos they liked best, so now it's time to reveal your favorite. Envelope, please. And the "winner" is… drumroll…

Joseph Dirand's Cool, Calm, & Collected Style
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There are people who have a sense of style that's unmistakably cool — someone like Jack Kerouac in the 50s or Miles Davis in the 60s. I think of Joseph Dirand as the interior design equivalent of coolness for the current decade. The Parisian designer combines mid-century influences with forms that pull from varied 21st century references — everything from technology to bikes to tailored menswear.

Collections Compartmentalized: Hidden Organization
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We often say that organizing is an art form, and in these cases that's never been more evident. Here's a handful of artists and designers whose work easily proves that hiding collections away in a perfect package can be just as artful as putting them on display.

Vote for Your Favorite Room Re-do!
The Inside Man

How time flies! You may remember that way back in May we put out a call to guys around the country who needed help with one room. We then chose five guys, and I set out on a cross-country trip in June to visit with each one, write them a prescription and set in motion a COMPLETE Apartment Therapy makeover. Now it's September and all the work is done. You've probably seen all five final photographs roll out over the past month, but now I want to know which job you like best? (See them all, with links, below the jump.) Which Inside Man are you?

Men in Pink
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Like just the right pink shirt, pink can be a great decor color for men, too. It's actually a beautiful color on walls (makes your skin look great) and can complement neutral browns and grays quite nicely:

From the Guys: Collections on Display from Our Archives
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If there's one things we've learned here at Apartment Therapy, it's that examples of real homes provide infinitely more inspiration than anything we could show you from a magazine or stylist. We also know that this month we are celebrating all things art and collections. So, we dove into our House Tour archives to find the homes of some incredibly stylish men and their ideas for displaying collections.

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The Big Reveal! James' Treehouse Bedroom
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Name: James Omedo
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Style: Cool, calm bedroom

We've come a long way together, and finally we've arrived at the smallest room and the only bedroom in this summer's bunch.

James' room has a very straightforward use of color (reverse accent wall people!), and the Valspar Paint color we went with was, to my mind, a great choice for a calm, but romantic bedroom. James and his wife have a very young son, Elliot, and they've got their hands full, so they wanted a modern, clean space that they could relax in.

Masculine Botanicals? Plant Inspired Patterns
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We all instinctively know what patterns are typically "masculine," whether it's plaid, striped, or … well, that might be it. But doesn't anyone want to challenge those narrow boundaries of gender propriety? Men are gardeners, landscape architects, naturalists and outdoorsmen of all kinds — it's hardly a stretch to bring images of verdant nature indoors. After all, there is nothing inherently feminine about leaves and flowers, is there? Here is a roundup of floral and botanical patterns for the green-thumbed guy.

Masculine & Stylish Sleeper Sofas
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Small studio apartment dwellers, the residents of one bedroom apartments who have lots of out of town visitors and those whose simply have a home office that doubles as a guest room now and then might all eventually find themselves shopping for a sofa bed. There are plenty of important things to consider when making a choice (price, quality, mattress comfort) but that doesn't mean that some serious style has to take a back seat.

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The Inside Man

Nothing against Decorator's White or Swiss Coffee, but Valspar Paint's commitment to style leads them to develop the kind of colors that convey a more personal, sophisticated, and yes, masculine point of view. By joining forces with Apartment Therapy and the GQ Design Group, Valspar created a home style super group. So fold up your futons and hide your beer posters. Valspar and the Inside Men are here.

Explore Valspar Colors

Paint-can Color instantly transforms a room. Check in with the pros at Valspar Paint and learn how paint can inject personal style into your space.

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This summer, Maxwell went offline and got on the road, traveling across the country to help five guys re-design one room in their home and add some amazing color. Check out the results of his room re-dos from the East Coast, Midwest, Southeast, Southwest, and West Coast.

Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan

is an interior designer, author and the founder of Apartment Therapy, originally an interior design service and now a network of blogs devoted to helping people make their homes beautiful, organized, and healthy. Maxwell and his brother launched ApartmentTherapy.com in 2004. The network now includes five sites — ApartmentTherapy.com, TheKitchn.com, Ohdeedoh.com, Unplggd.com, Re-Nest.com — reaching over 4 million unique readers per month.

Brett Fahlgren

helps guide men's fashion choices through comprehensive style tips and one-on-one personal shopping consultations. Brett's connections with top menswear designers and fashion editors make him a go-to resource among celebrities and professional athletes. In addition to his role as GQ's Style Correspondent, Brett has also hosted and produced GQ's Milan Fashion Report.

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Submit a Question

Every other week, we're posting Q&As from Apartment Therapy readers about men's color conundrums and style questions. From sofas with cup holders to brilliant bachelor pads, we're focusing on the decor dilemmas men often bring to us. Send in a question.