Done and done.

We are DONE!  For now, at least. We are finished with all of our living spaces (minus touching up the trim here and there). We have a nice little "nook" now, as I like to call it. A cozy little reading corner. All we are missing is an ottoman or someplace to put your feet up for the moment.  Then it will be perfect.

For those that would like to see the "before" picture, here it is: 

I hated this wood paneling with a passion. And then after we painted the first two rooms, Tim says, "Well, what if we just painted over it instead of replacing it?" And my reply was, "It's either gonna be awesome, or really ugly." So we went for the gusto and it turned out to be more than awesome!

How did we pick out a color you may ask? I decided to go with a lighter gray that would match some of the masonry in our fireplace. That way it ties it all together. The new with the old. If you like this paint, it is called "Driftwood Gray" and is part of the Martha Stewart line at Home Depot. Tim did a good job of carrying out my vision here. :) Thank you, Tim.

It may be a few more months before I post any more home improvement pics but I think we have come a long way in a very short time.

If you guys have any questions about this room, or the others we updated, please let me know! We'll be happy to help!  We know that it can be a tricky process.

Complete With Curtains.

Ta da!  And now our living room is complete. Love love love this room. It will be so much (more) fun to entertain in here now. We got the curtains at (surprise!) Lowe's for about $28 per panel. I was impressed with their selection honestly. Lots of different designs, fabrics and price ranges. These are energy-saving panels because it gets drafty in that room. At night when we close the curtains, I can actually feel a difference in the temperature in that room. Totally worth the money. Tim remarked the other day that he felt like we were on one of those HGTV room makeover shows. It's funny but true! It's just such a huge difference in the style of the room that I can't believe it's the same room!


And now for the mini-room makeover.

It's amazing how just painting the walls a different can change a room so much and make it more cohesive.

We are hoping to paint one more room before the holidays so that all of our living areas (minus the kitchen) are more alive and up-to-date. Who wants to bet on what the next color will be?? :)   I'll keep ya posted!

Now All We Need Are Curtains...

 This is it! That's our new and improved living room. I LOVE the color. (By the way, it's Seven Seas.)  I went with a slightly darker color because that room is so big, I wanted something darker to pull it all in a little bit and make it feel a little homier. Something we learned along the way (for those of you who may be painting in the next few months), just because your walls are white doesn't mean you should go without primer. It seems counter-intuitive, but it really does help. White walls are like a sponge for darker paint. Spend the extra ten bucks a gallon and go with the primer-in-paint option. You will thank me later. :)

What I also like about this paint color is that it looks different at various times of the day depending on the amount of natural light that is in the room. At night it looks very dreamy.

And here's a little bonus picture! We (wait, I should say Tim) started painting another room yesterday. This one is a much lighter blue -- kind of like a skyish blue. I know it's hard to tell with the light and the chaos but when we put the room back together this weekend, I know it will be fantastic (and slightly beachy -- which I will also LOVE).

Check back in a few days for more pictures! Let us know what you think so far!

We Finally Painted!

One of these colors above is now on our living room walls! It was a huge change in that room because the walls were just white. And it is a big room so a huge color change is dramatic but I am SO excited about it. We painted last Thursday and Friday and I am still in love with it. Tim was a real sport with the whole thing (he had never painted a room before and was a little nervous about it) and ended up finishing the room when I was at work Thursday and when I came home it was like a breath of fresh air!

So who wants to take a guess as to which color we chose? I will post pics of the room in the next few days!