24 March 2014

Living Room Update: Paint

It's been a few months...but I really HAVE been working on our living room update.  Remember where we started?



Dark walls, mismatched furniture, and really the farthest thing from cohesive you can imagine.

I have a wonderful friend who has been helping me with steps along the way to improve...THIS.  Her suggestions were to de-clutter our overflowing bookshelf, repaint, and start perfecting the little homey touches that make the house look a bit more sophisticated.  It hasn't moved as quickly as I've wanted, but I did some cleaning, re-organizing, and sewing.  (The sewing has so far been a flop; I tried to make some natural-colored curtains that ended up being too bulky and colorless for the living room, so it's back to the drawing board there.)  But our biggest change to date has been paint.  She really encouraged me to choose paint that would more unify our rooms (rather than the three colors we had).  She also challenged me to select a darker paint than I was really comfortable with!  But my hubby said it best:  "We decorated your way once before, and we didn't like it.  Let's try it her way."  So...



All parties except me chose the one on the right.  I wasn't even sure about the one on the left!  

We spent our spring break priming and painting with the same good friends who volunteered time to help us refresh the house.  Here's the final product:





And, you know what?  She was RIGHT.  I adore the color, and it made the room completely different. I feel like it's much more unified now.  And I'm eager to start working through the little nuances that will make it look "put together".  I'm going to be on the hunt for perfect curtains, and I need to sew some throw pillows and find a cute blanket.

What do you think?

2 comments:

treen said...

The natural curtains might work now that the walls have changed colors. Maybe try them again? Or did you already try them with the new paint color? I personally am not a fan of super dark colors in my own house, at least not for an entire room (a single accent wall might be okay) but I'm glad the new color works for you!

Lauren said...

Yes, we hung them with the new paint, and it wasn't the color as much as the fabric...not much drape to it. Now that we don't have a rush of color, she suggested a simple pattern. I just have to find the perfect one now! (And, since we have four windows -- 8 panels -- in the room, it also has to be cheap. $24.99 each won't cut it!)