Although I’ve already gotten used to the new look, I realized I never shared any before and after photos of our main living space. So let’s take a quick trip down memory lane.
When we bought the house, it looked like this:
And the entryway before:
And the dining room:
Last fall, the living room looked like this.
Our first change was to paint the fireplace white, which immediately made the living room feel three times larger. Then in January, we tackled repainting the main living areas of the house, the laundry room, kitchen, dining room, living room, entryway, and hallway from their original beige to a bright, serene gray.
It feels like we gained a few hundred square feet!
On the wall with our TV, I created a mini gallery wall. It still makes me happy every time I look at it. The print, “The days are long but the years are short,” is from Handlettered Design.
I got my navy wall! It only took two tries to get the right color, but it was totally worth it.
I love the pop of color when you first come in.
Here’s the view into the kitchen:
I’ve got big plans for our little kitchen. As much as I’d like to start by tearing out that low ceiling Fixer-Upper style, it’s not all that feasible to tackle first. But I do want to make the kitchen less cave-like by replacing some upper cabinets with open shelves, and painting the lower cabinets white. That will do a lot to take it from totally 80’s to farmhouse chic.
And our little dining room, where one end of the table is often occupied with some craft project I’m working on:
Obviously, this photo was taken around Easter. Or let’s just pretend that I update the chalkboard frequently.
As you can see, the table is pushed all the way against the wall. And still, it feels too big for the space. So tragically, as much as I love my farm table and chairs, I’ve decided to sell it and replace it with something smaller. If I can’t find a table that’s narrow enough to fit, I might end up having Brian build one. I may not have run that idea past Brian yet, so I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out.
No more beige! I love the gray – it really felt like a new house. The color is “Quiet Rain” by Glidden.
One question to those of you with light walls – how do you disguise cords? I hate that the TV cords are black and show up so much against the wall. Do you paint the cords to match the wall? Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m thinking about it.
Next up in this space: finding a smaller coffee table and two small end tables, and a new rug that fits with the color scheme better. I continue to go back to my living room inspiration post to gather new ideas.
Soon I’ll post an update on the progress we’ve made on our office over the last year, and a handful of DIY projects.
What do you think of the new look? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook.
