Living Room Sneak Peek

Last week, I mentioned that we were working on some home projects over here. One of those projects is giving our living room a much-needed breath of fresh air. We moved into this house almost eleven years ago now (will be 11 years in May), and since then we've grown three toddler boys, a puppy, and three kittens into childhood. So, whatever your imagination is able to conjure in terms of handprints and stains and aging, multiply it by ten. My poor walls!

I've painted and organized and redecorated some things in this house over the years, but the living room has always been a neutral that was "good enough" so it's been largely overlooked. It has needed some TLC and light for a while now, and my winter-pandemic antsiness determined that it was finally time.

My idea kind of started with this picture -->

While browsing Society6 (not an ad, swear it) for pieces in this classy-kitschy style, I fell in love with this print. HAD to have it. Among a few others. 

One morning, I was sipping coffee and looking at this tired old living room of mine and thought, what if I create my update design around that print that I currently have no home for? And done.

Well that, and I've had a kid art mural hanging behind my couch for nearly a decade that I was super-over. My kids have aged out of the preschool art stage, so their little drawings either hang there for an eternity, or get recycled from years ago. It just looked too chaotic for me at this point. I've wanted it to go for a while.

So first, I asked my sister to grab me some cream, off white, and bright white paint samples the next time she went into Lowe's. Ummmmm, she delivered. My brain was basically short circuiting over the choices.

It took dayyyys of moving them around the room to see them in different light and against different wall art and pieces of furniture. There were many texted photos to friends for opinions. At one point, I'd narrowed it down to four choices, and then threw those four choices out and started over. What I ended up picking was initially discarded. It's chaos! This paint choosing thing. Especially where cream colors are concerned.

Matt was basically like, "just go for it my brain cannot compute."

He can't visualize like I can, so I also made him this mood collage to help him get the vibe.

Our furniture is grey. Mostly a deep grey (the couches), but our recliner is lighter and our TV stand is like a woodsy-grainy grey. So my plan was to use white, cream, and off white to keep the room neutral, and then decorate with some greenery and gold/brass details.

The main wall color I chose (which is pictured behind the can of Valspar in the center) is called Pale Bloom. It's very close to white, but a bit warmer and cozier.

It took me three days of painting my living room in shifts - pushing the furniture around as I went, stopping to work on school with my boys, and spray painting some of the design elements a unifying bright white. I don't remember ever being that sore! I could hardly walk on Friday, and squatting down to reach low areas on the walls was agony. But it was soooo satisfying to see the walls emerge fresh and clean and bright. I was obsessed before I even pulled the room back together.

On Saturday, I spent the entire day hanging two gallery walls (one of family photos, one of collected artwork - including the gorgeous lady pictured above). There were 23 frames/pieces of art in all!! It was a lot. Matt also helped me re-hang a shelf above the couch, which I styled. Then I rearranged the furniture a bit, reorganized our side table drawers, and replaced some of the Easter decor I'd had out before the update. I ended the night ordering new prints of some updated photos. Half of our family gallery wall is still empty while it waits for new additions.

Here are some sneaks from around the room:

I am so excited to show you the whole room! I'm waiting on a few things....the new photos for the gallery wall, a lamp shade for my taller floor lap that matches the new side table lamps, and I need a faux tree/plant for one corner of the room. I really wanted this one - it's PERFECT for the space I need it in. But of course, it's totally sold out. Sigh. I've been looking for a good dupe all over the place, but it seems like most of them have lacquered-level shine on their leaves which is just too fake looking for me. Any tips?

When I get all of those things hammered out, I'll bust out my big camera and try to do the room justice! It's so bright and fresh and ME and I'm so crazy about it so far!