Refreshed!

After a week spent at home without my children (THANK YOU, MOM!!!) I could go all sorts of ways with the word "refreshed". I mean, I AM! It's amazing what sleeping in till 8:30 or 9:00 a few mornings in a row can do for your outlook on life. Not to mention picking up or eating out nearly every meal. I think we've run the dishwasher twice this past week, because it took that long to get full enough to bother. And even then it was mostly that we wanted our favorite coffee mugs cleaned.

That's not the refresh I sat down to share though. After three and a half months, I finally finished up my big living room refresh! I spent the first three kid-free days painting my living room ceiling and walls, then spent a leisurely day or two shopping for the last couple items to complete the room (as well as shopping for school supplies and other less glamorous things). Yesterday, Nathaniel helped me get all the curtain rods, mirrors and artwork hung. And, oh how I love it! Thank you once again to all the friends who pitched in on my birthday gift to make this possible, and who advised me along the way. I thank God for you guys each time I walk into the room and breathe a huge happy sigh.

I wanted to do some before and after shots. I knew I had good before pictures already, but didn't think about the fact that furniture was arranged differently... still, you can get the vibe. First, though, a couple pictures to clarify something with the paint. If you'd asked me what color my walls were before painting, I'd have said, white-ish. Neutral. Light. I also would have said the ceiling was white, and just needed painted because of some patchwork that didn't match the original color. The new paint color IS white ("toque white" by Sherwin Williams, to be specific). I wanted to lighten up the room, brighten it, because it doesn't get a lot of natural light and can feel dark. I was a little worried that going from one white to another wouldn't be a dramatic change, but wow. The old color was NOT white. And the ceiling was the same not-white as the walls! Check out these couple of shots of the painting in progress:

The white in the top and right sides is the new "bright white" ceiling paint. The middle-left is the old ceiling color,
while the bottom is the wall behind the piano.

The bright "cut in" color is the new toque white paint. The center is the unpainted old beige/neutral.

Wow! Such a huge difference! Just getting the ceiling painted made the whole space brighter, and then the walls! I love it so much I could paint the whole house white, except I'm way too lazy to do that.

Now for the old living room pics:

I've had the red slipcovers and the rug since before we moved to this house, and the mantel has been the same since we moved in. The curtains, too - they're a khaki/tan with a thin red stripe that worked great with the slipcovers, but made the room feel a little darker despite letting some light through. Don't even get me started on all the "styling" blogs I've read concerning where curtain rods *ought* to be, and how large art *ought* to be to fill a space, and how large rugs *ought* to be. I've never been one for worrying too much about interior design, but when I started thinking about new things for the space, I realized I'd been doing a lot of things wrong. I figured I might as well aim for doing them right this time. I'm still no interior designer, but at least it's a step closer.

Onward to the new and fresh and, if I do say so myself, lovely new living room (I wish I had a wide angle lens so you could see it all at once better, or that the sun had come out today so lighting were better):

I'm still deciding what to do with the wall over the cabinet, and the wall behind the piano (not shown). 

I still think it all feels homey and comfortable, but a little more elegant, maybe. And definitely more put together. The last shot is our entryway. One thing I hadn't considered till I was taking down pictures and fixtures to paint was that space. There was a huge flat mirror on the wall that was incredibly functional but not at all attractive. I knew as soon as we unscrewed it from the wall that I was not going to put it back up. I found this replacement mirror and love the little bit of extra prettiness it brings to the dull entryway!

I could go on and on about all the other fun things I bought or found in the decor above, but I don't have time right now. Let's just say I adore every throw pillow, vase and wooden rhinoceros in the room. And given my tendency to decorate once and leave it, I foresee these items adorning my home for years and years to come. I can't wait to host people in my new space! Thank you all again!!