The living room seemed like a good place to start. With my kitchen as small as it is, the living room is the center of my home. This room has plaster walls and a cove ceiling. I love the sheen of the walls and wanted to keep that so I went with a satin finish on the paint.
This before shot is a little unfair. It was taken on Christmas day and the room was a mess. Still, you can see the cold feeling the white walls give the room.
First the patching. We had lots of cracks in the walls, charming in an old home, but getting out of hand. Also, there were two different whites in the room. Hard to see in the picture.
Still I was able to get paint up on the walls on day two. Because the walls and ceiling have to be the same color, I went with something light, but still warm. A buttery yellow called Palm Stem by Dutch Boy. It was so pretty.
The bookcase was tough. I decided to bring in the colors from the other rooms to tie the home together. I saw this in a home design book years ago and thought it would be perfect here. Brent was a huge help painting the backs of these shelves. The colors were also from Dutch Boy. Tomato Salsa, Young Sprout, Broken Pot, Midnight Swim and Tangerine Crush.
I also painted some old side tables I got at IKEA many years ago the Tomato Salsa color. I thought they turned out lovely.
It took about a week, but the results are well worth it. I would love some new furniture, but it's amazing how a coat of paint can make your things seem new. Now the rest of the house looks so drab.
The living room is great! The colors are awesome. It looks like it feels warm and inviting.
I love the living room. I should have done this sooner.