WE DID IT (Living Room and Kitchen PAINTED)

 Good morning!

And what a good one it's been so far-- I got up this morning and threw back the bed clothes like it was Christmas Day, so I could make sure the day before hadn't been a dream-episode of my favorite tv show. It was no dream, folks. My dad and I really did paint the whole living room, trim work, and dining area in one day. Now, granted, it was a fifteen hour day with a lot of tall-people-stretching-for-the-ceiling kind of paint-oriented cardio, but we got the whole thing done and boy, am I pleased with the results! 

Enough with the preamble; let's look at the goods!

Nice, huh?! I feel like I live in a grown up catalog spread! For comparison, here's yesterday's living room next to this morning's. Brand new day!

Avant....et apés! The difference is startling.

I woke up at seven o'clock yesterday morning and started comparing paint colors using a Sherwin Williams app called Color Snap to make sure I hadn't completely lost my mind. While it kinda-sorta works on some photos and not at all on others, I managed to get the app to show me the picture on the left with white on the wall instead of aqua, and it looked fine! Resolution: proceed with Operation Paintbrush. I swung by my folks' house, picked up dad, and loaded up on paint supplies and actual cans of paint. We got a gallon for the living room and a quart for the dining area of the kitchen, the lamely named "Bistro White" and an Olympic color that reminded me of a post-it note, respectively. I was too busy roller-brushing my heart out to the sweet, sweet strains of seventies' FM gold (songs like "You Got the Best of My Love" by Emotion and "Sad Eyes" by Robert John were blaring while most of these photos were taken...this is how you motivate my family and me!) to take a lot of pictures, but here are some "befores" or "in processes":

I kept making allusions to Dexter with regard to this plastic cover. My dad
hasn't seen that show and kept ignoring me.

I learned a lot of things about the living room while I was working so closely with it throughout the entire day yesterday, as well as some things about myself. Yes, introspection (and paint fume inhalation based introspection) is a big part of the painting process. One, I am NOT THE DUSTER I THOUGHT I WAS. Every time we reached up to the ceiling there was some heretofore invisible cobweb coming off in my hands like I live in an actual haunted house. Boo! Add that to the list of improvements for year 2014. Two, my living room is not as cavernous and dark as I give it credit for-- as you can see in the above photo, sans blinds, that room is as bright as you could ask for. I'm thinking about getting three separate blinds for the living room, two small and one big, so I can open up the dang things and let in some LIGHT when I'm home on the weekends. Three, the room is oh-so-large without furniture crammed into every square foot! I'm thinking about rearranging things in the house so there are less just "things" in the living room and was careful, when reassembling the room, to pare down tchotckes to a minimum. You know those little gewgaws and doodads mean the world to me, but the room is so much more peaceful with a spare number of really neat things as opposed to a crazy amount of "just ok" things. Also, special shout out, I couldn't have done any of this without my Pappy. He worked like a Turk with me all dang holiday day to get this thing finished and kept me laughing when the paint fumes were starting to kill off valuable brain cells and morale was low. Not to mention he taught me a lot about both how to and how NOT to paint a large space like this, which I will be using in the future for certain. So thanks, Dad!! :)

Note Pappy in his painting overhauls and me in my 1976 "Panthers do it with pride!" blood drive tshirt. We
were rollin' our hearts out!

More after photos...doesn't it look like an entirely different house?! I pulled some saffron yellow/gold curtains I'd been hoarding out of the utility room to replace the old beige Colonial pattered curtains (these were from Southern Thrift in Donelson, $10 for the pair). Be on the lookout, fellow estate salers, for gold pinch pleat panels, as I'm in the market for at least two more! They needed ironing but I needed to rest my weary head, so they're just up there wrinkled for now. C'est la guerre. What do you think?

I still need to organize the under-coffee table stuff...board games everywhere!! But I'm also
kind of in love with the house now.

I donated some excess glassware to Music City Thrift and made sure the bar cart had pretty much just things we need on it, and doesn't it look happier and healthier with just a few, nice items? I sure think so:

Which way to the bar? Would you PLEASE direct me to the bar?-- "The Story of Bo Diddley"
by the Animals

One of my favorite things on the cart is this "Bar Aid" that I bought a dog's age ago in a Knoxville Salvation Army...you can dial up the cocktail you want and it gives you the recipe, lickety split! Now, how many for a zazarac? Brony X, anyone? I have you covered, whatever your poison (PS bring liquor-- as you can see, our bar cart is woefully understocked in that department! We'll build it back up).

At night, the wall color kind of reflects whatever light is being cast upon it-- in most cases, this is the amber-yellow of the pole lamps' shades, plus the white light of the other two lamps (#lampaddiction). I was worried the white I chose would be "too white" (Dad and I looked at other shades that had a more sandy kind of color, but I thought those would make the room look dirty/aged), but I think it's actually pretty much perfect! And look how the couch and the wood-tones in the room just pop out of the picture at you now! It's just as vivid in real life, too. I'm so pleased, people. I always get so anxious before a major "push" like this, but it turned out fine.

I replaced Laura Palmer for the time being with that mask the drunk lady at the flea market made me buy... and I hung a little floral hat over it so it almost looks like the mask is wearing a lady's topper. These should be hung lower but I was using the existing nail holes, so it might just have to ride high for a little while. I love how all the beiges and browns and golds in this room look now.

And the other side of the room! I'm sorry the floor lamp looks like the hand of God is coming down into the picture, but it just wouldn't photograph any better this morning and if you turn it off, the room's too dark. You get the idea! Here is where I watch my Joan Crawford movies. 

Last but not least, portrait of a happy camper after the whole thing was said and done! I couldn't help posing with my handiwork. Even though it took something like fifteen hours from buying-the-paint to sitting-down-with-everything-back-as-it-was, I think it was worth it!!!

So! What's the verdict? Do you like the after? Doesn't the room look so much more open without the whimsical-yet-oppressive paint color of its former life? What's the best switcheroo you've made in your own home? Any ideas for what my next BIG HOUSE PROJECT should be? I feel like a million bucks having made such a large scale task in 24 hours; it makes me feel like taking on the world! :D

PS Thanks everybody for your painting tips and encouragement yesterday! Don't think they didn't help me get through the crazymaking parts of running back to Lowes for more paint and lightswitch covers, paint tracked on the hardwood, plastic wrap that went on forever, etc, etc. I needed all the good thoughts I could get!

I gotta get back to work, but I'll talk to you guys tomorrow! Have a great Tuesday. Til then.