Last week I wrote about how we rearranged the living room furniture to make the space flow a bit better. To remind you, this is the “before.”
And this is sort of the after. The little upside-down table was helping to flatten the rug, and the coffee table was obviously not in its final position, but… close enough.
So yesterday, we went about the second stage of our living room makeover. The painting! First, the guy moved all of the furniture into the middle of the room.
Zora says, “Whut???”
Then we set about taping everything off… I did most of the taping, except for the ceiling. Zora was getting really curious at this point!
See my beautiful handiwork?
When the taping was finished, we gated off the kitchen and let Zora watch from the comfort of her little rug.
I went around with a brush, cutting into all the nooks and crannies and around baseboards, doors, window, outlets (the guy did the brushing around the ceiling). Then, the rolling! And more rolling, and more rolling… the whole thing required two full coats, but it was seriously worth it.
We took Zora outside with us while we ate cheeseburgers from the gross burger joint on base and let the paint dry. A couple hours later, with the blue tape removed… check it out!
Ooh, did you notice the curtains changed color? That’s one great thing about having a color palette you really seem to be drawn to over and over… Terra cotta curtains on a terra cotta wall would look stupid, so we just stuck the former living room curtains in the office, and moved the green office curtains into the living room!
I have to mention that one of my biggest concerns in teaching preschool in my house was keeping my home a sophisticated, adult-looking place… I THINK I’ve managed to do that pretty well. 
Here’s the rundown of the cost of our living room makeover:
- Little shelf beside front door: $25
- Rug: $80
- “New” Curtains: $0 (swapped with office curtains)
- Rearranging furniture: $0
- Paint, rollers, brushes, tape: $25
Total: $130
Not bad!
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and brand new stay at home mom. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate on a budget, and keep a happy home. I breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
[...] it rocks. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this tape sooner. It would’ve REALLY helped our rug-on-carpet situation in Mississippi. (The corners curled, tripped us, we got wrinkles in the rug sometimes, had to adjust the [...]
Just came and read, this is wow! I was seek from many blogs, but here is the best, I love it.
Good to see your re-do. Lived in military houseing in Bremerhaven, Germany 1968-1971. I , too, could not stand all that horrid military furniture. Had stuff re-upholstered, bought new lamps in Hamburg, Germany, used wicker, bought antiques. Everyone said they loved it, but “What style was it?” My own!! Keep up the good work.
Good to see your re-do. Lived in military houseing in Bremerhaven, Germany 1968-1971. I , too, could not stand all that horrid military furniture. Had stuff re-upholstered, bought new lamps in Hamburg, Germany, used wicker, bought antiques. Everyone said they loved it, but “What style was it?” My own!! Keep up the good work.
Haha, you're not the first… but if we put it on the other side, the entertainment center would be in front of the door.
It's really a poor design of living room and everyone who lives in a house w/this floor plan struggles with it. That door just leads to a little closet we hardly ever need to access, so we figured it'd be okay to sacrifice it in order to have a more open/ better laid out living room.
Ummm.. Am I the first to say this. Why did you put your couch in front of a door? Maybe you should move in to the other side of the room.
Love the wall color!
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
Ashley, I got that basket at Big Lots… I think it was only 20 or 30 dollars. I got it because I hope to someday have a nice set of wooden unit blocks for my preschool and that would be great storage for them… but for now it’s just got random school stuff in it. (Toys that aren’t “out” yet)
Where did you get the basket over by Zora’s carrier? I would love something like that to hold my dog’s toys.
Oh this looks wonderful! I love the way the whole things works together. Perfect post to inspire me today as I am going to tackle trying to breathe some new life into my living room today!
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
Thanks everyone!
Julia, are you not into colored walls in general? Do you just like white? I’d love to see pictures of how you made yours homey with white walls, if you’re willing to share!
Thanks Jen!
I really want to go ahead and paint the rest of the house… and maybe if we were living here longer than a year I would. I already have the colors picked out in my head. haha. Your colors sound fantastic! Bathrooms are really tough…
Grace, thank you! I’d love to see your bedroom if you have photos to share!
The makeover looks amazing! That is like the exact color of my bedroom! Love it!
Emily–it looks AMAZING!!!! It’s such a difference with color on the walls! When we moved out of army housing and bought our own home 3 yrs ago–we both agreed to NOT have ANY white walls! We still haven’t gotten around to painting the bathrooms (they are still white–and I just can’t figure out what I want!), but we have avocado green, orange (think pumpkins), different yellows, a caramel brown, taupe, and a blueish color that reminds me of old maps.
We love all the color! It feels so unlike the sterile housing we’ve lived in. Congrats on the new look! Your LR is gorgeous!
Jen
http://www.monsterbugblankets.com
I like the lay-out well, it looks great. Just not into colored walls, but that is me. Great job!
I love it. It looks so great!
Your place looks so cozy and wonderful! The color of the walls and the curtains look great.