Living Room Makeover Work

It's not all fun and games when you decide to make over a room (or rooms in my case). It takes a lot of prep work, decisions, and hours of actually completing the work. Luckily for me, I have an extremely helpful, talented and super patient husband. The key word here is patient. After selecting what I thought was the "perfect gray" paint, and Andrew painted an entire wall with it, I realized it was far too blue for what I had envisioned. This was after agonizing over every gray swatch I could find from Lowes, Home Depot, Sherwin Williams, and yes, even Walmart. Then, I deliberated some more, trying to pick a better gray, with less blue. However, I didn't want the room to look like cold industrial concrete either.

Here's an "in progress" shot. Next, I picked up a couple sample paints (which I probably should have done in the first place). One was too "brown" and the other was just right. "Gray Plank" BEHR paint was the winner. I can't stress enough how critical it is to test gray paint before you make your final selection. Even now that it's completed, it looks totally different in natural daylight than it does at night with interior lighting. I work with color for a living, so even for me, it was frustrating! 

This is the "too blue" wall. It looks like a fun house with 3 different wall colors and the floral couch. Yikes!

 

My amazing husband, painting away, late into the night, just to make my home decorating dreams come true. He certainly worked hard and put up with my crazy requests! 

Bye-bye brown and blonde walls! 

We also had to patch two corners that used to house a sound system with shelves from the previous owners. I say "we" but I was mainly responsible for ripping them out. Andrew did all the expert patching! 

On top of that, there was an electrical outlet that needed to be flipped around from inside the coat closet to the outer living room wall. What? You mean everyone doesn't have electrical outlets in their closet? I didn't think so. As odd of a job that was, Andrew managed to saw a hole in the wall and make it work. My nagging encouragement surely helped :) I knew he could do it! 

Here's a look back at the room BEFORE. 

At the time, I did like the brown walls.

But now, I think it looks even better. So fresh and modern. More open too.

It may not be as quick as they get things done on HGTV, but if you know how to use a paint brush and patch a few drywall holes, it's definitely achievable. Doing the work yourself can save quite a bit of money. The key is to have the right tools, do the prep work ahead of time, and be patient. Or in my case, have a husband that knows what he's doing :) Don't be afraid to switch things up and refresh a room with a new color!