This are the before and after pics our living room… the room you first see when you walk in the front door.
Before: pretty non-descript, unless you’re into floral swaggy curtains.
And partially peeled wallpaper border.
Sometimes I just can’t control my impulses.
Now check it out after. Not incredibly amazing, but definitely much less anxiety producing. All we did was remove the border and the curtains, paint and put some things up on the walls.
Oh, and I did add some lamps I found on clearance at Lowe’s. $16.99 each, baby. This crazy house has NO overhead lighting. As a girl coming from the south, you’d think I’d have noticed that there is not one ceiling fan in any of the bedrooms or living areas.
Not one. If there had been one, we’d have all been living under it for the last few weeks.
I do plan on adding curtains, when I feel like making the effort to deal with curtain rods.
We’ll see when that happens 
I love the color I chose. Looooove it. It’s called ‘barley’ and it’s from Lowe’s. In case you are interested, I only buy paint from Lowe’s. Call me a braggart, but I have bought my fair share of paint. I used to buy paint at Home Dep@t because everyone said it was so great. I heartily disagree.
I like Valsar (Lowe’s brand) so much better. It’s thicker and covers so much better. There’s not much I like better than not dripping paint on the carpet and not needing a second coat.
I chose almost all my new colors from the Eddie Bauer Craftsman Bungalow Collection. And a few from the American Farmhouse Collection. Like this one.
Normally I steer far away from neutrals, especially beige. But for some reason this one looked good to me. I really liked it with the woodwork we have in this house.
This is the mantle and fireplace. I didn’t mess with it, I like it as it is.
Above it are a few of my favorite prints of, you guessed it, horses. These I bought at a road-side “antique” shop for $5 each. They’re probably not worth much more, but I love them nonetheless.
More before and after pictures to come, but I figure I’ll make you wait. After all, it took you maybe 2 minutes to read this post, while it took me 2 days to finish this room.
It’s only fair.
I'm a regular mama. Who happens to have twelve kids.
Just one husband, though.
Hi Steph!
You are a BUSY bee over on the East Coast! The house is looking great! I love the woodwork. And, you are right! That paint makes it pop! I will be praying that your kiddos do great at their new schools next week.
Ainsley started yesterday. It's nice to have the first day behind us!! By the way, it is already COLD here!
No ceiling fans needed…
Oh, and it is SEPTEMBER!!!!
Hugs,
Diana
I have the worst time choosing a paint color for our walls. We have lived here for 9 years and I've painted the 2 small bathrooms and one wall of our dining room … (let's pretend it's an accent wall, okay?) Everything else is "Colorado White." Thank you so much for sharing your love of your wall color and where you got it! I've been looking specifically for something to go with our woodwork and I'm so waffley-on-the-fence I've had the little paint squares stuck in a row on our wall all summer. And I gave up once before that.
Also, I think it's so fun that you like horses and in a previous post you mentioned that you've always wanted horses and to grow your own hay. HA! We are just cutting our hay for the third time this summer as of last night and when the hay mower started I actually thought of your comment. How 'bout you come over and help throw some bales at the end of the week?! It is pretty fun … if you aren't allergic like we are. But it is fun inbetween sneezes to sit high up on all those bales in the barn! Thanks again for the paint recommendation. I'm going to Lowes and checkin' it out! (I am a one-coat kinda girl too.)
Oh yes, and love the living room. Great job!
one of these days i'll get a wild hair and paint my living/dining/kitchen. . . the whole thing needs an overhaul. we painted when we moved in, but since then have ripped out walls, added crown moulding (yet to be caulked and painted. . . three years later. or is it four?) and hard wood floors. it's time. maybe this winter.
i should post pictures, too. but that makes me nervous! i have an entire wall stretching from the fireplace to the wall with a window in the dining room that i'm having picture angst over. it's blank has always been blank.
i break out in hives just wondering what to do with the space.
so anyone who can even pick out paint color is champ in my book!
Lookin' Goooooooooooooooooooooooood, Stef! But the question is, "Have you finished decorating my guest room yet?"
Beautiful job!! In your "spare" time you should consider interior design!
BTW Steph, Now that you have moved "North" don't you think you need to change your blog name to "Ni Hao Yous Guys"??!
I'm not very good at waiting!!! I spent all my "waits" on my referral haha Can't wait to see more before/after pics. You did a great job, it makes me want to just settle down on your couch, drink a cup of coffe, and read a good book…peaceful
I love it Stef! I totally agree about Lowe's…It's my fav for home improvement.
Ok, Vivi is the cutest baby!! I have a baby picture of Linzhi when she had all her chubby rolls…Goodness, I wish I could have squeezed her, so please squeeze Vivi once for me!
Hugs,
Amy
Very nice!
It's beautiful. Very restful and soothing. And the decor touches are just right. I'm a less is more kind of gal and I love the clean look of what you did.
Right now, I'm trying to TOLERATE the unfinished dining room till after Labor Day and my cousin's wedding. THEN?! The fun begins
I am hoping to convince The Boss to repaint the kitchen too. After all, it HAS been 5 years. . . .
Oh fun!! I missed the dining room make-over but just went back and peeked. Sweet stuff Miss Stef..
As we are getting closer to drywall stage (thought it would be a couple of weeks ago)….we are thinking of colors too.
I love the dining room color you chose. a couple of our walls in the log home were a simliar red….very warm and loved it.
Thank you for sharing! xo
MUCH improved!! And I am so glad you got rid of those tiered swag curtains on the windows and opened it up!! I'm all about dressing windows, just not covering them! The room looks really good and the paint is soothing. I LOVE Lowe's and have always preferred it over Home Depot! I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I once heard that is it an ex-husband/wife that started each. They owned the one together, and then after the split, the other spouse started the competing chain to spite the other. Kind of funny. I'm guessing it was the woman who opened Lowe's, as it is definitely more appealing to women! And they have some STEALS in there right now! I just picked up a few things off of their clearance table that were like 80% off for my clients! I have never used their paint though, so I will have to give it a try. I'm a Benjamin Moore fan, as I have their color consulting kit for my decorating/staging business. But my clients occasionally take the swatches and just color match them for less expense brands. It's good to know it is thicker and not so drippy…that's the very reason I've always preferred BM…but I'm sure it's more expensive than Valspar, even with my discount. I'm looking forward to giving it a try!
Maybe on Khloe's room!!
Thanks for sharing!! ;o)
What a difference! Love the new paint color. And your leather chair!
And thanks for the paint advice!
Where did that window come from?! It jumps right at you once the cascading mini prints are removed. And I'm right there with ya on Lowes paint. We used Moose Mousse in our house and it's PERFECT! I was picky since it now covers almost every wall in our house.
Love the living room. It is funny, I totally prefer to shop at Lowe's…I used to only use their paint…then, I used the home depot and I prefer it…however, Lowe's ceiling paint that goes on lavender and then turns white totally rocks…
I am a happy camper…I just got my new dishwasher installed yesterday…now if they could come to repair my less than two month old dryer, I would be extremely happy.
Great job!!!! There is a major difference in the vibe of the room in the after photo…bright, cheery, welcoming, soothing!! The color definitely makes the room come alive!