Finished - ish!

After about three months of daily effort and over six months of planning and researching, the living room/hallway is done!  At least, the painting is done.  I love it!

The new wall color is 'Belle Grove Buff' which translates in real life to 'just about the color of dry beach sand on a sunny day'.  Here are a couple of shots that better show the contrast with the 'Ivory Lace' trim...

I used Valspar Premium eggshell paint and, as always, love it.  It goes on smoothly and dries to a really beautiful finish.  The chicken pox were well hidden with the first coat, but I applied a second coat anyway to ensure durability.

Still to be done:  blinds in the bay window and a new coat rack on the wall behind the door.  I'll also be warming up the sewing machine this week to make valances for the family room and kitchen.  It's only been a year since I decided to do that!  Quilt Etc. had a great sale last weekend so I was able to get the 'Sassy' by Moda yardage that I'd been drooling over at a great price!  More on that later....

Step 3 B - Finished!

I finished painting yesterday, but, man was I tired!  This morning, I got up and shampooed the carpet first thing, then had to wait to get in and take pictures until it was dry.  Without any further ado...

The photos are a good representation of the the color which I like to call 'Frog Frappe' (oh, please tell me that I'm not the only Sliders fan around here.)  The actual color is called 'Garden Fresh' and it's Valspar paint in an eggshell finish.  While I really like the color, the paint itself was not all that I had hoped.  It didn't cover as well as some other brands that I've used, nor does it level as well on the wall.

As you can see, I still have some finish work to do.  I need to repaint that door before I rehang it.  It still some residual Cassie-grease on the inside.  lol!  I need to rehang the blinds, too, and then it's time to decorate.  Mike is out looking at furniture sales right now to see if he can find a new entertainment unit that will fit through the door.

While I've already purchased chocolate brown slipcovers for the sofa and loveseat, I'm still looking for the perfect pillow fabrics to bring the whole project together.  JoAnn's used to have the perfect fabric in their home decor center, but it was sold out the last time I went to look.  I found some really beautiful ones on-line that may just do the trick.

Step Three A -

Since I'm not completely done, I couldn't count this step as complete, but as of 7pm, thar be green here!  As I had hoped the walls glow with an inner light making that basement room look completely different.  I think it also looks a bit bigger.  It does need that second coat.  Between the heavy texture on the walls and the drastic color change, one coat just couldn't do it.  I'd planned on two coats, though, so I'm all set.

I'm really looking forward to putting together a decorating scheme for the room.  I have several ideas, but I'm still on the lookout for good ideas.  Several people that I know have lime green craft rooms, but I don't know anyone with a bright green tv room.  We're going to need to get some furniture as well as new decor, so I'll be checking out both online and brick-and-mortar sources of fun decorating goodies.  Maybe this will finally be the excuse I need to pay a visit to Tai-Pan Trading.  Been wanting to go there since it opened!

On a related note, I had really forgotten how exhausting painting can be.  I've had to reduce my usual gym workouts this week to compensate for all the up-and-down while I've been painting this week.  And, I've discovered that it gets surprisingly hot down there, too.  I'll have to remember that if I try to exercise down there once we get all the media goodies moved.

Step Two -

When I got ready to paint today, I realized that there was a lot more prep work that still needed to be done.  So, I started out by patching some holes and removing some hardware.  While I was tidying up, I found a few long, black dog hairs.  lol!  Cassie's legacy still lives on.

I got all the trim painted.  Looks so smooth and bright.  I didn't realize how much that the old paint had aged.  I also got all the patched areas primed.  Sam came through and moved the satellite hookups for me, then Mike repaired the dry wall.

And in a garden side note, I picked and ate a couple of apricots today!  They were delish.  Silly birds are taking advantage though.  Going to have to do something about that.

Step One -

I just finished painting the ceiling of the being-refurbished family room.

Can you tell that Mike is away at Scout camp again.  lol!