Our First Project!

I'm excited to share the first non-essential project we tackled in our house.  Will has done a number of mini projects, but they were all essential for us to function in our home (non-working outlets/light sockets, leaking pipes, etc) so this was our first fun project.

Our office really didn't need much work.  The walls, ceiling, floor, and radiators were all in good shape so we knew we could get away with just painting the green walls and replacing the dark green fireplace tile.  We wanted to get our bookcase put up, and thus take down the "Great Wall of Book Boxes", but painting needed to happen before we could do that.  

I began to gather paint samples but quickly became overwhelmed thinking about open concept paint schemes.  Color and decor aren't my forte so thinking about how the living room flows with a wide doorway into the office/music room, which is connected to the dining room with swinging glass french doors, which will eventually be open to the kitchen with an island and stools (which is also open to a breakfast nook area), which connects to a hallway, which connects back to the living room/office/front door area was making me break out in a cold sweat.  

Did I paint all the rooms the same color?  Did I paint them coordinating neutral colors?  Since we were flipping dare I paint them a color I actually like, but might not be helpful for resale? The questions were endless and I was flummoxed.  

Enter the book, "The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful"  (not an affiliate link because I'm not an affiliate and don't even know what that is but should probably figure it out :). I began reading this book for a book club that I'm involved in with some ladies from my church.  It was seriously life changing for me in terms of how I put together my home.  I had been so worried that it wouldn't meet other people's standards of beauty that I had just talked myself out of putting up much in the way of decor.  I've written a little about this before here.  Needless to say we didn't have much on our walls that needed packing in the last house.

Anyway, shortly after finishing the book I was at Home Depot with my family looking at paint colors again and I saw this section of coordinated neutral colors and I said to myself, "Pick three colors you like RIGHT NOW!", and I did!  And it worked out!  I chose a gray with a blue undertones for the fireplace wall, a nice khaki for the other 3 walls and a very pale butter color for the ceiling  (I enjoy unexpected ceiling colors).  So without further ado, here are the before and afters:

Before: Gorgeous glass french doors that I adore, but making choosing paint  difficult!

Before: So. Much. Green. (which is especially loathsome since we are U of M fans ;)

Taping: Behind that stack of boxes were about 6 other similarly tall stacks filled with books

During: Liam got his own little section to paint, he was over the moon!

During:  Starting to see a difference!

After: We still have a few boxes hanging out but the office/music room is really taking shape now. Next up will be replacing the fireplace tile. We're thinking a neutral stone, but are open to ideas if you have any!! 

We have this fantastic medallion light plate on the ceiling but the colors don't go at all with our new paint job.  So what color(s) do you think I should paint it??

Had to grab this picture of Maisie sleeping on the rug, her nose was touching the floor :)

After: And lastly, the bookshelf is finally up!  It takes up one section of the wall next to the opening into the living room. 

The bookshelf is also currently home to a passel of PlayMobil characters!

It makes me immeasurably happy to see these guys and gals up there!

So, that is our first real project, and I'm happy with how it turned out.  Don't forget to weigh in with any ideas of what to do with our fireplace and the medallion light plate!