my living room before photos: makeover coming soon!

Our house came with crazy red walls. We were ok with them, but they clashed like crazy with our faded red chairs. People would awkwardly say, “The red walls and red chairs? But they match so well!” Oh those sweet, polite people. No, they don’t match. They clash in the worst way. We were always like, “Ehhh, we’ll paint eventually.” Five years, two businesses started and two kids later, the red walls are still here plus a LOT more finger prints and scuff marks.

This past spring I stood in my living room and I said to myself, “These walls have GOT to get painted this summer.” Well folks, within two weeks of me saying that, my friend Erin called out of the blue asking if she could do a make over on my living room sponsored by HGTV and Sherwin Williams. I told myself to play it cool and listen to everything she had to say before blurting out “YES!!!”, so I waited as long as I could, listening intently before I just had to interrupt her saying, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES PLEASE!”

So here’s some very humbling photos of my living room before:

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That one painting with the tiny sconces next to it? Oh my, how embarrassing. That little wall grouping just sits and sings, “The cheese stands alone” all day. How sad. That painting has great meaning to me, so I’m hoping we can find a better place for it. I’ve wanted to hang a gallery wall of my favorite photos in that space for ages. So that’s what I have in mind there. Thank you suburban home builder for the meaningless cutout display nook above the doorway. Sigh….nothing we can do about that right now, of course. Just had to comment on it.

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The red upstairs in the loft and the entryway is going too. It’s red, red, red, everywhere you look. Of course I had to get a pug in a photo. Oh that sweet Stampies. She makes a house a home. (a hairy one, too.)

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The furniture is from Ethan Allen, my first major furniture purchase made in my mid-twenties. At the time we were thinking clean, classic and simple. My late husband loved solid colors and wasn’t a fan of patterns. I still love the shape of the furniture, but at the very least, I need to get creative with pillows. We will see what we can do. I’ve never been a fan of that rug, but we were at Ikea, needed a rug and we went for it. John loves it, I hate the mustard in it. We shall see what becomes of it. I will say that it’s held up very well and hides any evidence of the horrible things kids do to rugs. So for that, I give thanks for it.

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Here’s Erin’s post about it. I’m so excited! It doesn’t even seem real to me. We have had this red in the house for so long, that I can barely think outside of that box. Thank God for Erin! My hope is to go from dark and heavy to a lighter and happier room. Stay tuned for the big reveal in a month!

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  • CassieJune 29, 2011 - 10:14 am

    I am so excited for your living room makeover!! Although, I must say, I’ve always found your living room oh-so-cozy. And that cutout IS super random. Can’t wait to see what she does!! (She needs to swing by our house next 😉 )

  • KristenJune 29, 2011 - 11:00 am

    I cannot wait to see the finished product. This is such a cool & great opportunity! 🙂 Yay!

  • KristenJune 29, 2011 - 11:01 am

    I cannot wait to see the finished product. What a cool & great opportunity this is! Yay! 🙂

  • BethJune 29, 2011 - 1:35 pm

    HGTV and Sherwin Williams makeover? What a dream!

  • Heidi GarciaJune 29, 2011 - 5:45 pm

    WOW! that is exciting! Enjoy 🙂

  • AraceliJune 29, 2011 - 7:49 pm

    It’s going to look so awesome! Love the coziness of you home.

  • AprilJune 29, 2011 - 9:38 pm

    Gah! You are SO lucky! I think it looks great now, but I can’t wait to see what Erin does with it. Saw that it’s going to be gray, so I’m doubly excited as that’s one of my favorite things right now. Have fun 🙂

  • DebbieJune 30, 2011 - 9:04 am

    Cannot wait to see the makeover! It looks super cute now so I can only imagine what greatness you will come up with….Also, if the nook bothers you, just drywall it in. It does not cost that much and you will be so happy not to have to look at it. :)xoxoxoxoxo

  • KelliJune 30, 2011 - 10:47 am

    How exciting! Can’t wait to see the ‘after’ pictures! I think my kitchen is the same colour red. I don’t love it anymore. I’ve picked up paint samples so that in a couple weeks we can repaint the staircase and computer room, a boring grey. I’m hoping accessories will liven it up. Maybe I can twist someone’s arm into doing the kitchen too.

  • Heather CorporanJuly 1, 2011 - 8:11 pm

    LUCKY GIRL!!! We’ve been living with probably the same exact red for only FOUR months and I’m going absolutely nuts. I always thought, ‘I’d love to have a red room some day’ until said red room entered my life LOL But we’re only renting the house we live in right now, so I’m fighting the urg not to repaint – daily!!! Can’t wait to see the reveal, how exciting! What a dream : )

  • april summersJuly 3, 2011 - 11:45 pm

    What?!?!? That is beyond exciting! I can’t wait to see what they do.

  • […] You can see glimpses of my living room make over in the slideshow. I’m still waiting on sponsor approval to post the official make over […]

  • […] when I told you all that my good friend Erin was going to give my living room a make over? No? Ok, well it has been awhile, so go get caught up and then read […]