A few months ago, my husband and I began remodeling our house. We have been planning this remodel for about 4 years and finally pulled the trigger. It’s been quite the process! We loved the look of our house when we first moved in. However, after about a year, the novelty wore off and I began planning to make changes. And so began my first DIY adventure, now known as “House Remodel: Painting.”
What ya’ll need to know about me is I am a planner. I mull things over in my head, take notes, and do research until I’m ready for concrete changes. After countless hours online, lots of “window shopping,” and several inspiration boards, I had a vision in mind and began the process of hiring contractors. Wow, what a process that can be! Here in Austin there is apparently so much work available that many of these companies don’t even call back! I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to find trustworthy people to work on our house. Anyway, I digress…
We did finally hire framers to put up the living room ceiling, painters to paint it, and a flooring crew to install the hardwood floors. We were beyond thrilled with all their work! It may have taken us literally a year to locate their services, but in the end, it was well worth the wait.
Living Room Ceiling Transformation
My husband and I created a savings account shortly after we purchased the house that was ear-marked for renovations and repairs. To stretch these dollars, I decided to take on some of the work myself. Since I can’t install shiplap or hardwood floors, that left painting. Luckily, I find painting kind of cathartic. Considering how much I did in our house, I should be one centered mama!
Before Pics
Foyer 
Foyer 
Hallway 
Living room toward hall 
As I mentioned before, we loved the look of our house when we bought it. However, after a year or so I began to dislike the outdated paint treatment on the walls. The previous owner’s style was reminiscent of Old-World Italy. I started feeling like I was living in the Olive Garden! The walls felt as if they were closing in a bit, despite the high, tray ceiling in our living room. Our house appeared so dark and dingy, totally contrary to our style. We prefer a crisp, clean, neutral color palette that still gives those feelings of comfort and warmth.
Since we had painted our kitchen and dining room together, I only had the rest of the house to complete on my own. Lol! After that initial project, we both realized it was probably best to leave the painting to me. Josh’s talents were much better spent on other DIY projects, so I tackled the task of taking down the Olive Garden on my own.
After Pics
When it was all said and done, I painted our living room, foyer, hallways, office, guest room, laundry room, guest bathroom, as well as the doors and trim. In addition to this project, I also resurfaced and painted the cabinets in our laundry room and guest bathroom and the mantel and built-ins next to the fireplace. I still have some trim touch ups and closet doors to complete, but I’m well on my way to getting it all finished. After all that painting, I needed a little break from the fun!
Paint Colors
The paint colors we chose are by Sherwin-Williams and are sold at Lowes.
Walls: Passive (SW 7064)
I was not too sure about this color when we first painted the kitchen and dining room. It went on very light, almost white but then got darker as it dried. Very typical of paint. However, as we lived with the color it sometimes appeared light blue. I was not sold at all, that is until we put it in the hardwood floors. Once the dark, espresso-colored hardwood flooring was installed, the wall color popped and was the crisp gray I had hoped for.
Trim: Shoji White (SW 7042)
If you look at the color swatch on the Sherwin-Williams site, the Shoji White looks much darker than it acutally is. I picked this particular white because I wanted my trim color to be between a pure, bright white and off-white/cream. We have blinds that are more on the off-white side of the spectrum and I didn’t want to have to replace them. I also didn’t want stark white trim because if you get the wrong white it can look cheap. I am super happy with the trim choice. In person it is a very rich, warm white color and is exactly what I was looking for.
So there it is, my first major project (mostly) completed in our current home. Not too shabby if I do say so myself! I still need to complete the trim and doors in our office and bedrooms, but I’ll get it done eventually. I’m in no hurry after all these brush strokes!
Keep an eye out for more of my DIY house projects.
XOXO,
Meredith
Coming soon
Simple Fireplace Upgrade: Gray wash/ Whitewash
Guest Bathroom Facelift
