Sunday, November 29, 2009

Renovations done! With a MILLION photos

This post is for Omaha Mama, who seems honestly enthusiastic about renovations, and for Bea, who is--I can attest with certainty--rabidly enthusiastic about paint colours.

The living room is done! Just to refresh, this is what the living room looked like when we bought the house (these are the agent's photos):




Does it look like an old lady lived here? Because she did!

Aaaaand, here's what it looks like now! The paint colours are: Oat Straw on the walls and Polar Bear on the trim, both by Behr, and I have to say, the paint went on just lovely, but smells absolutely terrible, still. Okay, ready?






What do you think? I adore it (other than the smell, and the lingering wrist pain from doing all that fussy and humongous Edwardian woodwork). I think it looks bright and moder and unfussy. My mom and my sister and Pynchon's parents are horrified every time we paint over the wood, but you know, you can actually see it now that it's not grimmest darkest stain. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I freaked out and hung four sets of blinds this week to. Of course I'll show you!

I went with brushed aluminum miniblinds in the kitchen and bathroom, both because they reflect the light back nicely and because they're easier to care for in a high humidity dust-attracting zone.



And here's the blind in the living room, which you can't actually see in the photos above. Please note I put them up when the trim was painted -- but the walls were still that weird peachy-pink I increasingly find myself unable to live with any longer.


Ta-da!

Yeah, so I blew NaBloPoMo again this month. I got sick on Friday and really wanted to focus my remaining energy on getting the painting done. Failed again! D'oh!

9 comments:

Bea said...

I'm finding it hard to "see" the colour in those pictures. Is it a grey? Because it looks grey but "Oat Straw" suggests a bit more an almost yellowy colour, which I'm NOT seeing.

I love the way your French doors pop against the white trim.

Mimi said...

Bea, it's like really milky tea, as opposed to really milky coffee. It's a very pale brown/beige/greige. One tone 'whiter' than the mochaccino in the kitchen, if you'll recall.

Infuriatingly, my fluorescent-bulbed floor lamps make it look sage green at night. Ack!

The French doors *do* kinda look better, huh?

Melanie D. said...

Be still my heart - thanks for the fix. I need to paint and paint and paint, but I think I mentioned that already. I love the blur of a preschooler in the first picture, I always picture that she and my Mason would be best friends. :0)
Your home is lovely, much more welcoming and comfy than the realtor's photos.
Well done!

Jenifer said...

So nice and calm looking! I love the colour and definitely love the white trim. Our mantle and built in bookcase are white and our walls on the main floor were (I say this because we painted many years ago!) Devonshire by Ralph Lauren that we had colour matched at Benjamin Moore.

Well done Mimi!

Debbie said...

Absolutely lovely. I really like those brushed aluminum blinds! I don't think I've ever seen those anywhere.

I've been finding your painting posts oddly inspiring. I hate painting, yet find myself wanting a new kitchen colour!

Janet said...

Nice work! It looks very welcoming.

We are sort of living in twin houses from a trim-and-staircase perspective. Except we haven't painted any of the trim. It's original fir and still in beautiful condition, with a cheerful cherry tone to it.

kittenpie said...

Thanks for tweeting this, since my blog reading is so long fallen off I forget to read... and am always interested in seeing other people's renos!

Am trying to figure out if it's possible to take photos in the closet we're doing right now - maybe be too small a space to capture?

Anyhow, it's always fun adn exciting to make the house your own, once the work is mostly done, isn't it? I mean, the planning and the finishing are wonderful, even if the middle sucks.

Run ANC said...

Light and airy. I love it. And am totally jealous that you're all finished. (I, personally, am afraid to go to sleep because it will make tomorrow come all the faster..)

PS Painted trim is da bomb.

Mimi said...

NoMo: well, finished in that room. That still leave: the front hall, the dining room, and the den, which are all going to be painted in the same scheme to help with flow. These million-roomed old houses just look so small when all the rooms are different colours. So done one room which is great, as long as I close the pocket door and the french doors and can't see the rest of the main floor! :-)