Living Room: After (Almost Finished)

I've finally gotten things in enough order to show you some "after" photos of our living room painting/small scale re-do project. It's not complete yet--our new couches won't be here for another 4 or 5 weeks and the built-ins in the dining room are getting installed next weekend. But the biggest part of the work that we had to do is done: painting the rest of the trim in the living room, painting the walls in the living room, stairwell and upstairs hallway, changing out pictures and updating frames and rehanging everything, and rearranging furniture. 

Having to take everything off the walls allowed me to redecorate without spending a dime. I moved pictures and art to different rooms, switched out and updated photos, and spray painted some frames to look new. It feels like I got a bunch of new things for the walls without ever leaving home!

Here's some before (these were taken immediately before, so we had already prepped the trim with wood filler which is why they look so crazy):

And the "after" so far, and please excuse the dilapidated pillows, thanks to Howard. Also, I think he photo-bombed at least half of these pictures.

Sorry for the poor lighting

That's 4 coats of paint, ya'll.  

Most of the painting was done during Charlotte's naps and after she went to bed. Two weekends ago she spent one night with my parents and we were able to get a huge block of uninterrupted work done and finish what we needed. Once the built-ins are installed we'll need to prime and paint those, then move all the books down and arrange the shelves. That seems like small potatoes compared to everything we've already done though, so I'm actually looking forward to it.  

I can't wait for the new couches to come in...ever since the new fresh paint has been on the walls the poor couches have looked sadder than ever. They've definitely seen better days and not even professional cleaning can help them at this point.  It's time to say goodbye.  

As I write this I have all the windows closed and I'm still chilly. It's sunny and beautiful and such refreshing change from the remarkably hot summer we just had. Welcome, Fall.

~Stacy