I really felt that my house was far too dark. I wanted something light and airy. If you notice to the right of the fireplace you can see the old paint color (I ran out of paint so I will finish up next weekend). Here's a before pic. The before color was Coastal Beige by Ralph Lauren which is an amazing color but after almost 3 years of living in brown I simply needed a change. See below to understand. Excuse the room this picture is about 2 years old.
Our mantle had been almost bare except for a painting when the house was on the market at the suggestion of our realtor so I found an article on decorating your mantle by Nate Berkus and decided to use this antique mirror, candlesticks and an orchid. Our fireplace is really old and doesn't function so I do have some plans like getting it sealed, getting a screen that actually fits and doing something creative inside. As soon as we get the rest of the room painted I will post a picture of the entire living room. I have plans to completely replace all of the furniture in our living room but that is about 4th on the list after the bedroom, kitchen and dining room are finished and since all of those are really close to being done I want to finish those first.
Love the paint color. It's Sharkey Gray from Martha Stewart at Home Depot. Love love love this color. I've noticed a lot of reviews on Martha Stewart's new line of paint and since I've now got some experience with it. I was going to throw in my two cents on the issue.
The great things are the color choices. She has some great color. There is great coverage also. I painted my entire hallway, which is large and 2/3 of my living room on one gallon. I was always a tried and true Ralph Lauren fan but Martha Stewart's paints don't drip as much as RL paints do. Further they are earth friendly and there is no paint smell.
The negatives are the paint chips. I have never seen a paint that changes so much in different lights. My dining room was supposed to be dove gray and came out baby blue. It is being repainted next weekend as well. The paints change drastically from low light to natural light to artificial light. My hallway is much darker than my living room and although they are both painted the same color, they look like two different colors.
Overall I have to say I am a fan. (Martha Stewart was my nickname in high school). I have a few tips so here goes...
1. Don't overbuy! This paint has great coverage and it's amazing how much you can get out of a gallon so start with a gallon and go from there. You will be surprised.
2. USE TESTERS! I cannot express this enough. Use them! If you are going to paint anything but particularly a large room, get a tester and paint patches all over the room particularly in areas with different amounts of light. Live with it for a few days and look at it in the morning, at night, at dusk, etc. and make sure you like it. Trust me I am repainting my baby blue dining room.
I have a lot going on in the house but hopefully in the next weeks I can feature one of our many projects and I am praying some of them will be finished enough to photograph.
Happy Sunday!