New Family Room

We have been very slowly repainting our boring builder's white walls throughout the house.  I have finished the master and kids bedrooms and now am moving to the other rooms in the house.  Our adventure for Memorial Day weekend was repainting the Family Room.  Here is the before picture. 

See how the pictures and curtains just blend right into the walls? Yuck! I have been living with this for two years before I finally pulled the trigger and selected a color. Of course, I agonized about which color to use because we spend the most time in this room, and I wanted to make sure I loved the color. Plus, it had to be fairly neutral since we will eventually get rid of our horrible couches (they are so old and stained, I wouldn't dare even picture them in public!). Anyway, I digress.  I looked at several swatches and finally chose Adobe Straw from Behr (my favorite brand). 

First thing on Saturday morning, we took the kiddos over to Grandma and Grandpa and started taping.  It is such a tedious process, but makes the painting so much easier since we don't have to worry about being perfect.  I don't know what it is, but I just love a room framed in blue tape, don't you?

After the taping was complete, we primed all the walls.  This isn't something I usually do, but I have found that these walls just suck up the paint since they were only sprayed by the builder.  Primer helps the color cover walls while using less of the more expensive high quality paint.  Since I was using a fairly light color, I did not tint the primer.  Here it what the wall looks like all primed and ready for color.

And 24 hours later.....voila....

My brand new family room.  I just love how the pictures and the curtains pop off the walls now.  It looks like the tile around the fireplace blends in, but it really doesn't.  The room is still a work in progress. I need something more on the main wall, all I have right now is a TV and speakers (you can see one of them in the top left of the picture).  I am waiting for inspiration to strike me with the perfect thing to hang on the wall.  In the meantime, here are the before and after pictures side-by-side.

Ahhhh, so much warmer and more welcoming now.