Have you ever wanted to revamp your living room, but didn’t know where to start? I would see those Instagram reels of those beautiful rooms that have character and look so cozy that all you want to do is sit in a chair, grab your favorite book and settle in for a good read. I knew I wanted something like that for our home. It seemed a bit overwhelming to try but if I had to take things one step at a time and by the end, it all would come together!
When we first moved into our place, all of the walls were painted a neutral color (not white, but a light cream grey). It’s a nice color, but I realized after a while that our house had a bit of a model home/apartment look and feel (still cookie cutter-like and not “ours”).
Every year, we usually change up our living by moving the furniture around. At the beginning of the summer and winter months it gets changed to either a cozier layout, or having a little more space in the middle of the room for playing games by moving the couch. It has worked out for the last few years, but there was always something missing. It was still just a “house” and not a Home (I wanted a home).
I started looking at pictures that I loved the aesthetics of and began to pinpoint my favorite things about them. Thankfully, we didn’t need new furniture as we already had pieces we loved. Then I realized what most of these pictures and videos had in common: the color of the walls! First step: I was going to start on the walls.
Figuring out that perfect wall color though proved a little challenging. The biggest hurdle? The idea that we needed to conform and keep the house a certain way to possibly resell in the future. Then I thought about that. Why am I making a decision now, for a potential buyer 5, 10, maybe 20 years in the future? This was a little bit absurd to think this way, no? So, I went back to the photos and thought, what colors do we really like that could also work with our current furniture. Then I saw it… It was the green. A dark forest like green.
I went to the paint store and grabbed a few paint chips of different shades in the green we liked. After much deliberation, we settled on 2 color variants that could both work. Our only concern was if one would be too dark or too light. Our solution? Buy a couple of paint samples, in the sheen we would use. I went back to the store, picked them up, took them back home and painted a square of each color on the wall. We had our answer! We ended up loving the slightly lighter version (to my surprise). This color still created that cozy feeling while not shutting out the light.
The next question was when do we paint? I knew Shin was not into doing the painting (which was great since I could paint it how I wanted 😊). Then I also didn’t want it to disrupt the area too much as I would be painting the wall that had most of our furniture and TV on it in the living room. After looking over several possible days, I said screw it and just started at step one.
I was about to do something out of my comfort zone with this paint color and starting at the first step seemed the best way to begin. Step one: move the furniture. Step two: tape the edges. Step three: paint a base coat around the taped edges.( Do this if you have textured walls and want a nice clean line on your edges.) Step four: PAINT!
Now when I tell you I went through various stages of love, regret, and denial… my goodness! I really needed to trust the process. Then I thought, why am I so scared to paint this color?? It’s just paint, right? If I don’t like it, I can always paint over it and start again. That, my friends, is what I kept telling myself throughout the whole process. Then my concern changed from: is this going to work, to do I have enough paint?!
In the end, all my worry and panic were all for not (I had just enough paint to cover the wall)! I let it dry for a few hours, began moving the furniture back, replacing all the books, and knick knacks back on the shelves. Then I took a step back, sat on the couch, looked at the wall and loved it! The longer I stared at the wall, the color, the more I loved it and kept loving it!
Thinking about how scared and doubtful I was seems a bit silly now in retrospect but oh was this a freeing experience. I now want to do more decorating and make this house our home. A place where we can be comfortable without feeling like it’s a museum. A place that makes us happy and not anyone else. The moral of this story: If you EVER have the want or feeling to make your house the way you want, do it. Don’t worry about what the John Doe’s or Suzie Homemaker’s might say. If it makes you happy, nothing should stop you from going for it!
