Before & After: Our Living Room Paint Makeover
I just finished painting the main living area in our new home with Timeless by Clare Paint. And, well, the transformation is incredible. Today, we’re taking a look at the changes and talking next steps!
Well, it’s official. I’ve put the first coats of paint on the inside of our house (painting the garage doesn’t really count), and that means it’s OURS! It can’t just be me – it doesn’t really feel like our house until I start making some changes. And, oh boy, was this ever a big change.
I have been itching to paint the main living area (meaning, the kitchen, dining, and living rooms) of our house since the day we moved in. It was all a pretty dark tan before, with a few accent walls here and there that added some visual chaos to an already-visually-busy space. We don’t get a ton of natural light and the dark color wasn’t doing the room any favors. I told Corey shortly after moving in that my main priority was to make sure to get this space painted before we decorated for Christmas. I wanted a pretty and neutral backdrop for my Christmas decor!
It’s done just in the nick of time, since we all know I’m an early decorator. And oh boy does it ever feel good to have this crossed off the list.
It’s hard to portray in photos exactly how big of a difference this new paint color makes. Even my seven-year-old said, “mom, it feels like a whole new house in here!”. Truly, the new paint color brightened up the space even more than I expected it to. It feels like the whole house took a deep and relaxing breath.
A Process Vlog of the Transformation
I made a little video documenting the process, if you enjoy watching it all come together that way!
Choosing a New Paint Color
The paint color we went with was Timeless by Clare Paint. I talked about how to choose living room paint colors here, so if you need some tips that post might be helpful! When I was choosing, I knew I wanted a warm white. I immediately turned to Clare Paint. I know myself well enough to know I’d be incredibly intimidated by the process of finding the perfect white. Clare has a very limited selection of paint colors, which is exactly what I needed. They’ve done the hard work of eliminating all of the not-so-great options – it makes choosing a paint color so much easier. I tested out a few and landed on Timeless because it was creamy and not too modern, but still bright and airy.
Truly, Clare’s Timeless is the perfect color for this room. It feels warm and welcoming, not too stark, and shifts a little throughout the day in ways that keep it feeling fresh and interesting.
Before
After
Will It All Stay White?
One thing I know you’re wondering is if I’m going to keep this entire space white. The answer is an easy NO! I wanted to paint everything white to begin with so I could get a blank slate and start making future plans. I do think the majority of these walls will stay white. Our last living room taught me that I love white walls in my main living space! But, I foresee a lot of additions in the future.
For example, I’m 100% confident the dining room will not stay white. I haven’t decided what I want to do in there yet. But, I know it will be dark and moody and interesting. It’ll include trim or wallpaper or both, and we’ll be leaning into a dark paint color for that space.
I’m also thinking that the nook in the kitchen may eventually become some sort of accent. And possibly the fireplace wall, once I decide what I’m doing with that.
Basically, my creative wheels are spinning and they’re able to spin because we’ve got clean white walls now!
Painting the Tile Wall
You might notice that I decided to paint the tile wall by our kitchen. This was a controversial choice in my house (it made Corey nervous!) but I knew without a doubt from the beginning it was what I wanted to do. Having the tile go up the wall added so much visual clutter to this space and really emphasized the flooring.
To make it blend in, I gave it a coat of primer with my go-to primer, and then painted two coats of Clare Timeless on it. It looks a hundred times better and blends right in now, which was exactly the goal.
So, What’s Next?
I have to admit that painting the tile wall really got me thinking about the tile “baseboards” around the room. I feel like they really stick out now that we have white walls, and I’m considering painting them! Painting the tile wall turned out so great that I think it might be a really simple solution to help camouflage the baseboards a bit.
I’m still mulling it over and haven’t made a decision yet, but I’ll keep you posted on what I decide!
Another thing we’ll be tackling now that this is done is doors. The doors in our house are a bit of a mess. Some of them are painted taupe. A couple are white. Some are wood. They’re all flat-paneled and cheap looking. So, I plan to spend a little time sprucing them up as we go, and I am going to play around with adding some interest to them, too!
New Outlet Covers + Switches
One thing we’re working on now that the walls are painted is replacing all of the outlet covers and light switches. Corey’s been slowly swapping the light switches over to flat switches (and doing some smart switches here and there, which has been so nice). It’s one of those changes that’s worth the effort, but it’s so tedious – you’ll note we’re not done quite yet. We have a LOT of light switches!
But, I did go ahead and get all of the outlets done and it was so incredibly easy. I used these outlet covers that cover up the entire outlet, and not just the plate. It saves you from having to actually replace the outlets, which makes it much cheaper and faster. It’s kind of wild how big of a difference it makes!
And that’s how things are looking right now! I’m so so glad I decided to prioritize getting this space painted. I love how it turned out, and it feels so much more us now. It’s in a great spot to get started on some other projects, and I can’t wait to dive in.