The Big Kilim Beige Paint Reveal

Well, it's finally here! I've been talking about the big paint reveal for what seems like forever. :) I've been dealing with camera issues, so its taken a lot longer to get this post up. (you can click HERE to see the Master Bedroom/Bath Makeover where we did much more than just paint) First up, lets take a look at an "after" shot of the dining room...

We're really happy with the new lighter paint. We used Sherwin Williams Duration paint in Kilim Beige with a matte finish. Their matte finish actually has a little sheen to it, (which I love) and I think it might be because it's a washable paint. We wanted a much lighter color, but we still wanted the white trim and moldings to stand out, so we didn't want to go too light. I think we achieved a happy medium with kilim beige. :)

The paint was a little more than I wanted to spend, but we got all of it at 25% off, so that helped. And after using it, I can say that it's worth the extra money. It totally covered the dark paint in one coat and we didn't even prime first. You can see in the pics below how dark the old paint was (the name of it was actually "coffee kiss") and we were putting a much lighter color over it. It went on smooth and the coverage was spectacular. :)

Now, here's a reminder of what it used to look like...




Pretty dark, huh? 

The lighter color really works in here. The room seems bigger too. I switched out the sconces with the ones that were in the living room since we are no longer using them.

You can probably spot a few of my recent purchases in this post too. :)

The lighter paint really seemed to open up the foyer. 

Now let's take a look at what the living room used to look like...







I really never liked how close the armoire was to the fireplace. It was like two focal points right next to each other. 



That's pretty dark too. Almost like a cave. :)

And now some lighter, brighter "afters"...

You can see that we rearranged the furniture too. My hubby and son tell me that armoire weighs a ton. :)

I like the new arrangement with the wing chair close to the fireplace. It'll be nice to enjoy sitting in it with a fire going next year. And I say "next year" because winter is over for us here in Texas. We've already got the a/c running again with our 80 degree temps. Oh well, winter was fun while it lasted. :)

I'm still tweaking things on a daily basis, but that's kind of the fun part, right? 

Below you can see my Chicken Wire Artwork that we added a little something to. 

That's Holly on the back of the loveseat. It's one of her favorite spots. 

I just can't believe how much lighter it is in here. :)

I didn't add any before pics of the kitchen because you can't tell a huge difference. The kitchen was already a lot lighter than the living room. However, the kilim beige is still a couple of shades lighter than the old kitchen paint. The main difference is that now you can't see all the finger prints that were on the walls. :) 

As a girl who can't even sew on a button, I've got to say I'm still really enjoying my No Sew Kitchen Curtains. Gotta love that heat n bond! 

The last time we painted our house was 9 years ago and the boys were 10 and 5. We were really due for a paint job! Little boys can leave a lot of fingerprints, smudges, etc. That's one of the reasons we went with a washable paint this time around. And can I just say how much nicer it was to paint with older kids in the house? The last time we painted, we kept having to stop to do mundane things like feed the kids, etc. :) But this time around, the kids could actually help. We taught them how to wash out brushes properly and our oldest even drove to the paint store for us when we ran out of paint! I sent him with a coupon, of course. :)

Below you can see how we pulled the loveseat out from the wall by about 2 feet. I hated having the furniture pressed up against the wall like it used to be. It's so nice to be able to walk back there to open the blinds now. (I used to have to stand on the sofa to reach up and open the blinds)

One of the reasons we used to have the furniture all around the edges of the room was because we wanted the boys to have plenty of room to play. It gave them a huge space in the middle of the living room to run around and play with all their cars, legos, etc. But, now that they're older, it's nice to have a more cozy conversational area. 

Below you can see my $5 West Elm Mercury Glass Hurricane

As a bonus, I can now see the tv while at the kitchen sink! (it's inside the armoire) :)

Well, that's it for the big paint reveal! I hope y'all like it as much as we do. Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa

I'm joining these parties: Dwellings The Heart Of Your Home, Savvy Southern Style, Imparting Grace, I Heart Naptime, Common Ground, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, It's Overflowing, An Extraordinary Day, The Best Of The Nest