• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Blue House Blog

believer | creating a home of peace, health, abundance and beauty | laughing a lot

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Truth
    • Contact Me
  • Recipes
    • Trim Healthy Mama
    • Nourishing Traditions
  • My Home
    • Remodeling
    • Before and After
  • The Fine Print
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy
    • Media
  • Shop

Our Living Room Tour {Before} and a Remodeling Update.

Melissa Beene Ford/ before and after+ Remodeling

It’s been TEN MONTHS since I filled you in on our remodeling progress. TEN! I know you’ve been lying awake at night, panic-stricken because you don’t know WHAT’S GOING ON?!?! HAVE THEY PAINTED?! HAVE THEY GOTTEN CARPET?!

And I’m sorry about for leaving you hanging, but you can stop making a big deal out of it because I’m about to fill you in.

Meanwhile, if you’re new here, you need to know where we left off in our remodeling saga, because the last time I updated there was carpet on the roof and a certain spouse getting all bug-eyed about it, so click here to read that. Go ahead. Click. I’ll wait.

There are few reasons I haven’t posted any remodeling progress in a long while, and all of those reasons may or may not be related to how after 2+ years of marriage I’ve learned that we disagree on more than where the couch should go. (Like, three things total. Don’t be alarmed). First, scrambled eggs; one of us makes them perfectly, the other one likes their scrambled eggs wet like snot. I won’t say who.

And then paint colors. I believe that you should paint, repaint, and paint some more until you find your SOUL MATE paint color that will COMPLETE YOU and make all your dreams come true forevermore; hubby believes you pick ONE PAINT COLOR AND COMMIT TO IT UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE. Even if it turns out to be a color that looks TOTALLY different than it did on the card and you HATE IT and every time you are in that room you curl up in the fetal position and cry, TOO BAD. YOU MARRIED IT AND YOU’VE GOT IT FOR LIFE, BABY.

And preferably (in hubby’s opinion) that color should be pretty much Transfiguration White. ***Please don’t make that color, Sherwin- Williams, because then I’d have to live with it.*** Because BRIGHT and LIGHT. And speaking of light, I want blinds and blackout drapes. And LAMPS. Cozy. Ambience. All that. I want to snuggle up in a dark and cozy room and be all cozy and snuggly and secure.

And he wants our house all bright and lit up, like you know when you drive up to a gas station at night and all the fluorescent lights are all crackling and humming and it’s so bright you can see it from space?

Yeah. He wants our house lit up like that.

It’s just a lot of pressure, you know? Committing to ONE paint color we can BOTH live with from now until THE RETIREMENT HOME? I’M SCARED AND INTIMIDATED. So sometimes you do what’s in the best interest of marital harmony and put the remodeling on the back burner.

BUT I just found out that my beloved best friend Sherwin-Williams wants to WORK WITH ME on some painting projects… which I am totally doing backspin cartwheels about… AND SO IT’S BACK ON! We drove to my happy place (Sherwin-Williams, of course) Saturday and brought home ONE OF EACH PAINT SAMPLE COLOR CARD and went NUTS taping them EVERYWHERE! 

OK, not really. 

Just a few dozen. Light grays, mostly, because the next project we’re about to complete is our LIVING ROOM. Can you BELIEVE we’ve lived with decades-old aged and yellowing paint on the walls for ALMOST A YEAR? It’s the longest amount of time I’ve lived with hideous ugliness, well, except for… nevermind. But FINALLY, miracle of miracles, I think we’ve on the verge of choosing a color we can BOTH live with.

Our living room presents a challenge for lots of reasons, the greatest of which is that since we married a little over two years ago, we both had junk and baggage from the past that we wanted to lose, and START OVER with our own style, keeping the BEST stuff from both of our worlds. And merging our two styles into ONE is challenging to say the least, but I think I finally narrowed it down to a lil’ something called RUSTIC VINTAGE COTTAGE GLAM WITH A TOUCH OF 50’s RETRO. It’s a real thing; just look it up on Pinterest if you don’t believe me. 

As a disclaimer, we’ve both had pretty living rooms before (check out this post to see them both…) but this isn’t one of them, so without further ado, here’s our TEMPORARY living room, BEFORE the makeover…

 

 

 
 
 

First of all, let me show you these great lamps I scored at Tuesday Morning! I eyed them for several weeks and loved them and DROOLED over them, but they were $50 each… and that wasn’t in my uber-thrifty budget. Trying to do this house remodel for as close to zero as possible, ya know? We have a WHOLE big house to do. So anyway… I was making my usual Tuesday Morning bargain-hunting rounds and spotted my lamps… WITH A YELLOW CLEARANCE STICKER. For real. They came to less than $8 each. Score!

 

 

 

 

 
Found these great burlap lamp shades at Lowe’s… $20 each. 
 

And there’s my homemade January mantel art! Yep, I made that. Found a board… painted it Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Duck Egg Blue… and scrawled on it with a white Sharpie marker. I had planned to take it down after January, but baby, it’s still dang cold outside.

Glittery silver pine cones are perfect for January. Or until this Polar Vortex ends and I change this cold-looking stuff out for something else.

 

These candlesticks I found on the clearance table at Dillard’s. Vase, Southern Living at Home a LONG time ago.
 

And there it is… my January mantel. Or my First Quarter of 2014 mantel. Whatever.

Drapes… custom made for my last house. I like them but they’re too fancy for the room I envision, so they won’t be staying. And they’re hanging too low. But they’re there (temporarily) because of my room darkening, blackout-drape fetish (see above). The rod came from Tuesday Morning and it might stay. Who knows.

 
And there are my beautiful lamps on the table my World Market knockoff table. Partially painted ASCP Duck Egg Blue… but not finished. That’s on account of because after I started painting it we realized it needed a more substantial weight to it, and we added more wood. And so it’s sitting in the house acclimating to the new temp before I paint it. Or something like that. 

 

 
For now, this table is a catch-all. But part of my room re-do includes finishing this table and decorating it all up right. No sippy cups allowed… oh, who am I kidding. It will stay covered up in sippy cups and Elmo paraphernalia. 

 

 
These two prints from Marshall’s might stay, might go, who knows. I like them but we’ll see. And those are all of our paint choices from Sherwin-Williams.… and surprisingly, we agree on our top three choices which are On the Rocks, Zircon, or Big Chill. Mostly leaning toward Zircon… I just really want a TRUE gray that at isn’t too blue or beige. And definitely no ‘greige’ because I hate that word.

 

…. which is the color in the middle above. And I want to paint the ceiling that Sea Salt color on the bottom left… and hubby does not agree because you can’t really see a paint color with all the fluorescent shop lights he wants to hang from the ceiling. So we’re in negotiations on that right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This painting… love it… keeping it… just not in this room. 

 

 

 


 Umm…. when we moved in, there were nails already in the wall. This stuff went on these nails (to get them off the floor) and it’s been hanging there all crazily ever since. #thingsthatdrivemecrazy 


Map of Wales I got on my college graduation trip with my mom… keeping it, just probably not right here. 

Southern Living iron thing… keeping it, not sure where. 

Very cool mirror I found at Ross… definitely keeping it. For sure not right here. 

This room has just been hanging there in a big state of paralysis… but no longer.

 

This sarcastic Oreo-covered baby? Keeping her. And that chair; I love the color and fabric, but the style doesn’t go with the picture in my head, so the set of two of them will most likely get bumped up to an upstairs room eventually. Or sold. Who knows.

And just to clarify, when I say “the set of two of them,” I mean the set of two CHAIRS. Not the set of chair + baby. Because I’m keeping the baby. I said that, right? Unless you catch me on a morning after she woke me up at 3am, then she will be much more likely to get bumped to an upstairs room. Or sold. Who knows.

 
That armoire behind her… keeping it. For now. Until the day comes when we get a giNORmous new tv.

 

And there’s my fireplace wall. I’ve already painted that… Dover White from Sherwin-Williams is my trim color of choice.

This coffee table... my very first purchase (from Canton) for my very first apartment back in 1996. I was trying to go all Shabby Chic with quilts and rustic stuff and whatnot back in the day, and all these years this table still fits with the room I want. Love it.

The floor under it? Keeping it… but not. It’s covered with some sort of wax or yucky brown residue here and there that NO MATTER WHAT I’VE TRIED (everything) it will NOT come off. I think I’m gonna have to rent one of those industrial floor stripper thingies and strip the top layer of brick off. Definitely in the top 3 THINGS I MUST DO TO THIS ROOM. That floor is ugly, y’all.

This is a better picture of that floor. I’ve spent HOURS on my hands and knees scrubbing this thing, used every kind of chemical known to man, and baking soda, bleach, every kind of floor and carpet cleaner and a carpet shampooer on this floor and IT STILL LOOKS LIKE THAT. But I’m not done yet….

I do have plans for a rug too… I have the ONE all picked out already.

 

 

 
This throw… found at Marshall’s, bought with the gift card my sweet Katie gave me for Christmas. It has all of the colors in it! Perfect! 
 
The couch… I like it. It’s staying but it’s temporary until I can afford the sectional I want (something like… this one… only it must not cost more than my car is worth.) 
 
And that concludes our room tour! Can’t WAIT to see what Sherwin-Williams and I come up with. Stay tuned… 
 

 

 

post signature

Recent Posts

  • Ask
  • Two Natural Ways to Cope with Grief
  • Covers Over
  • God vs Earthly Parents
  • For they are ever with me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. katdish says

    March 13, 2014 at 7:02 pm

    I see a bunch of Southern Living accessories I have. I love your somewhat traditional/whimsical style.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

Be sure to subscribe to emails so you don't miss a post!

Search for Something

ARCHIVES

I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in an 80-year-old house completely worth it … what broken pipes, icy hardwood floors and drafty windows? 🤔 I forgot already. #comeonspring #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Happy Saturday ☀️ Happy Saturday ☀️
Salt Lake City is always magical ✨ Salt Lake City is always magical ✨
2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrollin 2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrolling through my pics from the last twelve months made me realize how blessed and content I am. Prosperity, love, and peace have been ours in abundance, in spite of the pain of losing my dad. The second picture is the last picture of him… the last time I saw him. 💔 But God has been good to my family this year and 2022 is ending far better than it began. 😄 #2022inreview #thanksforthememories
Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍ Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍♀️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That’s it. That’s the tour. (Slide two). 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s a new trend I’m starting: bare Christmas tree. Lowe’s tag still attached (so quirky and unexpected)! Christmas ornaments still in boxes. Coming soon to an Anthropologie window display near you. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Maybe this year is the year I’ll organize it all and put it back neatly so that by Christmas number 7, it will be smooth sailing. People will flock to my social media to see how I’ve pulled everything off SO PERFECTLY. Next year will be my year. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Seems every year there’s less and less bandwidth for all these things. There’s more grief and stress, less money. More demands, less grace. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I put this sign on the wall in my office so I could keep it in front of my eyes: Love. Joy. Peace. And all that. I am SO unlike Jesus most days. So lacking in all of these character qualities. And that’s WITH waking up most mornings and spending my first 30 minutes with God Himself. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
How lost would I be without that? Geez. I can’t fathom. I REQUIRE being transformed by renewing my mind every single morning, and even then, responding to people and life with love, joy, peace and patience doesn’t come naturally. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s the goal, though. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This weary world needs that from us Believers during this season, more than ever… even more than an Anthropologie-window-display worthy Christmas home tour. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’m working on both.
Instagram post 18046618504353300 Instagram post 18046618504353300
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Ella Theme by Code + Coconut