New Paint for the Downstairs

So recently I decided that I wanted to re-paint the downstairs. The largest area in our house..that we already painted a few months ago. I agree, I must be crazy to want to do that again!

The thing is.. neither of us really liked how the blue turned out. I wanted it to have more of a gray tone, but now I'm thinking that if the whole downstairs was gray, it would feel dismal. At first, I wanted this place to feel totally different than our last place. Now I'm over that.. there was a reason we loved the style of the condo. It was us. The style we tried at first in this place (I wanted it to feel more cozy and not stuffy at all) just never felt like us. It was fine, don't get me wrong.. but we didn't love it. I think you should love the style of your home. Especially the main area we spend most of our time in!

A few weeks ago we finished the molding (that's not entirely true.. Shawn, dad's very handy friend, finished the molding for us. It was well worth it to have it done and have it done right.) We still have to finish painting the molding white which is why the tape is still up around the floor and around the ceiling. 

Here is the finished molding and the two tones of blue the downstairs was before:

You can also see the test areas of the beige tones we picked. I know.. beige is boring right? That's what I thought too. I think in some cases, walls should be boring. That way you can add color in your curtains, throw pillows, art, etc. This place is also going to be a rental property so really need to stick to neutrals. 

Painting in progress...

RJ is so good with that edging tool.. it makes it so much easier!

And I'm a pro with the roller.
<not really. I do ok..>

Here's how the beige turned out - we did a lighter color on top and a darker tone on the bottom. The new color scheme will be very similar to the condo (burgundy, chocolate brown, beige and maybe some small burnt orange accents). I miss our burgundy accent wall but we really need to think about what a future renter would want.

The only thing is that now I wish we would have gotten a dark brown couch instead of the dark khaki. Oh well! I can''t wait to get some of our old art-work up that fits this color scheme. I still love my frame collection that we used to have behind the couch, but I think that would be a good thing to put in my office instead of downstairs. I want to make my office more of a creative, sewing zone and frame some pretty, vintage fabrics. That will be the next project!

Here are some of the colorful curtains (from World Market) that I like:

 

More soon when we get some decorations up!