The Big Reveal or How a Little Paint Can Make a Big Difference

If you're here looking for a dramatic change......

well......

I don't think you'll find it here.

However.....

if you want to see how just a few gallons of paint and a little editing of furniture and accessories can really change the look of a room, then this post's for you!

Before......

Yellow walls.....

 Look how intense that yellow looks.  It did look a bit better in person, but......

it didn't make me smile anymore.  It felt really dated.

We painted the walls yellow before we added the skylight.

Dark green paint on the library bookcases.......

It felt cozy, but it was dark.  Really dark.

We moved some furniture too.  You can see that in a bit.

************************

So last week I convinced Worker Bee it was time.  Time to move out all those books, stuff, and furniture.

And this is the result......

C'mon in!

And no, that's not your imagination - our ceilings are blue!   That part's not new.

I love how much more open it feels now.

Love these frames!  But I haven't updated them since Baby Bee was about two years old.  I told her it was time to put in some new pictures and she protested.  I have a sentimental little Baby Bee.

Do you see the fish bowl?

That's Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy.

They are some goldfish that Baby Bee won at the school carnival 

(drum roll please) 

2 1/2 years ago!  

Do we do anything special to keep them alive?

Absolutely NOT!

They are just in one of those huge glass general store type jars.  

They really want to live.  They are survivors. Worker Bee even brought one of them back from the brink.

We call him the Fish Whisperer.

As you continue in we had this open space and it just didn't look quite right. 

Sewing Bee suggested filling it in with the two chairs.  She was right.  (But don't tell her I said that - I don't want it to go to her head.) 

I think I need to look for a little table - some sort of pedestal - to go between the two chairs.  For now, the red boxes will do.  (Yep, that's another "That's Good Enough.")

 Look to your right and there's our piano......

 and game cabinet.  These two guys switched places.  We're still getting used to it, but I think they'll stay exactly where they are. 

 And remember these great aqua floral pictures that I couldn't decide if I should keep?  Well they now have a permanent home.  I love how they look with the red candlesticks, the little aqua bird and the red gingham lined basket that holds some of our music. (Baby Bee and I both play the piano and Worker Bee plays the guitar.)

 And how absolutely perfectly they all go with this adorable summer time banner that Joyce from Scrap for Joy made for a swap we were in.  Don't you love it?  She is uber-talented!  I need to show you some of the other things she made. 

Now.....come sit down - let's chat for a bit.  Let me go and make you an iced latte......

Ahhhh.......better.  Love those vanilla iced lattes.

We didn't change a lot in this area.  We did shift the entertainment armoire and bookcases towards the sunroom window.  This really opened up the area between the piano and the loveseat. 

It still feels warm and cozy to me, but just so much brighter!

Now look at the library!  The only change here was that we repainted the back of the bookcases.  From the original dark green to this gorgeous blue. 

Yes, you can look a little closer.

The blue brightens it up so much.

These READ letters are one of my favorite things.  I picked them up on vacation in Wisconsin - Fond du Lac to be precise - although the vacation was actually at Green Lake.  We were in a Target and I found these.  Worker Bee said, "C'mon.  We can get that back home.  Why do you want to haul that halfway across the country?"  Well I persisted and it flew back with us to California and good thing because (I bet you can guess this one) I never ever found these letters at any Target in my part of California.  Lesson learned - READ is always worth hauling from WI to CA.

Up on top?  Those are the Grandma Bowls.  You can read more about them here.

C'mon - sit down.  Finish that latte now that you've seen most of the changes.  You know how it is - there will be a little bit of tweaking and changes until I'm completely happy with it.   

And now you know why I haven't posted much lately.  Been a bit busy taking my whole living room apart and then putting it back together!  

Well thank you so much for buzzing by!  

Can you believe how much brighter and lighter it all looks now?

I knew it would be better, but I had no idea it would be SO MUCH better.

And if you're curious....the walls are painted Antique White (Behr from Home Depot) and the back of the bookcases are Sunken Pool (Martha Stewart from Home Depot).

And please don't forget to come back for my 500 follower giveaway.  Apparently I'm still being a tease about it......

Yep!  That's another sneak peek of the giveaway!  Yes, I am a terrible tease.  But won't you forgive me?

With lots of honey,

I'm linking this post up to

Met Monday
at Between Naps on the Porch
and

at The House in the Roses.

Thank you ladies for hosting such fun linky parties!