I dream of finished rooms like this one from Cove Interiors via Queensland Homes!
I have been imagining finished, comfortable rooms for a long time, and today feels like a milestone: painters and contractors are finally in the house. Not yet for the kitchen, but for many important spaces—the living room, dining room, family room, office, Luke’s room and the staircase.
I’ll take any progress at this point. Fresh paint and a few updates will make a big difference in how our home looks and functions. If you prefer only the final reveal photos, you might skip ahead and wait for those after pictures. But if you appreciate the slow, often messy process of taking a house from its original state to a home that feels complete, I’m glad you’re here to celebrate this moment with me.
First, I’m ready to say goodbye to the swine- and hog-colored paint that has lurked through much of the house. If you like those tones, that’s fine—colors are personal—but they don’t bring me joy here. It’s time for a cleaner palette that lets the rooms feel brighter and more restful.
See the swine ceiling? It’s time for it to go.
Our living room with a new daybed, a test-painted wall and a freshly painted fireplace.
When we moved in, the house had a patchwork of whites, tans, yellows and even a red wall—plus that mauve-tinged ceiling in the living room. I love making a space my own, so I’m excited to see these rooms freshened up. New paint does something immediate to a house: it makes it feel more like yours.
We’ve chosen a warm, bright white for the main rooms. Because this house gets a lot of natural light, many neutrals either looked washed out or too flat; this particular white brightens the rooms while keeping a welcoming warmth. Living with colors for a while before committing made that clear. We’ll also install bamboo window shades that will help finish the rooms and add texture and warmth.
My office and Luke’s room will each get their own colors and I’ll share those in separate posts as the work progresses.
Dining room – removing a doorbell niche, adding planking and painting the walls a consistent color.
In the dining room we’re covering a recessed doorbell niche with a planked wall to create a cleaner look. My office, which has moved to the lower level, will receive a new wall and door so it becomes a proper, private workspace.
The lower level family room looks promising from one angle, especially with the white brick fireplace and a new chair as a starting point, but it was still surrounded by swine-colored walls. Clearing those colors away will give this room the clean slate it needs. The other end of the room will become my relocated office—more on that in a future post.
Next up: a new sofa we’ve ordered and the possibility of updated flooring down the line. Those additions will help tie the space together and make it more comfortable and functional.
Once these updates are well underway, we’ll refocus on the kitchen remodel—something I’ve been eager to start. It’s motivating to know that contractors are transforming much of the house this week so we can begin setting up each area properly.
There’s also progress on the side yard project, which has been its own saga. Expect more updates and after photos as that moves forward.
Meanwhile, I’m sharing a post over at Proverbs31 about making room for what you love, and there’s a giveaway—check out my feature there for more details.