Sing the title to the tune of that famous Dolly Parton song if you like. Or try the SNL version we’ve been loving. Painting the living room yesterday turned into a full-day project — twelve hours from 9am to 9pm — with plenty of breaks for tending to Clara and keeping up with the blog. The good news: the living room is officially Moonshine’d. The better news: so is the hallway — once we got rolling we couldn’t stop.
The morning started slowly. Between Sherry drafting the first blog post of the day to answer reader questions, Clara needing breakfast, and me taping and clearing the room, it was almost 11am before we cracked open the first can of paint. We’d already decided Moonshine was the right gray for our house — we had it color-matched to Olympic No-VOC in a satin finish, which gives surprisingly flat-looking results with durable, kid-friendly wipeability.
Things picked up once Clara took a rare long nap (11am to nearly 1pm) and we let ourselves focus on painting instead of immediately answering comments. Sherry powered through despite getting a splinter in her left cheek from the floor (yes, through her yoga pants — ouch). She handled the cutting-in while I rolled the walls, and also filled several gnarly holes in the rough brick wall with paintable DAP caulk for a cleaner finished look. She’s a trooper and a detail person, which I love.
After Clara woke we alternated baby duty, which slowed the pace but made the day more manageable. As daylight faded it became harder to distinguish wet paint from the old white, but we pushed through, taking breaks for blog updates, meals, diaper changes and a second, shorter nap for Clara. By about 5:30pm we’d applied two coats in the living room and started the two hallway vestibules. After putting Clara to bed around 8pm we opened a second gallon to finish the hall coats and by 9pm we were cleaning up and ready to crash on the couch, which was still clustered mid-room near the TV.
Because it was too dark for photos the night before, we waited until the morning to capture the after shots.
It’s tough to capture the change in photos, but in person the space feels noticeably warmer. We expected gray to read cool, but the soft silvery tone of Moonshine feels cozy next to the stark white it replaced — like being inside a glowing cloud. We’re both in love with it. We purposely kept the wall color restrained because we plan to introduce bold textiles, large dramatic curtains on the sliders, colorful art, and perhaps painted furniture. We also want a large charcoal sectional, moving away from the breezy, white-slipcovered look we had in our previous house. Some rooms will get rich, saturated colors later — like the hall bathroom and guest bedroom — so the calmer living room walls will let other elements take center stage.
With one wall being brick, we felt a deep jewel tone might clash and make the room feel disjointed, so sticking with lighter, more unified tones felt right. We considered leaving the fireplace bump-out white, but it looked off-balance, so we painted it to maintain cohesion. We can always add a darker accent later if we want more drama.
The hallway turned out beautifully and reinforced our confidence in Moonshine. The crisp white trim really defines the soft gray and gives the space a polished, intentional look.
This close-up shows the silvery quality of Moonshine and how it contrasts with the glossy white trim:
Next up is painting the trim and baseboards in the living room, which is why the furniture remains in a tight island in the center of the room for now. We’re leaving the ceiling beams as-is for the moment while we live with the room and decide. Sherry has floated the idea of staining or painting them a rich charcoal, and we’ll likely mock that up digitally before committing. We hope to have finished trim photos up next week — fingers crossed for speedy painting and another one of those epic naps from Clara.
Psst — repair techs fixed our new washer during the painting chaos and eliminated the annoying whistle. Relief all around.
Pssst — we announced this week’s giveaway winners, so check the blog if you’re curious.