Painting the Sunroom

I started a make over on the sunroom last week.  Its a small 12'x14' room off the kitchen that we've been using as kind of a mudroom. Its the entrance we use most often and where we kick off muddy shoes, grab a jacket and where we keep Hunny confined when we leave the house. Majorly neglected! (the room,  not the dog)

It is lined with yellow pine paneling and has faded rusty orange carpet.  And despite the 9 windows, it always seemed dark and cave-like....NOT my favorite room in the  house. The paneling bugged me the most. Now, I understand there are those who feel natural wood should be left as is, but I'm not one of them.  lol
And I think even the most die-hard wood lovers would have to agree with me in this case. The paneling appears to be pieced together from remnants (different grades, finishes, and colors) and you may also notice in the photos that on some walls its hung vertcally and on others its horizontal. There is also some exposed brick (greyish brown) thrown into the mix.
So, I decided to paint  the room and hopefully brighten the space and mask some of the craziness.

I started by removing the wood blinds, taking down the dust-collecting shelf at the peak, and wiping down the paneling.

Because of the grooves in the paneling and all the cutting in around the windows, I had to paint the entire room with a brush. Fun.  But after a coat of primer and one coat of paint (Behr's paint and primer in one) I was already happier with the room. I decided not to paint the ceiling becasue I just didn't think my neck and shoulders could handle it, although I think it would look lovely in a pale sky blue.

I painted the door in a blue-green color that I already had on hand and plan to use yellow and red as accents in the room.

Although I like the wood blinds, I was craving somingthing a bit lighter for summer.  So I had hubby install curtain wire from Ikea so I could hang sheers.  The wires will be nearly invisible if I later want to take down the sheers and put the blinds back up.

While we were at Ikea, we also picked up an Expedit bookcase and 6 Besta feet and plan to use it as a long storage bench.

There's still some work to do. We have to trim out the gable window and then put up the last curtain wire on the wall. I'm also re-making a roll up window shade for the door and want to make a seat cushion and find storage boxes for the bench.  I would love to change the ugly carpet, but not sure that will happen just yet.  But, its already made a big difference! Its now a bright happy room that goes with the rest of the house, rather than looking like an after-thought.

 

 

Hope to have this finished up soon, so I can show the final reveal.  :)

Progress at the New House

Here are a few pictures of the (slow) progress at the new house.

This is what the little 3rd bedroom looked like before; yellow walls, ceiling, trim.and closet along with dark mauvey pink carpet...

And this is where its at now...
This room will be an office. The carpet has been removed and will have hardwood installed, ceiling and closet have been painted white, walls are painted a light tan called "Natural" by Valspar. For this room I was inspired by the fun and colorful designs of Orla Kiely. Since my attempts to find this in fabric form have been unsuccessful, I decided to paint it on the wall. I still have the stems to do, but you get the picture.

I used the sample size paints from Lowes in 7 or 8 different colors and just sketched out where I wanted each color. At just $3.00 a piece, it was fairly economical and will be much easier to change out than wallpaper. I used a 1" inch foam brush for the edges and a 2"inch brush to fill in the center.

I have located her fabric print in a 2-toned version online, so I hope to make a lamp shade with it eventually.

The master bedroom used to look like this...Yes, that's purple on the walls, door trim, ceiling, closet, and carpet.

And this is where its at now... The color on the walls is called "Blue Shamrock" by Olympic paints. And the ceiling, closet, and french doors have a fresh coat of white satin. This room will also have crown molding and hardwood floors soon.

The bathrooms have been stripped of their dated wallpaper, but there's really not much to see in there, yet, so I'll wait until they have something exciting before I show you pictures.

Oh, and the Tiny house is getting a front porch as we speak...photos to come...

Have a great week everyone!