Living Room Ceiling Updates, Part I

Add installing crown molding on a ceiling beam to the already long list of weird stuff our house's previous owner did. This is what the beam in our living room looked like after we took the crown molding down:

After the molding was removed you could see that it wasn't particularly nice wood but it wasn't bad enough to deserve to be painted beige (but really, nothing deserves to be painted beige). There wasn't really any value in trying to strip the paint and sand it to get it back to its natural state, so I painted it chocolate brown to make it look more like real wood from afar. Really you could argue that it looks like real wood from pretty close, too, since I think I picked a color very similar to the one that was uncovered, and the wood was never sanded so it had a really rough grain texture to it still. See how much better it looks already?

Obviously I couldn't wait to get a picture first but I have already started filling in the cracks that were previously covered by the molding with foam insulation so we'll have one less place for air to leak into the attic. Since I intend to put up paneling on the ceiling (as I mentioned previously) it should cover what little of the insulation might still be visible after I trim it. Anyway, painting this beam made a HUGE difference in the feeling of the room and it feels so much more cozy already.

Paint color is Sherwin Williams French Roast

Painting Party

First, gallery wall updates! We had another painting party with friends where we grilled a lot of delicious food, drank a lot of delicious beer, and made a lot of delicious beautiful art. Our gallery wall is expanding! Another few painting parties and I think we could have this wall filled entirely from top to bottom, which is really the goal for the entire house I would say! I love this wall so much.

Nick painted a few new ones for the wall. The circles are interesting but the octosquid is my favorite!

I only contributed one to this wall this time: a tiny little one.

Also I don't know if I ever showed off my very first Pinterest-inspired project: Texas!

P.S. Look! Grouted tiles!!! Baseboards are on the schedule for this spring!

Where I contributed more is in the guest room. I painted a couple of cute cacti with brightly colored edges and a colorful abstract. For a room made up of leftover bedding from college, a crocheted throw from grandma, and a borrowed bed I think it's starting to look not terrible!

Finally, we bought a few original paintings on canvas from a man at a fair when we went to Portland last November. I finally found some frames that would work for them and hung them in the bathroom. This is also a preview of what's happening in the guest bath right now! I only bought a paint sample in case I hated it so I didn't get to finish the room, but I was way too excited to hang some ART to wait for a whole room to be painted. Besides, how the heck do you paint behind a toilet??

Paint colors:
Hallway: Sherwin Williams Extra White
Guest Room: Sherwin Williams Nifty Turquoise
Bathroom: Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black