On holycitychic.com: Before and After: Living Room and Dining Room PAINT

We chose one paint color for all the common areas of our home. You know by now that it took 16 paint samples for me to find a color I liked. And what we ended up with is totally different than what I thought I wanted. I thought I wanted a rich gray, but I ended up with an off-white, greige color. I don't even know if you could classify it as greige. It's a cool beige. In certain light, it almost looks "mother of pearl." It's exactly what I wanted Ben Moore "Classic Gray" to be, but it was too cool.

Before I show the new paint, let's take a little walk down memory lane. Here's what we were working with before. As in, when we moved in and didn't own a sofa or chairs. 

Then we got furniture.

Then the paint samples started. All 16 of them. 

What's funny is that the color we chose isn't in any of those samples. At first we chose Sherwin Williams "Windfresh White," but I kind of hated it. It's beautiful on the paint chip, but it looked like cement in our home.

Which only led us to something lighter and brighter. We had Sherwin Williams color match Benjamin Moore "Sea Pearl" in their Cashmere paint formula. I mentioned all of the reasons we love that paint here. 

Please note that I have not accessorized hardly at all. This was before any frames were hung on the walls, before window treatments were installed, before pillows were ordered for the sofa (still haven't done this), etc. Just showing the paint here! 

Here's a little peak at what it looks like with the curtains and things put up on the walls. 

Got to admit that now that our Christmas tree has been taken down, my living room looks so sad! I'm in dire need of some color and warmth. Post on that to come soon.

Oh, and the dining room before.

...and after the painting, but before window treatments.

Now I'm on a major mission to add art to our walls, new pillows in our living room, an oriental rug for layering on top of our sisal rug, and more to cozy up our space. I feel like I've got a great blank space now and I'm looking forward to slowly adding special touches to it. I'm trying not to be in any rush though. I've learned that it's better to wait and get what you really want, rather than hurrying to purchase a less expensive "space filler." So that's currently where I am in the whole great paint debate. You saw the paint transformation of our powder bath and guest room/guest bath. You also saw our master bedroom before/after. But wait! There's still one room left; my office. But don't hold your breath just yet... it still needs to be painted!