The *Perfect* White Wall Color & HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE!

Before I get to the nitty gritty of my post today I want to wish a very happy birthday to our lovely, sweet, amazing Jamie!  Today is her 30th birthday! We celebrated over the weekend with lots of good food, wine and cake (chocolate cake + chocolate frosting per her request).  I hope today is a marvelous day - just as marvelous as she is!

image found here

Last week, you saw my white and cream test squares on the walls in my living room.  I know a lot of people prefer to paint their test squares on white posterboard so the paint is not right on the wall, but in my case, I find painting the squares on the wall motivates me to make a decision and paint the room faster.  So last Friday, I decided it was time to start on the big transformation in the living room.  Here are the before pictures:

The color on the wall wasn't bad at all: it was Wool Skein by Sherwin Williams (and that color is in almost every room in the house).  It's a nice neutral and very much reminds me of the Parisian Taupe (Behr) that I had in our first house.  But I wanted a change and I really want a soft tone-on-tone living room with lots of white and cream and oodles of texture.  I decided to give Lowes a try for paint and once there, I went with Olympic One (paint and primer in one).  I was a little nervous: I know that taupe paint can be a bear to cover and I was going white ... but I hoped it would be a two coat job.  The color on the wall was matched to Sherwin Williams Alabaster.  Here's a shot of the room in progress.

I am happy to report that Olympic One is terrific!  It took just two coats to beautifully cover the walls.  I like my paint to feel a little thick, and while Olympic One isn't quite as thick as Sherwin Williams, it has a good consistency.  I'm beyond thrilled with the end result  - both the paint and the color I chose.  Alabaster reads a little grey in my living room, which is just what I wanted.  I wanted the room to feel white but not stark white. And, as I hoped, the Alabaster makes the taupe furniture feel cooler and greyer in tone, which will add to the flow of the house once I paint the entryway, hallway, kitchen and den varying shades of my favorite grey.  In person, the color is a little lighter than it appears in these pictures.   Enough chatter, here are the after shots of my living room!

I set things up as much as I could.  I moved the white and cream rug from the den in here and it works much better.  I covered the taupe pillows that came with the couch with striped pillow covers from IKEA (I think I paid about $4.99 for each of these - steal!).  The large cream and blue pillow is from Pottery Barn, but I'm not sure if it will stay here. I brought in the lamps and set up the tables.  I'll also paint the coffee table white.  Oh, see the green chair?  I found him for $15 on Craigslist.  I'm going to paint the frame white and reupholster it.  The green patterned pleather just isn't doing it for me.  I know ... 

So for now, I tried to temper the green with some pillows.  I'm planning to paint the white side table next to the chair, too. It's from IKEA and I think it was about $20.  It's a little too ... something.  Boring? Outdoorsy? I don't know.  But I want to make it look a little more special, maybe with a metallic finish.  

Oh while I was at it, I tackled a small project.  The floor by the couch was a little worn in one spot.  See?

Nothing a little Old English scratch cover can't fix! Love this stuff! Here's the after.

So there you have it!  I painted the room solo and it took me from 8-12:30. I broke for lunch and then from 1-2:30 I set up the room.  Next up, I have to build my desk from the door, figure out the curtain situation and add lots of accessories! Can't wait.  What do you think? Any suggestions?

See you swoon,