When we first moved into our home it was way outdated. It had been a rental home for about 30 years, so the owners had really only ever replaced the carpet before each new renter moved in. There were a lot of things that were pretty gross, including the ridiculously old living room carpet.
The first thing we did before moving in was paint the living room. We picked a pretty light blue color from Behr Paints called Rain Dance. Hubs and I both love blue and felt it would add some color to the living room without being overwhelming. We knew we wanted white furniture and to paint the fireplace white, so we opted not to paint the walls any kind of white.
After the walls were finished we ripped up the carpet and three tiled areas in the living room. Carpet is easy to get up, tile is not. We decided we wanted flooring that was easy to lay and would be easy to keep clean over time. So, we went with laminate flooring from Lowes in Woodfin. It was pretty easy to lay and didn't cost an arm and a leg.
We finished the living room floors with new baseboards, which really made the room feel so fresh and new.
Once the floors and walls were finally finished I decided to tackle the fireplace. We jokingly call the bricks on our house "worm bricks" because they literally look like worms were laid in them. They're not at all pretty. The fireplace should be the focal point of the room and should be attractive. Ours was the total opposite. Painting it white greatly improved the look of the worm brick and honestly brightened the whole living room. Hubs sanded and painted the mantle matte black, which just pops against the white.
We ended up turning the corner by the front door into a gated baby play area for Peter. His room is so small and doesn't have any room to store his toys. We also liked having a space that is totally baby proofed that he can be in when I have to run to the bathroom or cook dinner.
