Friday, March 19, 2010

{the power of paint}

We have a large built-in shelving unit in our family room that was quite a scary sight when we first bought our home. The unit was a dark and dingy wood, the shelves were glass, there was blue carpet (YES carpet) on the bottom shelves, and it was overall not a good look. Here are pics before we purchased our house (keep in mind the clutter in these photos is from the previous home-owners!):



We did not want to spend money on this, we originally contemplated knocking down the unit, but moving or losing the fireplace was just not worth it. And I still saw potential in what was there. What was the most economical choice? Paint!! So we chose a warm white and my wonderful husband went for it!


We removed the glass shelves, had wood shelves cut and added a little trim detail (see below), which looks much more substantial.


We changed the flooring in the room, and of course added new furniture and accessories. The wall color is Benjamin Moore's Escarpment (a very moody and warm grey). We also spray painted the gold trim around the fireplace in a brushed silver for a quick and easy update!


Isn’t it great how much a simple and inexpensive solution like paint can make such a difference? I would love to hear about some of your projects where paint alone created an amazing transformation for you!

PS. Thank you to Julia from Hooked on Houses for featuring this post!! If you have not yet visited Hooked on Houses you need to check out her wonderful blog asap! She showcases celebrity homes, houses from movies, as well as amazing before and afters...and who doesn't love a great before and after? :)

20 comments:

Laura said...

you've got the eye Nancy! to see beyond the clutter and wood shelving unit and transform it into the beauty we see in the after photos is truly amazing!
keep up the posts, they're great,
Laura

Maria Killam said...

Nancy, it's fabulous!! I love the transformation, thanks for sharing!

DesignTies said...

Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear -- the shelving looks fantastic painted white!! And painting the brass fireplace trim silver is a great way to give it a whole new modern look without spending money. We did the same with our fireplace -- we painted the brass trim black.

You saw the difference paint made on our kitchen cabinets :-) HUGE improvement over the oak, I think :-)

I've been spray painting the metal floor vents in our house. They were a bit banged up and a couple had rust on them. I washed them, then primed and spray painted them (two silver and two oil rubbed bronze). They look like new, and match the rooms they're in much better now :-)

Kelly

Kelly

DesignTies said...

I love transformations like this, Nancy... the change you've made in this previously ugly bult-in really makes an unbelievable difference in your family room. Fantastic job!!

I had to laugh at you, making sure that your readers knew that the cluttered "before" pics were the previous owners... I laughed because I have a before picture of our living room/dining room archway with my husband's golf clubs leaning against the wall. I CAN'T blame our clutter on the previous owner!!! HaHa!

Speaking of owner's clutter... I can't believe it when people sell their homes looking like that! They're leaving money on the table, pure and simple. I'm posting the before and after photos of my client's staging job later today. Talk about clutter! be sure to drop by and see!

All the best,
Victoria @ DesignTies

Fay said...

Beautiful! The transformation is unbelievable and I love your room colors and gorgeous furniture - very Fancy - Nancy! Thanks for opening your home and your wonderful ideas to us!
Fay

Lori said...

All I can say is WOW! Well I can say more!LOL It doesn't even look like the same house! Y'all did a wonderful job! This looks so much better! I also love those chairs! Where did you get those?

If you have a minute I would love for you to stop by Life As Lori to join my party Get Your Craft On Thursday! It happens each Thursday and I would love to see you there!

Martha said...

Went from drab to wow! What a difference -- a big change!

Marcus Design said...

Thank you all for your kind words and for checking out my transformation!

Kelly - thank you for sharing your home projects, I'd love to see how your vents turned out, details like that make such a great difference!

Victoria - I absolutely agree with you, I cannot believe people show their homes in that state!! You'd think even the real estate agent should tell them to tidy up?!?

Lori - I will definately be stopping by Life As Lori to check out your Get Your Craft On party!!

Sonny G said...

FABULOUS~!

Cindy said...

Went from drab to fab! It's amazing what some paint can do.

yummymomma08 said...

wow!!! What a difference Nancy. Nice work!!

Punctuation Mark said...

This is an amazing transformation... incredible!

Unknown said...

Really turned out spectacular! Love the floors and the wall color. Im really loving moody grey's right now.

Marcus Design said...

Thanks all for visiting my blog, I can't wait to check out all of your blogs! Sorry Lori, I forgot to answer your question about the chairs, they are from a Canadian home decor store called Bowring (they come in this beige color and in a chocolate brown). I've seen very similar chairs in several magazines so I bet you could find them else where as well!

Vanessa@decor happy said...

Beautiful work Nancy! I also checked out your art portfolio - you are seriously talented!

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

Oh, wow. I'm blown away by this makeover, Nancy! I never would've seen that much potential in the room, I don't think. Love-love-love it!

Sharon said...

Love what you did with this room! A fresh coat of paint really does the trick sometimes, but your eye for detail, awesome.
Btw, thanks for visiting& the sweet comment:)

Ange said...

No Way!!! That is one of the best before and afters I have seen...ever!
You really need to give up your day job and follow your passion:o)
I recently posted about my daughter's bedroom makeover and was really pleased with the stripes I painted on the walls.
Angex

JoLynn said...

Love the changes you made!! I also love those black & white square picture frames on your wall on the left...may I ask where you got them from? I've been looking for something similar to put up! Thanks!
jojop99[at]yahoo.com

christini yogini said...

A Mazing!!!

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