paint party!

what's better than getting an email from your friend late on sunday night inviting you to a party on saturday?  finding out it's a paint party -- where the fun is painting said friend's living and dining rooms but also drinking the beer this friend is bribing you with.

and that's pretty much what the painting party was on saturday.  now, i know what you are thinking.  why mix painting and booze?  but if you knew my friends... you'd know why (kidding!).  but seriously, it went really well.  philip and i moved most everything out on thursday and friday evenings after work except the big things - cabinet with television, bar, couch and dining room table.  philip and i were up bright and early saturday morning getting ready for company.  we covered everything up and made a huge pot of decaf babushka blend (my new obsession -- for those who don't know, i'm strangely obsessed with anything russian) and got to work.  mom and her friend vince arrived and my girlfriends were there shortly after and we got to work, set to the tunes of my awesome painting party playlist to keep us motivated :)

starting to move things out

taping up the mantle - check out the paint swatches! 

half of living room in the entry

ceiling paint up first!

while the boys did the ceiling, layne did the trim.

walker painting the window trim

my mom, the trim queen! 

new color goes on! 

because of my mom's expert edge work, we didn't need most of the tape.  we did the ceiling and trim first so we could bleed over onto the walls.  we taped the bottom of the trim onto the floor as well as the window panes but that was about it.  she was able to do the borders just perfectly so, letting the rest of us fill in the rest of the walls.  it worked perfectly.

so here's how the living and dining rooms looked when we first moved in.

first month.  it's sparse.

dining room for thanksgiving

the dining room table is one of my favorite pieces in the house.  we bought it, surprisingly, at american furniture warehouse.  the chairs that went with it were beyond hideous, which worked out really well because i wanted mismatched dining chairs.  it's just more my style.  so we bought two basic black wood ladder chairs, two black and brown french bistro chairs and (my favorites!) two indian-inspired rajani chairs in dark brown.  the bar is another great piece from crate and barrel, and the chandelier we squeezed into our tiny brownstone in brooklyn and moved it from there.

here's photos of the living and dining rooms now, with the new colors.  we still haven't hung anything on the walls (we just painted yesterday!) but we already have some ideas...

new, toned down neutral taupe

view into the dining room

cabinets got a facelift! can't wait to do the inside.

new trim make the windows pop - hanging lanterns from istanbul.

ok, so looking at the colors online the colors look really similar.  but i'm telling you, the new ceiling paint and trim go so amazingly with the colors.  it's looking amazing.  and it's only been a year -- so i'm MORE than ready to start decorating!  we are picking out some of our favorite pictures from our travels and hanging six black and whites in the dining room.  a big mirror behind the bar... i could go on and on!    i'm ready.

next up... i'm not sure.  probably yard work.  but whatever it is, you know you'll see it here soon :)

xoxo