Family Room Update!

I know, I know...I pretty much forgot I created a home/DIY blog, too.

"Have three kids in under four years, they said.

It'll be fun, they said."

Well, it's been....something.  Something along the lines of crazy. And BUSY. And did I mention crazy? Definitely cray-ZEE.  With lots of birthday party balloons along the way.
  

Anyway, while I can't promise to post regularly since the weeks constantly seem to get away from me, I do want to make it a priority to document what we've been doing around these parts.  At the end of the day, I still love blogging and capturing the transformation of our spaces because updating our home truly brings me joy.  And I don't want to forget what we've done over the years to make this place ours.  And who doesn't love before and after pics?! 

Without further ado, my most recent project that I just wrapped up this week was an update to our family room.  When we purchased our home just over three years ago, it came bearing oak built-ins flanking the fireplace with matching wainscoting. There's only one window in the room and even though it's a decent size window, the honey colored wood made it feel smaller and more closed in than it actually was.  Eric begged to differ.  Well, like any good wife, I wore him down until he threw up the white flag.  #hesakeeper

Now, I won't try to claim this was a quick project.  It was quite the opposite.  I've estimated about 50 hours of work so far and I still have a few minor touch ups to do as well as caulk a few more nail holes.  BUT.  BUT!!!! There aren't enough exclamation points in the world to express my love. But before the lovely after shot, here's a few shots along the way.

Removing the old brass shelving brackets:

Prepping for sanding:

The aftermath of sanding. Yikes.




Finally I could start priming...which promptly forced me to remember it has to get worse before it gets better.  Yowza.






And then I could finally start putting on the actual paint color (Simply White by Benjamin Moore).



And finally...the finished product.  In the great words of Sebastian, BOOM BABY!



Side-by-side comin' at ya:



Just in case anyone's curious, here's my rough breakdown of hours in case you have a similar project:

Prep work (removing items from the built-ins, taping off sections, removing hardware, etc) = 2 hours

Sanding = 12 hours 

Priming (two coats) = 14 hours 

Painting (two coats) = 14 hours

Caulking = 2 hours 

Installing new shelf brackets = 2 hours

Minor touch ups to adjoining wall paint = 1 hour

Removing and re-installing the quarter round molding = 1 hour

Putting everything back together = 2 hours

I followed my usual process of sanding, deglossing, priming, and then painting. Overall, I'm thrilled with the outcome.  I still have to install the new black hinges and knobs on the cabinets doors (I ordered the wrong size...woof.), but even without, I'm still pleased as punch. 

The added bonus...and Eric rolls his eyes at me for this...I'm finding it's about 1000 times easier to style the built-ins now against a white canvas.  He rolls his eyes since he thinks bookshelves don't need to be styled...they just need books stacked up.  #sigh  Maybe...*maybe*...I'd see his point IF the built-ins weren't the focal point in the room in the center of our open concept home. Either way, he's like the outcome, too, so that's a plus.

I do feel like I need to do another coat of whitewashing on the fireplace now since the white paint accentuates the natural brick color a bit more now than before, but that'll be for another day.  And since I've done that once already, I know it's only about three hour job.  

Well, that's it, folks.  By my estimation, I'll catch ya again in about two more years. Haha, hopefully I'm just kidding about that...  :)