For years — four, as the title reveals — I have been BEGGING to repaint my living room.

Begging, people — cajoling, bribing, threatening.

I even blogged about it (that’s when you know things are serious) . . . twice.

I wanted an end to the outdated, dark woodwork.

This is what my living room looked like:

DARK, DARK, DARK, DARK!

I couldn’t STAND it . . . I love light, bright spaces (hello — ever noticed how much white space is on my blog?); living every day in such a dreary room was DRAINING!

But, Hubby and his Father (a carpenter) were adamant: no, no, no, NO.

I tried enlisting the help of others, via this humble blog, but when I put up a poll over the issue, 50% of y’all said leave it and 50% said paint it.

(you were no help to my cause, people)

THEN . . . a friend of ours who is a professional interior designer, told my husband that we needed to paint the wood.  And, since someone other than “ME” said it needed to be painted, all of the sudden Hubby felt it would be a good idea to paint.

OH, HEAVENLY DAYS!!!!!

This past week, my Father-in-Law, the Michelangelo of Latex Paint, painted every inch of trim AND our fireplace AND the rest of the living room.

(I soooooo owe that man some homemade cinnamon rolls!)

The Results

Obviously, there are still changes to be made (fabrics, the invisible rug, etc.) BUT I am soooooo much happier now!  I love that it’s BRIGHT!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Later today, I’m heading out to a few of my favorite stores to see if I can find find a few things to finish it all out.

And. . . yeah . . at some point, the duct tape on the fireplace will be gone . . . once Mr. Boy decides the inside of the fireplace isn’t the most FASCINATING place in the WORLD.  (sigh)