I never meant to give my whole downstairs a makeover. It just sort of snuck up on me.

After I tore up my water damaged hardwood floors and then painted them, other things popped up that needed to be sorted. Like, my kitchen.

It was literally falling apart and made food prep a nightmare. You can see a glimpse of it below.

So, I gutted my kitchen, and created this instead:

Yep. Those are concrete floating shelves and a concrete counter top.

You can read about my kitchen remodel and reveal and see more photos here, but you get the idea.

So, now I loved my kitchen and I loved my floors.

But I didn’t LOVE the rest of my house.

To be fair, I’d never really created my home before. Not really.

When we moved in back in 2008, we brought the furniture from our old home and painted the house colors that complemented the various pieces. This meant Earth tones.

Which was okay with the hardwood floors and traditionally conservative furniture.

Here’s a peek at our move-in decor:

It never really felt right though. It always felt a little off to me. See that nook with the armoire in it? I did something awesome with it.

No peeking! Just keep reading…

I eventually replaced the furniture with this bold red set that I’d had in the family room at our old home. It was supposed to be temporary while I got something else, but I loved the color and my husband loved the set, so we kept it.

You can see that the colors of the walls below no longer complemented the floors.

I decided at this point that since my house was already uniquely becoming MINE, that I might as well go all in.

It was time to create a space worth falling in love with.

The PERFECT Colors

We were building this beautiful reading nook off the living room (the one I mentioned earlier), and I found this peacock color that just made my heart stop. This color formed a foundation for the rest of my house.

Since we’re on the water, a coastal theme appealed to me, and I wanted something lighter.

I started looking through sea glass colors and came up with a color that would eventually cover the majority of my living room.

I needed a splash of color in the dining room, and found this gorgeous blue to create a feature wall.

I loved it so much, I decided to add a splash of it to the living room and painted a half-wall. You can see it in the picture below peeking out above the red love seat.

With this whole new color scheme, I found that most of my furniture now felt out of place. Sadly, the red sofa set were a little overwhelming for the space.

It was time for a furniture makeover.

I decided what I wanted, and after a little treasure hunting, I picked up most of the pieces second-hand. The only thing I purchased new was an arm chair from IKEA.

Then, I updated the stair rails, and created a feature wall going up the stairs in a gorgeous complementary gray.

See that blue feature half-wall now?  😀

And here is my reading nook! Ta-da!

You can read more about my cozy reading nook and see more pics here.

As luck would have it, a friend of mine bought the red sofa set, but she didn’t really have room for the ottoman, so we got to keep that (which made everyone happy, including Spike).

Furniture Makovers with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Thanks to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP), I was able to update pieces throughout my home so they were more cohesive with the feel I was creating.

The great thing about it is that there’s no priming, no fumes, and gorgeous coverage. It saved us so much time and I love the results.

My dining room set got a full makeover:

I discovered that with the floors and the natural lighting, that I could no longer have off-white furniture pieces because they actually looked dirty or yellowish later in the day. So we gave this buffet a makeover.

Then we custom blended colors and painted this China hutch which I use for books and collectibles:

And while we were at it, we spiffied up this little wooden IKEA step stool to add a pop of color to the kitchen:

And this little table/bench piece which had been begging for a makeover since I bought it:

Then of course, some of my decorative items looked a bit out of place. So, I went through the living, dining, and pantry hall and repainted anything that needed repainting.

Like this candle holder, picture frames, misc decor, a couple end tables, a mirror, etc. You get the idea.

EVERYTHING really.

I’ve repainted so many things with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint at this point, that I need to compile a single post for it, including what colors I used or created.

Just so you know, I get no compensation for recommending ASCP (I realize I sound like a commercial). It’s just that it’s so easy to use, that I have to share so others can make things more awesome too. 😉

My Pantry Makeover

Speaking of the pantry hall, I gave that a makeover too.

The truth is that I never really had a pantry; just a small closet off the hall through the kitchen. So, I made one.

We didn’t have a pantry door before. Just an open space that wasn’t so awesome.

My hubby picked up a folding door, and then we painted it. Now I have a place to write my shopping list. 

The only problem with creating spaces that are amazing and beautiful is that they make the spaces that aren’t so awesome even more obvious…

This Sitting Nook Needed Love

Though it’s one of my favorite spaces, it still lacked something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Like, a new color on the walls.

And, I don’t know…maybe a spiral stair case that I can use for books and curios?

Ooh! Like this one I stumbled across in a local shop:

Who doesn’t love a spiral staircase?

It was just the sort of character I was itching for in this room.

And here was how this space turned out after, chalk board walls and all:

It’s one of my favorite spaces in my home now. You can read more about my comfy sitting nook and all its goodies in a separate post here.

Alright. Moving on.

What about this area? It used to be dead space.

Now what?

A Breakfast Nook, that’s what!

There’s just two of us, so we needed an intimate dining space that was just off the kitchen. 

I picked up this sweet little dining set for $45 on Craig’s List. And I didn’t even have to paint it.

Well, clearly that light fixture was not going to work.

I wanted to create a sense of coziness. That’s when I found a baby version of my kitchen chandelier, and voila! I now have a lovely, cozy breakfast nook.

You can read more about my breakfast nook and see what I did with this little chandelier here.

So, there you have it; my whole downstairs house makeover.

I know this was a longer than usual post, but I hope you found it worthwhile and inspiring.

Do you have a space you want to makeover? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

I’d love to hear from you.

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