Before continue scrolling down, I highly recommend that you first read this previous post, The Graham & Brown Decision, as this one is a continuation of that.
So my Graham & Brown Decision was the Desire Gold-Mustard wallpaper and I couldn’t be happier! It just adds such elegance and color to our living space and gives it a ‘museum feel’ as my sister puts it. As you can see, our living room’s previous color is a pinkish salmon one. Initially, we wanted to go for gray walls with white moldings. Somehow, that didn’t feel right so we stuck with both white walls and moldings and allowed the gold wallpaper to take center stage. For moldings, we used Decorator’s White from Benjamin Moore (semi-gloss) and the wall color was Falling Snow from Behr (satin). We applied wallpaper to five panels total- three panels on the main wall and one panel on each side of the fireplace mantel. Here are some before and after pics.
If you have been following my home renovation journey, you probably know that it hasn’t always been easy breezy. I’ve expressed that it has been frustrating, never-ending, and at times hopeless. The truth is, when we bought our dream home a little over a year ago, we knew it was going to be a work in progress. My husband and I both agreed that it was going to be worth it… eventually. So far, we’ve done so much to it, especially to the exterior. The interior has been going slow. I mean, we JUST finished our living room!
We lead extremely busy lives with two young ones and both of us having full-time careers. I’m a Creative Producer at an online beauty company and my husband is a practicing physician and assist. professor at Harvard Medical School. I say this to give you some perspective of how things revolve for us. Each day is work and kids, repeat, repeat, repeat. With the little spare time that we have on the weekends, we squeeze in renovation projects. Despite the lack of time, we are determined to basically conquer 99% of makeovers ourselves. My husband is a handy-man and I have a thing for interior design. Our living room project took us about two months. The hubs did a tremendous amount of work to the space- repairing cracked walls, painting, and finally applying the wallpaper which in and of itself took him about 10 hours total.
Afterwards, I add the personal touches. Things that give the space life and energy- candles, pictures, flowers, books, etc. Every little placement is calculated and has to feel right. So here are images of our living room more in detail. It’s taken us months but finally well worth it!
If you are into home decor, I hope you’ve found this post helpful and somewhat inspiring. We are actually not 100% done with our living room. See that pink/purplish chair above? We are going to reupholster it gray (we meaning my husband!), add silk curtains (again, my hubs will sew those), and switch out our lucite coffee table for a round marble one. So stay tuned, there may be a third post to come with more updates. The color scheme that we are trying to achieve here is white, gray, gold, with pops of turquoise.
Because our home is from the French Second Empire era, we are trying to keep the decor original to that period. Most of the furniture pieces are of the Louis XV French (or similar) style. The ones that are not (lucite table), we are switching out. Our home renovation process remains to be a learning one for us. That’s what makes it more exciting.
“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on your destination.” – Earl Nightingale
Up next? A new complete 2nd kitchen build-out. I will make sure to do before and after pics! Yes, we are building it from an empty room. And YES, it’s just me and the hubs making it happen. We make a great team, can you tell?!
Thanks Graham & Brown for the gorgeous gold wallpaper! To visit their site, please click HERE.
Please leave your thoughts. I would LOVE to hear! Have a wonderful day.
wao! perfect room, your placement is very good
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All that hard work renovating, fitting it in around children, work etc etc but what an awesome achievement. This is breath-taking! Well done you!
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That looks wonderful! I might have to try this in my kitchen.
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Gorgeous!
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Wow, your home is breathtakingly beautiful. Very inspired by your blog.
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Thank you! That means a lot to me and keeps me going…Have a great weekend! Best, Kellie
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Wow! The renovations you’ve made make it look like an entirely new room. The crown molding makes it look like the wallpaper was framed. Such an inspirational post.
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Thank you so much! Best, Kellie
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Liked it !
Specially the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos made it clear what a huge difference wallpaper can make.
And not to forget, the kid is way too cute 🙂
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I agree! I always love to see before and after pics b/c it really tells a story. Enjoy your weekend! Best, Kellie
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That’s true 🙂
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Your home is beautiful! I love the idea of using Wallpaper instead of going through the hustle bustle of having to paint a room. Thanks for the idea!
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Thanks Rachel. Wallpaper has come such a long way and no longer just perceived as ‘grandma’s flower walls!’ Have a good one! Kellie
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love it!!! New Follower Here😘
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Thank you for the follow! Kellie
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Thanks for the inspiration…BEAUTIFUL!
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Thanks Cristi!
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you have good taste … where did you learn design ?
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Hi! I didn’t. Just innate, I guess 🙂
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love this !!!
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love the space! tres chic! Zoey is ADORBZZZZZ 🙂
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Thanks! Zoey appreciates this comment 🙂
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Love it! It’s so great and vibrant.
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Thanks!
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It looks great and ‘grand’! Love it
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absolutely amazing. I wish I could pull off something similar in the future!!
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Beautiful!!! Your house is gorgeous!
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Thanks! We think so too 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Neonitect.
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Thanks for sharing!
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Absolutely stunning, and the photography is beautiful as always 🙂 Love the pop of turquoise, and the dark wood looks great, styled to perfection!
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Thanks Suzanne! We are hoping to add more ‘pop of turquoise’ as we finish the room… Good luck on your new blog. Best, Kellie
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Your hard work definitely shows 🙂 You have such good taste Kellie, your home is so beautiful, elegant and cozy!
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Aw, how sweet! Thank you!
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I should also say kudos to you taking on the renovation! I am only doing the design aspect.. And maybe the herringbone backsplash in the kitchen. Happy renovating!
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I can empathize as I am going through major renovations in our house as well. It is frustrating and exhausting and vet trying on our marriage at times. Both have full time jobs (though I am on maternity until July) and have a newborn! I tell myself that it’ll be worth it in the end. And if my marriage and sanity can last through this renos – we can conquer anything. 🙂 Hang in there!
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I agree! Sometimes, it’s tough on the marriage but you just have to keep the eye on the prize. Stay motivated and don’t lose confidence. Thanks for stopping by! Kellie
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