Front Room Makeover

You know how some people are just motivated and gifted in decorating?

I'm really not.  Like, really.

I love good-looking rooms, and I love comfortable furniture, but for some reason, any time the choice comes to spend money or time on those things, I just don't.

See this picture below?

My front room has looked like this (more or less, depending on the level of messiness/number of couch pillows) pretty much since a few months after we moved in--6 YEARS ago.  Did I love it?  Ummmm....not really.  It was a pretty texture and a nice color, but it was SO dark--and natural light, I've learned, is very important to me.

The furniture was used--we bought it off of one of Steve's co-workers a few years ago, and although the couches were comfortable, I always felt as though the seating was kind of awkward with just having two love seats and a recliner in the front room....no matter where you sat, it made it uncomfortable for anyone else to figure out where to sit--do I sit right next to the one person sitting down, or do I sit across the room from them?  Because those were basically the options.

So, no, I did not love my front room.  Did that motivate me to change it in any way?

Hahahaha, nope.  I kept it clean-ish for the most part (and by clean-ish, I'm really emphasizing the "ish"), Steve would invest in new couch pillows once in a while, and when our good friend moved, we took her area rug off her hands for her (we're so nice, aren't we?), but other than that, I felt proud of myself that I've updated our family pictures enough that we have all five members in them!!  (Yes, Maggie has been around for over three years now, I know--but still!)

Steve, on the other hand, knew how much I'd wanted a change, and also knew that this pregnant lady was too lazy/tired/overwhelmed to even think of doing a project like changing her front room, so he took matters into his own, capable hands.

Crazy guy.

I was helping my mom with a work project, and I had wondered if Steve was maybe going to surprise me with something, because he'd been acting very mysterious about something lately. I mentioned to my mom that I thought he might be getting a project done while I was at her house, and she acted mildly surprised.

"Really?  What do you think he's going to do?"

"I don't know--Maybe paint my front room?  We don't really have any other big projects inside the house that I'm dying for him to do, but I've mentioned that I would like that changed lately..."

My mom looked concerned.  "Are you sure he's going to do what you'll like?"

I laughed.  "Honestly, Steve has better taste in decorating than I do...and he knows what I like.  But we'll see--either way, it can't be worse than the cave we're living in now!"

By the way, people, my mom is quite the trickster--turns out she knew the entire time that Steve had planned on surprising me, and so she had figured out how to stall me at her house to give him time enough to transform my living space.

Little did I know just HOW perfect it would turn out--I had to run home at 8:30 that night to change so I could help clean the temple, and when I got home, Steve looked a little frantic--he was about 3/4 of the way done (thanks to some help from a friend who we now owe probably a lifetime's supply of cookies), but the house was TRASHED.

I oohed and aahed over the color choices, and then hurried to the temple.

By the time I got back, the transformation was complete:

My husband is amazing, guys.

And not only that, but this time he actually cleaned up after himself, too!!

Isn't it awesome?  So fresh and light--I love it!!!  And having a sectional instead of two love seats and a separate recliner means my hubby and I can watch TV AND sit/lay next to each other now.  It's basically the best.

Also, we sprayed the entire couch/curtains/cushions with Scotch Guard so I no longer have to freak out any time my children come near the place with their sticky hands and messy faces. 

My husband is basically the bomb.