After nearly 20 years of living in our 1980s designed home, we tore things up! We’ve been wanting to make some changes for the longest time but hated the thought of ACTUALLY doing it. The kids are grown (but still home mind you) but it was definitely time to update the house. Our small 1983 built home with a cedar accent wall, cedar window sills, stone fireplace, wall to wall carpeting and linoleum flooring was about to get a new look!

I didn’t really know the exact them I wanted to shoot for but I knew anything had to be better than the 1980’s rut we were stuck in. After some thought, I geared toward the “farmhouse” look with the idea of giving the cedar wall a few coats of blue, pop the dull stone fireplace with some prime paint covered in semi-gloss white and of course …. new floors. Ceramic wood look tile completed the shell to our new look. New furniture, accents and lots of chalk paint later, we are feeling cozy in our new living room.

Some of the accents in our home were salvaged after a coat or two of chalk paint. The sofa table behind the couch was actually in the home when we purchased it in 2002. It was on our back porch and a friend convinced me to bring it inside and show it some love with Old English. So I did. Today, the table is reinforced a little bit on the legs, chalk painted with Valspar Kids Gloves, sanded down with 120 sandpaper in few areas for a distressed look and protected with a two coats of Minwax Satin Polycrilic. Such a great save!

Don’t forget accessories too. Things you have around your house can become some great accent pieces in your design. I took a few mason jars I had from juicing, painted them white, hot glued jute rope around the top edge and tossed in some inexpensive faux plants from Hobby Lobby to create a fantastic jar collection on top of my fireplace! You can do the same with a milk vase as well.

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