I'm in love...

... with my living room.

Six months ago, I started working on our living room. I started with the most amazing, epic accent wall ever. I then painted the fireplace, and then the walls a pale gray.

It was a HUGE improvement. The only thing missing was trim around the fireplace and at the bottom of my accent wall. This was first on Graham's to-do list when he got home from Kuwait.

And today, he finished. And the room looks AMAZING. Seriously. I can not even stop staring at the before and after pictures. It looks like an entirely new room, and I am so in love with it.

Everything was so beige before. It was awful. The dark fireplace sucked your eyes in and made the room feel so much smaller. We still need new furniture, and a new light fixture, but this is such a massive improvement. My wall is, of course, the most beautiful thing ever. The fireplace looks so modern and elegant now, and the mantle is stunning. Graham made it himself out of a much nicer wood, some crown moulding and it just finishes everything off so perfectly. 

2008; When Graham moved in.

2011; Only the blue wall done

2011; Wall done & fireplace painted.

2011: FINALLY complete. Wall, fireplace, mantle & trim.

I know it's silly, but the trim on the bottom of my blue wall is probably my favorite improvement. I think the crisp white against the blue makes the blue look bolder, and it just looks so finished and elegant now. 

The mantle Graham made really is beautiful. He's a perfectionist to the extreme, so it took longer than it should have, but it was worth it. It makes a huge difference.

Look at that! It's amazing! The painted inside of the fireplace makes a HUGE difference too. I just used a regular black paint; it's not heat safe or anything because we don't use the fireplace. There is a candleabra in there that we're going to paint silver, so it's actually visible. 

2008; When Graham moved in.

The original mantle. Check out the HUGE gaps at the top of the brick.

My handsome husband hard at work =)

Progress; just need some paint!

DONE. How gorgeous is that???

It was weird when we were styling the mantle, because we have SO much more room up there. I thought I was missing something, until I realized that I had about an extra square foot of space to work with. I absolutely love the mantle, and I'm so glad I have such a handy husband.

Now I just need some new furniture... I'll let you know what we decide on after our wedding... THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY!