Feel free to sing the title to the tune of the famous Dolly Parton song. Or our new favorite SNL version. Painting our living room yesterday turned into a true test of endurance, especially with frequent pauses to tend to Clara and to handle blog duties. It took us twelve hours total, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., to finish. The living room is officially Moonshine’d — and so is the hallway, since we were on a roll.
The day started slowly. Sherry spent the morning posting on the blog and answering questions, Clara needed breakfast, and I was busy clearing and taping the room, so we didn’t open the first paint can until about 11 a.m. Here’s the post all about why we chose Moonshine and how we had it color-matched to Olympic No-VOC paint in a satin finish. We’ve found satin to be surprisingly close to flat in appearance while offering extra durability and wipeability — great for kids — without looking glossy.
Things picked up once Clara took an amazing nap from 11 to almost 1 (a rarity!). We allowed ourselves to focus on painting instead of moderating comments, and that made a big difference. Sherry kept working despite a painful splinter in her cheek — she’s a trooper. She also learned a lesson about sliding around while cutting in baseboard: don’t do it in thin yoga pants. It went right through the fabric, but she was fine and kept going.
Sherry has always handled the cutting-in while I roll, but she goes above and beyond. She filled several rough holes in our extra-craggy brick wall with paintable DAP caulk so the finish would look more polished. It made a noticeable difference and was worth the extra time.
When Clara woke up we alternated baby-duty and checked the blog occasionally, which slowed us a bit but allowed for staggered breaks. As afternoon light faded it became harder to distinguish the white walls from the wet gray paint, but we pushed through, pausing for diaper changes, meals, and a short afternoon nap for Clara. By about 5:30 p.m. we’d applied two coats in the living room (all it needed) and started the two hallway vestibules. After putting Clara to bed at 8 p.m., we opened a second gallon of paint to finish a second coat in the hallways. At 9 p.m. we cleaned up and collapsed onto the couch, which was still centered in the room, and took a well-deserved break. It was oddly nostalgic watching TV from the same distance we were used to in our last house.
Since it was too dark last night for photos, we waited until the morning to take the “after” shots.
It’s subtle in pictures, but in person the change is striking: the room feels much warmer. We expected gray to read cool, but the soft silvery tone of Moonshine is cozy compared with the stark white walls we had before. It’s like sitting inside a glowing cloud when the sun hits it. For us, Moonshine hits the sweet spot: neutral enough to let bold textiles and colorful art stand out, yet warm enough to feel inviting.
We want to bring in strong, dramatic textiles — like large curtains for the sliders — and maybe a painted piece of furniture, so we didn’t want walls that would compete. We’re planning a large charcoal sectional, moving away from the breezy white slipcovered-soups-and-curtains look of our first house. Some rooms in our home will still get extremely saturated color — like the hall bathroom and guest bedroom — similar to the deep tones we used on the backs of our built-ins. So there will be both subtle and bold spaces in the house.
Because one wall is brick, we thought a very bold color might look odd; brick is often painted in lighter tones like white, cream, or gray, and we wanted that wall to feel unified with the rest of the space. We also considered leaving just the fireplace bump-out white while painting the rest of the room gray, but that felt unbalanced, so we painted it too. If we want more drama later, we can always add a rich charcoal or another accent color down the line.
The hallway results confirmed our choice — Moonshine looked soft yet defined against crisp white trim. Seeing it there made us confident the living room will look even better once the trim is painted.
This close-up is probably the best demonstration of the silvery gray and how it plays off glossy trim.
Next on the list is painting the trim and baseboards in the living room, which is why the furniture remains clustered in the center of the room for now. We’ve decided to leave the ceiling beams unpainted for the moment; we’ll live with the room and see how we feel. Sherry has floated the idea of staining or painting the beams a rich charcoal — that could be cool — and we might mock it up with a photo edit before committing. We hope to share finished trim photos next week, fingers crossed for a fast paint job and another epic nap from Clara.
Psst — during the painting chaos the repair guys fixed our new washer and eliminated that annoying whistle. Happy day.
Pssst — we announced this week’s giveaway winners, so check the blog to see if you’re one of them.