First Floor Painting Complete!

The downstairs painting (except for the doors and trim) is finally complete!!! 

Last week we were able to put the second coat on our foyer walls, thus completing the final room we wanted to paint on the first floor. This room took a few sample pots to find the right shade of light brown/khaki I was looking for. My original color choice ended up looking too light, and we were afraid once the trim was painted white the whole room would be washed out. For this room I wanted to go with a warmer color to balance out the cool grey and blues we've been using in the other three rooms. We decided to go with Bristlecone, from the Pittsburgh Paint line at Menards. This particular shade of brown is light enough to really brighten up the space, but also feels warm and inviting. Of course the photos don't do it justice, but if you need to compare just look at the door color, that was what the walls looked like before. 

We took this color up the stairs and down the hallway on the second floor. Helping Eric balance on a ladder while painting the lofted area above the stairs was SUPER scary fun. It did give him an excuse to buy this super nifty paint edger he attached to a broom to reach the corners easier.

So not the most glorious of transformations, but now our foyer is a light and pretty brown, instead of a dark caramel-ish brown. If only we could get all that trim to magically turn white overnight we would be set! 

Of course the minute the paint was dry, I was setting up pictures I wanted to hang! My idea for this wall, as well as the one going up the stairs, is to create a gallery of random pictures, cards, art, and whatever else we may collect. 

So here is my first little area that we hung on Sunday: the small yellow picture is the key to our first apartment together, I finally hung up the Hannah Adamaszek print I won (and talked about in this post), and after realizing we had NO bridal party pictures printed (sorry guys!) we made sure it was hung right where everyone could see. 

We also hung the subway sign my insanely talented friend, Britany, made for me this Christmas. The "unique" font is actually one that I created while in collage called Big Forehead (click HERE for a free download). I am in love with this piece, it's absolutely perfect and I know we will have it hung for years and years to come. 

Last thought of this post is about a runner for the hallway. I've found a LOT of different options online, and bellow are some of my favorites. I love the patterns of all three, and am really falling for the one on the right since it has such a variation of color. That one of course is the most expensive...so maybe if it ever goes on sale. 

Is there one you think looks better than the other? I'm sure it'll be a while until we actually make this purchase, but it's still fun to envision. 

Love and peace!