Home Decorating

A New White Living Room Reveal with Brick Accent Wall

My living room has been a slow ongoing project now for about 2-1/2 years. Not by any means did it take me two years to paint it white and add an brick accent wall in. However it did in fact take that long to transform into the living room it is today. To be quite honest I still am not 100% done, but after taking a look back at some old photos from when we first moved into the house till now, it is a bit of a wow factor for me.

So I figured it would be just as entertaining for you too. Plus, you get a sneak peak of my upcoming Spring ideas too.

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The thing is sometimes, we tend to beat ourselves up over not having picture worthy homes. But homes are far from perfect. They are very much lived in and a continuous project in the making. Sure the pictures on social media look perfect and can be drool worthy. But I can assure you that it did not get like that overnight.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop”

Confucius

I for one only take pictures for my blog that I find attractive. I know for a fact my fellow blogger friends of the home do the same. For example you never see much of my kitchen on my blog. Why? Well, because it has dark cabinets that I find gloomy, no backsplash, and usually has tons of my kids artwork over taking the fridge.

So if you are feeling down or overwhelmed with your own home projects or renovations, just remember that you are not alone and you will eventually get to your end goal. It is not a race. Homes are forever evolving! Just like my living room in this post.

The Earlier Years

If you can ignore the adorable little one year old in this photo and focus on what is behind her, you will see my living room has been through a lot of changes! This picture was taken only four months into living in our new home. The only thing I did when we first moved in was paint the walls a light teal blue.

Also there was a bit of a battle going on here. My husband has a super contemporary style and we had brought along a lot of his bachelor pad furniture with us, and then well you have my more traditional french cottage living style clashing with his. Interesting to say the least. Or at least now it is when I look back.

Many of the first few years in our house, it was far from dreamy photos. I had my hands full with little ones, who’s stuff pretty much took over the entire living room. This was way back before blogging was even on my radar. I Was just a little too occupied to be even thinking of home decorating and decor.

But as the kids grew to be a bit older, I slowly gained some time back to myself, and a little bit at a time, began to transform our living room.

It All Began With a Mirror…..

Again I know it’s hard to focus on the mirror in the picture below and not that cutie pie, but try.

One of the first changes I made was updating our living room mirror. It was a fabulous mirror no doubt, but it was not fitting into my vision of having a light and airy living room. And I hate to spend money on a new mirror when I knew I could make it look great.

So a little white paint and antiquing wax and things were already starting to look brighter.

To compliment my new mirror, My husband and I created a beautiful shelf with corbels to go underneath. This really satisfied my craving for a fireplace mantel! Still one of my favorite walls in my house.

I was on a roll at this point, so I updated the happily ever after sign above the mirror too. I covered up the country farmhouse stars with beautiful wood appliques and then painted it. You can check out the full post to see the tutorial.

Then Some Furniture

It was around the same time that we began to replace some furniture too. No more black leather sofas. Yes we had two originally in our living room. We literally used them until the leather started to disintegrate and my dog’s nails tore a hole into the side of one of them. They served us well and was super easy to clean with two little babies, but it was time to make the living room feel more like us.

We got two chairs to replace the black leather loveseat sofa! They are so comfy.

Then we found a great little loveseat sofa and I updated a pair of end tables too! Love how these end tables came out? Then check out my post on how to create a weathered wood finish.

A White Living Room

Yes its true, I did in fact enjoyed the teal on my walls, but after five years, I needed a change. Greens and teals are my favorite colors, but I was at a point where I would rather have accents of those colors instead, such as decor, pillows or rugs, than on the walls around me.

I chose a white paint called Swiss Coffee by Valspar. And it is far from boring as one may think. Just the quite opposite in fact. It just added to the light and airy feeling I so badly wanted from the beginning.

Do I think a white living room is for everyone? No, not at all. It really depends on your home and lighting. This room has 3 large windows and is very bright with lots of natural light. So in this case it works, but it could have never worked in some of my other previous homes.

Why? Because rooms with a lot of great natural light look wonderful with lighter hues of color. “Large, light rooms are best suited to lighter tones while stronger colours bring small dark rooms to life,” says expert Joa Studholme. Makes sense!

It was so satisfying to paint over the teal! I have said it a hundred times before in my blog, a little paint on walls or furniture can completely change up your house inexpensively and in a timely manner.

I painted a wall a day to be honest. My daily schedule is so busy and it takes time to pull everything off the walls and move furniture out of the way. But so worth it!

My goal was to have the living room painted by November. I must have been delusional because there was no way I could have achieved that before holidays. Then I set a new goal of Valentine’s day. Well, I almost came close to that date. In fact I had two walls done and you can not even really tell from my valentine’s post on how to make heart salt dough garland because it was photographed on finished walls only. Though if you pay close attention to the mirror reflection, you would see a teal wall.

But by the end of February, I finally had all the painting done and my brick accent wall in place.

Brick Accent Wall

Yes, the brick accent wall is a peel and stick wallpaper! Extremely affordable if you want a big change and have a budget. Even better, when your taste changes or you want to do a more serious update like built-ins or board and batten, you just simply peel it off the walls.

I love working with peel and stick wallpaper. Big fan right here! I have done a few projects with peel and stick wallpaper at this point such as my Small Mudroom Space, the inside of my Custom Bookshelf and an Navy Blue Accent wall in my Guest Bedroom. My advice is to start with something small before taking on a large wall like the one in my living room.

The bricks look so real! This wallpaper not only looks 3D, but actually has a slight texture to it too. Definitely a fun look and I love knowing it does not have to be permanent down the road if I want a change. And I am always changing things up, so right now this is the perfect choice for me.

Now, while I am busy cooking in the kitchen, this is my new view into my living room! Pretty big difference from the picture I shared with you in the beginning of this post. Looks like I won the furniture battle and things are really starting to come together. There is still definitely things I plan on changing, but it is refreshing to be at this point.

Did you notice that I have had my teal flowered pillow covers throughout all the changes? I can’t help it, they are my favorite. What can I say, some decor you just can’t part with.

My Kid’s Space

Lets just say now that we have the baby stage far behind us, a lot more space has opened up in our living room, if you have not already noticed. I would absolutely not trade those precious moments for anything, but it is time for a new era. Most of their larger toys such as their kitchen set, race car tracks, and barbie house have all made their way to our upstairs. I still keep a full library of books and different puzzles for my kids in my TV console.

I also keep 2 baskets on my dresser bookshelf to store small toys and several baskets underneath my end tables too. Baskets are a mom’s best friend!

And when I am not photographing for my blog, there is toys usually everywhere and in between.

Let Me keep On Inspiring You

I really enjoyed opening up my home and sharing my journey of how we ended up with a white living room and a brick accent wall. I hope you found this post to be inspiring and hopeful, for those of you feeling like you will never get around to those updates. You will!

I love sharing my decorating ideas, DIY decor, furniture painting, gardening and so much more with you every week. If you are interested in receiving home inspiration every week, it is so easy!

Just sign up for my weekly email subscription and I will take care of the rest.

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Love The Space That Surrounds You Everyday!

-Meagan-

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16 Comments

  • Rachel

    I LOVE IT!! It turned out SO GOOD!! The brick wall is amazing…looks so much like the real deal!! We painted out walls white years ago and it makes the rooms feel so much brighter. Great job!!!

  • Marsha Banks

    Meagan, I am gobsmacked! Your living room is fabulous…definitely a shot for a home magazine! And, I can’t believe that’s peel and stick wallpaper! Was it in squares or rolls? I want to jazz up the laundry room, but it’s also the walkin closet so I can only do one wall without doing the entire space!

    I am always amazed at your transformations! This one is just plain magnificent! And, I’m glad you added that darker spaces (like my living room) need darker colors. We just went from Antique White to Ancient Marble. The difference is amazing. I wish we had thought to put three windows in the room, but oh, well! Thanks for sharing your gorgeous living room!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

    • mtrento

      Thanks Marsha, I really appreciate that compliment. It has taken a while for my living room to get to this point and I was so excited to share with everyone. It was rolls of peel and stick wallpaper from Amazon. You can find link towards the bottom of my post to the exact one I ordered. This brick wallpaper would be perfect for a laundry room.
      Thank you! Thank You! Have a wonderful weekend.

  • Donna

    Your living room looks so good! I know how hard you’ve been working on it! The white paint looks amazing next to your brick wall! I have an orange peel texture on all my walls so I’m afraid to try wallpaper! However, you’ve got me wondering if a brick wallpaper would look ok with the little bumps showing through. Enjoy your new room!!

    • mtrento

      Thanks so much Donna! It has come a long way since when we first moved in. The white paint really brightened up the room and I am loving it. This wallpaper already has some texture, so I think it would work out just fine on a textured wall. Maybe even better, because you would have real texture showing through. Thanks for visiting.

  • Cara

    Love the white walls with the brick wall, wallpaper has come a long way. Had I not seen you putting it up, I would have thought it was real. The texturing is on point. I see a few birds in this space, love them! Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and thank you for sharing.

    • mtrento

      Thank you Cara! It is amazing how real this peel and stick wallpaper really looks like brick. So happy I did an accent wall with it.

  • Anna

    Hi Meagan! I love how the wall turned out! It definitely adds character to the room and makes it more cozy. That’s a cut photo of you on the ladder. Also, I have the same challenges with my husband preferring different style decor. Eventually we do find some middle ground . . .

    • mtrento

      Thanks Anna! The room feels way more cohesive now and I am excited it is more us too. yes the battle of different styles continues in other parts of our house. But I am slowly making my way around.

  • Becky ~ The Vixens Den

    Wow, what a gorgeous wall, Meagan! What I really love is the way that you shared the full evolution of the space. Not only is your final design inspiring, but it’s also reassuring to see that it doesn’t always happen all at once. Thank you so much for sharing at Whimsy Home Wednesday! I’m so excited to share your wall and it’s story (compelte with the sweet cutie pie) in our weekly feature!

    • mtrento

      Thanks Becky! For some reason your comment ended up in my Spam but nevertheless I am so excited to be featured at your party. Thank you so much.

    • mtrento

      Becky thank you so much. Somehow your comment ended up in my Spam. But nevertheless I am so excited to be featured at your party. Thanks

  • Brigitte Singh

    Hi Meagan, I have found your blog very useful. You have shared a great knoweldge on different topics here. I think your blog can help our community so I will share it with my contacts. Thanks and keep posting more!!!

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