Photoshop Magic: The Great Room

See this amazing room by Emily Henderson? I believe it actually IS her living room and I’ll tell you what I love: The beams, the space, the sconces, and the light.

via Emily Henderson

Get ready for lots of indecision. Here is our great room / family room / den is directly off of the kitchen.

original paint + trim

It was an addition at some point, and has vaulted ceilings and lots of windows. In an effort to channel some of Emily’s fantastic space, I decided a few things had to happen:   

• the beams need to be painted
• the walls need to be a lighter neutral
• I need to add color, specifically some blue

Enter Photoshop. First, I darkened the beams:

PS painted beams

Then I had painters surprise me by scheduling me earlier than I expected (WHAT? When does THAT happen?) and decided quickly that we would do the walls and beams.

And at the last minute, I had them paint the cabinets blue. (Stiffkey Blue, from Farrow & Ball.)

beams and blue cabs

But I came across this design by Jean Stoffer and realized I might want to try black window trim, which I liked:

adding black trim to windows and doors

But then I thought the cabinets were too dark. So I lighted them back to white. (My painters were going to hate me.)

but I didn’t like this either.

So why not take them out altogether? (See how the beams turned out? I love them.)

ummmm. I kind of like it.

And I replaced the cabinets (which we don’t really need or use, and the left one was a desk) with a large armoire for some storage, and opened up the space on the left.  This would actually allow us to center the sofa on the wall.

I really like it.