Remember when our living room was salmon?

Not anymore. That warm pink tone you remember is only the primer coat—so we’ll share the full reveal on Monday: the final paint color we chose, why it was the right pick, all the prep work we did, progress photos, and the finished room. For now, the living room is in transition, and we’re honestly excited to see how it all comes together once the topcoat goes on.

Today is the final day of our Florida road trip, and we’re doing our best to soak up the sun before making the 14-hour drive back to Richmond. It’s funny how a little change like realizing we won’t be coming home to a pink living room can make the trip home feel more anticipated. We’re looking forward to getting back, finishing the job, and enjoying the updated space.

It always feels a little wild to squeeze a last-minute project into the schedule right before leaving town—kind of like the time we half-installed the kitchen flooring before our trip to Hawaii. There’s something satisfying about starting (or nearly finishing) a project before a trip because you get to come home and immediately enjoy the results. We’ll be sure to document every step of this one so you can follow along with the whole process.

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Friday bonus: here are a few fun projects, conversations, and questions currently happening in our community forums, along with this week’s giveaway announcement.

Community highlights

• Bad design that you won’t give up — a lively discussion about the design choices people keep despite mixed opinions.
• DIY: gold-dipped TV console — a creative tutorial showing how a simple update can transform a media console.
• Moving tips — practical advice from community members who’ve recently relocated and lived to tell the tale.
• Holy reclaimed church pew — a show-and-tell of a dramatic furniture find and ideas for integrating such pieces at home.

We also announced this week’s giveaway winner in the forum—if you participate regularly, it’s always fun to check back and see if your name came up. These little community events are such a great way to connect with other DIYers and design lovers, trade tips, and celebrate small victories together.

Back to the painting situation: getting a room ready for a fresh coat of paint involves more than just choosing a color. There’s cleaning and patching the walls, sanding and priming where needed, protecting trim and floors, and planning the order of operations so the job goes smoothly. We’ll cover all of that in Monday’s post, including why we picked the particular finish and sheen, and how we decided on accent elements like trim color and any coordinating pieces.

We’ll also include plenty of in-process photos so you can see intermediate stages—what the room looked like after patching, mid-roller passes, and how natural light affects the color throughout the day. Final photos will show the full room from multiple angles so you can get a sense of the scale and how the new paint works with our existing furniture and decor.

For anyone about to tackle a paint refresh themselves, a few quick tips: test paint in different lighting conditions, use quality primer on any bold or saturated colors, allow adequate drying time between coats, and protect floors and furnishings. Small prep steps make a big difference in the end result.

We can’t wait to share the complete before-and-after story with photos and step-by-step notes on Monday. Until then, enjoy the weekend—whether you’re finishing a project before a trip or simply soaking up some much-needed downtime.