Feel free to sing the title to the tune of the famous Dolly Parton song or our favorite SNL version. Painting the living room yesterday turned into a true exercise in endurance, especially with frequent breaks for Clara and for the blog. It took us a full 12 hours, from 9am to 9pm, to finish everything. The good news: the living room is officially painted in Moonshine. Even better: the hallway is too — we were on a roll.

The day started slowly. Sherry paused to post on the blog and answer questions, Clara needed breakfast, and I spent time clearing and taping the room. It was almost 11am before we opened the first paint can. We chose Moonshine after carefully testing it against our home, and we had it color-matched to an Olympic no-VOC paint in a satin finish. We love this choice because it looks very close to flat paint while offering extra durability and easy wipeability — ideal for a family home where messes happen.

Once Clara took what we can only call The Nap Of Her Life (nearly two hours, which she rarely does), we were finally able to concentrate on painting instead of blog comments. Sherry handled cutting in and I rolled, which is our usual split of labor. She even filled several deep holes in the textured brick wall with paintable caulk before we started, which made the finished result much cleaner. She worked through a painful splinter and earned full trooper status for the day.

We alternated baby duty and painting as Clara woke and napped through the afternoon. Productivity dipped and rose with diaper changes, meal breaks, and quick blog checks, but by 5:30pm we had completed two coats in the living room and begun painting the two hallway vestibules. After Clara was in bed we opened a second gallon to finish a second coat in the hallways, and by 9pm we were cleaning up and collapsing on the still-center-placed couch to zone out. It felt a bit nostalgic to watch TV from roughly the same distance we were used to in our last house.

Because it was too dark for photos last night, we waited until this morning to document the “after” shots. The pictures don’t capture the full effect, but in person the room feels noticeably warmer. We expected a gray to read cool, but Moonshine is a soft, silvery gray that reads cozy and welcoming next to the previous stark white. The result is subtle and enveloping, like being inside a sunlit cloud. We both love the color.

We intentionally avoided a dramatic or very bright wall color because we plan to introduce bold textiles, large curtains on the sliders, colorful art, and maybe painted furniture. We want the walls to provide a neutral, cohesive backdrop rather than compete with statement pieces. We also have plans for a large charcoal sectional, so we’re moving away from the all-white, slipcovered look of our first house. That said, a few rooms will get saturated, rich colors — like the hall bathroom and guest bedroom — so there will still be pockets of bold drama throughout the house.

With one wall of the room being brick, we felt a lighter, unified wall color would help the room feel cohesive. Painting the fireplace bump-out the same color as the rest of the room avoided a disjointed look; if we decide later that we want more contrast, a darker charcoal on that section is always possible. For now, the consistent silvery tone makes the brick feel more integrated.

The hallway results reinforced our confidence that Moonshine was the right choice. With crisp white trim it reads soft yet defined, and that contrast will make the living room feel even more intentional once we paint the trim and baseboards.

Next up is painting the trim and baseboards in the living room, which is why the furniture remains clustered in the center of the room. We’re leaving the ceiling beams unpainted for the moment to see how the room evolves; Sherry has floated the idea of staining or painting them a rich charcoal, and we’ll likely mock that up digitally before committing. In the meantime, we hope for another one of those miracle naps from Clara to speed the process along so we can share the finished trim photos soon.

Psst — the repair team came out during all this and fixed the whistle issue on our new washer, which made the day a little less chaotic and a lot happier.

Pssst — we also announced our giveaway winners this week, so if you follow along on the blog you can check whether you’re one of them.