We’re back from our week at the beach and ready to dive back into projects. The trip was a great mix of sunshine, pool time, and a little light shopping—plus a thrift-store stop that yielded a few things to share soon. With three kids under four, there were predictable meltdowns (and a cookie-tossing episode), but overall it was a relaxed, restorative getaway. We loved Destin.
While we were away we took care of a quick refresh in the living room: removing the bold salmon walls and returning the space to a softer, more neutral palette. After rolling back the carpet and covering furniture and floors with drop cloths, we patched numerous nail holes and dings in the drywall. We used DAP Crackshot for the repairs, sanded the patches smooth with a sanding block, then vacuumed and wiped the dust away before priming.
Painting was the usual duo operation: I cut in around crown molding, trim, windows, and door frames while John handled the rollers. Because these walls had been a saturated color and we were shifting to a lighter, neutral shade, we applied a primer coat to ensure even coverage. This wasn’t a heavy-duty or stain-blocking primer—there was no wood bleed or similar issue—so we used leftover primer from previous door and trim projects.
To keep this update budget-friendly, we chose to repaint with the same color already used in our foyer: Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray. Edgecomb Gray reads more like a creamy greige than a true gray, and we had enough of the original can to finish the living room, making this a low-cost refresh using leftovers. The primer allowed us to cover with just one coat of paint, and because we only painted the upper portions of the room and much of the wall area is interrupted by doors, windows, and built-ins, the leftover paint was sufficient.
The change is dramatic in how it affects the room’s feel. The aggressive pink used previously dominated the space and made everything feel closer; the neutral tone recedes and makes the room feel wider and calmer. It’s a straightforward, low-risk improvement, but the result is a real breath of fresh air after living with such a loud color for a couple of months.
On the opposite side of the room we’re already imagining a future renovation: a wide central opening into the kitchen flanked by built-in cabinets, similar to the opening between the office and dining room in our previous house. We’re considering using an accent color on the backs of those future built-ins, and we plan to whitewash the brick on the other side of the room so there will be two visual focal areas. Because of that, we intentionally kept the main wall color unobtrusive so it won’t compete with the built-ins or the whitewashed brick. We’ve even debated painting the ceiling panels a soft blue between the white coffered beams—small ideas that could add a lot of character.
For anyone who’s asked about our sofa: the Ikea Karlstad in dark sivik gray is still holding up well after years of use with a dog and a child. The cover is durable and washable, and the piece has survived regular family life without issue. The console table behind the sofa still needs work—we shortened and reconfigured it from an extra-long version we used in the last house, so it looks a bit mismatched and has a visible seam that we plan to fix.
We’re very glad we spent an afternoon painting before our trip. Coming home to a brighter, more neutral living room felt worth the small time investment and used paint. The rest of the house still has plenty to do—there’s wood trim to paint and several different floor finishes to coordinate—but at least that one room no longer has wallpaper, blue trim, or pink walls.
One interesting observation: Edgecomb Gray reads differently depending on the surrounding trim. In the foyer it looks slightly darker because it contrasts with white trim, while in the living room against natural wood trim it reads closer to an off-white. That shift in appearance only reinforces our desire to continue painting and updating the adjoining spaces so the whole flow feels cohesive.
If you want to learn more about this paint, we’ve written a dedicated post about Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray that shows multiple photos from around our house and explains why we keep choosing it for several rooms. We also have a roundup of popular white paint colors and why certain whites work better in different contexts.