This house sat on the market for almost two months.
It is in a beautiful neighborhood, with large acreage properties and beautiful homes. Yet, we were only the second people to go through it and I know why….. OAK. Lots of it. Through out the entire home.
I have a feeling it scared potential buyers. Lucky for me, I love oak. Here is a little Copper Corners secret……. you do not need to paint it. You do not need to rip it out. You simply need to know how to work with it and make it cool again ;).
Let’s dive in!
Here are the two photos I took of the living room when we walked through the house.
Yes, the fireplace is hideous (in my opinion). The oak doesn’t look fab. The tile is dated and blah. But I knew that it had potential. I knew that I could make it fabulous without demo and without costing thousands of dollars!
The next photo is worse. Not everyone is blessed with great taste. But that, m’dear, is fixable!!!
I feel bad writing this…. but…..this couch. Oh man. It could be cute. In the right space. But here, next to an ugly fireplace, next to an ugly side table, next to a dated lamp, next to dated drapes…..is just not right. You can take something ugly and make it pretty, by surrounding it with other pretty items. But ugly on ugly on ugly will never work. Take note. I hope the previous owners of this house are not reading this right now. Yikes!!!
The first thing I did when we got the keys to the house was remove those drapes and then paint the fireplace. I bought a fire safe grill spray paint (order online, here), taped everything and sprayed the gold insert. I’m not a huge fan of spray painting stuff, but this has held up beautifully!!
Next I painted a coat of Kilz (order online, here) on all wood and the surround tile. Once that was dry I went over everything with black paint. Careful when choosing a black paint at the store. sometimes what looks “black” in the store will actually look blue or green once it is in your home. A black that I like is Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams.
I painted my fireplace BLACK during a time when WHITE WAS ALL THE RAGE. Trim was getting painted white, cabinets and full kitchens white, walls white, staircases white, everything white. And then there was me…. the only person at Lowes buying black. Ha!
The reason I did that is because I know my colors and I know how they interact with each other. White wouldn’t have worked for the look I wanted here. Black has a way of making oak wood look and feel a bit more ‘contemporary’ and sleek. My friends (yes, even Instagram friends) thought I was nuts going against the ‘white’ grain, but I had to show them to make them believe ;).
We have 9’ ceilings, and somehow they looked very low. Nothing in the room was giving the room height. All windows are low and at the same height. The fireplace was even lower. With a level, I drew lines on either side of the fireplace. I then brought the black paint all the way up, onto the crown molding and ended at the ceiling. THIS MADE SUCH A BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!!
Another EASY thing that makes a big difference…. hang those curtains higher, m’dear!!! Such a simple way to give any room height. Also, instead of hanging the rods right at the window lines, spread them out a tad. This will give the effect of bigger and taller windows.
Our walls are Bleached Shadow by Valspar. I have this color through out my home. This color has a plum undertone that works beautifully in neutralizing the orange/yellow in oak wood. Be careful using this color with white trim, though. It may end up looking purple.
Jordan found his new reading spot ;).
And this past winter with my HOME ALONE painting! This painting is only available certain times the year (LINKED HERE).
Follow me on instagram (@CopperCorners) to see more!
SOFA. So many of you were shocked multiple times by this sofa today, 😂ha! First, when I turned it from an L shaped sectional into a regular sized sofa. And second, when I removed the slipcovers and washed it completely. And it looked brand new✨. I swear by Pottery Barn slipcovered furniture. Most of the covers are machine washable and look better with every wash. Find my exact sectional/sofa HERE.
Mirrors on fireplace. I couldn’t find my exact ones anymore, but I did find these that had been my second choice!
Candle pillars on the fireplace. I could only find my wood pillars. The glass are sold out.
Artwork above fireplace. This is the ‘By Your Side’ paper print framed in Classic Champagne + mat.
RUGS. This is my favorite site for rugs. I always recommend getting 100% wool rugs with a medium to high pile. You can also try the ‘CC’ discount code for a % off!
Ottoman. I wish so badly that I had a link for you, but this was a hand-me-down from an aunt. It is old. Sorry!!
Ok, m’dears!! I hope I helped inspire some of your oak spaces!! If I forgot to mention something or you have a question, leave it in the comments below .
Also, if you love my posts, please save them to your Pinterest, instagram or forward them to a friend :)!
xo
Mary-Catheryn
Ps. Check out my oak KITCHEN update and office/play-tv room update