Nicole wrote to us with some amazing transformation photos of a room she spent two days redoing at her parents' place. You may not believe the "before" shot (granted, the photo appears to be taken at night after the work had already begun):
Before
After:
A Wicker Park, Chicago resident, Nicole traveled back to rural Pennsylvania for this project at her parents': an old town Grange-Hall (from late 1800's) that they remodeled and transformed into a home.
Paint:
Valspar from Lowe's in 3 colors:
Top: Toasted Pecan (2 gallons flat)
Trim: Camel Ride (1 quart satin)
Bottom: Dylan Velvet (1 gallon flat)
Time:
The job took 2 coats of paint so it took about 2 days total.
Furnishings:
All of the furniture is from sales/auctions/family members and the art is personal photography done in Rome, Italy.
Congrats, Nicole! We love the results.
Categories: DIY, Painting, Reader Submissions
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Marisa and Peter's Playfully Eclectic Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
very clean and simple, i like! we have chair railing in our house and i never knew how to deal with painting the room, i really like what you have done.
this is amazing! fantastic! really great job and what an improvement!
Much nicer! good work!
Love it but please move the cords around to the back of the bureau.
It's nice, but can you really sleep in that yellow? It would keep me up all night.
Love the colors you chose and they look great with the furniture. You did a great job considering that super creepy before state.
Never been a fan of either the "diagonal bureau" or the stair-step picture hanging method, but to each her own, and congrats on a sunny and charming makeover.
Just lovely.
Very unusual color choices- way to be bold! I love how rich the furniture looks in this setting.
Good lord that was awful!
Good job!
very pretty colors!!!! I just love long/puddled drapery myself..Great job!
Lovely! And I like how it looks good with the brass bed, which is a lovely piece but often hard to fit into a room. And I would never have thought of those color choices, but they look great!
You obviously worked so hard and did a wonderful job!!!
Off topic - how do you post a topic on here? I tried asking the site through contact us but no one has responded.
Wow. what a wonderful transformation. I, too, would never have thought to put those colours together, but boy does it ever work - and it makes the room look much larger than before! That dresser is to die for. Amazing piece of furniture
Me too - congrats on an excellent job.
wow I've never thought of putting those 2 colors together - looks great!
You did an incredible job. Very chic.
Chartreuse and another shade of chartreuse? I'm sorry, I'm sensing some conflicted issues with the parents here. I found the "after" depressing and confining. Shades close to these were often used in hospitals in the 40s and 50s. I remember a color close to these from the hospital room of my childhood tonsillectomy. Combined with the dark wood -- my God, put me under, fast!