An 1850s Living Room’s Makeover Is “Giving Major Bridgerton Vibes”
Sometimes a room’s history gives design inspiration. In the case of Brenda Stearns’ (@she_plusfive) living room, underneath the yellow paint there were layers and layers of wallpaper — after all, the home was built in the 1850s — and it was almost like the room was begging to be wallpapered again.
“This room was painted a mustard yellow color,” Brenda says of the living room when she and her husband, six kids, and dog moved in. “While I could appreciate the yellow for what it was, it was in every single room of the house, and it’s just not my favorite color … when I started painting the wainscoting, I quickly realized there were several layers of old wallpaper hidden underneath the paint.”
Brenda stripped all that away, started fresh, and added a wallpaper that suits her more eclectic style, “mixing old and new, playing with textures and patterns, and keeping things interesting,” as she describes. “I want this house to feel like me, and this room was the perfect place to start making that happen.”
The walls got a wallpaper and paint makeover.
Brenda says paint and wallpaper made the biggest difference. “Those two changes alone made the room feel grand, warm, and inviting; it’s giving major Bridgerton vibes now,” she says.
“I’ve painted and installed wallpaper before, but this was my first time skim-coating plaster walls after removing all those old layers,” she adds. Because the walls are 12 feet long, Brenda enlisted her whole family to help. “Turn up the music, get your family or friends involved, and make it a memory,” she recommends. “Those little moments are what you’ll treasure long after the paint dries.”
Brenda selected Benjamin Moore’s Windy Sky for the wall paint and Milton & King’s Linen Seaglass for the wallpaper. There was one DIY hiccup, though. She says in hindsight, she would use two coats of primer instead of one, and she would lightly sand the walls before priming. “I skipped that step, and some of the paint ended up peeling in a few spots,” she says. “We’ve since fixed it, but I definitely learned my lesson!”
The furniture came together slowly.
Her other room makeover recommendation is to “take your time and enjoy the process,” she says. “Be intentional with the pieces you bring into your space. It’s tempting to rush and fill a room just to call it ‘done,’ but waiting for the right pieces makes a huge difference in how it feels.”
Brenda suggests shopping secondhand and scouring Facebook Marketplace, thrift stores, and estate sales. She found her furniture for under $2,000. “The hunt is half the fun, and those pieces often have the most character and story,” she says. In her living room, a lot of the art is thrifted, the dresser is from Anthro, and the couches and several other pieces are from Facebook Marketplace.
The room is the perfect family hangout.
Brenda and her husband still plan to strip and restore the original floors in the living room and throughout the house, but in the meantime, “I can finally say this room feels complete, and it’s exactly how I imagined it,” Brenda says. “I love the colors, the wallpaper, and especially knowing we tackled this project as a family. Each piece of decor has a story behind it, and that makes the room feel even more special.”
More than anything, though, she loves that this is the room where her family spends the most time together. “It’s warm, inviting, and full of character, and I’m so thankful we get to call this place home,” she says.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.