$0 and a blank slate...again.

hey there.

that's kind of a sheepish "hey there"...the way a girl says it when she has gone and done something rather rash.

remember when i was freaking out because my family room had no color? and then remember when i put a lot of color in there? well, as predicted by my husband, i was able to live with it for approximately three weeks before i freaked out again. this time, i decided it wasn't so much the color i couldn't live with, but the wall color. charcoal greyish brownish. ugh. it felt so dark and depressing when all around me (read: all around me on the internet, which is a sort of a dangerous place to be) were these light, bright, airy, clean-looking white rooms.

so when our painter came to do the office, i had him slather the same coat of sherwin williams alabaster all over the family room. [monkey with hands over mouth emoji!]

i LOVE it, but in an i'm-freaking-out-again-because-i-haven't-had-white-walls-since-'04-and-i've-never-known-how-to-decorate-around-them kind of way. and ryan says it looks like a hospital. a hospital. that's a direct quote.

and the fireplace, which i've never loved but which blended in to the dark walls so as not to perpetually annoy me, now perpetually annoys me.

this is the point in my young blog's life (everyone has it) where i'm going to melt down on you. help me!!!!!!!!! i am literally begging for your suggestions.

alright, i know you want pictures.

before:

now:

i know. what have i done, right? ahh!!! but you know deep down, when you look past all the chaos, it's going to look better. 

here's what it looks like now that i have the furniture back where it goes. or at least where i think it goes:

how would you decorate this room? in addition to the furniture above, here is what i have to work with:

it's basically all the stuff left over from last time with the addition of a lovely little pouf from target. that beige fabric with the red stripe is a curtain. the band on it is just fabric paint. i thought about going over the band and making it navy instead.

my chairs can stay, but they don't have to. i have a dark wood coffee table in the basement that i could switch with the ottoman. (actually, anything you can think of is probably in my basement). 

now for a really important question, what would you do with the fireplace?

options i have thought of would be painting the brick white (to which ryan says "hard pass") and adding a barn board mantle. or leaving the brick grey and making the mantle more traditional, like with white wood and trim and stuff. or leaving it as is until it all comes back in style (you know, the trick i'm using in my master bathroom)! i'd love to tear the mantle off altogether and then paint the brick white but i know something that stark is out of the question.

i'd love to pretend i'm paloma contreras: super designer. someone who never has any qualms, never second guesses herself and never needs help in any way. but that is not me. i'm pretty good most of the time, but i have days i get stuck. on those days i need you to come here and hold my hand (and stop for a frappucino and some donuts on your way, ok?) and tell me it's all going to work out.

it does look like a hospital, doesn't it? (you're supposed to say no).

oh and one more thing. i've spent all my house money elsewhere this year, so the budget for this room is zero dollars. haha. so, suggestions...go!