I am sure that some of you noticed that I tend to use the same background in all of my  photo shoots.  You are actually looking at my family room in most pictures!  We have lived in this house for almost three years.  When we moved in, the entire room was covered in dark brown paneling, dark brown cabinets along the wall, dated hardware, broken bookcases hung above the cabinets, and the ugliest brown Formica counter top!  After purchasing the house, we didn’t have a whole lot of money left over for remodeling, so I came up with my quick fix!  I painted over the brown paneling with a neutral paint called White Chocolate from Benjamin Moore.  I loved the creaminess of the color – the name even sounds yummy!  We tore down the bookcases on the wall and attached simple white shelving with decorative brackets.  Isn’t this a stunning way to display all of your seasonal decor?!?  In between holidays and photo shoots, I have several black frames with black and white photos that I use for a dramatic effect.  Next, we painted the dark brown cabinets a bright white and updated all of the hardware.  Lastly, we painted the Formica counter top…yes, you heard me…we painted it!  We scratched it up, used a nice primer, and painted the top with an oil based black paint.  It turned out gorgeous!  It was amazing how we took the ugliest room in the house and turned it into something out of the pages of Pottery Barn…and it cost almost nothing!

Happy Decorating!

Melanie