Our "New" Wall Unit

Our family room can feel very dark.  It is the only room in our home that is built at grade level (on a cement slab with no basement underneath) and it can sometimes feel a bit like a basement, even though there are plenty of windows.  I knew that the dark leather furniture and dark wall unit weren't doing anything to lighten the space.  So we decided to paint the wall unit white. Painting accomplished just what we hoped.  It brightened the whole room.  

Here's a comparison of the before and after.

The wall unit was purchased at JC Penney many years ago.  At the time, I loved Pottery Barn's Logan entertainment unit and this JC Penney version cost a fraction of the price.  It is a huge piece of furniture and I briefly considered retiring the whole thing and putting a console with the tv hung on the wall above.  Because it was a budget friendly piece, it is made of wood veneers so there were dents and scratches that were showing its age.  But, the storage this unit supplies for this room won me over and we decided to keep it...with a fresh coat of white paint.  Just as we did in our last painted wall unit project, we used a spray paint primer (Kilz) and Rustoleum white spray paint.  The unit is made of six separate spaces so we were able to complete this project outside.

It changes the entire feel of the room.

I also considered purchasing some white slipcovers for the sofas, but I think the wall unit brightens the room enough on its own.  This room gets a ton of use from the kids and dogs and the idea of washing white slipcovers weekly also factored largely into my decision.  

It was fun adding the accessories back onto the bookshelves because everything shows up so much better with the white background.

I added a few extra baskets for storage.  I will write a separate post about how our family uses this wall unit to stay organized next week.

It feels like we have a whole new room and I am really excited to decorate this space for my favorite holiday, Christmas!