Living Room Renovation with a Peacock Mural

My apartment is really starting to transform now! I wanted to make it completely a beautiful, creative space that my son and I would enjoy! I didn’t want to make it about anyone else, or whatever others thought was beautiful. I guess those rules about making spaces to “look big” or worrying about “too much colour” or anything like that, isn’t what I care about… I wanted my place to be uniquely ours, and about the love and joy of colour and creativity that I see! I hope you like it! But more than anything, it may not be your style, but I hope it opens up your mind to the possibility of something different! I hope it makes you aware that there is more to life than creating an ikea show room in your house 🤣 and that white is not for everyone!

The before photos…

This icy blue wall colour was fine when it was a rental. It was atleast a little more exciting than white… and actually my tenants even commented on how they were so happy I didn’t have white walls in the apartment- even though everyone told me I should!… but it simply had to go! It was so lifeless to me.

Also the carpet… very old and dirty and it definitely had to go!

I replaced the carpet with a beautiful laminated wooden floor from OzWood, a local timber flooring company in Auburn. I was so impressed with the job they did! They replaced the flooring throughout the entire apartment, except for the bathroom and laundry. They got the job done on schedule and within a day they were finished. Very happy!

Next, the colour of the walls had to be decided and be cohesive with the curtains and other the rest of the house…

I decided to buy two prints from Spotlight. Both were Kirsten Katz prints. I love the bright colours and the graphic prints that she creates! I am very happy with how they look in my house.

I was originally going to place the above print on my bedroom and the bedroom ones in the lounge room… but it worked out better this way… and the beauty about painting and creating yourself- you can change your mind as you go!

I realised after painting my bedroom and having the striking colour contrast between the curtains and the wall, I realised I needed that for my living room too. It makes the curtains and the wall come alive! So my son and I painted a lime green behind the curtain and along one other wall, where the tv sits…

We still need to find different furniture… but everything takes its time! I am so happy with this green! It looks more yellow in the photo but it’s less yellow and a bit darker. In the end I actually had to mix the green into a colour I wanted… unfortunately I bought a green I thought would be great and then I started to paint and realise it was horrible!!! So I mixed my own colour! Not an ideal thing to do… so make sure you buy the sample pots and pick a colour from those!

I decided to paint the other walls and other a mix of colours. I absolutely love the contrast of the colours meeting each other! It’s funny isn’t it… everyone else would say that having a white wall creates a peaceful backdrop and it’s calming..: I believe the opposite 🤣I believe a white wall actually means the eye can’t focus, and all it does is dart around the room trying to find focus on something else. It’s not calming at all for me! Where the two colours meet in contrast means the eye can’t focus focus and that feels calming to me.

Also I love how the bright colours make me feel. They feel happy! They feel cosy! They feel like love is welcoming me home every time I walk through my front door. 😊

The above is a photo of me looking from my bedroom to the front door and living room… I love how I can see lots of colours from the one angle. This makes me happy! It’s going to be amazing once the rest of the door murals are done!

And now for the peacock mural!

I guess I figured, why not?! I see the various doors in my place as just an excuse to put something pretty on them! Peacock imagery has always fascinated me, so it’s just natural to me to paint one on my kitchen door.

The door was blue, but I decided that the pink looked beautiful against the apricot tones and the white. So this pink is the backdrop of the peacock. Then I had to sketch the peacock onto the door…

And then I started to paint! I deliberately used colours from the house, and since I had lots of colour sample pots, I used those too. They will come in handy for all of the murals.

And now it’s almost done!

So happy with it!!! I do wish the good paint would show up just a little bit more though… but otherwise very happy! It ties all of the colours from the curtains, as well as the room as well as the kitchen colours too! Love it!