Minor Living Room Updates

We're still contemplating which duvet to select for the girls room. (What can I say, I have a serious issue with commitment?) While we finalize that decision and determine what direction we would like to go, we've made just a few updates to our living room.

The last time we photographed the space, it looked like this:

The walls are now painted the same color as our bedroom (Valspar's Notre Dame) and the Ektorp sectional has a new white slipcover.

The room feels so much bigger after painting over the dark blue color and I also can't believe how much the white slipcover makes a difference. As soon as we put it on, the room instantly felt just a tad larger. Awesome!

Now ask me how I feel about a white couch... So far, so good. I can't lie though, there have been a few incidents already with a pink highlighter, and a mystery spot that we attribute to a smooshed dandelion in someones pocket.

Our carpet cleaner has an upholstery attachment that has been super handy for immediately treating accidents like melted chocolate, but honestly, we haven't treated this slipcover any differently than we have with past colors. (We have had both the Idemo Beige and Idemo Blue.)

The new white slipcover has yet to be washed, but I'm hoping that a little bleach will help to remove the lingering dandelion stain. It's about time to do so, but I'm hoping that we can wait until we get a new washer. We sold our front loaders during our move here and are now stuck with a pair of ancient top loaders. The washer has the agitator that takes up so much space and I'm afraid the cover won't wash evenly if I use bleach. Once I actually have the guts to wash this thing, I'll let you know if I still like it.

It still amazes me what a big difference simple changes like paint and a slip cover can make.

This room has a long way to go, but we think that the next big thing to happen in this room will be to address the entryway. Though it looks fairly tame (and boring) in the picture below, it tends to get out of control pretty quickly.

There is a fairly good space along the wall that could accommodate a mixture of something like this, and this.

Another project that we're seriously considering attempting sooner than later is tackling the flooring. We had Stanley Steamer in to clean the carpets immediately after closing, but we're slowly seeing many spots return. It's looking a lotta bit grungy and gross at this point. The hubs, Justin, keeps mentioning how much it bothers him and I completely agree. I am 100% anti-wall-to-wall-carpeting. I keep expecting to walk in the door after work one day to find that the carpet has been ripped out in a fit of frustration.

We would love to pull up the carpet and simply paint the sub-floor like this until we can save up to put in all hardwoods on the main floor. (Including the kitchen, half bathroom, hallway and living room.)

Does anyone have any experience with painting subflooring? We're someone hesitant to find out what's lurking beneath that carpeting. What if the subfloor is in awful shape? What is it's uneven or really rough? We'd hate to go into this project thinking we'll spend under $100 for an easy fix and end up having to put in completely new flooring after all. We have a lot to think about...