Painting the Inside of Exterior Doors Black is Practically Magic & Our New Living Room Rug at the Cabin!

When the painters were painting the interior of the cabin, they asked if they should just paint the doors white orrrr? And I said not to worry about the doors or sidelights or accompanying trim because I'll paint them black afterward. The look on their faces! Haha. But just like when I painted the doors in our living room black in our own home, I knew that it's what I wanted to do here, too. I'll never get over the impact of such a small project.

You can read how we had them tint all the beams and the wood on this window wall here, but hopefully in the photo above you can see how orange the wood used to be in the trim around the door. I decided to paint it allllll black. We already had the black on hand from painting the exterior of our cabin (black is the new black). It's actually solid color acrylic deck stain in black by Cabot. It goes on just like paint and is very durable. We already used it on the exterior doors last year, so we knew it would hold up even better indoors.

Don't mind the old plumbing pvc we used to stir it, it was all we had that could serve as a stir stick! Hahaha.

This is usually a project I wouldn't mind tackling by myself, but Chris's project fell through (wrong tool an hour from home! argh!) so he jumped in and we got it all painted in about an hour. I cut in around all the edges and windows and he brushed the rest. I used this Purdy one because we had extras on hand from when the painters were here, but I really love this soft handled one too! I have found a short-handled, 2" brush allows me maximum control so I don't have the need to use tape or anything. We also always get so many questions about drop cloths and why we don't always use them. We have found higher quality paint is just less splattery and also takes less coats which all adds up to less time. If we do drip (because, I mean, we're not perfect!), it's almost always better to let it dry and then flake it up....unless you're painting a room with wall to wall carpet, then always use a drop cloth!

The results look instantly so. much. cooler! I strongly believe that every room needs a pop of black and why stop at one, you know?

Here's a similar view from before we painted the doors. See how it was just kind of bland? If the doors were wood like the rest of the wall, I might have just had them tinted, but then again, I just loooove the black so much.

You may have noticed painting the doors wasn't the only upgrade we made in the living room - we got our new rug! The previous one used to live in our bedroom before we brought it up here but at 9x12, it was always a smidge too small and didn't extend beyond either side of the couch. Also now that all the walls were mostly light, we really needed something a little darker to ground the room.

I had been hunting for a good 10x14 and I fell head over heels for this one from Loloi when we were invited to visit their show room in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago. It's their Heirloom HQ-06 Bone/Charcoal Rug. We got to meet Cyrus Loloi, the grandson of the founder and he was such a pleasant person who told us all about what goes into their rugs. I told him, "Well, no wonder you can't make a bad rug!" It's true, every one is gorgeous. But while we were walking through the showroom, we were both drawn to this one. It's a high quality, hand-knotted rug from their heirloom line and something I'll definitely cherish forever. (Full disclaimer: it was gifted to us with no obligation or strings attached.  This one is really similar if you want the same look for less!)

(P.S. lots of questions about these slippers when I posted the above photo on stories. They're the perfect cabin slippers.) Our cabin is a no-delivery zone so every thing that is inside has to be delivered to our home first and then driven up and then, lately, hauled though mounds of snow. But the excitement of seeing it in place was more than motivating.

Isn't she pretty? We didn't bring a rug pad up, but that's something we'll add soon to extend the life of the rug even more and add a little but of cush to its already super soft fibers. I haven't troubleshooted the snaps on the green chairs yet (they will not stay snapped!), but that's on my list for this weekend because we both love the way they look in the space even more now.

We're inching along in here, just shooting to make progress every time we make a trip. We've had lots of mixed comments about our timetable, some have said it seems like it's taking us forever to complete spaces and some feel like we've been rushing. To be honest, we're just working by the weather at this point. When the driveway is clear and it isn't a blizzard, we come up and get as much done as we can! We're not really on any sort of timetable but with every improvement, we get anxious to keep going and make this mountain paradise a little more our own.

As always, progress photos help. I came across this photo from 2017, shortly after we bought the cabin:

And this is how it looks now!

I'm on the hunt for a good round coffee table now (maybe something like a rustic dark wood?) But other than that, we couldn't be happier with the way the cabin living room has shaped up over time. I think real, actual interior designers have the incredible ability to transform a space in a short time. I realized for me, I like to improve it little by little, taking steps back and often course correcting. It might take longer and require more patience, but I love the process so much. It's almost like I don't want it to ever end. :)

Want more cabin living room posts? Check out:

The new sectional
Taking the fireplace all the way up!
The Pendleton Buck
Painting the walls and toning the beams
Painting the walls and toning the beams

Lastly, the latest cabin log is up on our channel! It shows us painting the door and unrolling the rug, but also our appliance delivery and a sneak peak at the appliances! Which I'm excited to share more about next week.