Painting over RED walls

I finally did it!
I've only been thinking about painting over the red walls in my family room since May of 2010.

I just couldn't decide what to do with the big black square we call a TV that the previous owner had semi ~ built into the wall (poorly I might add)  and some crazy cut outs for components.   Well, all that is still there as I have yet to convince my husband we should rip out that silly hollow wall and get rid of the enormous TV.  But all in good time ~ I'll start with baby steps :)

Anyway.  The red we had on the walls was Boston Brick by Behr.  Initially I loved it.  Before we moved into our current house we owned a little 1940's bungalow in the city.  When I say little, I mean not quite 1000 square feet.  Our new (current) house had 2400 square feet (before we finished the basement!).  I wasn't use to so much space and was wanting to shrink up the rooms and make them feel more intimate.  Therefore we went with the red.  Anyway, fast forward a few years and I was definitely ready for a change.  Something lighter.... fresher.

Here's what our family room looked like before in all it's Boston Brick glory:

Then, with 1 coat of gray primer (it kind of looks blue in this picture).

This was a SUPER important step ~ the primer helped cover and block the red from bleeding through.

Finally, on to the "real" color.

2 coats of this:

(Sand Dollar by Sherwin Williams)

and we are feeling light and airy (maybe a little tired of holding a roller to, but so worth it)!

Oh, and we got new windows in the entire house ~ and I was lucky enough to get to prime and paint all of the new trim ~ which is why the window trim doesn't match the rest of the "ugly" trim... all in due time! :)

Love this picture ~ but I'm not sure where to put it ~ which is why the protective corners are still in tact.

Can you tell I'm ready for summer?