Living Room Gallery Wall...

I received a lot of questions about the black and white pictures and the frames over the Living Room sofa.  They have a special meaning to us.  They are photographs of our parents and grandparents - a wedding photo if they had one. 

They were displayed at our wedding 10 years ago:

They lined the stairs in our first home:

 (Wow, this stairwell looks a bit ominous - I would like to think my photographic skills have improved since then...)

(This was a sweet little first house.  And you can see our little Boston, Rosie on the front walkway.)

Since then the pictures have been hidden in a drawer for 9 years!   

In the clean-up for our last move, I took the pictures and their mats out and tossed the original silver frames.  When I got them out to try over the couch, I used these thin metal look frames from Jo-Ann's.  The frames are oversized for the black mats, so I used glue dots to adhere the black mats in the middle of the new frames.  I turned over the advertising frame insert to give the black mats a plain white background.

(These are my parents, married at 15 and 19, for over 50 years!)

The frames are sized 17" x 21", with a mat opening sized 10" x 13".  They come in Bronze, Pewter, Copper and I think Black.  They are the LA frame series.

Ryan loves it when I ask him to hang complex series of frames in a very specific way that have to all be even and exact.  Love that guy, but he doesn't have a great track record of hanging things straight the first time.  This go-round he came up with a clever little trick.

I laid out the frames just how I wanted them spaced on top of a piece of masking tape on the floor.  He marked the tape with the correct spacing and then stuck it on the wall using our trusty laser level, then nailed right through it.

Then he used the same piece of tape, just moved it up the wall and nailed through it again.

And voila!  Done the first time!





Linking to:

The DIY Showoff - DIY Project Parade
I Heart Naptime - Sundae Scoop

Living Room, Almost Finished...

Here is where the Living Room started, this is what it looked like when we looked at the house for the first time:

Here is it empty:

Here it is during our furniture arrangement phase:

And here it is in it's current state:

It's funny how differently a room looks in a photograph.  In this picture I see how I can really use a rug.  I thought of layering a large natural fiber rug trimmed in gray with a cowhide on top... like this one:






Or this:


I am also thinking of changing the end table hardware to these:




I am trying out this end table I found at HomeGoods - it might be a little too rustic...

There it is...at least until tomorrow, when I change something....




Linking to:
Miss Mustard Seed - Furniture Feature Friday
Chic On a Shoestring - Flaunt It Friday
At The Picket Fence - Inspiration Friday
Funky Junk Interiors - Saturday Nite Special
French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday
Debbie Doos - Newbie Party
Dittle Dattle - Amaze Me Monday
The DIY Showoff - The DIY Project Parade
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Tuesday's Treasures

Still In The Living Room, This Time With Ikea End Tables...

So we set off for Ikea without the list, thinking, surely when I see it, I will remember which end table to get....not necessarily so...

Here is the table I bought:

Got home, pressured Ryan to put together the table immediately, and wham - it was huge! 5 1/2 inches above the arm of the sofa...wow, so did not look great.

We had to make an unexpected trip to the in-laws so we took the legs of the tables with us so my miracle worker FIL and MIL could advise us to cut or not to cut.... As I am showing my MIL the design board so she can see what the whole table looks like and make an informed decision, I notice that I BOUGHT THE WRONG TABLES!! And the tables I was supposed to get, were shorter, more narrow, and just the perfect size! So - take the table apart, back to Ikea, and back home to put the new table together.

Here is the table I was supposed to get:

Ahhh much better.....

What do you think?

I am loving this Edland collection from Ikea - I could use these pieces in every room. And every time I walk downstairs, the smell is so good! Like lemony new wood...

This desk is so pretty, for $199. I could use this in my guest room, but some people don't like not having drawers for their drawers...

This dresser is $299, not bad after looking at Ethan Allen dressers for over $2,000! What? Does a maid come to dust it every week for 5 years?

Linking to:

Online Design Board For My New Living Room

After a major struggle, hmm...can I call designing a room a major struggle, or is that exaggeratory (that's Ryan's word that he made up and insists that it is really a word, it isn't a word - is it?)?  Anywhoo... I decided to "hire" a designer that I have a major design crush on - Emily Hewett of A Well Dressed Home. She is in Dallas, and even though I can't physically have her over for some tea and paint advice, she makes it possible across the miles with her Online Design Board Service.  I don't think Emily has posted a room or design board that I haven't loved, and her own home is gorgeous.  Today, she blogged about my room!!!

Go here to see what she had to say:

http://awelldressedhome.com/yet-another-reason-why-i-love-my-job/comment-page-1/

Here is the board!!! Love it, love it, love it!

I have already ordered the lamps, the throw pillows, and bought the paint. The fabric is on backorder, but I WILL have it!  I am SO excited to put it all together! Isn't it fab!?  I'll share the steps to making the room something to look at! Check out Emily if you need a little help, she does not disappoint!

I know I'm obsessing....

but I think I'm almost done here. Mostly because I don't think I could convince Ryan to move the piano more than one more time. It only took us about 20 minutes to move it about 10 feet - he did feign injury after the first lift, but I think he was just testing the waters to see how determined I was.

Here is where I started with Option 1. The piano in the front of the room by the window.

Then I got an "Anonymous" suggestion to flip flop the couch and the chairs - good idea to solve the heavy weight of all that furniture on one side of the room. Thank you Anonymous! Here is option 2.

I have been wanting to try another option still, recommended by Nancy (thank you Nancy!), where the piano is on the inside wall. That little wall is odd anyway - it's cut short by the stairs and it doesn't look quite right to put furniture in front of the stair spindles. I like it from the front door, but it looks a bit blocked coming from the dining room.

Ryan keeps angling my chairs, I am more of a straight lines are best kind of person, but I don't know.

Opinions and advice and welcome and appreciated! I WILL work this out. I must say that I have spent more time in that room this week staring at it than I have since we moved in!




Linking to:


Debbiedoos Bloogging and Blabbing Newbie Linky Party

Bookshelves?

I think I have found the best arrangement for the Living Room. I'm not over the moon about it, but it is the only one that makes sense. I did have a bit of an epiphany that might just balance out the room. What about two bookcases on either side of the doorway to the dining room? It might balance all the black abyss Big Bertha has to offer.

What do you think?

I thought that I need something with decorative cutout sides to keep it a little airier than solid black. And it would give a little more interest for the eye. I found the perfect bookcases at Costco, but I went today to get a second look and they were all gone. Then I found these online:


A mere $649 from Ballard Designs, I did think for a minute how I was going to talk Ryan into letting me spend $1300 on bookcases for a room we rarely sit in - but then I came to my senses.


A little better, $250 from CSN - but does it have enough finesse?




Hmmm - a bit more whimsical? $240 from CSN, and free shipping! I think I like the open back look.

Any opinions? No bookcases? Any favorites here?