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

Living Room, Painting and a Painting...

A while back I got this fantastic design board from Emily:

And I have been working feverishly to get it going, not without a few bumps in the road - of course.

The painting of forever! There was more trim to paint, crown, and a ceiling. I chose Ashes by Behr for the paint, and used my standard Pure White by Sherwin Williams for the trim. What a difference some white makes!

Wow - can you see how pink the ceiling looks after the trim is painted white? Yuck! So hard to look at!

We added a piece of molding under the existing crown, and left about 1 1/2" of the wall showing between the two, then painted it all white to trick the eye into seeing a lot more molding than was really there.

The nail gun and air compressor were new tools for us. It took a while for me to get over tightly closing my eyes, turning my head, and praying every time he pulled the trigger on the gun. We, umm... I mean Ryan, had a little trouble with the miter saw, getting the cuts to line up flush -  instead of at weird angels with the need for lots of caulk repair.... which we had a few of. Our life lesson here, start on the wall that will be looked at the least, not the most visible wall in the room.  Chalk one up to experience.

Then I worked on the horizontal stripes - I did the same paint color, but a different sheen - eggshell and semi-gloss. I am wondering now if the difference is too slight. Maybe I should repaint with a slightly different shade? What do you think?

When I went to get the great painting she found for over the sofa, the colors were a little different than they looked online. And I was a little hesitant to pull the purchase trigger on that one, not to mention that it wouldn't fit in my car. So I tried to go the cheaper route, and found this one at Garden Ridge:

It wasn't cutting the mustard, so I went back with a friend (thank you Tracy!), who could fit this mambajawamba sized painting in her van, and together we decided on a more graphic, smack you in the face painting, that is really cool!

Here it is:

OK - so Ryan does NOT love this one, and keeps asking me if I am going to take it back - which would involve once again putting out Tracy and her van. But to make things even more complicated - the ZGallerie that was closest to us is shutting their doors this week and moving an hour away! So...keep the painting? it doesn't love the pillows that went with the design - but I can always use those in another room. What do you think?

Linking to:

 

Guest Room Sneak Peak...

Yesterday I started painting the downstairs guest room that I have been orchestrating for a while now. Here it is when we looked at the house, one of three office spaces in the house - the people that lived here must have worked way too much.

I posted my inspiration pics earlier here. The room has some really pretty crown - but it is that yuck orange wood that the whole house is trimmed in. The color of the wood is really an additional color in the room - only once the orange is painted over you can see what the wall color is.


In this small room I have 3 doors to paint, 2 windows (which partly will have to wait until spring), crown moulding and baseboards. I will do one maybe two coats of primer, then at least 1-2 coats of paint. While my MIL and FIL were here building and painting our built-ins they said they discovered a miracle primer that was outdoing my Sherwin Williams Adhesion Primer 2 to 1. I hope she's right! I'm not that excited about it 1 coat in, but we shall see.

Then on to the walls, I solicited much advice and looked at many blogs to get a good suggestion for gray. My two finalists were SW Amazing Gray and BM Silver Fox:

     

Amazing Gray                                   Silver Fox

I thought I was going with Silver Fox, but when I took everything out of the room and started painting out the trim, it looked a little dark - so I will paint a bigger swatch tomorrow and see how I feel.

Here is my pillow sneak peek:

If I can get all the trimming done, maybe I can get some help with the walls this weekend. My roller seems to be more willing to help if he doesn't have to trim. Wish us luck!

Wash That Gray Right Onto The Wall!

One of the reasons we chose this house was because of the downstairs bedroom and full bath. We both have grandmothers that can't navigate the stairs - so this is a great choice! It was a bit thrown together for a visit, and has been neglected since then.
I've had some trouble deciding on a color scheme, but I have finally decided!

Here are some of my inspiration pics:

Designer Samantha Pynn Photo Virginia Macdonald

homesandgardens.com

I LOVE this pom pom fringe! I think I might have to make it work somehow in this room.

http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/search/label/before%20and%20after

I am working on putting it together and need to pick a wall paint! Any gray suggestions?