The living room reveal!

And here is the view into the adjoining dining room:

And the view back into the living room from the dining room:

I’m pretty happy with how everything turned out. We’re still on the look out for the perfect rug and a floor lamp for the end of the sofa. At some point we may replace the wicker side chairs with something upholstered… two chairs or a love seat, perhaps.

Overall, my townhouse is pretty close to being completely decorated. I’d still like to replace the dining room chandelier, some of the other ceiling light fixtures in the house, and I need a headboard for the bed.

Living Room Resources
Wall color: “Moonshine” by Benjamin Moore in EcoSpec flat
Sofa: “Blake in Otter Velvet” West Elm
Wicker chairs: Ikea
White chairs: Refurbished – Here is a post about it.
Coffee table: Dania Furniture
Table lamp: Ikea
Floor lamp: West Elm
Pillows: made by me!
Throw: HomeGoods
Curtains: JCPenney – Here is a post about hanging and hemming.
Frames: Ikea
Artwork: (framed) vintage fabric (paintings) my own – Here is a post about it.
Baskets next to sofa: Crate and Barrel

Making over the living room walls

Once the walls of my living room were a chalky shade of blueish gray, I set about changing up the artwork and decor on the walls. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my salon-style wall of artwork, it was more that I was ready for a change. And, while I did enjoy the drama the wall of art offered, I was craving a look that was a little more symmetrical and pulled together. Sometimes I also get very tired of looking at my own paintings.

I went to Ikea and purchased three of the largest frames they carried. I also picked up a yard of beautiful fabric and raided the fabric cabinet at home.

Pictured above are two antique flour sacks that the Mr. and I purchased when we lived in New England and went antiquing regularly. One is a beautiful linen stripe (they just do not make fabric like this anymore) and the other has a really cool pineapple print. I ironed and framed them, along with the piece of botanical fabric I purchased.

Next, I wanted to bring some life to the bare wall behind our television. Here is a before picture:

I decided I wanted some pattern and softness, so I stretched a piece of fabric I’ve had since high school (purchased while on a vacation in the Adirondacks from a hippie shop!) over a painting I’ve grown tired of.

I also wanted something for the other wall in that corner and decided to push three of my paintings together to make one triptych. Since I’m the maker of all three, I took artistic liberty. I think the three as one are more interesting as a single piece.

I also added some color to the coffee table arrangement:

When you put all those elements together, as well as two of my recently made over chairs, you get this:

Meanwhile, I also hung a new mirror (from HomeGoods) and two baskets (from Ikea… only $8 each) on the focal wall in the adjoining dining room. They are in good company with one of my paintings.

Soon, I will post pictures of our new sofa and show you how the entire room is coming together.

Bye bye Band-Aid beige…

… hello chalky bluish gray!

The first step in my living room makeover was painting the walls a beautiful shade of light gray. I decided on Moonshine by Benjamin Moore and chose their Eco Spec no-VOC paint in a flat finish.

The problem with my living room’s original wall color was that it all blended together with the warm floors, curtains, and even the sofa. Everything was pretty much in the same family of warm, golden-y, beige. The sheen was also all wrong. I believe the developer must have used a satin sheen rendering the entire surface very skin-like. I named the color Band-Aid beige.

Here are a few pictures, one taken the day we moved in and the other taken with our furniture in place.

It wasn’t too bad, it was just boring and I was ready for a change. I split the job up over two days and it was much more manageable than trying to paint all four walls in one day. Here are a few preview pictures of the new wall color:

Doesn’t the new color compliment the warm floors and curtains nicely? I really love the way the bluish gray brings out the wood and golden tones. Stay tuned for updates on the living room makeover including new artwork for the walls and a new sofa. Or subscribe and receive new posts automatically.

The living room makeover begins!

Well now… what’s all this?

A living room makeover is in the works!

Spring Cleaning 2011

It’s that time of year… spring cleaning time. It’s a chore for sure, but I always feel so good when my home is clean and healthy from top to bottom. And there are some tasks (::whispering:: like cleaning behind the fridge) we haven’t tackled in the two years we’ve lived here. It’s time. I will be enlisting the Mr’s help.

You can vote in the comment section which chores you think I should ask the Mr. to complete! (Note to Ryan: do not create fake reader names and vote for the easiest tasks.)

So…

Here is my list of everything I’d like to accomplish. This is in addition to the regular cleaning I do most every week.

Deep clean kitchen

• Throw away all old food in cabinets and fridge.
• Donate un-used dishes and utensils
• Remove everything from cabinets and wipe inside and out.
• Thoroughly clean fridge and freezer
• Clean oven and stovetop
• Clean dishwasher and under the sink
• Pull fridge out and clean behind and around (ewwwwwwwww!)
• Wash floor and scrub grout clean
• Polish stainless steel

Bathroom

• launder shower curtains
• scrub tub and tile
• edit toiletries

Living room and dining room

• Vacuum upholstered furniture
• Rent steamer and steam rug and furniture
• Clean out the coat closet (it’s gross in there)
• Clean out the dining room sideboard and take stuff to donate
• Wash throws and pillows
• Wash curtains (mine are machine washable and dry-able)

Bedroom

• Vacuum and wipe down closet
• Edit down clothing (I recently did this! Yay, one thing done.)
• Vacuum and mop under bed (There is a family of dust bunnies that need to move)
• Rotate and flip mattress
• Wash mattress pad and skirt

Misc.

• Baseboards. Blah.
• Deep clean all wood floors.
• Dust crown molding.
• Clean light covers and bulbs.
• Get quote on exterior windows. (They are too high to do ourselves.)
• Use a sticky roller thing on the lamp shades.

Dogs

• Wash all bedding and towels
• Wash and edit toys

I’d like to have all of this done by mid-May, so I’m giving myself a decent amount of time. What’s on your spring cleaning list? Any tasks I’ve missed?

Vote in the comment section on which tasks the Mr. should do!

Making over chairs, part 3

I sanded, primed, painted, repaired, cut, stapled, and put all the pieces back together to make a new set of dining room chairs from mis-matched ones I already had. Here is the before picture:

And, after much hard work, here are the after pictures:

You can read about painting and repairing the chairs here, and about reupholstering the seats here.