What I WANTED to show this week was a big reveal of my girl's room. But we haven't even begun yet! I had my schedule cleared & supplies purchased, but the project was contingent on her helping to clear out her room. And she hasn't shown a modicum of interest in it. The Type-A in me wants to drag her upstairs and Get. It. Done. But the trying-to-raise-a-good-person Mom in me was offered the gentle suggestion that perhaps I need to back off and let her do it in her own time, under her own prompting. Given that it's been 2 weeks already, her own time may mean 2013.
So instead, I give you the Family Room (a story in 2 parts).
When we moved in, it looked like this:
Your eyes do not deceive you.
Those ARE teal walls.
With a burgundy accent wall.
And filthy green berber carpet.
Plus the dreaded brown wood trim and slightly chewed up vertical blinds.
This was NOT my favorite room, but it is the room that is the most used.
And now:
In full disclosure, I admit that I painted the walls and trim in late October.
I chose a creamy tan that actually looks pretty great with the CLEAN carpet.
But after the painting, it was pretty much empty: just the sofa, chair, TV stand & TV.
This week we added the bookcases flanking the TV stand, and we hung the TV.
Mounting the TV seemed to open up the room tremendously.
Yes, I dislike the cords hanging down, but we haven't yet decided if we'll run them inside the wall, or otherwise bundle & conceal them.
I LOVE the bookcases. They are cheap-o's from Ikea, but they match & they allowed me to open up boxes of books that haven't seen the light of day in years. I still need to tszuj it up with some actual baskets at the bottom and a few more knick-knacks. And also figure out what to do with the TV stand once we clear all the stuff off the top.
More books, you say? Yes, please.
Ikea also yielded a new curtain rod, as someone who shall remain nameless (side eye to the 3 year old) decided to swing from the curtains on the previous, now utterly warped, rod.
Ahem.
Phase II for the week is my "Wall of States" project that I have been "working on" for months.
When we moved in, I decided that I wanted to buy a print to represent each state that my husband and I have lived in (separately and together).
I spent months trolling etsy for prints that felt right.
And then those lovelies spent months gathering dust in a corner of my bedroom while I decided how/when/how much to spend on framing.
Finally, a change in schedule this week prompted me to finish it up (that, and they fact that I am giddy every time I look at the bookcases and free space under the TV).
I purchased a bunch of dirt cheap frames from WM, and got down to painting.
Cold weather = turning the empty front room into a painting studio.
Prime, then 3 coats of semi-gloss.
My attempt at plotting out a hanging arrangement was 65.2% successful.
As soon as I moved the frames downstairs to hang, I chipped one! Curses!
It took me hours to paint, clean, and hang everything, but every minute was worth it. I am astonished that I was able to frame all 11 prints for around $40. The colors all go together, and I smile every time I descend the stairs and The Wall of States is the first thing I see.
For future projects I have my eye on some new pillow fabric, and also plan to swap out the brown & beige curtains for white with a patterned border. I may even go really crazy and introduce some actual COLOR into our tan/brown/white color scheme. It must be the Spring Fever talking.
Sources: California and Louisiana prints, Colorado print, Utah, Washington, Idaho, Iowa, Oregon, Michigan, Ohio
8 comments:
Amy- Kudos to you for buying a house and seeing the potential underneath all the yuck. A lot of people would've been turned off by those teal walls and that orange and brown room and said NO THANKS. I think it's amazing how much you've done and how awesome the improvements look. You are amazing!
:)
I love the states project! I seriously might steal that idea for a wall in my basement. I've lived in a lot of places in my lifetime.
I love the color change in your family room. We had teal walls in our kitchen when we moved in and I thought they were horrible. So glad they are gone.
You are doing such an awesome job making your home functional and beautiful. You are an inspiration!
Holy cow, that looks like a completely different room! Your wall of states is great--perfect for a family room.
The room looks fabulous! Isn't incredible how much difference a bit of paint can make?! But I have to ask, just how many coats did it take to cover up those dark colors? We once painted a room terracotta -- never. again. Seriously. :)
Wow! What a big change! It is so hard to do all those things in the most used room, because...everyone is always in it. Nice work! I love the matching bookcases and the states wall.
What does it say about me that my heart goes out to the 3 yr old because the thought of swinging on the drapes sounds so darned fun?!?!?
You're right, painting made a tremendous difference. The room you use most often went from feeling drab and heavy to light and comfortable. So happy for you that you got that knocked out.
I love the states wall. Very creative. I have a similar project waiting for a wall, but I'm using state souvenir plates and it's places my husband and I have vacationed since we've only ever lived in Texas. ;)
I LOVE the art collage on the wall. I would love to do that too- but 4 states just doesn't seem like a great collage. It's fun seeing you transform your home. Great job!
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