Living Room - Rearranged

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had the brilliant idea to rearrange our living room. I liked the way our living room looked, but it really just wasn't functioning for the way we live.

-It felt small.
-There was only one really good seat for watching TV.
-There was no where to set down a cup of coffee from the love seat without moving stuff around.

It just didn't function.
 
We lived with this layout for as long as we have lived here, because I was told that the cable could only go on the far wall. I finally started questioning it, and my husband was a sweetie pie and moved it for me.

The large entertainment center got booted out of this room. I was a little sad, because I really liked the shelves for displaying things, but it also limited the size of our TV. A 32" TV is a little small for really enjoying a good football game. (Roll Tide!)

The room feels huge now! There is so much floor space for the boys to play, we had enough room to bring in my husband's leather recliner, and I can set a cup of coffee down from any seat without moving something. It's the little things.

It really feels like a different house.

We still have several things left to do in this room.
- The big, blank wall - I'm thinking a gallery wall.
- We need to decide on a new TV and media stand of some sort.

We brought in the teal dresser from our bedroom as a fill in until we decide what we want. This dresser works well for now, so we aren't in a hurry.

I am hoping to get started on the gallery wall soon. I would really like to have it finished before I start decorating for Christmas. Um, we'll see how that goes.

How Much Funiture Can You Switch Around in One Weekend?

Y'all, I my brain has been in over drive again. We finished a TON of projects around the house last month before my sister's Wedding Reception. I was looking forward to a month of nothing much going on around our house for the month of Nov. as we gear of for Christmas decorating in Dec.

Yeah, that didn't happen.

Thursday night I was sitting on the couch editing pictures and my lap top died. I got up to get a charger and then moved the couch I was sitting on to plug it in. Somehow when I did this, I imagined our living room laid out completely differently.

It was now midnight and I couldn't shut my bran off. When we moved into this house, almost 4 years ago, my husband told me that the cable HAD to go where it was in the living room. I just listened, and have been working around it. I was now questioning whether it HAD to be this way, or if it was just EASIER if it was this way.

I talked to my husband about the new plan and found that he could actually move the cable to the interior wall that I wanted it on. It just meant I was gong to have to stand on a ladder outside and my sweet husband was going to have to make several trips into the attic.

The short version is that my wonderful husband executed my plan beautifully! We moved the cable and rearranged the living room. But, you know what that means. The SNOWBALL. It always happens. It creates other projects and messes with other rooms. I now have a long list of new projects.

This post is getting long.

I am not going to show you how much bigger our living room now feels, but I am going to show you the bookcases that got moved to our den. They got the boot from the living room and are now at home in our den. We just removed the center one that was meant to hold a TV. I obviously had to paint the backs again, because that is just what I do. I am planning to fill you in with all of the details, but for now, you just get this one picture.

Color Change - I Painted The Back of My Media Cabinet Again

I can't stop painting the back of our media cabinet! It's just too easy.

If you have been reading this blog of mine for any length of time, you may be tired of seeing this; I'm sorry. The good news is that I feel like I finally picked the right color and don't won't to change it. I do like knowing that if I decide to change it, it will cost less than $10, and it will only set me back about an hours worth of time.

Before I give you all of the details, let's take a look back at where this started, and how may transformations it took to get here.

When we first got this media cabinet from a family member, it is was sporting a glazed cream crackle finish with a cranberry back. It was pretty, but not my style.

 I finally found the time to paint this thing white and then painted the back blue. The blue was great with our tan couch, but then we got a blue couch and loveseat. The blue was almost the exact color, but was way too matchy-matchy for this girl.

I decided that my new accent color would be coral. I tried several shades of coral, but could not find one that worked with the lighting in this room. There were times of the day when it look great, but other times is was way too bright, and orange. (as pictured)

I finally decided on a shade of green called Swiftly Green, by Valspar. I will be the first to admit that during most times of the day it is way more yellow than green, but I still really, really like it. I think if it had been more green it would have been too much.

Most of the accessories are the same, but some have been tweaked, and some have been moved.

There are a few more updates to this room that I haven't shown yet. We added a a leather ottoman from Target (found on clearance) to replace the too small wicker cube, moved the wicker cube to the left of the media cabinet, and added a fiddle leaf fig tree to the right side.  Oh, and I can't forget about the ceramic rhino. I found him at Ross for $6. The boys thought he was cool, and I really liked him, so we brought him home.

Do you have a spot in your home that you have painted over and over?

*Don't forget to link your posts up tomorrow for What You Wish Wednesday!


I am linking this post to these blog parties. Please go check them out.

What You Wish Wednesday
It's Overflowing
Liz Marie Blog
House of Rose
Blissfully Ever After
Love of Home and Family

Making Home Base
Design, Dining + Diapers
Hit Me Me With Your Best Shot
House by Hoff - Get Your DIY On

Pinterest Challenge - The Painted Media Cabinet Reveal

This is one of those projects that I have been planning to tackle for quite a while. You know, the ones that take a good bit of effort, but you quickly forget once it is all done and you aren't holding a paint brush or roller anymore. I completed this project several weeks ago, but the Pinterest Challenge finally game me the push to get my rear in gear to get it photographed so I could share it with you.

Original Pin Source-IHeartOrganizing

The original pin is this media cabinet from Jen's (IHeartOrganizing) playroom.

This is the before of our media cabinet; a hand me down from my husband's Grandmother. The media cabinet was the perfect size and scale for this room, but the finish and colors were all wrong. I knew I wanted something with a much cleaner look. The crackle finish had to go.

I used a premixed latex enamel, white, glossy paint form Lowes, and just painted over the existing finish. The back is painted a grayish turquoise that works well with the teal in the dining room that is just to the left of this room. I didn't want the colors to be the exact same, but these work well together. I also changed out the knobs to some that I found at Target in a brushed nickel finish. I am so glad this thing is DONE.

The room feels so much lighter and brighter now that the media cabinet doesn't look dirty. I am so glad that I finally marked this project off of my to do list.

Make sure you link up and check out all of the other Pinterest Challenge projects.

Painted Used on the Back - Valspar - Secluded Garden 178263 (premixed sample)


The Pinterest Challenge is hosted by:
Bower Power
Young House Love
Decor & The Dog
The Remodeled Life 

Linking up to these Blog Parties Tatertots and Jello - A Bowl Full of Lemons - The Bliss Diaries - Positely Splendid - Delightful Order - It's Overflowing - The Shabby Nest 
-House of Hepworths 

Art Above the Piano

I'm back! I spent last week working on tons of projects and decided that the blog needed to take the backseat to everything else we had going on. It was a good decision on my part.

I managed to finally finish painting the media center.
I rearranged the playroom and moved/reworked the gallery wall.
I rearranged the master bedroom. I will eventually show you this room.
I got rid of a TON of furniture that we were not using.
I picked out a new loveseat for the den. It hasn't been purchased yet, I still need a little more in the funds department, but I'm working on Craigslisting a few other items.
I finished Henry's birthday gift....just in time.
I hung stuff over the piano.

Before

Let's talk about the piano. You can take a look at some of my inspiration here if you need a refresher.
I really didn't know what I wanted. I just didn't want it to look cluttered and didn't want it completely bare. How is that for vision?

after

Our ceilings are not very high, and there is a lot of stuff in this room. I opted to not use a mirror because I have a mirror on the wall across from it over the couch. I am also planning to hang a huge canvas print of the boys directly across from it over the record player. I was in Target last week shopping for new knobs for the media center, and found 2 white frames with mats for $5 each. That pretty much sealed the deal. They only had 2 or I would have bought more and done something more vertical, but I am happy with this. The frame in the middle is the gold frame that was in the before picture. I just sprayed it white. I was very hesitant to do so, but the gold was starting to flake, so I went with it. I'm sure it will get tweaked, but for now this is good. The prints are free printables from here. I just printed them on my printer and stuck them in the frames real quick. I'm sure they will change, but we were having a party at our house and I just needed it to look finished without having to give it much thought.

I am happy that it feels finished, and I only spent $10. Win.

Linking up to these Blog Parties

A Bowl Full of Lemons - The Bliss Diaries - Positely Splendid - Delightful Order - It's Overflowing - The Shabby Nest

House of Hepworths

Chairs - To Paint or Not to Paint?

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had my first Thirty-One party on Friday nigh,t and then had a lazy day on Saturday. I had plans to do a few projects around the house, but I did nothing!

Before we get to the "To Paint or Not To Paint" part of this post, I need to show you what I have done so far.

This is the little sitting nook in our living room. The side of the living room that I did not show you last week when I gave you the living room update.

Current Setup

These chairs were a Craigslist find that I reupholstered, and the table was found by the curb at my neighbor's house. It just needed a little bit of sanding to remove the crackle finish and a can of Heirloom White spray paint.

Table Before

Chairs Before

Both were nice upgrades, but I'm still not sure that it is just right. 

Here is another look at the other side of the room.

There is very large black antique piano that sits next to the chairs. Part of me likes that the rattan is a different tone from everything else in the room, but part of me feels like it is throwing everything WAY off. I really like the chairs. I like the scale. They are comfortable. The price was just right at $40 for the PAIR, plus $20 for the shower curtain from Target that I used to reupholster the seats. My dilemma, To Paint or Not to Paint?

If I paint, they can never be natural rattan again. If I paint, what color do I paint them? My first thought is white, but I like a nice glossy pure white. If I paint the chairs white, what do I do about the heirloom white (more of an off white) table? I already plan to paint the media cabinet white at some point. HELP ME PLEASE! I am certain that if this was someone else's home I would be able to look at it and say,"you need do blah, blah, blah", but I am stuck. Is it the fabric?

Please keep in mind that I prefer a more modern look, and am trying to work with the pieces that I have. 

Here are a few painted chairs that have the nice modern look I would like to achieve. 

Via Young House Love

I REALLY like this green, but I'm not sure it if would be too much.

Via Bower Power

This one is not a chair, but the finish of the plant stand was the same in the before as my chairs.

Via Ana Antunes Home-Styling

Via Ten June

If you pin the photos that are not mine, please go to original website and pin from their site. Thank you!

Linking up to these Blog Parties

A Bowl Full of Lemons - The Bliss Diaries - Positely Splendid - Delightful Order - It's Overflowing - The Shabby Nest

The Living Room - An Update

Our living room has gone through many changes since the last time I have give you an update on its progress.

Here is a look at one of the last living room updates. This was taken shortly after we moved in. The floors had been redone, we had a new rug, moved our furniture in, painted the walls and then hung some brown curtains that I already owned.

Before

  We placed our tv and media equipment on top of my old dining room buffet.

Before

Now, lets fast forward to how the room looks today. It is still not finished, but we have certainly made some progress.

Progress

 Progress
1. We added a nice large round mirror.
2. We swapped the brown curtains for the chevron curtains that got booted out of the dining room.
3. I made pillow covers.

Progress

Progress

The biggest change is by far the media cabinet. I made several VERY POOR attempts (that can be seen here and here) to work with what we had, and it just plain didn't work. My husband's grandmother recently downsized her home, so her old media cabinet came to live at our house. It is so nice to have a piece (well, 3 pieces) that actually fit the space.

It isn't perfect, I am not a fan of the finish, but it is something that can be worked around. I have lived with it as is for about 4ish months. I didn't want to get in a hurry to change it, I really wanted to be sure that I new what I wanted before I did anything.

Progress

The To Do List

1.Change the BIG, BROWN, LEATHER, ROCKER, RECLINER that is to the right of the sofa to something that has much cleaner lines and is more appropriate scale wise for this room.
2. Paint the media cabinet white, change out the knobs, and then paint the backs a color that is not red.
3. Our sofa is starting to show some age, so I would also like to swap this one out for one with cleaner lines. This isn't very high on the list of priorities, but still something that I would really like to do.

There are a few other things in this room that are on my to do list, but I am going to save them for when I show you the other side of the room.


What do you think? Have we made progress?

Linking up to these Blog Parties

A Bowl Full of Lemons - Tatertots and Jello - Positely Splendid - Delightful Order - It's Overflowing - The Shabby Nest

The Piano

I know you have all been on the edge of your seat just waiting to see what I painted totally teal. Right? Ok, maybe not, but I still don't have pics for you. :(  I have another project that has currently taken over the room that contains the teal and it is taking WAY longer to complete than I was hoping. You won't get to see any of it until sometime next week, but it will be worth the wait. (I have to keep reminding myself)

Until then, I may as well go ahead and show you what started this series of projects.

The piano. This piano belonged to my great grandmother, then grandmother, then my mother, and now it is mine. I don't play, but it brings back wonderful memories from my grandparents' house as a kid. It was a happy day when the movers loaded it up and brought it in my living room.

This thing is HUGE and the reason that some things have been getting moved around. You know how it goes, one change leads to about 5 other changes.

The piano bench is covered in a red fabric, so I went ahead and made a slipcover for it using some material from my stash. I can't tell you anything about it because it was given to me, but it was the perfect size for what I needed.

Do any of you have any favorite pieces in your home that have been handed down through the generations? Do tell.