Making House a Home: Living Room

Well, we are coming up on our one-year anniversary in our house! In our old house, our living room was the only room that was never re-done after moving in. It never felt comfortable and homey.  I was determined to not let this living room be the same way. I want every room in our new home to feel like the next.

Our living room has a huge window. There is a ton of natural light, but it is also very visable from the outside.

This is how our living room looked when we first walked through the house.  Very outlined.

When we moved in, we tossed some furniture in it and it basically became an extension to the playroom.

I decided to use the colors that I used in our family room, plus add in a little warm gray.

We got rid of the old furniture and did a little shopping!

We also inherited a piano from my parents and a chair that was my great-grandfather's and then my Grandma Pat's.  Here is my redo!

  

I was going back and forth on whether or not to do a reclaimed wood wall. It was originally planned to be on the wall that the piano backed up to. Mom pointed out that the woods would be different and I quickly decided to change plan and to an accent feature instead!  I couldn't be happier with the result. Plus, repurposing Mike's old toybox as a coffee table was perfect. It matches the wood on the wall better than any new coffee table!

To create this piece, I (with lots of help from Dad) ripped apart a few pallets and nailed them to the wall!  Super easy!  Then, I placed a vinyl decal on it and called it a day.  Love the result.

 

A few details in the decorating that I love...

I used BEHR Premium Plus Ultra paint in the following colors:

I love my new room. I'm not gonna lie... It is still pretty much an extension of the playroom.  Only now, it looks a little nicer :-)

Here is a list of my goodies:

Paint - Home Depot

Pillows - Gordman's

Mirror - Kroger Marketplace

Curtains - IKEA

Loveseat - Macy's

Chalkboard Art - Caravanshoppe.com

Rug - IKEA

Living Room Pre-Planning

I'm getting ready to start re-designing my living room.  This room is in the front of the house and has a huge window that looks out to the front yard and our street.  When we have the blinds open during the day, this room is very visible to those walking or driving by.

Right Now:
This is Taylor's room. She watches Dora DVDs and has picnic tea parties in this room. We have a futon couch and a recliner in there right now. The TV is not hooked up to cable, only a DVD player.  It is painted yellow.

What I Want:
We are getting a piano similar to this one:

Also, I want to get a new couch.  I have my eye on one, but need to get the measurements to make sure it will fit where I want it.  I also want an accent wall.  I have my heart set on a reclaimed wood wall similar to this:

Contemporary Kids by Birmingham Interior Designer AMW Design Studio

or this:

Eclectic Living Room by Atlanta Photographer Ashley Anthony Photography

I really like how it looks, but am a little worried about the maintenance.  Have any of you put one of these focal points into your house?  I also love that I can marry gray and brown because of the varying tones in the wood.

If I decide not to do a wood wall, I am thinking about a stenciled accent wall like I did in my family room at our old house.

I would do either a light/dark warm gray, or a flat/gloss dark gray/black for the colors. Maybe do the three other walls in the Gobi Desert (tan) that I've used throughout the downstairs, and the accent wall in Manuscript (the gray tone):

Maybe I could do a wood accent art piece?  That would bring both of these colors together.

What are your thoughts?  The couch I am eyeing is gray so I don't want the other three walls to be gray.  Also, I am liking these curtains from IKEA:

Also, Jaden's birthday party is in three weeks. I am kind of on a schedule for this room re-do. Help me out here!

71 Projects: Pantry Doors... again

A couple of months ago, I transformed my plain, ordinary pantry doors into a sort of command central station for our home.

 

I have loved the chalkboards every single day since doing them! As you know, my house is a work in progress. I don't know that it will ever be "done," and I am totally fine with that! I love making it our home and putting my special touches on everything. This kitchen, it will make or break me as a DIY-er.  I have big plans, I tell ya!

After I put the chalkboards onto the pantry doors, I found that I had nowhere to put the chalk.  I also got some chalk pens to use on the calendar. All of these were living in a bowl on top of the fridge. I didn't like it because 1) It just looked out of place, and 2) I wanted the girls to be able to reach the chalk so they can create masterpieces on the garage door. I thought about putting the bowl-o-chalk in the pantry, but space was already limited and the dust... well, it just doesn't mix well in my mind with the food in said pantry. I decided to attach some sort of chalk tray to the front pantry door, under the calendar.  I immediately clicked over to IKEA.com because of their FINTORP Rail.  I had these guys in my old house to hang my pots and pans from.

I do not miss that house.

Anyway, those bars have found a new home in my craft room, so I just bought a new one, along with the FINTORP Condiment Stand to put the chalk in.

I have big plans to repaint my kitchen cabinets some day.  Along with the cabinets, I planned to paint the pantry doors.  I thought it would be smart to get that out of the way before I had the bar put on. Then, I wouldn't have to mess with taking it down or painting around it.  I grabbed my go-to colors from my family room and officially started the Great Kitchen Makeover of 2013.

I LOVE IT.  More than words can say.  My kitchen is a happy place right now... only if you are facing the pantry.

I still haven't started the cabinets, but having the pantry doors done is a start!  There is no turning back now!

Some of the details... The FINTORP Condiment Stand from IKEA worked out great! You can see that there is a removable tray in the bottom with holes in it. This allows the chalk dust to not get piled up in the bottom of the tray.  Also, I love that the bucket is easily removable for cleaning.  The girls can reach it perfectly and have already chalked up the garage door :-)

I plan to have {Chalk} cut from black vinyl to put on the front of the bucket.

I also removed and spray painted the little handle holes.  I had planned on putting knobs on, but I'm glad I decided to just paint what I had.

The paint colors I used in this re-do are Behr Premium Plus Ultra: Gobi Desert (710C-3) for the walls and Parchment Paper (710C-1) for the pantry door and trim.  You can buy Behr paints at Home Depot.

Sharing this re-do with the readers at Adorned From Above and If It's Not Baroque.

Making House a Home: Family Room

Last summer, Mike and I found our forever house.  We found the place that we thought would be perfect for raising our girls.  It is a great house with a lot of space for our family.  We have not regretted moving into our current home for one day.  We love every single thing about it (except the shower size)!  Personally, I love walking through it and envisioning each space exactly like I want it to be.  When we moved in, we decided that we were not going to change anything right away.  We wanted to get settled and relax for a little while before making our new house look the way we (I) wanted it to.  Fast-forward six short months later... It was time to do the family room!

When we first looked at the house, I saw a lot of potential in this family room.  It is a cozy space that would get used daily.  The door to the garage is in this room, as well as double doors leading out to an awesome three-season room, and our big backyard.

The family room on the day we first walked through the house.

When we moved in, I put my books on the shelves and hung our family's photos on the wall.  The previous home owners left the furniture for us since we didn't have enough to fill the space.  The room was comfortable!  I enjoyed it, but thought it felt too dark.  I wanted to open the space up even more.  There are no windows (except for the doors) in the family room and it felt a little cave-like.

The family room connects to the kitchen and dining area.  Those areas are a work in progress :o)  In the photo below, you can see the door that goes to the garage (with the scarecrow head on it).  This is the door we go in and out of daily.  We park our cars in the garage, so this door is really our main entrance to our home.

Ah, Marty.  Underneath the key hanger in the photo above, lives our friend Marty the Zebra.  I noticed 'ol Marty the very first week we were in our house.  Do you see him?

 

Poor Marty... I was sad to see him go :o)

I told Mike that this project would only take me a day or two.  Little did I know, I would experience the worst pain of my life... also known as a double ear infection/Vertigo.  But, I trucked on and managed to get my family room done!

I don't know that it will ever be "done," but this is my reveal for now... I give you,

THE FAMILY ROOM!

To do: Add a curtain rod and sheer panels above the doors.  Do something about the ugly brass fireplace doors.  Get a new TV!

See the 2710 on the wall in the photo above? That was our address at our old house. I love having it on our wall in our new home... Sort of a keepsake from our very first home :o)

This is my spot!  It is the perfect place for reading, watching TV, just relaxing!

I painted the garage access door with chalkboard paint.  It's the perfect place to write quick notes and reminders.  

We actually got our furniture from Kroger Marketplace!  It was the strangest thing buying furniture from a grocery store :o)  We were assured that it was great quality!  So far, we love it.  It is super comfy!  I originally wanted a bright white for the furniture, but quickly reconsidered it when I remembered that I would be sharing my space with two kids, a husband, and a cat.  After seeing it in the space, I LOVE the dark chocolate!  I got the pillows at Gordman's.

Here are a few of my favorite details in the room:

I went with a pop of green in the backs of the built-ins.  The neutrals of the room keep it bright, and the green accent makes it young and fun!

 

In the beginning, I confused everyone with my backwards books.  Honestly, I read them all. I don't need to see the spines.  They just added more color and clutter to the space.  Now, the books are used as decorative pieces, too!

This is a vase I made.  The front and back sides are different.  I can turn it around to subtly change the space.

I added some decorative accessories to the shelves along with the books.  This vase is one that I threw on the wheel when I was in high school

I hope you enjoyed this little look into my home!  

The paint colors I used in this re-do are Behr Premium Plus Ultra: Gobi Desert (710C-3) for the top part of the walls, Parchment Paper (710C-1) for the trim and lower half of the walls, and Asparagus (410D-4) for the green accent.  You can buy Behr paints at Home Depot.

Sharing my re-do with Houzz, Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings, Time Travel Thursday at the Brambleberry Cottage, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Hookin' Up with HoH, Pin Me Linky Party at Diana Rambles, and The Inspiration Board at Homework.