The new family room (rug)

Hey everybody! How are you? How was your weekend? I worked my TAIL off on the garage – decluttering and cleaning it out. It was years past due. I still have a bit more to do and then a big DIY project in there but it’s so so SO much better! My body is feeling it right now though.

But let’s switch gears, shall we? I’m tired of looking at dust and dirt and spiders (!!) and need to focus on soft and pretty. So the last time I shared our family room (I think it was earlier this year), it looked like this:

I got that rug from RugsUSA about a year and a half ago and it was holding up pretty darn well. The color of it is off in that pic, it was really more of a charcoal blue, not a navy blue.

I LOVED the design but it was so intense. It made decorating the rest of the room so hard. Pillows were impossible to find (the ones I had here were never quite right, they were from years back) and the drapes never worked with it. I looked forEVER for a new drapery fabric and nothing worked. These are what you called #firstworldproblems.

The graphic design was just too much for this room. At first I didn’t mind it but over time I just got tired of fighting with it. And earlier this year I was starting to think that we could really have a larger rug in there. This one is nearly 7 by 9 feet, but it almost looked dinky when you walked in the room.

Sooo…I’ve kind of been looking here and there over the six months or so. Nothing intense, just flipping through the rugs at HomeGoods when I went. Well, a few weeks back it was finally there…the one:

I was worried it was too big though – 9 by 12 compared to 7 by 9 is quite a jump. I got it anyway and figured the worst scenario was that we’d need to return it.

We moved everything out of the room (and cleaned under the sofas…what. in the?), laid it down and both my husband and I were drooling (well, more me, but he liked it) – it was SO pretty. And my goodness, so soft!

When we put the furniture back in we were a little shocked at how big it was, but about three minutes in were talking about how much bigger it made the room feel. It was crazytown:

The color works so much better! It’s a bluish gray and the design is an aqua color. It’s not too aqua that you can’t pull in other colors though, which I like.

My corner fireplace (shakes fists in air!!) continues to haunt me because it keeps the rug from working perfectly in the room – it could really move a lot further back if it weren’t for the fireplace placement. Ah well, I’m over it (lying):

Another thing that helps is that I took the little coffee table out earlier this year. I love that thing but this part of the room just wasn’t big enough for it. I tried taking it out one day and it was like we could breath in there – made such a big difference. (It’s living with my sister right now cause I couldn’t bear to totally part with it just yet.)

Funny how putting a much larger rug in there makes the room feel bigger, not smaller. The room isn’t small, but it was originally set up so that the family room part is supposed to only be that area by the fireplace. This is how it used to look:

Here’s how that area looks now:

You can see how fireplace was transformed here.

And the area that used to be more of just a walkway off to the side:

Is now our entertainment area:

This room functions SO MUCH BETTER this way. Before was cozy for sure, but it was cramped. This layout is much more open, which helps.

I actually love that the furniture all sits on the rug now, I think that’s what helps it to feel bigger:

The rug is wool, so at first it was shedding a ton. Not too bad, but when I vacuumed it would fill the container. But over the last six weeks or so doesn’t do it nearly as bad. It’s worth it to me for the softness of it.

Just for giggles let’s look at the how the room looked early this year:

And now….ahhhhhh, so much calmer:

The rug was WAY cheaper at HomeGoods than I would have paid anywhere else, but still a big purchase for us for sure. I’m glad I waited till I found “the one,” and that the budget allowed for it at the time. How often does that happen? Hardly ever.

I think picking out a rug is one of the hardest decor decisions in a room, do you? In my mind it’s as big as the paint color – it’s just such a large item in the room.

Fall mantel (and a party!)

Well, it’s here and I’m happy. I absolutely, positively LOVE this time of year. Just…I can’t even. It’s awesome. :)

To celebrate this beautiful season my friends and I are hosting a series of fall linkies to inspire:

We’ve done this for years now and I love it!

I was traveling last weekend so was kind of rushing to get this mantel up, but then I got sidetracked by a little DIY project…again. This happens a lot. :) Last year when I installed the planks above the fireplace I never painted them. They were primed so they looked fine so I left them. But they’ve started looking dingy lately so it was time to get that done:

You can see the difference in the color there – two coats later I was done.

Next up – figure out what to do for this year’s fall mantel! I wanted it to be two things – simpler than usual and I wanted to use more natural materials. (Read: I didn’t want to have to pull out the fall bins.) I’m trying to use more natural, textural items to decorate for this year. Partly because I want to stop storing so much decor year to year and also because it’s a just a challenge. And it’s fun for me because it shows how you can use things that you may already have.

One thing I have this year is my pee gee hydrangea tree – two of them to be exact. The blooms were BIG and plentiful this year, much bigger than last year. And this time of year they are a gorgeous pink/green color. I just totally adore them!:

I’ve made it clear over the years that I love hydrangeas and it is a thrill that I finally have some beautiful blooms to use. :)

So I went through the house, finding some shiny, some natural, some items with texture, and I used a LOT of hydrangeas:

 

I didn’t buy anything new for the decorating, but I did recently pick up that little brown votive holder at Target a couple weeks ago. I just loved it’s deep chocolate color – I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve had those (faux) artichokes for years and I thought they pulled in the color of the hydrangeas beautifully.

The candlesticks I use a lot on the mantel in the fall (I used them last year too) just because I love the copper color. (They are spray painted from Goodwill.) And I was inspired by Heather’s mantel and pulled in the Manzanita branch for some texture.

I used the smaller blooms from my limelight bush and the larger ones from the pee gee trees:

I wanted to pull in some blue from the rug and other accessories but didn’t really have much to work with (and I didn’t love it with the hydrangea colors) – so I just went with the browns, greens and a touch of the pinky color.

You may remember this area used to be a corner fireplace (with an inset mantel). I cannot tell you how happy I am to have a wall above it now!:

I’m actually playing with another change in my head but it will be awhile before it happens (if it does). I’ll need all that time to plan it out anyway. ;)

I really adore this cozy spot in our family room now:

And just so you know, cause I get asked this every time I share this space, the chair is turned away from the fireplace because it faces into the room and the TV. :)

Now it’s time to see yours! I can’t wait!! I’m SO ready for some fall inspiration! (And be sure to link up to Layla’s on Thursday with your fall crafts!)

DIY ombre effect

Well hello from under 11 inches of snow!!

CRAZY! It is almost April, correct? Normally my flowers have been in my window boxes for a good week or two by now.

So yeah, we have a snow day and it’s a good thing cause the kiddo is feeling yucky – we’re planted on the sofa for the day. This post is going up late cause I’ve been taking care of the Bub…and we all did a little sleeping in. ;) 

So as you know I’m still working on a purge of the entire house – I’m only about a third of the way done but I’ve already cleared out a TON of stuff. Part of the purge was a reorganizing of the kiddo’s toys. We had a huge wall of cubbies installed in the basement (more on those soon!) and all of the toys fit down there SO nicely!

Until recently we had a big Target basket upstairs in the family room for some of the toys:

Excuse my flip flop shot – it’s the best one I could find of this wall. Ahhhh…flip flops.

Usually that basket was overflowing -- but when the cubbies were built all that was sorted through and taken downstairs. That dresser is full of toys as well – we did a huge clean out there too, but that is the only spot for them now on the main level.

So anyhoo, that spot the basket was in was empty for awhile, which I quite liked actually. It was nice to let it breathe for a bit, you know?

But soon I realized I wanted something there to even out that wall. We have the subwoofer on the other end and it was just looking unbalanced.

So I decided to try out something taller…in the shape of a plant. You see, I’m becoming a plant lady. It’s getting serious people. I’m obsessed. I can’t get enough of them. The fact that they are all staying alive and thriving is not helping.

Must. have. more.

I picked up a new ficus tree at Lowe’s to fill the spot, but like always, I wanted something fun at the base. I love putting my trees in baskets, so when I found this basket at Marshall’s for $8 I knew it would be perfect:

I liked the “dipped” look of it, but it was a little blah for me – I wanted something a little different.

I came up with an idea using paint I already had – so started by I taping off the white part along the bottom with my FrogTape:

Then just painted right over it – I used a foam brush so I could easily smush between the weaving of the basket:

And by the way, no, I didn’t paint the bottom. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

I was planning an ombre kind of effect – yes, late to the trend party yet again. At first I was just going to take my first color and lighten it up with some white paint to make three different tones, but then I remembered, DUH, I am using most of the colors on that paint chip in the basement so I had the lighter tones already. (I shared all of those in this post.)

So the base was the Marina Gray and my next stripe was Silver Lake. I just let the first one dry a little (it only took a few minutes) then taped over the just painted part with the FrogTape and then eyed the top part of the next stripe:

I used the delicate tape just in case the paint pulled off at all but it didn’t at all.

I kept going and ended with the Pebble Beach color I painted the basement laundry room. And I kind of LOVE IT:

Ignore that my stripes are completely different sizes, umkay?

The ombre look is way more subtle than I thought it would be – and I realize now you probably can’t even tell the difference in these colors down in the basement rooms – I so could have just used the same color throughout. Oh well. :)

I left the top rim and area around the handles the natural color since I wasn’t painting the inside of the basket:

I’m glad the ombre look is more subtle – I think if it was more severe the colors wouldn’t have flowed as well.

Mr. Ficus is so pretty, isn’t he? Maybe he should be a Ms.?:

I love how the plant works with the green lamps and the planter pulls in the blue from the rug in the family room too.

I love it! And I successfully brought another plant into the house – my favorite part. ;) It’s more balanced out now too – without feeling heavy. Exactly what I wanted!

Are you a plant fiend too? I’ll share more of my lovelies with you soon. And I have a much bigger ombre project in the works too!

**You can find out more about the DIY box/trough on the dresser here.

Splurges

Hey hey! Did you get snow where you are? We got a ton and a two hour delay, WHOO! It’s so wet it’s melting pretty fast, and our temps are moving up later this week so hopefully it will be gone by the weekend. And then bring it spring!!

So I was going to update you on the bathroom redo projects today, but a fun purchase came home with me yesterday that I just had to share cause I LOVE it.

Here’s the thing – I’ll always be thrifty at heart and a DIY girl, but sometimes it nice to splurge, you know? Like last year I started using this Benefit mascara and I’m hooked:

Pricier than the drug store? Yes. But it grabs every single little bitty lash and I LOVE IT.

I’m not a foodie by any means, so mac and cheese is just fine with me most days, but there are a few splurges we make when it comes to food and drink. Wine is one, and these Trader Joe’s Macarons are my JAM:

Ohhhh my dear goodness, they are so dang good. The problem is, I only really like the vanilla ones. I mean, I’d eat the chocolate ones if you forced me, I’m no fool, but the vanilla ones are sheer delight. Seriously, I have some in the freezer now and it’s killing me to not go grab one.

So anyway, every once and a while I do splurge, and it happened yesterday. If you’ve been with me for a while you remember the Hemnes sofa table I brought home a few years ago, after my first trip to IKEA. (Sniff. I remember it well.):

Excuse the poor photo – this was back in my I-take-pictures-at-night early days of blogging. ;)

So yeah, I’ve been stink-eyeing the sofa table for a while. I still liked it just fine, it’s a great table, it just looked so simple in there. I was craving something a little prettier, I just didn’t know what it was.

Till a couple months ago I walked in to World Market and saw this beauty:

It’s the Everett foyer table, but I always saw it as a sofa table. The first thing that struck me about it was how long it was – I loved that! Since that photo above we have replaced the sofa and loveseat with a sectional and rearranged the room. So the part of the sectional that is right there is super long.

Thing is, the first time I saw it, I walked around it for a good ten minutes, finger to lips, stalking it. I decided to go home and measure to see if it would work.

It worked. :) I didn’t go back to get it yet, I wanted to think on it some more. So a few weeks later I was back, and stalked it again, this time with a couple other ladies. ;) I asked if it was in stock, just to see (or something) and it was wayyy out of stock. People loved it, of course, cause it’s beautiful.

They asked if I wanted a rain check and I said no, I wanted to think some more. If it’s not there for me to just get right then I feel like it’s just not the right time. I’m weird that way.

Since then I’ve gone in at least one more time, caressed it, checked again and it was still out of stock. Fast forward to yesterday afternoon when I decided to pop in. I said to myself if they had it I was going to do it, I had the money, if it was meant to be they’d have it in stock. The guy didn’t think they did, but checked anyway and then came back out with my lovely table rolling behind him.

I was all high-pitched squeal, “You HAVE it??” and he was all yeah! And I was all, load. it. up. man!!

I put it together late last night cause I have the patience of a gnat. Assuming gnats have little patience. Whatever:

It was so fast – maybe 20 minutes to assemble it.

I am in LOVE. It’s hard to tell, but it has two skinny drawers for a little bit of hidden storage. We have animal stuff in one:

My only complaint is that one of the drawers is too small, you can see the gap in this pic:

So when I pull it out it falls off the track and nearly falls out. I may call to get a new drawer but I’m not taking this back after assembling the thing. I think I can fix it pretty easily if they can’t send a new drawer.

I took what had been on the old Hemnes sofa table and put it on here, and added one thing just to fill in space for now. This is probably not how it will stay but I just had to share, remember the patience thing:

Gorgeous, huh?? I just adore it.

I think I’m going to look for some pretty hardware for the front of the drawers – you can’t really tell they are drawers and I’d like to show them off. (There’s a little cut out underneath so you can pull them out):

The games will stay – not the prettiest accessories but we like having some up in the family room/kitchen for easy access. Stuff needs to be functional for me foremost, at least most of the time.

I like that it’s not too deep too, it doesn’t stick out any further than the IKEA table did:

I cannot believe the difference it makes – it’s so pretty and I love those legs! I even considered trying to make this for awhile with some table legs, but after putting it together I realized I couldn’t have done it in a way that would have been sturdy enough. (At least with the tools I have.)

I’m so glad I finally just got it!! I consider it my treat for all the purging I’ve been doing over the past few weeks. And I did use a coupon, so that helped a little.

I just think it’s lovely:

The color on that photo is wonky, not sure what’s up with it. But this shot shows you why I want to paint these walls so bad – they match the sectional exactly. It is too much tan for me! I’ve already decided on a color similar to the Sherwin Williams Analytical Gray we used in a lot of the main floor last year.

So there you go – my splurge. I thought long and hard about it and I usually go with the “if it’s meant to be” mantra – I’ll leave something and come back. If it’s meant to be mine it will still be there. If not I just go home and cry. OK, kidding. ;) I do have a plan for the IKEA table – if it fits in the spot. I’ll let you know.

Have you splurged on something for the house lately? For yourself? Do tell!

I’m off to finish off this. My last vanilla. Drats:

  ;)

Start small

Well THANK YOU for all the comments on my mouse post. :) I’m serious, it helps that I’m not the only one who has dealt with it. I mean, I knew we weren’t the only ones, but it helps to hear that I’m not the only person who was completely overwhelmed with the situation and the messes they left behind.

I’m about a third of the way through the storage room clean up so far but I’m at least through the worst of it (I think), so that’s encouraging.

So speaking of conquering messes, you know how you look around some days and all the sudden it feels like NOTHING is organized, everything is out of it’s place, things are overflowing everywhere? OK, maybe it’s just my house. ;)

Well it feels like that around here lately, and without fail it happens when life is crazy – we’ve had so much going on over the past few weeks that I feel like I’m playing catch up in the house.

I mentioned last month I’m determined to get the house better organized this year, one little project at a time. The thing is, I feel like we’re thisclose to truly having a place for everything (OK, well that’s just crazy – most everything) in this house. The new basement cubbies are a HUGE step in that direction. But I have storage projects to finish up in the basement bathroom, the laundry room, the dining/library – and of course the storage room. It’s like I can’t get one spot just right until I get another one just right, you know?

So it gets overwhelming – I’m only one person and can only tackle so many projects and decrapify so much in one day. :) The other day I walked by a spot in our family room for the 50th time that week and decided I just needed to start somewhere. It was just a little mess but at least it was something!

I told you about my slight magazine/catalog obsession here – and I’ve been much better about them since! MUCH. Well, you may not think so after this photo, but really, I have:

We have a little Target basket on the subwoofer in the family room (an effort to hide it a bit) for magazines. Well, we started adding more than magazines – like school papers, books, random mail and of course, a treasure box. Why not?

So I went after it. I tackle big messes the same way every time. Sit on the floor and make piles. I’m a piler, but sometimes that’s a good thing. ;)

I started sorting them out – there was a TON of stuff in there (and spilling out the sides), but keep in mind it had built up for the past six months or so:

Lego books went to the basement, the Bub’s books and workbooks went upstairs, the trash went to recycling, shred stuff to the shredder, and my small “keep” pile too. Believe it or not, I hadn’t read some of the magazines in there. ;)

And of course, there’s that I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-you pile. I hate that pile. But I always make one just so I can get through it all quick. I address that one after the rest is put away.

What’s funny is it took no time at all – maybe 30 minutes or so? Now the only things in the magazine basket are -- get ready for this…magazines!:

OK, and catalogs. I can’t quit them.

Isn’t that a beautiful sight? So clean and decluttered and you can almost see the bottom!

It was just a little spot, but getting it in order cleared up my mind a LOT:

Paper and magazines and mail and booklets and manuals continue to be my biggest clutter issue. I’m making progress, slow but sure. What’s your’s?

Now, you’ll find me in the basement for the next few hours. I power on!!

The Fifth Wall

Hey hey! I’m back today with one of my FAVORITE changes to make to a room. OK, the actual process is not my favorite (it stinks) but the result is one I’m hooked on.

It’s of course, your “fifth wall” – the ceiling. I was painting ceilings way before blogging – I’ve just always loved the look. I think it stems for my love of a pop of color next to bright white trim. I feel like if I’m going to put up crown molding I want to SEE it the molding. Lord knows it’s not easy to put up -- I want it to make an impact. :)

I painted the Bub’s bathroom and nursery ceiling and then kept it that color for his big boy room (and carried the color down to the backs of the built ins):

I did it in my office, more than once. It was a rusty red color (twice) so I’ve now painted that ceiling THREE times:

It looks aqua-ish here but it’s really a light blue.

As I found these pictures I realized how much I love blue on a ceiling. Of course I was daring back in my “paint everything black” days years ago – a couple of our ceilings went really dark:

REAL dark. Too dark. You can see that I changed  it to blue last year.

When we had hardwoods put in the dining area I realized just how dark it was:

It was like a cave. Not my best decision ever. :)

So when that room got changed up last year I painted that ceiling with a really light gray:

All of those rooms I painted myself – most at least twice. A smallish room I have no problem with, but when I wanted to paint the family room and kitchen ceiling years ago, I hired out:

It’s HUGE. I had that done probably, gosh…six or seven years ago? Maybe more?

I did the same color as the walls (Sisal by Ralph Lauren), just in a flat sheen:

For years it didn’t bother me, but lately, probably over the past two or so, it’s been driving me nutty. It was just SO heavy and dark.

Thing is, we have some repair work do to on the kitchen ceiling and I kept putting it off till we fixed that. But a few months ago I just couldn’t take it anymore. I bought the paint the week of Thanksgiving and actually thought I would try painting it “real quick.” Umm…I got busy, thank goodness, you know – with those holidays? (What was I thinking??)

Anyway, the paint sat for months, until I started my snowball of projects in the family room a couple weeks ago. I started painting the ceiling and got about a fourth of that big space done. You can actually see where I stopped in the reflection of the mirror:

Ha!! I wondered if anyone would pick up on that.

But there were two problems. One, it was KILLING me. The last time I did this was last summer in the dining room and it wasn’t that bad. I don’t know if I’m getting old or what, but goodNESS. It was horrible. I even tried putting a travel pillow around my neck cause it. was. burning. It didn’t help.

And then I noticed a teensy issue – the paint was SHINY. Now I know a shiny ceiling in the right room is pretty cool, but it’s not what I was going for. I like mine as flat as possible, not a lick of shine. But there it was:

Ugh. So that, combine with the fact that the paint was not going to cover in one coat, and the pain in my neck -- all caused me to call the professionals. This room is just more than I can handle I guess.

I’m SO glad I got help with it! It took two days and two coats and the second coat was the right sheen:

I had color matched this color in a True Value paint, and it was flat, but they used an enamel base, which caused the sheen. Why they used enamel for a flat paint, I do not know. The second coat was a Sherwin Williams paint in flat.

The color is called Nuance and is the lightest color on the paint chip that the Analytical Gray is on (that we used throughout a big portion of the house).

The new color is not quite white, it’s a light gray and I love it:

It still makes the crown pop but brightens up the room considerably. And many of you saw the other change in here – I took the ceiling fan down and replaced it with a lantern from Home Depot. The only time we use the fan is when I burn something in the oven, so I’m determined not to burn things anymore. Or I’ll just bring in the fan from the garage. ;)

The fan just took up so much visual space, the lantern looks SO much better! And we actually use it – the fan cast the light down so it was harsh. This keeps it up so we turn on this one ALL the time now.

Here’s an idea of how the darker ceiling looked before with the fan:

And here it is with those changed (and a few others a long the way too):

Wow, what a difference, eh?? It feels SO much better to me in there now. The walls will eventually go to a color between Nuance and Analytical Gray, I haven’t decided what yet. So the walls will flow better with the ceiling eventually.

For now, I’m glad it’s just done. Are you a painted ceiling fan? Or are you one of ceiling fans? What? I know many love a crisp white ceiling but for me it’s a little touch that I love to add to a space. Now I need to go clean out the oven so I don’t need that fan anymore. ;)