Monday, January 31, 2011

It's Pretty Much Done...Check It Out

The living room is all put together- minus some details that will take days, weeks, months and in some cases years.  It wouldn't be fun if it didn't take time----right?!

Here is the before again:



Here is the main inspiration for this room- I fell in love with these here curtains from PB.  I typically make my own curtains- but I decided to splurge on these bad boys- and I'm glad I did- they changed the whole look of the room!


The round tables are something we got years ago at a hotel liquidation sale.  They are so cool, right?  Probably one of my favorite pieces in the house- but they are VERY heavy!

We need a rug in this new seating area- maybe later in the year...

This is one of my favorite family pictures- it's of Donell's mother as a baby- with her parents and brother.

I love the way my paintings look on the gray walls

The children love the new setup as well- they can chase each other in circles around the chairs!- ahhhh, if they were always this easily entertained- my life would be so much easier!

Not sure what we are doing with the mantle at this point- this is one of those year or more projects.  We really want a whole new mantle- but this one is fine for the time being. 

I decided to paint the whole mantel wall white, along with the brick surround and the wood- makes it a little less awkward (it's currently a floating shelf, with a gap of wall between it and the cheesy molding that was tacked up around a brick fireplace surround.

The artwork on the mantel is all mine- the blue figure sculpture is from a college figure modeling class (I stained it with blue shoe polish:), the piece on the left is a large etching I made in college (it's an abstract representation of a Gauguin painting of a Tahitian woman holding a mango), and the one on the right is a little watercolor I did from a photograph of a mud hill in the painted dessert (D and I stopped there on our way cross country- I spent a semester in Arizona in college).
I would like something large and not made by me for this space- I'm still looking...

Oh- and this little kitty on the wall is a paint drip from the original coat of paint that was done a couple years ago- my dad (professional painter) came in the day after the amatures and noticed the drip- and popped it off with his putty knife- well it came off in this exact shape- I HAD TO LEAVE IT!

This is me and D's little "shrine".  It's my favorite wedding picture taken by my girl Kel- and the little blue vase has purple sand from the beach where D proposed to me, and pieces of coral from our honeymoon in Aruba that we smuggled back.


You might have noticed all of the french doors (which I LOVE), but the trim is really shabby- which I DO NOT LOVE- since I am the only painter in the house.  VERY tedious work- but I will get it done!

and- I'll leave you with a picture of my little drama-queen.  Sad because Mosie took a bite of her fruit leather- gotta love little brothers:) How I wish she still napped- days like this she could really use one!

What do you think of the new space???  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

3 comments:

  1. wow! i always thought i loved the orange in your living room, but the gray is perfection. your artwork really pops against it and the color palette (everything from the pillows to the curtains to the art) just melts together. i am totally in love with the shoe polish statue!! i would buy that in a heartbeat if i saw it in a shop. also, HOW do you find out about all these estate sales, hotel liquidations, etc??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Lola! As far as the estate sales/hotel liquidation sales go- I think the hotel sale we heard about in the paper or on TV (it was literally 10 years ago- and it was slightly creepy- but we got the tables so I'm glad we went!) The best place to go is antigue/thrift stores- its hard to find the time, but it's worth it when you find a good piece!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the new look! It's very serene but not at all boring because of the art and pops of color. Great job! And I LOVE that chevron fabric...
    Emily

    ReplyDelete