Living Room Progress

The first room of my new house that I have decided to "decorate" is the living room.

I removed wallpaper (nightmare)

had the walls re-textured

and then I painted them all a light greige.

My house is currently ALL beige.

It wears on me.

But I knew I didn't want to go all crazy colors in my entryway/living room

So I chose a gray-ish color...

doesn't clash with the rest of the house but isn't truly beige.

I decided to be a little brave, though, and made a striped wall in the entryway.

The math of getting the stripes on the wall was beyond my capabilities for some reason.

After many attempts, I got Amber's brother to do some calculating

(which took him only a few minutes!)

and I was set.

all taped and ready to paint

painted!

tape removed

I'm happy with how it came out.  The whimsical stripes don't totally mesh with the floor but I'm willing to pretend this particular floor doesn't exist since, in my dreams, it doesn't.

I put my yellow dresser in the entryway

and found a clock that looks great in the space.

Now if only the clock kept proper time...

OY!

It's never easy.

The dresser was originally a tv stand in our bedroom

so that top section was for the components.

I have baskets in there now and I think it looks ok.

Someday I  might replace it with a different piece of furniture...

but I like the yellow.

I am a color person after all.

I managed to find a spot for my red secretary.

I still love it and I'm so glad I didn't get rid of it when we sold our house in MA.

I removed the weird light fixture that was in this corner.

That makes me happy!

This is the dining room.

My buffet fits in there as well as my Pottery Barn knock-off mirror.

The piece of cardboard is a pretend table.

I searched KSL for a long time looking for just the right table.

I finally bought one for $40 and I'm working to refinish it now.

My daughter-in-law, Amber, actually knows what she's doing when it comes to refinishing furniture

(where-as I always just wing it)

so she's helping me.

I told her that we have to get it done before Thanksgiving!

So we gotta get moving.

Plus, its sitting outside for sanding right now and it's gonna get cold...

I have purchased fabric for curtains that will go on the big living room window.

Here's the fabric:

Then I found some cute nesting tables on KSL.

Here they are before:

I decided to paint them the same color as the buffet in the adjacent dining room.

During:

Sanded and primed

Painting them in the living room since it's too chilly outside

And After:

I decided to only use two of the tables.  

The third one felt like too much and it's tiny and not of much use anyway.

Now I need new pillows though...too much  matching going on!

What's left?

Art for the wall behind the couch (I think I want to do a collage)

side table for the other side of the couch

lamps

maybe a different coffee table...my homemade table has worked fine for a long time but I'm feeling like I need something less bulky in here.

finish the dining table!

I did get some chairs for the table so I don't have to worry about painting or refinishing any.

whew.

Here's what I chose:

(obviously a picture from the website)

I'm enjoying having some projects again.  

It's been awhile.

So I will probably start scouring KSL for the other side table next

(once I get the dining table done, of course)

I'm going to have Thanksgiving at my house for whoever can come

so I'm using that as a deadline of sorts.