The house is a cape cod/bungalow style, with hardwood floors and arched doorways. The unfortunate part is that the previous owners painted all the doors, moulding and baseboards the color of dried mud, accented with a deep army green.
The kitchen however, is FABULOUS!
I had chosen two different colors of gray to be the living room and dining room and hallway color. Using those little paint chips, I deliberated for days. Then we bought a gallon of each. Big mistake. The light gray I chose looked WAY too blue, and the darker gray looked almost sage green. Stop the brushes!
At least the white was starting to look good.
Back to the paint store - found a light gray and a slate gray for the accent wall and the bottom of the walls in the dining room. MUCH better!
Since our tv and recliners were going in the basement, I had to start from scratch on furnishing the living room. I knew I wanted a lot of bookshelves on one wall, and while I first thought I'd have Noel build some to look like "built ins", I fell in love with a set of three book cases at Morris Furniture. It was the last one, floor model, on clearance! Score!
After countless hours on Pinterest and watching all the episodes of Fixer Upper, I knew I wanted a slipcovered couch. I checked every furniture store in the area, online and Ikea, and leaving my butt prints on many couch, I kept coming back to the one at Kings Furniture. It was just what I wanted, super comfortable, but way out of my price range. On my third trip to visit my couch, the sales woman tried to give me a package deal with the couch and two side chairs. No thanks. I put my coat on to leave. She said the owners happened to be in the store and she would check with them. Good news, she said. The owners were willing to give me a better price. It was a good deal, but I really didn't want $600 chairs, even if they were marked down from $850. So I left. And lamented. That same couch online was close to $2,000. Kings was selling it for $1499. So I took my chances that the owners were still there. I told Noel (my husband) to stay in the car, that I may have to unbutton a few buttons to work on this deal. SCORE! The owners sold it to me for $1200, that included tax and delivery! I was hoping to stay around $1000, but I LOVE this couch!
Next hunt? Accent chairs. I wanted cheap, comfortable and stylish. I went to every Goodwill, scoured Craigs List, the internet and Target. I found these at Tuesday Morning, and I love them!
$199! SCORE!
Then to choose curtains. Now I consider myself pretty decorating challenged, so these are hard decisions for me. I looked at a lot of curtains. Again, I wanted style on a budget. These were options:
I didn't want gray, the kitchen is already gray, the walls are gray, I didn't want gray overload. I chose some solid denim blue with a slight texture, but the boys thought it was going to be too dark. I found some ombre beachy looking curtains at Kohls, but they hang from clips, so I would have had to put the curtain rod almost to the ceiling so they wouldn't puddle on the floor, I look I don't care for. We put the solid blue up, and actually I love it, so I should have gone with my gut in the first place.
These were an option, but ended up not working for me
After the blue curtains were up, I realized they still looked a bit naked, so I found some sheers. I didn't want to completely change out the curtain rods we JUST put up, so I found an "add a rod" at Bed, Bath and Beyond that hooks to your original. It softens the window and the swirling pattern picks up some of the pattern in the chairs.
I had a lot of fun choosing what books and knick knacks to display on my shelves, and was able to take out my Hungarian figures and dolls (Both my parents are from Hungary, arriving in the U.S. in 1957). I'm able to display some of my sea shells too (I have a sea shell addiction!).
The old window is still an option I am considering, so its not on the wall yet. I'm considering some of the photos I took in Alaska instead, although I'm sure Joanna Gains would say I need that old window as my "something old and architectural". LOL
It took me another two days to decide on what photos to display and how many and what arrangement.... This is what I came up with:
As a final touch, I love trees and leaves and birds, so I bought on Etsy some vinyl birch trees and applied them to the wall in the corner...
Its still a work in progress. Right now I am using a side table as a coffee table, and thinking of adding another bird or two on the wall.
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