Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Shade switcheroo

After we painted and started bringing everything back into the living room(or shall I say attempted, since it now looks like we just moved in since there is hardly anything on the walls).  I decided to make a quick switcheroo on the floor lamp that came along with the hubby when we moved in. Before it was an ORB with a standard beige colored shade.









And after, well it's still ORB, but has a brand spankin' new shade!!






I picked up two twin drum shades on clearance at Target because I just knew I would use them one day :) Sad, I know.


But, they were half price and the only two left. I was sure they would be gone and would have a hard time finding others I liked for a good price! And I DID put them, well one of them, to good use! It probably won't stay this way, but we will see.

So a quick before and after to wrap things up. What do you think? Better with the drum shade or keep original shade??



Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The living room is FINISHED!!

and by finished, I mean, it will never be painted again(by us at least)!

Everything is still in disarray and hardly anything is back in its place. Except the furniture and the TV. Heaven forbid we not have cable or access to the dang Xbox.  But I have a lot to do. We need window treatments, I'm thinking the desk is clashing with the walls, and I need to figure out how to make slipcovers for our curved-back chairs and I need two matching lamps for either side of the TV.

Anyway, here is the before. It was a yellow-greenish-tan mess. Not a bad color, but not GREAT!


The dresser you see holds our massive flat screen. Not thrilled that it is the focal point of the room, but let's face it, we watch some TV here! Maybe one of these days I can figure out a way to disguise it, like framing it and mounting it...?

After forking out $60+ on Valspar primer and paint in one, I talked to a guy at Sherwin Williams and he told me that Lowe's and HD market their paint to make customers believe that you only need that expensive paint. However, if you want the true color, you need to have a blank slate. In other words, the only way for paint to really show true tones is to prime your walls with white(or slightly gray)primer and then paint. Makes sense to me!  But, I wasn't happy after I paid over $60 then another $15 for a gallon of primer. Next time, I will just prime and buy the regular ol' plain paint and save myself about $20 and some stress! After we painted, we only used about a quarter of the second gallon we bought, anyway.

Here it is primed




And here it is FINISHED!!



We managed to get this painted canvas, that we scored on CL for $30, up above the sofa. This sofa will be the death of me. I.hate.it. It slumps in in the back and is basically impossible to get off of. I have vowed that there will be a new sofa in this room by the beginning of the year. Crossing my fingers!! 

It has taken me a couple of days to get used to the wall color. It wasn't love at first sight like I thought it was going to be. But, it's growing on me.


Look how well the painting blends with the paint color!



On the opposite side of the room is our massive TV and a CL dresser. I hope to find matching lamps to flank either side of the TV or something of the sort.

In the photos, the color looks more sage-y, and it actually is a bit more sage than I expected, but I think I like it.

Here is the desk against the walls


Remember, this was right after painting, so please excuse the disaster area!

The matching slipper chairs were purchased last month at a community yard sale for wait...$35 for the pair!

Can you believe it? They are only about a year old and she decided they didn't work in her bedroom anymore! Absolutely pefect condition! I thought I could live with the fabric, but I'm thinking about reupholstering or slipcovering. I would rather sew a cover, but everytime I think about it, it makes me cringe. How am I going to make it tight around that curve in the back?  Any ideas..or tutorials I should know about?

Check out these stems!!



Gorgeous!

So, the desk drawers are clashing and now I'm contemplating what color to paint them.

White to match the body?
Gray?
Bright color??
Any ideas are welcome!

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