Greetings everyone..........I suspect you are in the midst of Holiday fever......shopping, decorating, baking, making lists etc. Then again maybe you're like me and you're just going with the flow. Either way I hope you're taking time to just breathe and enjoy!
I have a couple more home projects to share........things evolve on a daily basis around here....my head spins. Nary a Christmas decoration is in place yet BUT this weekend we hope to accomplish that providing things are put back in place.
Since we did the kitchen makeover I found that living with certain things the way they were just didn't work for me so, of course, I changed some things. One being the kitchen table. I had replaced the original rectangle with a round one but I knew after all this time I wanted to bring back the original one but revamp it AND find some cool old benches. Well we found a long bench that BohoHandyman cut in to two and then made new "legs" using the original as a pattern since cutting it in half there weren't enough for both ends of 2 benches. I will not be painting the benches. I have never liked the orangy finish on the table so we took it out back and I proceeded to sand it with a hand sander. The intent to bring it down to plain pine and a more rustic, natural finish....well to my utter disappointment it's not even a pine table...oh no. It was painted to look like one including knots that disappeared the minute I sanded them. So what's a gal to do...PAINT it of course. And while I was at it I decided the shelves we had on the wall were too white AND the hutch was too big in there so the shelves are now black and the hutch replaced by a find from my fave consignment store...........see what I mean about evolving.
You can click photos to enlarge.
After: (top painted with Annie Sloan chalk paint in "CoCo" and the bottom with "Chateau Gray"{which is actually a green tone}) I prefer a more rustic look......French farmhouse???
One of the end arm chairs to the table is waiting to be painted and the seat recovered to go on the open end. (only so many hours in a day) I am still deciding on the perfect center piece and I have 3 plates waiting to be hung on the wall below the chair rail. Have you heard of these? I had to order them.
Another change was the front door on the inside.......it's a metal door made to look wood and ready to paint or stain. It's been plain for years.....that is until 2 days ago. I wanted drama!
Door before: (photo taken when we first started to look at wall colors etc)
Front door after: I painted it 3 colors until deciding on the faux aged look with teal. In person I must say it's fab. (that's the new wall color and trim painted with Ben.Moore "Hush" on the walls and "Elemental" on the trim)
Base boards aren't painted yet as we plan to replace them with new, higher ones.
And finally the new living room curtain panels......I had different ones from Pottery Barn in there but decided I want to use them in our room and replaced them these.
They really bring a "happy" feeling to the room, the deep teals and turquoise, red and persimmon and sage greens in the print go with everything I have. I like mixing things up in terms of rustic, Frenchy, plain, bold, and so on. Strangely they are similar to the area rug.
Trust me I didn't plan for that to happen and I know to some the two together may seem a bit busy but trust me it just works!
And finally..........are you bored to tears with all my house stuff yet? We did find the same fabric that is on the settee I found (see post below) - BUT in thinking about it and having cats we decided it was not sturdy enough as it's really a drapery weight, silkier fabric. So I kept looking knowing I still wanted it a rich ruby-like color and found this:
This is the best photo of it out there and does it NO justice whatsoever......the background is deeper, rich and luscious and the chenille damask is a lovely golden dark taupe. (and it picks up the deep color in the curtains too) Hopefully I'll have the fabric after the first of the year and can get it over to the upholsterer. I can't wait!
Of course the walls are still bare, we need a coffee table and the accessories out.........that's a whole other project. This is why I wake up with "monkey brain"....thoughts swinging from tree to tree. AND not to mention if I don't do some art soon I may explode!
So there you go, you can wake up now....splash a little cold water on your face and you'll be good to go! HA!
NOW on to OWOH business:
I wanted to let everyone know that I sent out an OUR WORLD OUR ART newsletter today......a very short one regarding new date information. This new event will take place at the end of February in to the first couple weeks of March 2012. I decided to push the date back so that everyone can relax and regroup after the holidays and New Year. I will send out (as well as post) the exact dates after the first of the year. IF you have signed up but did not receive this new one or have not received the first 2 newsletters with all the information sent earlier this year...........you can now click the flyer in my left side bar to get up to date. I realize there is a lot to read there but this way you can go back to it, copy and print it to read later....whatever you choose. PLEASE NOTE: By signing up to receive the newsletter it does not obligate you to participate in this event. When you sign up in the upper right sidebar you are merely saying you want to receive information about the event, it does not obligate you to participate. If you do not wish to receive the newsletter anymore you can opt out by clicking on "manage my subscription" at the bottom of the newsletter page.
This event is a BIG job and I really need to not only prepare as the host but as a participant as well......it takes a LOT of time so this new date is important for myself as well.
Soooooo...now it's time to end this novel and do some more "stuff" around here!!
See you soon..........hopefully before a week or more goes by!
Love and dreams of sugar plum fairies,
Lisa
