Thursday, April 19, 2012

Tonight, we dine in...

I finally have another room complete! This was another wallpaper room and I again will state how horrible wallpaper is. But this room didn't have just one wallpaper. No, it featured two amazing floral wallpapers. I say amazing because I am amazed that anyone would do this.

My before pictures are from when we were house-hunting, so its full of furniture that isn't ours and you can't see much of the bottom wallpaper.

Check out that light fixture. Ick.

So, in comes the wall paper removal team, mostly consisting of my dad, my mom, then Laura and Tom...(I think! Sorry if I missed anyone!)
My mom is always so cheery! Even when scraping walls...
Then we had nice fresh walls to paint. Look at my dad being a pro with the wall paper removal! 
We got all prepped to paint and found that the paint was clumping.
Did I mention how terrible wallpaper is?
On the walls was an invisible adhesive that you could only feel when wet.So, Meagan and I spent about 6 hours scrubbing the walls with wallpaper paste remover and tiny scotch-brite sponges. I hate you wallpaper. This room to took two full days before it was even ready to be painted. There should be a special hell for people who use wallpaper.

Anyway, Diane and I got to work and painted the room a few days later. Besides some mishaps with painters tape ripping the white off of the chair rail, it went smoothly.Then, Tom, Chris and my dad put up the new light fixture on Sunday, and complete with a curtain and my great grandmother's tablecloth, the room feels done. So...here's the finished product, what do you think?
 

And a sneak peek of what will hopefully be my next post:

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Opinions needed....dressing room!

One of the coolest features of the house is that adjacent to the master bedroom is a dressing room.  It's one of my favorite rooms, and Chris said I could do whatever I wanted with it. That's a dangerous thing to say, right?

The before: white walls, white closets, and those great wide pine floors....painted a horrible blue. (Don't lecture me on my "before" pictures, please! I took this while we were house hunting, and you can't see much of the room....)

So, we sanded down the floors (no small task- more to come on that), stained and sealed them. This has taken over a month! Since I could paint it any color I wanted, obviously I painted it purple. Close to the color of the room I had as a teenager, but with a dustier shade to it, making it seem a little more grown up and little less preteen. (The heaters are being painted soon, that's why they aren't on!)


Now I am ready to buy an area rug and some curtains. I thought about channeling my inner 16 year old with this soft looking royal purple rug. Then I started thinking; how about green?

I'm usually pretty reserved when it comes to color. I don't want anything huge because of the amount of work that went in to the floors- I want people to be able to see them! I want to have a really cool looking room though; skipping the more elegant ideas I had in my mind before we moved because lets face it...that's not me! So I want to know...which rug do you like?

This one:
Safavieh Blossom Collection BLM680A Handmade Beige and Multi Hand Spun Wool Area Rug, 8-Feet by 10-Feet
I would pair the above with bright green curtains. I like all the bright colors, and there is a little purple in there too. The blue would tie it in with the master bedroom, I think. Not sure how I feel about all the red though. red and I don't mix!

This one:

Roslyn Ivory / Green Contemporary Rug
I'm honestly not sure what I would do for curtains with this one. Maybe chocolate to tie it together with my master bedroom (which will have chocolate curtains), since there is no door between the two? How do you feel about chocolate,  lilac, and sage? Do those even go together?

Or do I play it safe with purple?

Rizzy Volare Natural Rug
More purple:
Hand-Tufted Wool Striped Area Rug 4x6 Purple Simplicity
And if I do go with a solid purple, what do I do for curtains? I don't want it to look like Barney vomited in my dressing room.

My favorite in the purple/green family that I just found:

Safavieh Chelsea Collection HK178A Hand-Hooked Multicolor Wool Area Rug, 3-Feet 9-Inch by 5-Feet 9-Inch

Might be a fun way to play with the idea of adding green to the room without overpowering it. I think sage curtains would be just right.


Anyway, I feel like I can never see the "big picture" as well as other people...so I appreciate any input! I really want to be brave and go with the first one, but playing it safe is always so appealing. What's the verdict everyone?