Fully Furnished

We've always lacked sufficient seating in past abodes.  Even though most of the time it's just me, Tommie, and the dog, it barely seems like there's enough comfortable seats for the three of us, let alone any one else we have over.  Mostly, I blame Maya, who for a small dog, uses her length to her advantage, stretches out, and takes up the space of three grown adults.

In our new house we found ourselves with more space than we've ever had before, which meant we could finally accommodate more seating.  Due to the narrow shape of our living room, we settled on this small-space sectional on sale at Macy's (called "Clark").  It's stylish, compact, and even has a chaise, which I've always wanted.

When the delivery men came to set up the couch Maya got scared of the truck and hid in a closet, but when the coast was clear she came downstairs and it's as if she thought, "Oh, that's nice, they got me a new couch." She jumped right on it and fell asleep--ignoring the old couch which we hoped could become "her's." 

Couches are one of the few things I don't look for on Craigslist.  Tommie has a fear of used upholstery, and I agree that a stained couch is worse than a dusty table.  So, while we splurged on the new sofa, we saved on this used dining room table.  I found this solid piece on Craigslist for $80.  

It's in great shape and will be perfect for holiday meals (we're rumored to be hosting some of those this year).  In the meantime, it serves as our home office with a pretty view out the front bay window.  

I also scored a set of four dining room chairs on Craigslist for $10 each.  You know I love a good deal.  Our homes have always been a mix of the old and the new and I love the challenge of putting it all together.

Going Gray

The orange in our living room really pops, so it made sense to go with a more subdued color for the alternating walls in there.  We're not actually trying to give our family and friends a heart attack when they see our living room.

With plans to paint the front foyer a silvery gray color, and with a 40% off sale going on a Sherwin Williams, we stocked up on a shade that we think will flow nicely from the foyer into the living room and that complements the orange.  It's Samovar Silver interior satin from the HGTV line of paint.  We love the color which came out perfect after two easy coats.  Pictures really don't do it justice.

 (Before and after: White to bright. Still need to arrange furniture and hang art.)

It's true that sometimes the simplest changes can alter a room the most.  The room does not even feel like the same place we first walked into a few months ago.

 (Before and after: Doorway from living room to kitchen.)

We're waiting on a small sectional we ordered and with some art on the walls, phase one of the living room redo will be complete. 

Long-term, the doors leading to the back yard will be replaced and (hopefully) lead out to an awesome screened-in porch.

 (Before and after: Door to back porch from living room.)

Curtain Call: Act II

After being majorly underwhelmed by all the curtains at the chain stores, I turned to Etsy to see if I could find a shop that made curtains with more modern and interesting fabrics.  There is, of course, a price difference for going directly to the maker, but I don't feel so bad because I know it's going to a person, not a corporation.

(View from the foyer to the new and improved living room.)

The curtains we put up in our bedroom were a compromise from Kohl's.  They are kind of a champagne color with shiny leaf patterns running up the bottom.  

But for the living room, we wanted something cool and original.  That's when I discovered this pattern on an Etsy shop called Ella Seeh.  It happens to go exactly with the orange and gray we are painting the opposing walls (more on our new gray walls soon).  It was meant to be.

I ordered them a tad small to save money which is my only regret.  There is some slight gap-age going on the very sides when they close, but otherwise, they look great and the high quality material is light yet durable.

Lets not forget the thick drapes and 100 pound valance we started with:

Valances have got to be some of the ugliest things on the market, so knowing that we needed one for privacy in our upstairs bathroom, I picked a fabric I liked from the same Etsy shop and ordered a custom size valance with this modern flower fabric.  What I like most about it is that it provides the privacy we need but it's still light enough to let the morning sunlight through.

Pictured below is the original curtain made of 90% dust and 10% lace, equaling zero privacy.

Lighten Up

I was itching to update some of the brass and glass light fixtures in the house.

 (Original lights in the foyer and the eat-in kitchen.)

This black chandeleir was the display piece at Lowe's, so when it retired to the clearance shelf we picked it up for $23.00 (marked down from $79.00).  It was missing the mounting bracket so it's a good thing we had a handyman take care of hanging it.  Otherwise, I'm sure it would have fallen on our heads by now.

(New light in the eat-in kitchen.)

Tommie and I did manage to change out the fixture in our foyer to this glass bell jar light with an edison bulb (also from Lowes).

(New light in the foyer.)

Another quick fix was updating the glass covers for the light over one of the bathroom vanities.  They were $1.50 each at the Mission Thrift Store in Durham and with less flowery curves than the originals, they help modernize the fixture.  I'm also planning to spray paint the base silver.

The old fixtures were donated to Habitat for Humanity's Restore shop.  We still have plenty of brass and glass to part with, but this is a start.