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A DIY Living Room in Progress

by on August 3, 2012

Remember my living room? It looked like this last time we talked about it:

Something has been snoozing me out about this room ever since. Neutral upon neutral upon neutral.

And then I saw Emily Clark’s family room:

That navy and white was speaking to me. I loved every single inch of it.

And then I saw THIS:

More crisp navy and white with walnut-y trim. It gave me the same feeling as looking at Emily Clark’s living room.

So I spent the next month obsessing over researching Pinterest to make sure this was the right direction. It was hard waiting because I’m not known for patiently planning and thoughtfully considering. I typically just go for it. But I’m learning that sometimes that doesn’t turn out the best result.

Pinterest didn’t let me down…


(Source: HGTV Designers’ Portfolio)


(Source: ? Anyone know? It wasn’t attributed on Pinterest.)

(Source: http://dianebergeron.com)

So after much drooling and planning, stage one of my living room went from this:

to this…

The walls went from a dingy tan to Sherwin-Williams’ Gray Clouds in flat. It’s a cleaner more modern shade that works well with the yellow accents and the navy/white combo.

My favorite feature in this room is this wood slab that used to be a coffee table top. Here it’s used as a sculptural element, bringing in the warm wood tones to balance the room’s coffee table, leather chair and side table. It’s a full 5 feet tall.

Best of all, I found this in my neighborhood in somebody’s trash pile at the curb.

I know. Right?

The yellow pillows were made from $3.99 Target placemats using this tutorial from SAS Interiors.

The blue and white striped pillow was made from a twin sheet cut in half and assembled with this no-sew tutorial.

The most impactful piece in the new color scheme is the 6-paneled abstract painting. I needed color on that wall but didn’t want to assign too much of a theme by using an actual painting of something. (Not to mention I didn’t want to PAY for a giant painting.) So I bought six 18×24 canvases on sale at A.C. Moore for $7.50 TOTAL, used navy blue paint from the boy’s bedroom project and white paint from our family room makeover.

Behind the lampshade is an old barn wood frame that I lightly whitewashed and then hung to “frame” the light cast from the lampshade. When the room is dark it’s a really cool effect.

Cool things are happening on the other side of the room too, but they aren’t quite ready to show. I’m still layering and texturing.

For now, I like where we’re headed. And for $27.50 you can’t beat it.

That’s…

$7.50 – canvases

$8.00 – two placemats

$12.00 – twin sheet set (for blue/white pillow fabric)

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Why Paint When You Can Pillow?

by on January 24, 2012

Remember my sofa gallery wall?

Well you might have also noticed the monochromatic look of this room. The sofa and the wall share the same color tones and intensity which doesn’t provide any interest or contrast. It’s okay, but after awhile kind of boring.

While I’ll tackle most any paint job, this wall color was not aBOUT to be changed because it has no stopping point. It goes all over the open floor plan of our house. To paint one wall is to undertake a massive weeks-long project that doesn’t sound at all fun right now.

So while I’m pondering the color/contrast dilemma, my girlfriend sends over this picture:

She is at Carolina Pottery not too far from my house and knows I am over the moon for anything houndstooth. AND she says these are only $15 apiece.

I couldn’t get there fast enough.

And look at the difference.

It really dramatizes the whole package of the wall gallery and sofa. And, although the patterns are bold, the colors are still neutral enough that I can throw in my zany parrot pillow and it still works. In fact, any color at all would work.

The bold geometric blacks and whites emphasize the black and white frames and mats of the pictures above the sofa too. I love how that ties together so much better now.

(Apologies for the poor lighting of these shots. What’s a girl to do who works full-time and doesn’t get home until it’s dark out? You’ll just have to imagine how much better this looks when natural sunlight is pouring through the windows.)

Best of all, most of these pillows were only $9.99 apiece.

And yes, for you locals they still have more!

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