Living Room Updates........

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I pulled out a table I found a year or more ago (at a garage sale for $7 I think)and will use it until I find another (one that is shorter and longer). I like this table, but it's old and wobbly and I am not sure it could be fixed. It's less wobbly with the weight of books on it though...and I do really like having the second tier.





And, as you can see above, I decided to make that back wall for the desk for now..



So, the glass door cabinet/bookcase will fill the wall space behind the couch to the right. I am really really considering a trip to IKEA in Houston really really soon for that-I have books and pottery stacked in every available space and it's getting ridiculous (and broken)...
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Back to work for me...
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Painting Finally Done + More....

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Progress finally...

The painting in the Living Room is finally done.
All I have left is one more coat around the trim on the double doors and windows.
No more Easter egg blue. I went with the same gray in my bedroom. The blue was too much and I hated being in there...but now, with the gray, it's pretty relaxing (I even fell asleep on the couch after putting up the last of the paint).

A disorganized peak. There is still a lot of work left in this room like, some kind of bookshelving, lamps, lots of prints that need to be framed, pillows, a new wood coffee table, window treatments for the double doors etc. etc. And I hate to say it but I really am thinking about selling this couch and getting something else sometime in the next few months:

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I have so many photographs and prints to get framed. The most important group are four original Ford Times Charley Harper hand screened (by Harper) serigraphs that I desperately need to get framed for this room. I'm stuck b/c I can't afford professional framing right now and I am kind of scared to do it myself. But I really really need to get them done and up. They need to be protected behind archival matting and UV-blocking glass, not sitting between cardboard pieces in a closet. I wonder how much I could save by ordering the parts to size and putting them together myself, like students would do in the photo department for shows:

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Also, since Gray can leap onto anything from the ground all Bionic Woman like, I am now thinking I may need a glass door book cabinet for my breakable pottery, ceramics. She broke one a few months ago after leaping up onto the mantle.

I flipped through an IKEA this morning...
Would love open floor to ceiling like this...


And then there are lots of glass door options:



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Two photographs I found on Apartment Therapy last week..
I love the couch:


And these bookcases:


Oh, and yesterday I finally put together a little 4 part cubby hole piece for my daughter's room (to hold her growing record collection). It worked out perfectly under the window and I would kinda love one for the books littering the floor under the window in my room..

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I am about to tackle the yard, starting in the front b/c I know my neighbors are just loving the 6" weeds that have taken over the lawn....
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Spring Fever and Backordered Rugs

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Last night I noticed a huge package on the porch-my backordered rug was here. I couldn't help but roll it out to see what it looked like in the living room. I love it...it kinda motivates me to get the painting done by Sunday, starting tonight. So much (too much) slacking in the winter.


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Yesterday after work I went outside and got stuck in a sunny spot weeding for a couple of hours, first time since early Fall. Weeding in late February is nearly perfect.

I picked up more painting supplies, a rug pad, and a few plants: Stawberry, Sage, and Mint.



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Tomorrow I am spending at least half the day working in the yard.
It is beyond a mess and I can't wait.
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Catching Up, Braces, and Scratches

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This week....

-Almost caught up with day-lab, then I will work on a ginormous update for Monday, or earlier if possible.

-King Cake

-Biophilia..a birthday gift from Doug (thank you)...it's the perfect mix of things so far.

-To save the banisters and doors Gray likes to scale I found a $40 floor to ceiling Cat Tree. A bit of an eye sore, but it's so worth it. She loves it:


-Brooks gave me some corner braces he had laying around and I put them on the wobbly couch! It feels much more secure finally and I suppose now it is time to start work on the finish...


-I finally found a chevron rug in black, white, red similar to the one I posted about back in June HERE...and I bought it. It was a really good deal and I think I like it better than the one I originally posted about. It is on a backorder, but I am in no rush to get it here really, there is still a lot of work to do in the Living Room. 5' x 8' for $183.00 at West Elm:



-Found the Ranuculous blooming yesterday. First one I have ever had...


-I wish we had an IKEA here. I still need simple bookshelves plus a simple cabinet with glass doors.

-I need to have a painting party.
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Dodo's Porch, Trumpet Table, Birds, Books At Home

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-The electricity was restored yesterday evening.

-Farrah and Dorian survived the snow storm and just seemed irritated by it more than anything. About 2 weeks ago I starting setting up a little space for Dorian on the screen porch b/c he has fallen in love with the wicker couch out there. I put up a reed screen, which I have had since last year but never used, to block some of the cold winds. His perching chairs and funhouse are close by too.



He loves it and hangs out in there as much as possible.

-I saved this picture a while back. I love the bentwoods with the white Tulip much better than the chairs that are suppose to go with it..they seem to soften it a bit:


And then recently I saw this write up at Apartment Therapy about the little Target version of the Tulip side table. Even though almost every reply was negative, I couldn't resist grabbing a couple (I have gone without needed side tables for a couple of rooms for a couple of years). They are only $25 a piece and I think for that, they are great (so far).


I am wrapping these up as christmas gifts to myself.
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-Speaking of Christmas presents I bought a few for the backyard and some just came in and I am super excited to get these up:

Hanging Wren & Chickadee House


And I ordered this:


But they sent me this:
Cape Cod Wren House


Bat House


These are on their way:
Nesting/Roosting Pockets

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-I really like this new blog Books at Home. It is giving me some great ideas for bookshelves that I need in a couple of rooms.
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-My first Goldfinch of the winter showed up at the Thistle feeder this morning.
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Short Days + Cold Nights

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This past week my daughter and I went to the first Kids Who Bird meeting (Audubon Society).
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Last week my friend Web gave me a detailed tutorial on Danish Oil and how to apply it to my Danish chair, which I have been putting off..scared I may botch it and ruin the whole thing. So, I feel a bit more confident and motivated to continue with the furniture and painting in the Living Room. Web also mentioned braces for the couch, which I have tried to repair a couple times (its wobbly). So, unfortunately it's been sitting untouched against the wall, restricted from use.

So, this weekend I cleaned everything out of the living room that was littering the walls, corners of the floors, so I can paint finally in the next week or two. There is still pottery and glass and unframed prints spilling off the mantel because I am unsure of a safe place to house it all while painting and until I get the shelves done. Gray managed somehow to jump up there, as jam packed as it is, into a tiny open space and almost knocked 90% of it down.


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a favorite:


hanging pottery still on the walls...

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Days have been so much shorter and it gets dark and cold so so so early...
There are barely any more flowers in the back yard these days.

Little Dorian:

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View Larger Version
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Chevron-y Zig Zags, Cubby Shelves, + Water Colors ...

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I think I would like this rug for the Living Room.
It's 5' x 7', which is the size I am looking for...


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I would like to build something similar to this
(to be 4.5' wide x 6.5' high)....


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I love this painting
(the artist happens to be the grandson of Dorothy Draper)...

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Those Predictable Colors...

I'm predictable when it comes to these things...

I decided to paint the Living Room the same color I painted my bedroom last year... b/c I can't stop wishing I would have in the first place. It's a good color.

A lot of the other colors from my bedroom are making their way into the new Living Room too. I noticed this after browsing through my folders (a real one and one on the computer) of saved items, that were saved b/c I found something in them that I wanted to somehow incorporate into the Living Room...


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A few weeks ago, while browsing through some magazines, I fell instantly in love with these two rooms of designer Amy Smilovic (which both happen to use all of my colors). I especially love the rug (something I am having a hard time finding/deciding on for the Living Room)...






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This week I made a to scale floor plan of the living room and little to scale furniture pieces (which I printed and cut out) and have been playing around with some ideas with the furniture I have so far. It's a tough room b/c of the fireplace and windows/doors placements. The rug is a miniature to scale version of one I am considering and the bookshelves and small table and chairs do not exist yet...


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Couch + Chairs are Home....

The two chairs and the couch came back today.
I am incredibly satisfied with the chairs.
The couch, however, has a little puckering to the fabric that is bothering me and I am not sure it is something caused by the fabric (that can't be fixed) or if it just needs to be sewn a bit tighter.

Now I just need to repair the couch frame and figure out what I will do to the wood to restore it/refurbish/refinish it.

Quick shots of the couch and chair from today (they look a bit blue in these pictures, but are actually gray and black/gray/white)...




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