many updates...

it has been a long time since i've stopped for a moment to catalog everything we've been doing around the house.  but we have been super busy.  first, the dining room got finished.  the mdf treatment is on the wall, and the chair rail is updated.  i still have one final coat of paint to add to all of it, and we need to calk a lot of it out.  unfortunately, that's on a back burner right now.

we also spent some time in the family room.  the bookshelf sold. (yay!) so i pushed my two chairs and new table over to the back wall.  we bought a new console for the tv from world market and i've been making everything come together.  i am in love with my gallery wall.  it's going to have some great oil paintings (that are in the mail) added to it for splashes of color.

here is the tv/blue wall:

the book stacks will eventually get taller when i get a couple of those invisible shelves from umbra

we have so much more space now

hubby added some life to the console

a great catch-all for the remotes

world market baskets on sale for 17 each

the only thing that is missing on the wall are these amazing two skylines that rachel is sketching for us.  they will go over the tv in two white frames with white mats.  cannot WAIT for them to be finished.

and now on to the gallery wall:

this frame is getting an orange paint and a blue oil painting of a lake

not sure on the color yet, but probably kelly green....i'm planning to put little guy's artwork up here

my w from san fran's anthro

so, i still have a few more frames to hang....it's going to go a bit higher...including a surprise for my hubby that should be here any day now.

we are loving our new space.  and, i'm working on the mantel again.  i painted it white to see what i thought.  it's a no.  now just to figure out what color to go instead.

oh, and i forgot to mention that the chair got reupholstered.  i love it.  the back is different, because the stripes run horizontally.  i'll have to get a picture sometime.

updates...

well, things are happening around here.  we got all of our dining room walls painted.  and the chair rail (our friend who is doing the mdf install decided that we needed new chair rail to match the "style" we are going with now) and mdf treatment goes in next week.  it is going to look so good in there.  one other little painting project and maybe that surprise for the green wall, and we will be done.  the painting went quickly, and we did decide on the la fonda deep olive by valspar for the one wall.  when the light plays on the antique leather (behr) which is on the bottom, it sometimes looks lighter and then darker.  i like that about the paint....

this is a good representation of the real color

did you see that roll of fabric hiding in the corner?  it is going over on a chair in the family room to tie all the colors together.

here is the chair that should be getting new stripes in about a week or so.

i also was able to snag a new table for the family room so that we can have an extra lamp in the room.  we are still trying to get rid of our big bookshelf (anyone??), and when we do, this little setting of chairs will swing off the blue wall and onto our khaki wall in the back.  it will be super dark in that corner, so we needed a spot for another lamp.  pier one to the rescue with a little accent table that was normally 60.  it was on sale for 40, and i got a discount because the finish was a bit messed up.  they didn't know i could have cared less about the finish.....because of course, i'm going to paint it!

here it is in it's yet to be painted state.  i love it.

and speaking of needing one more lamp....i found one at jcpennys...of all places for only 40!

it's a little bit brighter orange than i had wanted, but we are going to live with it for a while, and then paint it lighter orange to match the throw if we need to.

a little touch of whimsy.....

let there be a new light...

i love my new light.  remember the old builder's grade chandelier?

it's gone, and my new light is living very happily in it's new space.  i haven't decided completely on the height....it may come down a bit.

i am mostly in love with the copper inside...so rich and vibrant.

when the light is on, this warm orange glow is over the whole table.

it makes the room so different, but a good different.  it came yesterday in the mail, and hubby put it up that very night!  so happy......  the first change is in.


now for the walls to be painted....that's getting started tonight.  pictures to follow soon.

decisions...

the dining room is getting a makeover in march, and march is almost here.  i am so excited.  one wall is going to be painted green above the chair rail.   can't decide between valspar's bullfrog or la fonda deep olive.

olive on the left, bullfrog on the right.  i'm leaning to the left.  :)

the other wall is getting the mdf treatment i showed you here.  again, above the chair rail.

going to have nice clean lines

and below the chair rail, we are painting behr all in one antique leather.

in the same family, but a bit darker for contrast

i'm also getting a new light, and one other fun surprise for the green wall.  the room won't even look the same.

i snagged this stamped linen napkin at world market the other day.....going to use it as a centerpiece in a tablecloth i'm constructing.

so, the only thing that will stay the same in this room is my favorite ever entry table from pottery barn.  styled to perfection (for right now).  i may paint the frames of the pieces above it.

we are going for a bit more whimsy downstairs with a mix of traditional, vintage, and fun.  i'm excited where the big living space is headed.

any suggestions on the lamps, or should i just start completely over?  i want a more relaxed look and the silver says formal.  i could try changing the shades first and see if that helps....

inspiration...

this exact look is going to be on a wall in my house sometime in march.  so excited i can't stand it.  i don't know if i'll find a clock to go with it, or just leave it plain and beautifully white.

from casablancatransformation.blogspot.com