Living Room Ideas

When Arhaus contacted me to design a living room using their furniture, the timing was perfect! We are in the process of renovating our living room which used to be my work studio. It's a pretty large space so I picked out quite a few pieces that I would love to see in there.

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When choosing a media console, I thought the easel was so unique and of course since I'm a painter and this room is where I used to do my work, this piece was so meaningful.

I'm not a rule follower when it comes to decorating. Choosing items that I love and have some meaning or usefulness for our family is what I'm thinking about when decorating. The colors and pieces in this mood board are just the perfect palette for a peaceful room to hang out in. That muted teal is one of my favorites and I love the slate blue tabletops. The room I'm planning is more of a casual family room so I picked items that weren't too formal but I think the round coffee table and end table add the perfect touch of elegance I was looking for.

It was so simple to find something in every category at Arhaus. Their products are just my style!

The Study Lounge

Our home is a 2 story colonial with the bedrooms all on the second floor. One of the bedrooms is pretty small at 9' x 9 1/2'. It has always served as a home office. We had a pretty large desk/wall unit in there that 3 people could easily work at. Instead it was a dumping room with piles of books and supplies on the desk...always a mess. And where did the kids (all 4 of them) end up doing their homework? They would work on the couch, kitchen table, dining room table or their bed! Which meant more backpacks and schoolwork spread all over the house. So, I had an idea to put the small couch from the playroom in the office and relocate the desk....creating a study lounge. They love it!
Come on in!

Since the room is so small I will rotate the photos around the room.  A lounge is not complete without a TV...only for when HW is done:)

I will show you inside the closet in a minute. I think my honey did a great job on the window molding! We may get around to changing the door molding too, but the window was new so we were working from scratch.  One of my favorite vintage folding chairs is a perfect extra seat. Also LOVE the color of the blinds. I will share all resources at the end of this post.

We went with a rustic theme in this room. There are tons of tutorials for plank walls. We used 1/4" plywood ripped into varying widths and lengths and just nailed them up. We did paint the wall behind the planks a much darker grey so any spaces between the boards would not be so visible. I used a combination of stains and paint to achieve the weathered finish.

Planning on a large clock for this blank wall on the right. It's on my long to-do list:)

Not enough room on either side of couch for an end table so we built a small shelf on each side made of pallet wood.

 Perfect for the phone, remote or a drink. And pumpkins too!

I had fun with the gallery wall. A combination of favorite vacation photos, and inspirational words (it is a "study" lounge).  But I also wanted it to be a room the kids could relax in. What's nice about it is that they can come up here, close the door and get their work done without being in the middle of the house during dinner prep and all the rest of the chaos going on downstairs. And for the ones working late at night, we can go to bed and feel better about the kids being upstairs while they finish up their work.

It took a while but we found the perfect picture for over the couch. There was a fine art photographer next to me at a recent art show I participated in. We had a view of this photo the entire weekend and couldn't stop looking at it. The one we saw was about 4ft x 4ft and $3600. We were happy to find a much smaller print of this peaceful shot of a crab farmer in China. My husband made the perfect frame for it and I think it helps to give that relaxed feeling in the study lounge.

I still felt it necessary to have a small desktop for when the kids wanted to work on a computer. The closet was a perfect spot for this and to store all of the supplies needed for getting homework done.

 Shelves above hold baskets of extra supplies and textbooks and study guides. The shelf below the desk holds each of their laptops. Everything has a place...yay!

A charging station is on the left...I never knew these USB outlets existed!

And a custom made shelf/pencil cup holder is perfect for keeping the desktop free of clutter.

This room has been amazing. We finished it just before school began and they've been enjoying it ever since! The couch also opens up to a bed so this room also serves as a guest room. Couldn't do that with the big desk in here before!


Resource list:

Wall and ceiling color: Sherwin Williams Light French Gray

Trim: Benjamin Moore Linen White

Sofa: Ikea

Throw pillows: H&M and Michael's

Gallery wall: Inspirational signs-Hydrangea Home, Industrial Metal number 6-Country Living Fair, Galvanized M-Michael's Craft Store

Photo over couch: John Deng Fine Art Photography

Baskets in closet: Michael's Craft Store

Lighting: Lowes Outdoor lighting department - Portfolio Ellicott Galvanized Outdoor Wall light

Blinds: Home Depot - Home Decorators Collection - Driftwood Flatweave Bamboo Roman Shade

See more of our home improvement projects HERE.

Weathered Wood - how-to

I know there are many techniques for achieving the weathered wood look many of us love. And I have tried many of those combinations without getting the tone I was looking for. So for my "new" coffee table I went with my own technique which gave me exactly what I wanted.

This table was being tossed by my neighbor (thank you Debbie!).

It was definitely a bit weathered, chipped and water stained. Nothing we can't fix with a good sanding.

We didn't worry about getting into the crevices too much.
And here are the products I used to achieve the weathered wood finish.
Minwax Stain- Special Walnut
Rustoleum Stain - Weathered Gray
Minwax Polycrylic in Clear Satin
Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray

So I think the technique I used is maybe what made a difference. I started with a coat of Special Walnut. But instead of brushing on the stain and wiping off, I used a rag (dipped in stain and squeezed out) to lightly rub the stain into the wood. Then I did the same with the Weathered Gray stain but even lighter on the amount. I was really just looking to tone down the stain with the gray but I still wanted to see warm wood tones, like it was just starting to weather. Here it is with just the top board wiped down with the weathered gray.  The bottom boards just have the Special Walnut stain.

And if you put a little too much of the gray (which I did in some spots), I just lightly sanded when all was dry.  Here is one piece all done and the other before gray was applied. Such a difference!

I didn't photograph the metal frame being painted but that's where the Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray was used. Here we are in place.

Now, all wood will take the finish differently so make sure you do a test before you begin. I just tested a few different stains on the underside of my tabletop.  I bet oak would take this nicely with the grain.

If you give this technique a try, please share! I would love to see!

"new" coffee table...a before and after

A great curbside find with a new weathered wood finish.  I will do a tutorial on how I gave this table it's new look. I finally found the combination I've been looking for to get a nice grey finish to a warm wood stain.  Busy weekend ahead so I will post the steps next week. Enjoy your weekend!

The best Christmas gift...

It started with the top of a hutch. My girlfriend (thank you Elizabeth!) no longer needed the top and of course she thought of us before getting rid of it. It had beautiful lines, of course my honey could build a base for it:) That was about 3 years ago...I think. And there it sat in the dining room, empty, collecting dust.  We always have a project or 2 or 4 going on in the house but my husband was determined to finish this piece for me as a Christmas gift.  Right up until the day before we were adding the finishing touches and I'm in love!  I could finally unwrap the china and I can finish decorating this room now. I just can't stop staring at it when I walk by this room.

Here is what the before looked like:

We wanted to have it resemble the top enough so it wouldn't look like they didn't belong together.
So my husband rounded the base and added corner round to the front corners. He also routed the center support to match the top.

We thought about purchasing unfinished doors but decided to make them. I realized that I might want to add fabric to the doors so we really just needed to make a frame.

I loved the finish on the top before paint but I knew I would not be able to match the base to the top so I had no choice but to paint it. However I gave the top accent moulding and the doors just a wash of french linen to tone down the stain but still appreciate it. I love the way it came out and the way it contrasts the Graphite chalk paint (Annie Sloan). I also applied a french linen wash (after a coat of clear wax) to highlight the detailed areas of the piece.  Just a little distressing on some of the edges and a couple of coats of wax finished the piece. Just in time for Christmas!

Now the chairs need to be painted. I'm thinking french linen for them.

I chose a neutral french toile fabric for the doors. My husband did a great job pleating and stapling! 

Some of the details. The hardware on the bottom doors were in my stash from an another piece of furniture. They were a perfect match in their antique brass finish.

I think this is definitely one of my favorite pieces we've done. I was a little nervous about the dark paint but I really LOVE this look!  I think it has a french country farmhouse feel to it.  Exactly the look I'm going for in this room.

I hope this inspires you to find new life in a furniture piece of your own. Let me know if you have any questions regarding technique.

Now I just need a little sideboard piece for the opposite side of the room....the projects never end!
If he didn't do such a beautiful job, I wouldn't ask!

Extreme Hutch Makeover

I don't know about you but it takes a party for us to get home projects done around here.  We started this hutch 2 1/2 years ago, then I guess something else took priority and there it sat with 1 coat of paint and no knobs on half the doors. We still used it though. I even decorated it and photographed it at Christmas. In pics it looked great - and was repinned on Pinterest.

So we are having our daughter's grad party at the house soon and I felt the need to finish the piece.

Here it is before:

Typical colonial style. I needed to cover up those details, so my husband added some moulding to cover up the cutouts. By adding the base moulding, we also make the piece go straight to the floor which helps cut down on the dust bunnies from my shedding lab.  Ah, so much better! He also added a piece of lauan (thin plywood) to the back of the piece. He used a router to cut horizontal grooves into the panel.  I was going for the weathered barn wood look for the back.

I painted the entire piece with 2 coats of Annie Sloan Old White. I used sandpaper to lightly distress some of the edges of the piece.  I clear waxed everything. Then I made a mixture of half Coco and half Paris Grey to use as a glaze and give the crevices a little dimension. I added a little water to the mixture and brushed it in and wiped off the excess. A little more clear wax and that was it.

The top of the hutch base had a nice hunk of oak which we sanded down. I wanted to create a weathered oak finish and I love the result. I first applied a coat of Minwax stain in Provincial. Then I brushed on some Old White (thinned with water) and wiped it off. I added a coat of clear wax but it wasn't quite the look I was looking for. It looked too pickled to me. So I added a coat of Annie Sloan antique wax and it was perfect!

I'm loving my "new" finally finished piece of furniture and I'm having fun decorating it with all of my favorite things. Boxwood wreaths hang on each door, and a little vintage monogrammed seafood fork from The White Weathered Barn on the North Fork of Long Island hangs from a knob.  My favorite Sunday morning latte mugs are on display along with one of my preserved floral designs in a vintage silver goblet.

I can't say it was a simple job, it does take a lot of hours and a lot of wax on, wax off! I am hoping to work off some of the ice cream I've been eating too much of this summer!

Finished Bathroom...finally!

I know we are slow moving, but oh well, it's the price we pay for doing everything ourselves.  We are all enjoying our new bathroom very much. Here are some pictures of the (95%) complete space.

With some inspiration from our trip to France (which I can't believe was 1 year ago!).

The color on the walls and furniture is very close to the paint color in the home we rented in the french countryside.  The rustic variations in the flooring reminds us of the gorgeous stone seen everywhere around France.

 Baskets to hide the bandaids, tissue box and other bathroom essentials.

Photos taken in Paris and framed in rustic grey barn wood frames add some color to our neutral walls.

The dresser which was given to me by a special friend has been made over using Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint as our vanity.

My husband made a new top for it to hold the greige marble sink.

More on the paint finish in a future post.

Another tribute to our trip!

I am having fun with the accessories in here.

These previously pewter sconces also received special treatment to match the oil rubbed bronze faucet.

I also painted the shades! more on that to come.

A favorite photo turned canvas giclee in a barn wood frame. 

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our new bathroom space all done on a tight budget. 

The details with some how-to and resources will be posted soon!

Have a great week!

Linking up to Jennifer Rizzo's Creative Friday