Tackling the Living Room

I finally completed a much-anticipated and much-dreaded project in the living room.  I’ve been planning to paint the walls, trim, and ceiling since we moved in because while the color was okay, the finish was bad.  There were spackle holes and cracks and dings and everything was dirty.  So last week I finally jumped in and got it done!

First was the dreaded paint color decision.  I wanted something mostly neutral since the color continues down the stairs and around the corner as well as down our main hallway upstairs.  After trying a few samples and finding most of them too orangey, I decided to mix in a little gray and came up with a custom color.  It’s a combination of Olympic colors Gravel and Toasted Almond with some gray thrown in there, too.  I call it Toasted Gravel. :)  But it’s more like greenish/grayish/beige.  How’s that for a color?

Here’s what I’m talking about:

It’s a color changing wall paint.  In daylight it looks more beige, in evening it appears grayer and in lamplight more green.  It’s kind of interesting, but I like it!

I had some fun with ladders in order to finish painting the trim in the foyer.  Good times.  But no pictures.  I wouldn’t relinquish my death grip on the ladder long enough to direct Michael to take a photo.  Mama came and helped me paint the ceiling, too.  It was my first ceiling painting adventure… let’s just say it’s not my favorite thing ever. :)  But it’s much improved from the dingy off-white ceiling we had before.  And now the hallway and living room ceilings match.

I love the foyer now… the color really pops against the white trim!

 

I’m hanging on for dear life to these floral print pillows I made last year.  Riley is an avid pillow destroyer.  I have lost three of my couch pillows because of these tendencies.  So I keep these remaining two pillows in the chair across the room where she does not go in an effort to prolong their life.  I also have extra fabric so I can make another set in case of accidental death. :)  Evil doggy.

I added the Wake Forest trunk that was my grandfather’s as a side table of sorts next to the couch.

I have a lot more plans for this room now that the painting’s done.  (It only took me four years to get it done!  Oh and four full days of painting.. whew!)  Next on my list is to recover the couches.  I have already purchased the fabric which is a warm beige/gold color.  And I also want to make new linen curtains in a brown/cream/green patterned fabric.  Wish me luck with fabric selections! 

In the meantime, here’s a look at the before and after!

This one is a bit more subtle and you can see how similar in tone the two colors are.

And this one is my favorite!

So what do you think?  You like the new look?  I’ll be back as we continue updating the living room this fall.  Thanks for coming along!

Sheet Music Art

Greetings!  Tonight I have for you a quick little project using fern clippings from the yard and some old sheet music. 

You may remember the old fern art in the bedroom.  Okay, you probably don’t… Maybe this will help jog your memory:

Well the ferns I gathered back in 2008 were starting to look a little old.  They were ready to be replaced with something new and green.  So a few months ago I took them out and put a few homemade fern prints that I printed from vintage printables. 

They were sorta lackluster and they didn’t have that real greenery feeling that I was craving… and they were small since I was limited to my 8.5” x 11” printer size. 

Tonight while I was browsing my blogroll I came across this DIY pressed fern project from Pink Postcard. 

Her version was framed over ledger paper, but as soon as I saw it, I immediately thought of my stash of sheet music that I got from a family friend last year.  The sheet music is destined to line my antique trunk when I ever get around to restoring it.  But I don’t think it will miss a few sheets! ;)

I snatched my lackluster fern prints from the bedroom wall and began gathering my supplies:  three fern fronds from the yard (these are Japanese painted ferns, I believe.  I would have liked some variety, but my fern collection is limited), sheet music, glass cleaner, and glue. 

Remove old print, clean glass, select sheet music, reglue to glass, place fern, sandwich in between glass and pop back in frame.  Voila.

I’m sure that’s not the way you should do it, more like you should press and dry your ferns first, but this is how I did it the first time and it was fine.  So, we’ll just see how it goes. :) haha

I rehung the frames and then tried to make the after pictures as bright as possible.  :)

I picked music with the least writing, but two are from a piece entitled “Romance”… how appropriate.

The first one is from Brahms “Hungarian Dance No. 5” which I also thought was special because my husband’s family is from Hungary.  So there you go,  sentimental + music + nature.  Trifecta.

I’m liking how the creamy sheet music plays off the bedding but still looks layered because of the wall color showing through.  What do you think?

Hooty Hoo! It’s an Owl Baby Shower!

This past weekend we celebrated the upcoming arrival of my nephew with an owl-themed baby shower for my sister Hannah and her husband Josh.  Come along and see the fun…

The invitations were the jumping off point for the whole party.  It’s featured below along with my antique toolbox full of hydrangeas… The invites introduced the owl theme and color scheme for the party.  It was a rustic/woodland/owl theme with pops of orange, blue, green and brown.

Guests were greeted by a rustic welcome sign on the porch lined with orange zinnias.

Inside, the mantel was festooned with a banner and tiny owl figures lined the top.  A couple of pinecone trees add a bit of woodland charm.  The middle owl is a pillow I made for the nursery and the others were collected from various thrift stores and clearance aisles.

This little blue one is from Hobby Lobby and it’s a bank!  My sisters collects piggy banks (and non-piggies as well). :)

The gift table featured a garland of nursery fabrics and poms in coordinating colors hung above.

More garland decorated the wall over the drink table.  And a chalkboard welcomed guests.

Iced tea and lemonade were served in jelly jars tied with a twine bow.  Tiny flower arrangments in orange, green and purple were arranged in the same jars.

The dining room was decorated with an owl garland of various clip art that I strung together on brown yarn.  More owls and pinecones decorated the top of the buffet.

Baby letters hung with miniature clothespins adorned the dessert table which included chocolate coconut oatmeal cookies, chocolate owl cupcakes, and peanut butter fudge.  Yum!

The cupcake recipe is from Duncan Hines, and I will admit that the originals are a bit more elaborate than my creations.  :) 

This little felted wool owl is from Joann’s.

And this one was everyone’s favorite; it came from a local gift shop.

The food table was in front and packed with favorites:  chicken salad sandwiches, pimento cheese, deviled eggs, sausage balls, black bean corn salsa, mini bagel pizzas, fruit and veggies and chips and dip.

 

The center trays were fall leaf chargers by BHG with sprigs of cypress and pinecones scattered underneath.

I made cupcake toppers that ended up being party picks, featuring owls and various “hooty” sayings. :)

The parlor served as activities headquarters with “Wishes for Baby” sheets for guests to fill out…

Here’s a close-up of the wishes for baby.  We had a lot of fun with these.

I left the baby name blank so people could fill in their favorite name/nickname.  Some of my favorite wishes from various authors were: “I hope you aren’t afraid of girls”, “I hope you are never too big for your britches”, “I hope you grow a moustache as big as your grandpa’s”, and one of mine: “I hope you see the 22nd century”.  :) 

I used birdhouses as an accent even though owls live in trees.

The other side of the parlor was designated as “onesie decorating station”. 

We had various sized onesies and markers and templates for everyone to decorate a onesie for the baby.

When they were all done, we hung them on a couple of clotheslines.

My favorite was Josh’s creation:

And this one is mine since my nickname for the baby is “Button”. 

After eating and decorating onesies, we gathered in the living room while Hannah opened her gifts.

Her bounty included all the nursery bedding that Mama and I made.  Here is the quilt I designed and made complete with Bambi appliques.  Mama quilted it for me. :)

As guests departed, they took an owl cookie favor.  Thanks for “owl” the love! :)

Congratulations Hannah and Josh!  Can’t wait to meet your little guy!