Household Project Revealed -- at last!

I posted earlier in summer about the fact that we decided to re-do our den at home...a perfectly lovely room that we wanted to improve upon. We started from scratch this time by removing ALL the old stuff & completely re-painting the room. For those that had not seen the room before, picture gingerbread colored walls, dark brown trim, a huge desk, dark red arm chair, armoire for hiding computer components, lots of black framed photos on the walls, a large (and comfy) dark brown suede futon, and tons of warm & dark colors all around. It was super cozy....but honestly, the furniture was from our old house & it was much too large for that room. It was time to improve it all!

Friends would say we were crazy -- after all, the room was perfectly lovely as it was, but Mike & I just knew we could do better (or we hoped that we could). We also love to decorate and let's face it, after nearly 4 wonderful years in this home, we did all we could, ran out of projects & we end up re-doing things that don't need to be touched. At any rate, we went with a completely different look and lighter color palette. I must say, the results are far better than we anticipated & while I am no pro photographer, I am including some pix at the behest of my BFF, Dianna, so you can all see the new room. Someday, maybe I can dig up old photos so you have a good "before & after" comparison. :)

The futon was donated to a good friend who had just purchased her first home & we think it looks FAB in her place. Apparently, she's enjoying it immensely, which makes us smile to no end. Most of the other furniture pieces were sold off at a recent yard sale or donated to charity. The armoire, which Mike built, got a reprieve & managed to remain in the room since it's a wonderful piece with lots of storage space for the unsightly necessities. I miss our old red arm-chair...complete with Crayola markings on the side from our beloved God-daughter, Cailey, who saw fit to leave her mark as a toddler. *sigh* But, the new chair, affectionately named "Edith" is a wonderful new addition(think of the old All in the Family TV series & how Archie had the big comfy chair, while Edith was forced to relax in a smaller, less plush chair) -- our Edith is pretty comfy though, I must admit! (Thank you Home Goods!!!!) We still intend to find a worthy home for the former area rug, a real beauty if you happen to know any interested parties. *wink*

Anyhow, I ramble on....here are the pix! Let me know what you think.

P.S. - I did not include a shot of the new, smaller desk since there were still some electrical cord issues that were not resolved at the time of my lame photo-shoot.

Happy Shopping!!

Coming soon....

photos of our work in progress (aka: the den we have been re-decorating for the past 2 weeks).

I managed to convince Mike to go back to Home Goods (after a nice brunch on the patio outside BJ's Brewhouse in Glendale & a few beers in his belly -- best fried mozzarella sticks in town, BTW). We were on a mission for a pair of side tables, possibly 2 new lamps and an arm chair. Shockingly, we found it all! The side tables were way more money than we wanted to spend....but they were perfect! We needed something "open" at the bottom so as not to block our AC vent, which is near the floor in the den. The side tables are black with 2 open shelves on the lower portion & a small drawer up top, which will be nice to hide the various remote controls we all seem to accumulate! Each drawer has a brushed nickel knob. They were not cheap at $79.99 each, but they were perfect & frankly, Mike was tired of shopping for them. We found a pair of inexpensive lamps ($20 each) complete with shades that were nice & tall. They looked good on the side tables....although one of them had a crooked shade, I am hoping it can be "squished" back into shape! *wink* (My man is sick of hearing me whine about the crooked shade!)

Lastly, we stumbled upon a chair. It's armless, which is the opposite of what we intended. It's a blue-grey faux suede with espresso legs & silver nail-heads trimming the fabric. The back has a unique shape that I cannot describe & it's tufted, which I love lately! It's really comfy, considering it's armless look & shape. We have affectionately named the chair "Edith". If you are a fan of the old Archie Bunker TV show, you will get the reference...as Mike lounged on the sofa & I sat in the upright chair. :) Those of you that know me are probably puzzled by the "blue-grey" color. We painted the room a warm medium yellow. The trim is Swiss Coffee White. The floors are super dark brown. The drapes we went with are a silvery-blue-grey faux silk with a brown diamond stitched pattern (looks like they are tufted). So, the chair could not have been more perfect as luck would have it. It's far smaller than even the smallest arm chairs, so it also takes up less space, which is another added perk. The grand total for our Home Goods adventure was a tad more than we had hoped....but we could not be happier with the stuff we found!!

The area rug is off-white with a diamond "tufted" pattern woven into the yarn. I think it's actually a carpet remnant. The sleeper sofa we purchased the week earlier is a tan/mocha color faux suede, with espresso base & feet. It's far more contemporary than our usual style. It has some square-patterned tufting in the cushions. We found some faux silk silvery-blue-grey pillows to toss on board. All of the framed art & a giant mirror have black or espresso wood-tone borders. We are contemplating adding crown molding eventually.

So, the bulk of the design is done & in place. I am on my own for the fun part, which is the set-dressing of the room with accessories, as I find them. It's coming along even better than we had envisioned & once it's more "done" I will share photos, I promise! I know I keep using the word "faux" with my fabrics, but I assure you, they don't look cheap or cheesy. ha ha! And, when the drapes are drawn closed, the room illuminates in a soft, cool blue that makes you feel like you are in a cool swimming pool (oh how I wish!!!). It's wonderful and we are really pleased with the outcome, the added space & the general clean look.

If you have not shopped Home Goods for your home furnishings, I highly recommend it. Most of the stuff is reasonably priced, but know your merchandise so you don't end up getting ripped off. Anyone can put a "compare to" price on a tag, but it does not make it true. I know a lamp for $20 is a steal...try finding one at Target for that price WITH a shade! You won't. The Home Goods we frequent is in Glendale, a stone's throw from the Americana. Check it out!

And, Happy Shopping!

Giving in is not always Bad

In follow up to my last post...never made it to the Rose Bowl Flea Market last weekend. I could have gone. My hubby was more than willing to indulge me, but we FINALLY bought a home office desk (last Saturday), so there was really no "need" to shop Sunday when we had a room to renovate!

We ended up shopping around on Saturday for the illusive desk we needed for our PC. We wanted white & never looked at or considered anything else. We found ourselves back at a local Office Depot store staring at an antique black/dark wood desk that we previously ignored due to its color. We had been to Office Depot & places like it numerous times on this quest. We were going insane trying to find what we wanted & needed! We gave in! We ended up buying the dark colored desk w/ hutch & a new leather office chair, all for around $300 with tax. MUCH better than what we anticipated spending. (Pix to follow once the room is done.) So, while we settled on color, in the long run, it's going to work out great. Besides, all of our home furnishings are dark wood & this probably makes more sense. What a relief that we finally found something!!! Size-wise, it's a perfect fit, too.

After the Office Depot trip, we called a friend & "donated" our comfy futon to her and hauled it to her house. (She is a new home owner in the Rancho area of Glendale and, as luck would have it, was in the market for a futon for some house-guests coming in August. What a coincidence!) Having that giant (but comfy) futon gone really opened up the room & we decided we would paint the following day in light of all the new-found free space. Our back patio looks like a yard sale....everything went out there! The living room is also a bit cluttered with items formerly in our den, but in due time, it will be gone.

The room was re-painted (the walls anyhow), the new desk & chair were assembled & we crashed hard Sunday evening. Now, we just anxiously await the next weekend so we can continue on. The dark trim all needs to be painted Swiss Coffee (translation: white). That's my job. I will start tonight & I am very excited about it!!! (Yes, I am a freak -- I love to paint!). We may be adding white wainscoting in there, as well plus crown molding. Wish us luck....it's an OLD home with VERY crooked walls & ceilings! We have purchased new drapes that will hopefully go with the new color scheme. We bought a cheap rug, even if it's just temporary. We have to find a home for our former area rug (as well as another one in storage). We have to find a home for the old desk/table and possibly our gorgeous armoire we built several years ago (that one will be tough to part with & I am hoping it can relocate the outdoor living space for storage). Out with the old, in with the new!

This project will likely not be finished this weekend if all that wainscoting & molding is still part of the plan, but I am confident I can get all my trim painted white by Friday night (Mike works late). YAY!!!

Yes, I will share pix once it's all done....may take some time. Once the room is "done", we still need to shop for a sleeper sofa & either a new chair or have the old one re-upholstered. :) LOVE this stuff. I'm in hog heaven getting to paint, shop & decorate.....it's like the Triple Crown of a perfect life. ha ha!

Happy Shopping!

Memorial Day Tradition

It has become a Memorial Weekend tradition that Arte International (formerly Arte de Mexico) holds a giant 3-day sale at their Burbank warehouse location. If you are a Burbank local, you probably know all about it. If you are a furniture or decorating fanatic, you probably also know about it even if you are not a local. Their stuff is generally pretty high-end, pricey & unique. Even if you cannot afford to buy or you don't "need" anything, you may want to hit the event just to browse.....that's what we do. We never "need" anything there & yet last year, we came back home with a truck full of great finds!

Last year, we purchased some iron lamp bases (2) that we have yet to create lamps out of, but when we do....look out! (they were only like $8 each, so it's not like we broke the bank on them...yet.) We also bought a variety of wall-mount candle-holders and other decor items that we proudly display in our home. Many items are in new condition, some are slightly mangled, scratched, or in need of general TLC. Other items require creativity to bring them to life....and that is where the true fun begins! We got a giant teak pillar last year with some carved designs near the base & the top. What to do with it? Who knew at the time, but it seemed as if it would make a wonderful & tall candle holder. In the end, it did! My husband attached it to a teak base we already had & now this giant pillar would stand on it's own, with a giant candle atop it's crown. We had to torch it a tad -- literally, with a torch, to darken the wood-tone to our liking. It came out great & is a wonderful candle perch for atop the landing of our stairs where we just "needed something tall & skinny" to fill a void. : )

We bought a giant, carved pine floor-lamp, unfinished, as well. This one created some issues when it came time to work on it -- and it was no cheap purchase. The stain took "green" & looked ashy & blah. Seemed like a giant waste of money at first, but I was able to go over the stain with a more red hue to counter-balance the ashy undertones from round one. In the end, it came out lovely. Shopping for a lampshade proved to be a real challenge, but eventually, something panned out there, too. We added some Mexican iron "decorations" to the base & it is now a great addition to our living room. Phew! It was scary for a bit since we paid over $100 for it in its raw form & initially, things were not looking good. The lamp is huge & well-worth more than what we paid.

I totally got off on a tangent here, but the bottom line is that it's a GREAT sale, even if you just want to wander around & see some neat stuff, get inspired or just enjoy the shopping frenzy of people & interior decorators buying all this cool stuff. For those of you that are into photography, I think it's also a great place to take some pix of some unique items, as well. I find it very inspiring to go there each year, even though it's not often that we BUY as much as we did last year. I always want to go. We never "need" anything, but it sure is inspirational in terms of ideas for projects around my own home, even if I don't happen to have the space (or desire) to hang a giant chandelier constructed of animal antlers & wrought iron!

If you have free time this coming holiday weekend, I highly recommend it! It's free....so long as you don't purchase anything. ha ha!!! They have items as cheap as $6, though, in case you can't stand the thought of leaving empty-handed! You will find small decor items, prints, candle holders, baskets, bowls, mirrors, chairs, armoires, patio items, lamps, fabric, pillows & furniture , of course. Many items cost well into the thousands of dollars, but we can all dream on, right?

Arte International annual Memorial Weekend sale is Saturday through Monday 5/23-5/25/09. The best stuff goes early, so don't miss out!

Happy Shopping!