Plans for the Living Room

This is the sitting area of our living room. We spend lots of time here so it's important to me that it looks nice but is also inviting and comfortable. The sofa is rather special to me because it was (and is) my first real sofa. Everything up till this sofa was purchased second hand and spruced up with a slipcover. Since starting our house revamp last fall, the only things I've really done are paint the walls and make some toss pillows. Lately I've been considering ways to give the room a cohesive and stylish yet comfortable look. This is where Polyvore comes in.

I've only used Polyvore a couple of times, but I am completely hooked! It is the handy dandiest tool for planning a room - no Photoshop skills necessary! I started by finding some furniture that matches the general shape and color of our existing pieces and then started playing around with ideas. I'm so excited about what I came up with! I think I'm going to be able to whip this space into shape with a few small changes.



1. I have a vintage tension rod lamp, but I'm not keen on the color. I think a coat of black paint will look great.

2. I made brown and white chevron toss pillows for the sofa a few months ago, so those are covered. For this plan, I'd like to have four more pillows in mixed textures and prints including kilim, ikat and faux fur. I'd also like to find a quirky or whimsical toss pillow like the curled up fox. I'm setting my budget for the toss pillows at $80 - roughly $20 a piece. That's dirt cheap and the reason is because it kills me to buy toss pillows when they are so easy to make. I'll probably go ahead and buy the kilim pillow from etsy, but I'm going to see what I can come up with for the rest.

3. This sleek black metal coffee table from Pottery barn is perfect, but at $399 it would definitely be considered a splurge. I could make yet another slip cover for the ottoman, it's comfy and nice to put your feet on, but I'd really like to try something different.

How to Whitewash a Barn Door

Remember the barn style sliding door Jesse made and hung a few weeks ago? I was trying to decide if I wanted to paint or stain the door when a friend suggested I try white-washing it. After five minutes of google searching "how to make whitewash," I settled on a recipe that called for two parts white latex paint and one part water. Just paint and water? No problem! I had left over paint! Free is the best kind of project! Our weekend was pretty much booked with plans so I woke up really early on Saturday to start the door. 

First, I emptied and cleaned a coffee can to use for mixing the whitewash. I just eyeballed the mixture by pouring in paint and then adding half the amount of water.

During my quick research, I read that whitewash should be applied and then some should be removed with a soft cloth. I tried a cut up t-shirt first, but that left a gray lint in the paint so I switched to a cloth diaper and that worked perfectly.

I also read that the whitewash dries quickly and was advised to work in sections. After the first coat, I realized that wasn't the case for my latex and water mix. For the second and third coats I whitewashed the entire door, let it dry for about five minutes and then wiped it with the cloth.After the wash had dried completely, I used sandpaper to rough up the door and give it a more worn in look.

Then I came back and dry brushed a little more on the spots that were too dark.

Ta-da! Can you believe that cool door cost less than fifty bucks!? Still lots to do in the dining area, but it feels really good to cross something off the list.

Throwback Thursday: Fall Photos of Western Nebraska

If you've ever taken I-80 straight across the state of Nebraska, you were probably left with the impression that Nebraska is completely flat and terribly boring. However, if you explore the rural highways, especially in the western panhandle, you'll find that Nebraska has some beautiful scenery, great history and friendly folks.

A few years back, I tagged along on a business trip with my Mom that took us through the Fort Robinson, Crawford and Chadron areas. At the time, I was taking a Great Plains Literature course and reading Old Jules, so our journey was very apropos for me. I came across these photos while I was cleaning up my hard drive yesterday and couldn't help but notice the coincidence - it was exactly this time of year when I took these, early fall.

These were the only photos I had on my hard drive, but I know I took some of Fort Robinson as well, so I plan to poke around and see if I can find them. Have you been to western Nebraska? What'd you think?

White Wall Envy

I always thought white walls were for renters. We own our house, therefore we are supposed to "do" colors. Right? Now, after years of agonizing over coordinating various shades, I want to paint everything white! EVERY feature I've seen lately is white walls here, white walls there. I have white wall envy!

Exhibit A:

I have a complete crush on this room. It's all vintage and eclectic and then, hel-lo modern Philippe Starck Ghost Chair!

Exhibit B:

Bri Emery's happy chic living room has plenty of color and snap - with white walls.

Exhibit C:

The owner of this lovely home STARTED by painting the whole interior white. Ugh. Why didn't I do that?! 

P.S. - I see you little Bertoia chair

Most of our walls are khaki or white, so I'm not too far off. I've painted almost every room over the past couple months and I'm definitely not going to start over now. I don't think. Yeah, no, I'm not going to do that. Unless I get really crazy. Which is possible.