Anyway, I wanted to share a few projects that I've completed (or my husband and I have completed) since moving in. We have been so busy with work, life, and just plain unpacking that we really haven't had time (or money) to dedicate to even small projects. However, as we complete our projects I feel that much more that we are making this our home.
I am always getting ideas from Pinterest and then attempt to put them together. Funny thing about Pinterest -- I noticed how my style has started to drastically change. I used to be all minimalist and modern. Now I am finding that I like to be more eclectic with my style, but I am definitely loving some vintage and antique looks jazzed up in a modern way in my interior design. I think it began with this wonderful purchase from Craigslist:
This was never my style before. I was such an Ikea fan. However, I saw this for $20 and thought it would work in with the first idea I had about decorating our new living room.
This was my original inspiration: (note: I'm not sure the source of this image, but have seen it posted several times on the internet).
Isn't it lovely? I already had pillows like this in jewel tones, so that was a bonus. I also found some gorgeous silk teal pillows at Ross on clearance!! However, as most ideas do, they changed.
We've never had much extra money, so other than the money we added to our house loan to repair the house and add new flooring and appliances (not to mention adding a central A/C unit, new windows, and a new roof - what is with Utahns and their swamp coolers, anyway??) we only have a little here and there. I mean very LITTLE. I'm not talking about limited budget projects that are sweeping the web, because we rarely even have a few hundred dollars here and there to put towards something. I'm talking thrift store, dollar store, hardware store budget!
Anyway, as lovely as that silver couch in that picture is, I wasn't so sure about the upkeep and the comfort level. We do, after all, live in the real world. We had one cat at the time (three now) and knew we would be adding a few more, plus we're trying to conceive. I'm a realist, and knew I needed a couch that could stand all the wear and tear from children and animals.
So we found some grey microfiber couches at RC Willey. They are more transitional than modern, and much more "fluffy" than this lovely piece above, but they work for us. They have been pre-treated, and they are amazing at not collecting dirt and cat fur. Anyway, I saw the pillows that came with them and saw the mixture of grey, some teal and brown, and thought, "I wonder if those colors go together?" I already had some brown modern lamps, and honestly, we didn't have money to buy new ones. My tv stand is also brown, and while I still want to replace it with something vintage and gorgeous like my new coffee table, I knew that wasn't possible yet.
This is what my living room looked like with everything I already had, with my walls painted a custom teal and a custom greige (greyish beige), plus the purchase of a $12 gloss grey Ikea table and the new couches:
This is what it now looks like with the rug. There's still a lot I need to do (like figure out window treatments and completely re-do the tv area) but we're getting closer :)
I've been toying with the idea of bringing in some chartreuse or lime (chartreuse might be a bit too warm), but I don't know where. Possibly in the window treatments, as long as it's not garish. Any suggestions, anyone?
Moving on to other projects -- Pinterest suddenly became an amazing inspiration. With my new found like of things vintage and/or rustic, I saw a door wreath that I thought looked cute. I also saw a "letter" wreath that I liked as well. I decided to combine the two, give it a distressed look and came up with this for our door:
It's SO CUTE and I absolutely love it!!!! Plus, it's the same paint that I used on my living room wall, so it is where things start to pull together.
Now I get to what we finished tonight. I've been cruising Pinterest for months looking for a perfect coat rack. I wanted something that matched my new style: rustic/modern/vintage or whatever you want to call it. I saw several cute ideas, but I wanted something different. Then, after seeing so many different styles, it came to me. I bought a 45 inch 2x4 of pine from Lowe's and had my hubby use his brand spankin' new DeWalt table saw to cut it up into blocks. I then proceeded to paint them and distress the blocks with a coat of brown acrylic paint, and then the color of choice. I watered down the paint in areas, and used a sand block as well as some steel wool to achieve the distressed look I wanted.
These blocks sat for a month until today. I've been sick, but asked Dustin to hang up some things that have been sitting around. He decided to finish the coat rack today, too. It took a lot of time figuring out measurements and lining things up where he (we) wanted them, but this was the end result!
We are so LOVING it! It takes up what was once a bare wall in the entryway (yeah, we have one of those lovely 80's splint entryways) and is providing much-needed storage for coats, especially for visitors. Our current coat closet is already small and is housing more mops and brooms than coats, so this worked out great!
The green didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to. I first painted it with a green that was too yellow-looking. I then bought a tube of a more spring green and painted that on top and rubbed away parts of it to show the other green coming through. It looks better, but still wasn't exactly what I had in mind. But, no matter, I still love it! We'll have to take it down once we finally buy (or borrow) a tall enough ladder that will allow us to paint this wall (and spray paint the ugly brass chandelier that is hanging in our entryway) but until then it at least adds some functionality, uniqueness, and color :)
Last, but not least, is our new mail center. I cannot believe how difficult it is to find a decent-looking mail/key holder. They do not exist in stores, or so it seems. I found this one by Umbra on amazon.com, but was dismayed at how small it was when we received it. I love it, and it matches our stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. However, it only works for my hubby's mail. I needed somewhere to put things like catalogs and coupons that needed to be read and dealt with. Their current home was on our kitchen counter, and I hated it. I HATE clutter. Well, I was cruising through Target on Friday afternoon and found a teal hanging file folder on clearance for $6.98. I thought it would be perfect for my coupons and catalogs.
We will see how it works. It is so much larger than the mail/key organizer, but I needed something to put that stuff in. If in the end, it doesn't work, or I just don't like the way it is all pulled together (as I'm still mulling over that) I won't feel like I wasted much money!
