When it's time to change...

As I mentioned in this post, I totally rearranged all of the furniture at 2am last night...totally on a whim.  Here's how this all came about:

I was standing in the entry and I looked back at the fireplace and a vision popped into my head of a totally different furniture arrangement.  Saying I had a vision sounds silly...I know.  It started with us realizing we had a lot more space to work with than we previously thought.  I looked at Tony and said something along the lines of: "Yanno, this room (the den) is a lot bigger than we realized...we probably could have fit a dining room table in here.  (insert furniture rearranging itself in my vision) I even think we could have the couch face the fireplace."  He looked at me with a face that said "well, too bad...it's already done" told me yah, we probably could have done that, oh well...and went to bed.

I went back to working on pictures and continued to mull over the furniture thing...should I, shouldn't I...I couldn't decide.  It was one of those things that I knew had to be done first in order for Tony to realize it needed to be done.  I don't think he would have wanted to go through the work of moving everything around when it was working perfectly fine the way it was.  So, I finally decided this was my time to do, and I was going to do it alone...at 2am.  This is clearly another one of my "brilliant" ideas.

I must have been overcome with some super human powers, because I can tell you right now, I could barely lift the china cabinet when Tony and I were moving it around together...I have no idea how I moved it myself without dying, but I did!  I know myself well enough to know that if I don't finish a project I will never come back to it, and it will sit abandoned and unfinished until I force myself to finish it.  So, I have trained myself to always finish projects in one sitting...no matter how tired I am or how much I want to be done with it.  Obviously there are exceptions, but that is generally the case.  So, even though I was exhausted, ready for bed and just all around tired I knew if I didn't finish it Tony wouldn't be very happy when he woke up :)

After rearranging the den, I started pulling furniture from the kitchen, and I had furniture I didn't need in the den anymore, which allowed me to do other things with that furniture, which eventually led to the entire living area getting a little revamping.  If you don't remember what it looked like before, here are a few quick pictures:

During the walk through.

After most of the furniture was added

Before rearranging.

Here are the results of my wild night of furniture rearranging:

I took the chairs out of the kitchen and put them in the den in place of the blue chair I painted and upholstered.  (picture later).  These chairs might be temporary, but for now I like them, and I like that they match the couch almost perfectly.  The chairs were included with the house because we figured we might as well try.  Maybe eventually they will be replaced with a wingback and another chair, but for now we like these in here.

All of the furniture has been moved towards the fireplace and a more intimate seating area has been created.  I was worried about the back of the couch facing the front door, but the couch has such a pretty shape that it doesn't look bad at all.  We will add some sort of sofa table behind the couch, but even without it, it doesn't look too bad.

The new, more intimate seating area.

Yup...that's me in my robe this morning :)  The kitchen table is now in the den/dining room, and I went ahead and added a leaf to it.  Since the kitchen table chairs are now across from the couch, I used these chairs that were Tony's grandma's.  2 of them we already had in random rooms as fillers until we got different chairs, and much to my surprise, when I went into the garage looking for other furniture I didn't know about, I found 2 more!

I moved the enormous (and really heavy) china cabinet all by myself, which kind of scared Tony when I showed him this morning :)

So, this piece of fabric was a random late addition.  I purchased it for something...I don't know what, but I loved it and figured I'd find something for it.  I folded it in half and folded up the ends and threw it on the table to add some color.  It obviously won't stay like this, but I eventually might sew an actual runner for the table.  For now, it will do.

Hopefully the overexposed sliding doors you can't see (thankfully), will soon be replaced with french doors out to the patio :)

So, now that the tv is no longer in the den, I had this lovely table I purchased from Crate&Barrel and nowhere to put it...until I realized we still hadn't decided on an entry table, and I tried it out, and sure enough...it looks great!  I love the way the woodwork on the table sort of mimics the lines of the marble in the floors.

The blue chair I painted and re-covered that was originally done for the den is now in the living room.  I put it in there temporarily at first, but I actually like it in there.

I moved the new Crate&Barrel chest side table over by the blue chair (it was originally next to the sectional) and put the side table that was in the den next to the sectional.  Tony things the chest is a little too big for that area, but I really like it there.  Oh, and the computer on the side table is temporary :)  As is the tv tray.  P.S. check out our new printer's tray (above the tv tray) that I recently found at Mission Road Antiques for just $30.  It is an authentic printer's drawer, and Tony has already started adding trinkets to it. 

There are still lots and lots of things to do, but I feel like we made a big step in the right direction moving everything around and the den/dining room feels sooo much more comfortable and homey, whereas before it just felt stiffed and very placed.  Currently, there is no table in the kitchen now so that is a new need that we didn't have before, but hopefully we can find something more playful and fun for the kitchen now that it isn't the only formal dining area.

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Time for change...

I rearranged the furniture in the entire house last night at 2am.  Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration...not the entire house, but all of the main living areas.  Yes, another one of my "brilliant" late-night ideas... :)

Pictures and details to come...

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The Den (yes...still), and Rug Day!

I know it probably seems that the den is the only thing we are working on, but I promise it is not.  The other rooms are just seeing much less progress (mostly due to not being able to decide on furniture) and therefore, we have focused on rooms that have most of the pieces already.

A few weekends ago I posted a few quick iPhone pictures of my couch and tv stand that were delivered.  They were both pieces I absolutely loved and figured it was better to spend a little more on pieces I loved that spend a little less on pieces I didn't love...makes sense, right? :)

So, I eventually decided on the Silhouette Sofa from Crate and Barrel in Ceylon, a sort of mustard yellow.  I thought the yellow would really compliment the brick in the den and would add a pop of color.  We went with a total neutral sectional, so I figured taking a chance with the more formal sofa would be worth it.

Image from crateandbarrel.com

The other piece that was delivered with the sofa was kind of an impulse buy, but I absolutely don't regret it.  When I turned the corner at Crate and Barrel and saw the Garnet Cabinet, I just prayed that it was the right size for the area in the den where we wanted a small cabinet to place a small television on.  I love the detail on the front, and really love the quality and how solid it is.  It really is beautiful, and I could see it working well in lots of different situations, so I considered it more of an investment piece.

Image from crateandbarrel.com

Both pieces work great in the space, and I think I should be spontaneous more often.

Anyhow, the real point of this post is Rug Day...the day we were finally allowed to put down a rug on the hardwood floors after getting them refinished (has it really already been 3 weeks...wow).  I was so excited to bring my Pottery Barn Chain Link Rug upstairs and put it in the living room.  So, Tony lugged it upstairs and it sat in the living room for a little more than 24 hours.  It looked good in the living room, but I just love the rug so much, and didn't feel like I loved it as much anymore in the living room.

So, today I got home from work earlier than Tony.  I'm staying in Kansas City while I work the Big 12 Basketball Tournament that is taking place in KC MO, so my hours are a little weird right now.  So, I was home alone.  While sitting at the women's basketball game this morning I had a vision (seriously) of the rug in the den.  I just had to have the rug in the den, and I'm pretty sure if I would have asked Tony to help move the rug to the den he would have just told me that it looks good in the living room and we should leave it.  So, I had my window of opportunity, and while it was much more difficult to do it alone, I moved it to the den.  I knew once he saw it he would love it too, so I was excited for him to get home to see it.  Sure enough, he loved it as well and so the rug will stay in the den (for now at least).

So, here are a few pictures of the den...it is lacking a lot, and we still need the accent chairs (that's going to be a project very far down the road), a side table or two, something on the walls, curtains over that hideous sliding glass door (or better yet, replace the sliding glass door with french doors...but I have a feeling that will be a summer project), curtains over the window, pillow covers that actually match the decor (and not those sage green ones that are currently on the couch), and I'm sure there are a million things I'm not thinking of.  However, this is one of the most finished rooms so far and it is really nice to see a furnished room instead of tools and equipment and just junk in the den (like it was for the first few weeks...which I tried very hard not to document, but alas it made it into a few pictures)

The den on January 17th...this was actually before it became a total disaster zone, but you get the idea.

First a few before pictures...

Now for a few more current pictures...current, but definitely not complete (as the list above illustrates)

Wall Paint: Benjamin Moore-Stonington Gray
Trim Paint: Benjamin Moore-Mascarpone
Sofa: Silhouette Sofa, Crate and Barrel ($999)
Coffee Table: Included in contract and left from previous owner
TV Cabinet: Garnet Cabinet, Crate and Barrel ($599)
Rug: Pottery Barn, Chain Link Rug (from a previous season, link is only one I could find with more info) ($399)
Painting: Great Finds Consignment Shop ($25)
Buffet with Hutch (not pictured here): Brand is Sligh Furniture, my mom thinks it was purchased in the 50's or earlier. Passed down from my grandparents to my parents to me
Other misc. purchase: cabinet hardware, bookcase decorations

Ignore the little mess in the kitchen...the desk in the kitchen is now the hub for clean paint brushes, and I have no excuse for why my coat is flung over the kitchen chair.

In this angle you can see the buffet/hutch.  In this angle you can also see a handful of my camera bags on the left of it...and me in the reflection of the mirror...and the temporary spot for my iMac...yup...on the floor.  Not the most comfortable place to work from.

A detail shot of the Garnet Cabinet from Crate and Barrel.

Detail of the Pottery Barn Chain Link Rug.  It is a very dark Navy color.  I love the Nautical feel of it without being too blatantly nautical.

Detail of the Silhouette Sofa, Crate and Barrel 

Another detail of the Silhouette Sofa, Crate and Barrel 

A few fabric swatches up for consideration for pillows.  Not sure, but we're leaning towards either the red or navy stripes. I'm thinking navy, though.

Hopefully I will have some free time in the next week to post a few more things we have been doing.  Until then, happy Big 12 Tournament week :)

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The Bookcase Part 2

If you missed the first post, cleverly titled: The Bookcase Part 1 you might want to read that first before reading this post. :)

So, we had some red objects and a few silver ones in the bookcase with blue backs.  I liked it, but I showed my mom and she thought we needed a little more variation in color.  Yellow seemed like the obvious go-to, because it was the accent color being used in the kitchen with the blue walls.

I wasn't really sure what the yellow was going to be until I stumbled across a craigslist posting that caught my eye.  I'm not even really sure what section I was looking in, or how I saw it, but I found a man on craigslist selling over 300 National Geographic Magazines for $60 (plus a nice bookcase to go with).  The oldest magazine was from 1956, and include almost every issue from 1960-2003.  I did a quick google/ebay search and found that half as many National Geographics from the same period were selling for $300+ on ebay.  Plus, I love history very much, and I love looking through National Geographics very much, so if it ended up not working out in the bookcase, I figured they would not go to waste.

I was a little nervous, because it was my first craigslist purchase and the man asked to meet in the parking lot of a grocery store in Lawrence by a flag pole and to look for his van...oh, and he said he didn't own a cell phone.  So, naturally I call my mom and ask if she will go with me, and she was awesome and said yes.  So, we both show up at the flag pole and find our van.  Turns out, it was an incredibly nice man who had separated out the magazines into smaller boxes so they would be easier to carry.  He even gave me a whole box of Smithsonian magazines for free.  All in all, it was a great experience, but I'm still glad I had my mom there with me :)

I took them back to Tony's house and started going through them, and was in love.  I couldn't stop looking at all of the old advertisements and articles.  It was all so fascinating.

Eventually I found the issue form March 1987 (the month/year I was born) and lots of other neat issues like right after we landed on the moon.

Love that they had the floral border in the 60's and 70's

Landing on the Moon

Hologram Edition from 1989 I believe

The famous piercing eyes issue.

Issue from the month I was born.

My oldest issue, February 1956

So, then it was just a matter of putting them in the bookcase in a way that wasn't too contrived, and that added something to the room. Which was much more difficult than it sounds.  Eventually, I came up with this:

This set up is definitely not permanent.  It seems a little contrived, and the primary colors thing is a little bit in your face.  I like it, I think I love it, but I'm just not sure.  Tony likes it, which is the most important thing.  The only thing that bugs me is when people assume we went red blue and yellow because they are KU colors.  That honestly wasn't the intention at all.  And this blue is definitely not PMS293 KU blue (at least not in person).  Working with that color all day, I'm not sure I could look at it all night too :)  However, I guess I understand where people get that idea (even the Crate and Barrel movers immediately said, Oh I get it, KU color scheme)...so I should just let it go and move on.  It's not like it's a bad thing.

The set up isn't permanent, who knows, I'm sure it will all move around before too long and once Tony starts getting actual objects in the house, it will hopefully feel less placed and more personal.  I didn't purchase any object that didn't have a personal connection or meaning to one of us, but it's always nice to have actual personal objects as well.  Here are a few details from the bookcase:

p.s. ignore all of the empty picture frames with random models in them.  Those will be filled at some point...hopefully.

iPhone picture...sorry

An airplane for Tony :)

As always, love my sailboats :)

I just love this little birdie!

Right side

Left side

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