A Break from Holiday Decorating...(Living Room Reveal!)

I am taking a break from all things Christmas to post our finished living room.  McG celebrated his 50th last weekend and we really didn't work on any projects...except adding a rug to our living room.

Well - last week you got the reveal of the dining room - this week the living room!  I don't want to say it's "finished" - cause we all know for a home decor junky like me, a room is hardly ever done!  But it's one step closer to feeling done...This is what our living room looked like before we started our renovation.

Pear green walls with aqua accents and that orangey railing...and beige carpet that was way past its prime!

Now we've got grey blue walls, autumn oak laminate floors and white trim...and that railing is outta-here!

And here's the carpet we got for a steal of a deal yesterday at Home Depot - a golden-y chenille rug (originally way too expensive for our budget at $449) but in the sale bin for just $79!!  WOO HOO!

McG and I couldn't believe our eyes when we found it in the sale bin.  We had the sales clerk double check and sure enough it was marked down!  We quickly paid for it and got out of there before they came to their senses and changed their minds...

It has a two toned look with a soft backing that won't harm our new floors.  It also has a border of gold-y carmel which is lovely with our curtains.  Here's a closer look...

Oh, and this is our new coffee table/ottoman - that we also got on sale at Home Depot.  It really shows up now on the new carpet.  And below is a close-up of the fabric on our pillows...It reminds me of bark-cloth.

It has a mix of greens and blues that go well in our new room.

And finally here's a picture of the new wall that is now in place of the railing.  Sloan loves the new wall and likes to greet everyone from here - its so much easier for him to climb on than the old railing.

Except for some artwork over the couch, this room is finished.  I hope you enjoyed the tour of our living room renovation.

Cheryl

The Wall is up!!

I know I shouldn't be so excited, but I am...

You see our entryway used to look like this...with its orangey trim and railings....and our living room couch lived with its back up against this ugly railing for 16 years...really it was meant to be a wall from the beginning, but the builder messed up and installed the railing instead...and for 16 years I have been trying to hide it behind the furniture...it really made it hard to decorate the living room but we lived with it - UNTIL NOW...I have finally talked McG into getting rid of it and installing the wall that the builder should have oh so long ago!!

So down came the railing..and quite easily I might add...

Up went the framing and the hardboard and in less than an hour, McG had the new wall in place! WOO HOO!

He made the framing from two by six lumber and screwed it down well to the adjacent wall and floorboards.

We had purchased these MDF panels a few months back at our local RONA store.  They were on clearing for $7.49 for a 4 x 8 sheet with the design carved out on one side...three panels were enough to cover the whole wall.  We faced the carved side out in the living room, but on the side facing the entryway we chose to have the plain side facing out as I am going to wallpaper the whole wall on that side.  I primed the wall with 2 coats of primer.

The entryway now looks like this...since this picture was taken, I have also painted out the baseboards and started on the remaining handrail.  I must say that I am loving the painted trim.  It makes the whole house look lighter and brighter!!

My last post talked about my inspiration for the kitchen...NOW FOR A SNEAK PEEK OF HOW IT TURNED OUT....

This picture is taken from the view of the dining room through the pass-thru to the kitchen - a full kitchen reveal will be coming soon!!  IT'S EXCITING TIMES HERE AND I AM LOVING IT!

Cheryl

Where do you get your inspiration???

Most of my inspiration lately comes from reading blogs and of course, Pinterest (you can follow me there by clicking the link on the side bar).  But I must warn you, IT IS SO ADDICTIVE!!!  I could (and do) spend hours looking at photos dreaming of what my house could be...McG is not so fond of Pinterest as it just adds fuel to my creativity and more to his honey-do list.

Before the days of Pinterest, I got most of my inspiration from decorating magazines, like Style at Home and Better Homes and Gardens...or from the many shows on HGTV.

As I began to prepare for our latest renovation, I knew I had to incorporate the honey oak kitchen cabinets that were existing in our kitchen.  This is the inspiration I found on Pinterest.  The original source of the photo is http//thefreshlivingroomideas.onsugar.com

What do you think of my inspiration?  Where do you get your inspirations for decorating?  I'd love to hear from you!





P.S. - the painting has begun in my kitchen - and I am so in LOVE with the colour!!

Is this a step backwards???

I am starting this blog at the beginning of our home Reno and re-construction...so in some ways if feels we are taking steps backwards instead of forwards...This is our living room before the demolition...See the railing behind the couch...that lovely orangey thing - it is no more!

Gone also, is the lovely orangey trim around the door frames in the entry and the entire main living areas - I have been decorating around this orange colour for 16 years - AND I WANT IT GONE!!!  And while my before pics are lovely...and the during stage (that we have been living in for the past few weeks) aren't so pretty...I know we are on our way to an even better "after"...so hold tight - its going to be messy for a while longer...

I am trying out some new colours as you can see...but they look alot more blue in this photo..the current wall colour is a "pear green" - not sure of the exact shade but I know the paint came from Sears years ago - I don't even think they sell paint at Sears here in Canada anymore...I am leaning towards a grey-blue colour by CIL paints called Canadian Sky for the living room and dining room...and the kitchen is going to be another CIL shade called Smoked Turquoise.

I'm off to paint another coat of white on the entryway baseboards...wish me luck!!

Cheryl