I don't really know where this all started.
I honestly think it may have started with this post over at Vintage Chica where Eren revealed her vintage inspired playroom/family office.
Or it may have begun with one of Justin's recent garage sale finds....
In any case, all I know now is that my house currently looks like this:
Justin's working and I was a little bored so I decided that today would be a good day to rearrange every single piece of furniture in our house.
And now I'm stuck.
I've been realizing lately that with the housing market as it is and the prospect of moving a little distant on the horizon.... and with the way our family seems to unexpectedly grow at a steady pace... I need to better utilize the space we have. I'm not ready to move anybody down to the basement and honestly, it would take a fair amount of money to get it use-able.
I started thinking that we rarely use our dining room and that it might be fun to change it into a sitting room/office space kind of like Eren's. So when Justin found this awesome deal of a sofa it gave me motivation to begin.
Here's where I'm at.
My living room:
Now before you go poo-pooing the mauve tufted sofa, take a look at some of these photos that I had hidden away in my design inspiration folder. ( I really never thought I would be using them on my blog so I'm sorry I can't cite sources)
You know, a little Anthropologie-ish
This one makes me giddy every time I look at it.
I'm not sure I've shared with you a little addiction I havecalled "Design Blogs" but we'll talk about that another time.
For a tufted extravaganza go to Flickr and search "Tufted Sofa." Love.
Here's another great one.
The other thing we won't talk about right now is how this couch smells or the fact that I think it's irritating my allergies... we'll just talk about how it looks. Unless we decide we hate it, in which case I'll tell you how it smells musty and mildewy and how simply looking at it makes my eyes itch. The other thing we won't talk about or tell Justin is how Steele and I miraculously moved this couch into our living room all by ourselves or how we scraped it up a little or how we got a few brown scuffs on the kitchen floor. Ahem. Did you hear something?
The couch is surprisingly comfortable. Originally I thought I would paint the wood either black or grey and maybe eventually have it reupholstered - similar to what Leah did here. But I'm just not quite so sure now. It's a little smaller than I guessed it would be now that it's actually in the living room. And I'm wondering if I'm going to have to re-do everything in the room in order to make it look right style-wise. Any thoughts? Shannon - I'm talking to you here.
Moving on....
Here's another great one.
The other thing we won't talk about right now is how this couch smells or the fact that I think it's irritating my allergies... we'll just talk about how it looks. Unless we decide we hate it, in which case I'll tell you how it smells musty and mildewy and how simply looking at it makes my eyes itch. The other thing we won't talk about or tell Justin is how Steele and I miraculously moved this couch into our living room all by ourselves or how we scraped it up a little or how we got a few brown scuffs on the kitchen floor. Ahem. Did you hear something?
The couch is surprisingly comfortable. Originally I thought I would paint the wood either black or grey and maybe eventually have it reupholstered - similar to what Leah did here. But I'm just not quite so sure now. It's a little smaller than I guessed it would be now that it's actually in the living room. And I'm wondering if I'm going to have to re-do everything in the room in order to make it look right style-wise. Any thoughts? Shannon - I'm talking to you here.
Moving on....
The Dining Room
in case you missed it or need a reminder
in case you missed it or need a reminder
My plan is to leave the couch where it is. Leave the table where it is - maybe cut it down to kid size and re-paint it. I'm thinking of putting some fun gutter shelves on the right hand wall. Seen here and here. On the left wall I'm going to look for a long skinny desk where we can put the computer so we don't have to move it back and forth to the living room when we want to watch a movie or shows. Our piano is also in this room and I'm really looking forward to making it into a cozy little area. I can't decide what type of vibe I want in here though - the couch style/color may have to determine that.
And finally, the kitchen.
What I would really love to do is tear out the wall where the stove is and the wall that is perpendicular to it and put in a big banquette similar to the one seen here (with different colors and style)
Then, I would put in an island with my stove in it and pots hanging over the top. And since we'd be doing all that I'd probably tear out my ugly brown cabinets and replace them with some from the new Martha Stewart line at Home Depot. Open shelving and bakers racks maybe? But since that won't happen until we win the lottery and I think you have to actually play the lottery in order to win.... it will probably end up looking something like the one at 1927 Bungalow Love. Along these lines:
Sooooo?????
Did I make a big mistake?? I really loved my living room the way it was but maybe once I finish this could all be pure awesome-ness?
I'll just be here waiting... and sneezing and itching.
Then, I would put in an island with my stove in it and pots hanging over the top. And since we'd be doing all that I'd probably tear out my ugly brown cabinets and replace them with some from the new Martha Stewart line at Home Depot. Open shelving and bakers racks maybe? But since that won't happen until we win the lottery and I think you have to actually play the lottery in order to win.... it will probably end up looking something like the one at 1927 Bungalow Love. Along these lines:
Sooooo?????
Did I make a big mistake?? I really loved my living room the way it was but maybe once I finish this could all be pure awesome-ness?
I'll just be here waiting... and sneezing and itching.
9 comments:
I'm smiling because although I have NO idea what you should do, the whole time I'm reading this post I was saying in my mind: "You go, girl!" :)
I think this is one of the things about living in a small[ish] space: you have to constantly reevaluate the use of your space and "think outside the box" and I get ALL excited about things like that, not to mention that I'm constantly doing it in our own home.
We are committed to staying where we're at (unless God drops a house with land in our laps, that is) and let's just say... it is a *challenge* at times to make our space work for our family-of-several. It used to make me discontent, but now I love it and see it as a puzzle and love changing it up.
:)
I feel like I'm writing my own post, here. But I'm not done. Two more thoughts:
I think you have to ask yourself what your needs really are. Re-using your dining room space is great, but is that the best use for it for your family? (The office/sitting room area).
I think it looks to crowed (from this view), like you'll have to squeeze through in between the tables to the couch. What I keep wanting to do when I see your picture is cut your black table in half so that a straight edge is touching the wall. (Easy for me to say since it's not my table and I have no idea how expendable it is to you).
Okay... love ya. You're creative and smart and know what you're doing and you'll do it well! :)
Let me just say...no design sense here. None. Zilch. Nada. But there's one thing I DID notice in your post...
"and with the way our family seems to unexpectedly grow at a steady pace"
That statement needs elaboration. Needs a blog post on its own or somethin'.... is there a new Baby Jobes out there somewhere?
I love Stacy's idea of cutting the black table in half to create more space in the new sitting room. Rain gutter shelves would be perfect in there.
Love, love, love the banquette idea for the kitchen.
Cutzi, I get the excitement of having a dream look within reach, but I'm going with tough love here. Are you prepared to rip that sofa down to the frame and rebuild it to get rid of the must/mildew? Because getting rid of it will be almost impossible otherwise, and it's pretty toxic to be around. I would start there before you change anything else in the room.
If you can work miracles and get the sofa to the point where you can sit on it sneeze-and itch-free, then proceed with the dream. (Or find another one that doesn't make you physically ill, and release this one to Craiglist.) What about putting the tufted sofa in the sitting room, and make that space your giddy dream room? Then you could keep your cute, comfy living room and have a smaller space to go all-out in and change on a whim.
Cutzi,
I love changing things around too - moving furniture, changing the decor, etc. I think it's seasonal!
And you are really clever and creative, as well as awesome at 'craigslisting' up some great finds, but...
Michelle is much better at being tactful than I am, so here goes: no sofa is worth stink/sneeze/itch. Mildew will make allergies worse and can lead to long-term health problems.
And with a small space, less is more, yah?
LOVE that line about your family unexpectedly growing at a steady pace... irony? ;D
And I love your kitchen nook, with the half-curtains. Put your built-in banquette there?
Have fun,
Julie
Well, I always love how your living room looks, so I trust that whatever you do will look fabulous. The vintage style isn't my personal bent, so it's hard for me to jump inside your brain on this one. But I'm sure it looks great in there! (Your brain, that is.)
I agree that if the sofa makes you sick, it's not the right sofa. But it sounds like you already know that.
I can also identify with Stacy's thoughts on living in a small space. I'm constantly having to problem-solve and come up with new solutions that make the best use of our space. I love it though. We simply can not afford to keep things that aren't a necessity. It feels good to know that every square inch of my house is being purposefully used! It's like a puzzle. I think it's fun. :)
Whoa! I have no idea what you should do, but I know that whatever you do will turn out fab. It always does with your touch.
Cutzi!
You are a girl after my own heart. Rearranging and bargain shopping in a quest to fully utilized the space available. I get made fun of by by my hubby and close friends all the time as I never seem to have it just exactly how I want it and am always moving things around. That said, I am a total hands on decorator- so I feel like I would need to see it in person get my hands dirty, if you will. I'd love to come and brainstorm though!
I do see the potential in the couch and am also totally drawn to that style. I think it could be really fun to paint the outside and ( if able) get some new fabric- I just don't know how much of a project that would be. I'd love to arrange a playdate and chat over it anytime, by no means am I a decorator, but I pretend sometimes...
Cutzi,
Totally a random thought.
I was looking again at the photo of your kitchen. I LOVE that pale blue you have in there.
What about painting the kitchen cabs? White? It would brighten everything up and make it look bigger.
Just a thought.
Julie
Julie -
I'd LOVE to paint the cabinets white and have done a fair amount of research on it. I even found someone with my exact cabinets who did it and it looked great. The only thing is that it is extremely labor intensive and unless you do it right it can peel. So far I just haven't had the motivation... and Justin just heaves a big sigh every time I mention it. Maybe someday....
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