The Living Room

Well, the living room still isn't quite done.  We don't have everything back up on the walls, but we mostly have the rest of the room put back together.  And although the perfectionist in me would like to wait to do my online reveal until I've made all final decisions and every last detail is perfect (and free of dog hair and clutter), the realist in me recognizes that's not actually going to happen for a long time ever.  So, with the walls looking a little bare, I give you THE LIVING ROOM REVEAL.

Oh, here's a little refresher of BEFORE:

Oh, the plaid sofas.  Easy on the butt, hard on the eyes.

View from the front door.

view from the dining room / hallway

And here is the AFTER:

View from dining room/hallway - new window treatments, TV and bookcase rearranged.

Cream colored slip covers, new ottoman, new paint on the walls and ceiling!

View from the front door.

I should add that the BEFORE pictures are annoyingly dark because actually the new wall color is a couple shades darker than what was up there before.  But with the crisp, light colored furniture, the whole room feels lighter.

Here are things I like about it:
* No more plaid!
* Placement of the TV.  Not so haphazard looking in the corner.  I prefer it centered on the wall  This was a discussion David and I had for years before I could change his mind. Now he agrees it's much better my way.  (STORY OF OUR MARRIAGE).  Of course, we don't have a matching bookcase to balance it, so I need to decide what will go up on the wall there.  Maybe The Tempest playbill/poster that was there before, but maybe we need a change.  Something vertical with a solid frame that will add some balance to that wall.  Or maybe a really big clock...  TBD.
* The curtains.  Sale at West Elm.  Ordered two, thought it was a bargain.  Put them up and... something was off.  Followed Monica's advice and ordered two more.  Yup, that's what I needed.  Not such a bargain anymore, though...
* The paint color - It's Behr Perfect Taupe.  The swatch looked way more brown than gray (even stuck up on our wall where it lived for several weeks) but the walls are now reading gray.  Not sure it looks great with the earthy tones of our rug, but the rug does have some blue/gray in it.
* The ceiling.  We painted it Aqua Breeze.  It reads much bluer in photographs than it does in real life.  In person, it's subtle, but noticeable.  I like it.

Here are things I'm not sure about:
* What to do with my favorite green lamp
* Whether I like the pillows, whether they are too "fancy" because of the silky material, whether the pattern that kind of echos the curtain is too busy

Here are things I'm resigned to:
* The ottoman being a little too big for the room.  Because we love the storage space.  Also it's super convenient for foot resting from the love seat or sofa.  And it rolls out of the way for when I do my dorky workout DVDs.  So comfort/convenience wins, at least for now.
* The slip covers being wrinkled/askew/messed up
* Not buying new furniture until we move OR I find our dream set on super sale...

Yes, the slip covers ARE a bit of a pain (basically they look fine--until you SIT on them) but let's have that before and after one more time...

PLAID

No plaid!  Isn't it refreshing?

Yeah, I think we'll deal with the wrinkles.

So that's the big project that's been occupying my time.  I'm still spending lots of time thinking about what's going back up on the walls, how I want to re-do the gallery of frames in our little hallway, and what's going to go back up in the bathroom, and whether I'll like the new shower curtain I ordered...

I have to say, this busy-ness has been really good for me.  I miss Eliza just as much as ever, but the everyday living of life is a little less painful, and I'm grateful for that.  I realized that I'd been going to bed with my brain running through paint swatches and pillow covers, and that was a nice change from the oppressive sadness that tends to lurk up at night.

There was a time, not so long ago, when I couldn't imagine having the energy to take on all of the little projects that I always had going, and now here I am with a bunch of little projects in various stages of completion.  I don't know exactly how I got here, but here we are.