Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Family Room: Painting Progress

When we first moved in to our new house, I knew that I wanted our main living area (i.e.: family room) to be bright.  We have 3 floor-to-ceiling windows and 1 french door and I wanted to take advantage of this sun-filled room (despite it being north facing).  I thought what a great opportunity to paint it Benjamin Moore White Dove.  This is my all-time favorite 'white' and I have used it in our last two houses.

If you remember here, I complained about the mango colored family room.  Below is a "Before" picture from the realtor's listing.

Before (Realtor's Picture)


And, here is what it looks like today (still tons of progress to be made), but you can see the difference of what a little paint (BM White Dove) can do.  **We only painted the walls and not the built ins**

After (Progress)


From the time we moved in, I have been so excited about the potential of this room.  It's obvious strengths are the fireplace flanked by the built-ins and, of course, the natural lighting.  My initial plan was to purchase all new furniture (sofa, club chairs, etc.), so much so, that I had picked out the pieces and fabrics.  But, with more thought I decided to hold off on the purchases;  with a two year old and six year old doing laps around our house, perhaps waiting a year or two is not a bad idea.

To date, the only things I have purchased for this room are the pillows to tie in the blue from sofa, linen from the slipper chairs and the red from the brick fireplace.


Oh, and I also purchased the round black mirror from target.


It is obvious that this room is far from complete - we want to renovate the fireplace (traditional with white molding), get window treatments, new furniture, install new lighting, etc., but we're making progress.   Despite this room being far from complete, I am really enjoying the process and just really happy with what a little paint and new pillows can do to a room!!

Sources: Sofa Pillows, Chair Pillows and Mirror.


Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Porthole Mirror

I am happy to report that I am alive and well after an on-slought of illnesses in our home (that lasted about 10 days).  When it rains it pours - stomach viruses, sinus infections, etc.

Luckily, neither my husband or I got the stomach virus and we were able to celebrate his birthday this past weekend.  We went to Edward Lee's restaurant 610 Magnolia!  I highly recommend it if you've never been or are visiting the area!

So, lately, I really like porthole mirrors.  Kinda of a strange thing to fixate on....but,  if I had a a waterfront  home in New England, I would fully embrace it!  



I love the above vignette from Hudson Interiors.  If you like porthole mirrors, you could pick up this one (pictured below) from Target to create a similar look.


Since I might get a lot of questions as to why there is a porthole mirror in our entry (being that we live in Louisville and well, water is nowhere in sight), I might settle for something a little less obvious, but that has a similar feel.

I really like the mirror pictured below (of course, all the blue and white porcelain helps too!).

It has a similar porthole look and I like the black frame.  I recently picked up this mirror from Target (see below) and I have to tell you I really, really like it.  In fact, I like it so much, I went back and purchased another one.  Thinking of painting it and using it in my daughter's room.  


The frame is slightly distressed and I like how it sits deeply into the frame making it feel more like a porthole.  This black mirror works nicely in our entry against our white walls and I like how the round shape breaks up all the lines from our entryway walls and console.  So, if you're on the hunt for a great round mirror - this might do the trick!  I hope to have pictures of our entry soon!