The TV Room Plan

So the other space I'll be spending a lot of time is a TV room/family room addition in the back of the house. This was originally a patio, but has been finished to be a cozy {but not cozy-small... more cozy-warm} space to relax.

Here's what we were dealing with before:

So many things that I like and dislike in one room!

First up, I'm the granddaughter of a bricklayer. Painted brick is not ok with me. I know it's a huge trend right now to paint brick, but I think many, many people will be sad that their brick won't ever be natural again. That's just my two cents. Plus, the color that this fireplace was painted did not look very good in person. It looked dirty... like smokey. And on top of that, if I were to paint brick, I really only like white... BUT with the paneling {which I did not love, but could stand until a future phase} being white, it would have been white over-kill.

With that being said, here was the original plan for the space:

• Strip the brick fireplace and get it as close back to natural brick as possible
• Remove stinky carpet and lay hardwood floors
• Work with the white woodword
• Add crown molding and chunky baseboards
• "Beef-up" {a very technical term} the built-ins and paint them a bright color like you see below... possibly build out cabinets on the bottom section of either side of the built-ins for more hidden storage {DVD's, extra pillows and blankets, etc.}, also below.

 

lifeingraceblog.com

• "Beef-up"/add a reclaimed wood mantle or concrete mantle {I'll share inspiration pics later}
• Purchase a kilim rug full of color to bring life to the white room
• Mount a TV over the mantle
• Add comfy furniture for lots of lounging 
• Add bamboo blinds and colorful curtains
• Paint the back door a fun color {yellow, maybe?}

So there you have it. That was the original plan... but if I've already learned something from this process {besides that everything is more expensive than what you have budgeted for}, I've learned that plans change quickly. Here's the scoop... my contractor came to me and said there were repairs that needed to be done to the paneling that were going to become somewhat expensive. With that in mind, I asked him to give me a quote for removing the paneling and hanging drywall. Long story short, although I was planning to do that in a future phase, I went ahead and had it done already. Don't get me wrong, I'm super pleased not to have paneling {goodbye 1970's!}, but part of me was kind of excited about working around that design challenge and having some colorful built-ins {my built-ins in the front living room are also white, so I was thinking something different back here}. Here's what the room currently looks like pre-floors... yes, there was linoleum under the carpet! {Sidenote: holy moley looking at pictures like this of the in-between phase gets me a little overwhelmed!}

I chose a avocado-ish color for the walls. It's called Hearts of Palm by Sherwin Williams. I really like the color... it's a great yellowy-green, but as I'm reflecting on my original plans, I'm still sad that I won't have my bright built-ins. So this room will definitely be a work in progress... who knows, maybe I'll change the walls to a more neutral color to accommodate bright built-ins. We'll see. I do know though that there is still much more to do, but I'm excited to cuddle up in this room and relax! I did already purchase that kilim rug I mentioned earlier, but now I'm trying to decide if I want it in this room or in the dining room. So many decisions! Only time will tell!

Off to Canada tomorrow, so I'll probably be away from the blog for a bit! But next week is a BIG week! Cleaning, painting {more} and moving! You'll be sick of my updates once it's all over... just hold tight!

The Before {Inside}

I mentioned I bought a house and we are mid-reno, but what reveal would be complete without a good look at the before? {And by the way... I finally upgraded to a legit camera, unfortunately, these before pics were my first try using the gadget and I was painfully unaware of how to zoom out. Oops! Oh well, the 'afters' will be better!}

Here we go...

Living Room:

Coming in and looking immediately to the left you see these built-ins.

Dining Room: 

Kitchen:

TV Room:

Downstairs Bedrooms:

Front Bedroom

Back Bedroom

Downstairs Bathroom:

Master:

Clearly my Dad was excited to take the stinky carpet up!

Master Bath:

I'm sure you're all just dying to know what I have planned, but let's let the beauty of the wallpaper, blue contertops and stinky carpet all sink in, shall we? As you can probably gather, each of those items are on the chopping block. Stay tuned for details on what I have planned for each of these spaces! And I owe you pictures of the outside spaces... the patio is going to be wonderful!

Have a great weekend! And a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my MOM! 

Feeling Artsy

If you've been keeping up with your fav lifestyle blogs lately, you've probably noticed a few of them doing round-ups sponsored by Fab. This is definitely not a sponsored post {I wish!}, but the other bloggers have inspired me to peruse the goods on the site.

Can't wait to have walls of my own to hang art like so:

Not even sure what I love about them so much, but I do... especially that last one. I could do a whole room around that baby!

All paintings are by artist Eileen Lang and can be found here on Fab. 

Home Sweet Home

What a week it's been since last Monday. Though my heart is still saddened for the victims of the tragedy in Boston last week, I am once again reminded that there is good in this world... and I truly believe the good will always outweigh the bad. 

As I continue to watch news coverage of the courageous stories that surface out of Boston, I see love. Love for one another. Love for the marathon itself. And love for their city. Their strength and passion reminds me to love my city, too. Kansas is with you, Boston.

Love your city.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Industrial Chic Strikes Again!

So I think industrial kitchen chairs are actually finding me now, rather than the other way around! I've already talked about the look here and here, but if I were to pull the trigger on incorporating them into my imaginary home today, I think I'd have to go for red!

Like so:

Censational Girl

Don't you just love the mix of the industrial chairs with the rustic farmhouse-like table? I think the pop of red is the perfect compliment to the worn-wood look.

Apartment Therapy

Well these chairs aren't necessarily industrial, but they are a great red! And those black french doors... LOVE.

Design Sponge

So much goodness in this picture! Love the aqua-teal wall color with the red chairs... Turquoise and Red have always been a fav color combo or mine, and this is a pretty lovely version. The table is also really interesting - from the shape, to the natural texture, to the industrial green legs. Also loving the rug. What am I not loving in this picture? That cra-cra-crazy chandelier. Eeeeek. Please exit stage left, crazy legs.

But like I said, versions of industrial chairs keep finding me! Don't know how they got my name or address, but Home Decorators Collection mysteriously sent me a random catalog the other day. What was in it? 

Tomato Red Industrial Chairs. Go figure. For indoors or out! Double bonus!

Comfy Cozy

Well, it happened. It got cold outside. And all I want to do when my alarm goes off in the morning is roll back over and spend the day bundled up inside. In my dream world, I could do that... and I could have a cute comfy cozy outfit to hang out in all day.

Like so:

tee / cardi / slippers / pants / mug

A girl can dream...