Living Room, Take 2

I posted some changes to our living room a few weeks back but ever since I posted the photo, the art placement had been bothering me. Truthfully when I viewed the room via my camera lens, I felt as though the art was too small and far apart from eachother. So I took out two smaller pieces and replaced it with my flamingo print. Aubrey says the flamingo print (shown below) should be in a gold frame to match the others. But I think the white breaks it up. Thoughts?

Instead of trying to create art for above the console table I stole my gold mirror from my bedroom. And it's perfect. I think. (I suck at making decisions.) The mirror adds a lot of light to the room and takes away pressure to paint the perfect piece. It's really, really hard to paint at 40" x 40".

Anyways, just some insight into the decorating adventures of this indecisive woman.

Ps., I sold my big 40"x40" painting, and I think from now on I'll stick to smaller paintings (you can find some of my smaller ones in my shop).

Ikea Hack - Gold Frames

Happy weekend. Since I just showed you my trick of how to get the best looking gold frames, here is a post that will give you some inspiration using Ikea. First of all I love Ikea frames - they are economical and are offered in a variety of interesting sizes so you can create interesting displays on your wall. I'm regularly hacking Ikea frames. (Remember this piece?) Above is an example of my latest DIY project, turning an Ikea frame to be a gold shadow box with modern art. 

Step 1: Start with this Shadow Box Frame from Ikea

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living room updates

I made some major progress on decorating the living room. Although I still have a ways to go before I can do a full "Before & After" -- I feel like this room has found its groove. Between adding a new area carpet, hanging some art, and a new blank canvas (that is going to be painted to replace my old painting) things are finally finding homes, and the room is feeling warm and cozy.

The biggest investment in the update was the rug. A decision, and a search that has taken 3+ years.  Why did it take me so long to decide on a rug? Our room is an awkward size and standard rug sizes meant I was either getting one that was too small, or too large. After measuring the perfect size it turned out we needed essentially a 9ft x 9.5ft carpet and after 3+ years came to the conclusion we just needed to go custom. Custom always terrifies me because it can't be returned. (and is generally more expensive)

Because I'm a creature of habit,  I picked the exact same stripe wool carpet that is on our stairs. It's perfect. It's not inexpensive but it can come with us should we move, and it can be cut and bound to a new size in another house - which means it has a longer life span. I also picked it because of the durability. Within 24 hours of having it, Mak (the Cat) barfed on it. Because it is wool it cleaned up easily (but it also helped that I had this).  The stripes mean that it has some style, but is classic and doesn't compete against everything else in the room.

The artwork is a mix, which I will go into another day - but I just wanted to post the updates.

xo Linds

Ps., The gallery wall hanging took me 4 hours. I'm not kidding you. It was the most stressful experience of decorating to date.
Pps., Yes - the blank canvas is resting on water glasses. I did this to envision placement of art. Don't judge.

new mirror

I'm slowly accumulating new decorative pieces to hang in our living room.  My newest acquisition is a gorgeous convex mirror from High Street Market. Other pieces waiting to be hung include an architectural print that is actually quite comical (more on that in another post) and a colourful print I designed after I was inspired by a rug I saw. I'm hoping to have this room figured out very soon so I can sit and just enjoy it. With the addition of the new rug it's really coming together nicely.

new living room carpet

If you've been a long time reader you'll know that I've been incredibly indecisive about a living room rug. I've been writing about my search for the perfect carpet for the room like as in this post, this post and this post. In June it was my birthday and I was gifted a little bit of money. I decided  that instead of spending it on little things here and there - I was going to to put it towards finally purchasing a carpet. I need to clean up the living room a little more before shooting the "reveal" photos of what we went with. It only took 3.5 years of searching.... ;)

{ Barn wood Fireplace Reveal }

I'm so happy with how this fireplace re-do is turning out,

I can't even wait for the walls to be painted to show you the reveal.

We combined vintage corbels, sleek & gorgeous tortoise shell mini subway tiles and

an aged barn wood mantel to create this one of a kind fireplace for my client Angie.

 Here's how the fireplace looked last week...

Ripped down, and fresh dry wall...

Tiles, corbels and a slate hearth...

With Guide to Career Education you can take your Interior Design business to the next level with a Degree in Entrepreneurship.

I'll post more when it's complete!

DIY Abstract Art

I've been slowly adding elements to our living room to make it complete. One of the big puzzle pieces that the room has been missing has been art. We had a stumbling block - The art I did like was out of our price range....so I decided to make my own.

I purchased a canvas in December, and it has since sat in the basement waiting for me to work on it. Although I've done abstract before (Perhaps not on purpose), doing it at such a huge scale like this [40" x 40"] proved to be intimidating. Fast forward to an evening last week and I felt a sudden need to paint. I had already primed the canvas black a few weeks earlier, so all I needed was the willpower to put that first brush stroke to the canvas. So when out of the blue I felt the need to paint - I did. And I'm happy to say, I love it!

Although this canvas could hang without framing, I'm going to get it framed. [pending costs] Right now it sits on the console, and is bringing beautiful colour to our room. I adore it. To read some tips of what helped me create the art, read more. :)

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Ikea Frames Up...Art next

Well, we're closer to having art....We finally hung some frames in our living room. Since January we debated hanging 1 huge print [see post] but in the end, I liked the idea of having the relief and having 2 frames. I'm trying to figure out what to put in them. What I do know is the Ikea matting is coming out and I'm going to cut a new mat. [I find Ikea matting is yellow] Hopefully I'll tackle that this week. xo Lindsay

Console Table for Living Room, done!

We ended up buying the Lumex console table from Urban Barn for our living room!  

I had actually seen this console table a year ago in the store and admired it, but Aubrey and I couldn't justify the regular price tag of $439+ when we looked at it. So when I found out from Anna that it was $199 ... I jumped on it. It reminded me of the Crate and Barrel version at $700.

In the end, the price was right, the style was right, and the dimensions were right as well. Initially I was worried about the lengh, and it being too short but once we got it into the house and I started playing around with some frames (not shown) it started to work. It's not to heavy, and doesn't visually clutter up the room. Next stage for this room is art, and figuring out some more pillows....

Console Table, Part 2

Here are three more consoles to throw into the mix thanks to some reader input. Shannon sent me a link to the one console (1) on All Modern ($449) white which is super beautiful and the right dimensions. (It is also available in Toronto at Urban Mode but for $597). This table led me to research the line of tables from Blu Dot and found the (3) this gorgeous console that looks like marble on top. Another commenter, Anna pointed me to this blog post showing me the console table from Urban Barn that used to be $439 and is on sale right now for $200

All three are contenders but I'm trying the Urban Barn first, because the price is right. But the problem is I can't return it if it doesn't work, because they wont accept returns on sale items. (banging head on desk)

But the store did say that I can take the floor model on loan to see how it will work...which I may do. Sadly, I don't think it will be long enough for what I was thinking, but I may rent the floor model to try it. Thanks for the feedback and help.

Ps., We did consider the DIY route and I got quotes from welders to make the base. Sadly, the quotes were higher than some of the more expensive tables in my earlier post. :(

Console Table

If you have read our blog for awhile you'll know that our living room is a sloooow process. But it's kind of a fun process. :) The pillows I got even have moved to the kitchen, so I'm starting fresh with a new fabric pallet. (Yes, I'm nuts, I'll explain that later) But I've been staring at the big white wall. Art must go here.

 But  I do feel as though something needs to ground it.... Like a console table. A floating piece of art in the middle of such a big wall makes me uncomfortable. (That is the best word I can describe the feeling I have) I really do think something needs to ground it. But the living room isn't huge, and so a console table that is narrow, is the best option.

So here are my finds. Most of them are from Crate and Barrel, I found that they have done a great job of doing console tables. (And let's not forget CB2!)

1. CB2 $299 2. Crate and Barrel $599  3. Urban Barn $599 4.CB2 $299 5. Crate and Barrel $699 6. Crate and Barrel $599

My heart aches for Number 5. I think the detailing of the open shelf is kind of interesting.  But of course, it is the most expensive. I also really quite like #1, as it seems longer than the rest - and the lengh is quite important. As well as lengh, This console table must be very narrow, and it must be very light - a heavy wood one will not go well, as the room will start to feel cluttered.
I have to do a spreadsheet and see which ones are the most narrow, and the longest, and we'll go from there.

Unexpected purchase

Excuse the long intro, but the story is required in order to explain the amazing find...
We have a little antique store in our neighbourhood. It's a weird little store, that isn't very well curated and filled with things that are sometimes just over priced. (All to say, that I rarely go in.) However, last Thursday, on a walk back from Starbucks with the babies attached to us,  Erin and I spotted that the store was having a 50% off sale. We were told by the shop owner that things in the basement she really wanted to get rid of, so to "Make her an offer". And so, the two of us and our babies headed to the dark basement. :)

I saw a side table that was tucked away and was covered in dust....and I instantly fell for it. It was marked at $50, I asked the owner how much she wanted. Want to know how much she wanted? Twenty-Five Dollars! I nearly fainted. I asked her also how much she wanted for a marble vase (marked at $60) and she said..."I'll throw that in for free." I whipped out my credit card and handed it to her. Sold. Erin and I carried the table back home with our Starbucks and our babies in the rain to place it immediately in my living room...



It has beautiful wood inlay detailing and a little drawer that opens on the front.



The table has some marks on the top (See below) but they don't bother me in the slightest.



When Lauren at Style at Home asked in their interview what our decorating style was, I thought that "Young Traditional" summed us up pretty well. And I think below is a perfect example. The furniture feels adult, but the (new) pillows make it youthful. (Do you agree? Or am I totally bonkers)
I think we have a room that is actually coming together! Ok, back to the table - can you believe it was TWENTY FIVE dollars!?



I still walk by it and stop and admire it.

{ Restoration Hardware }

I love Restoration Hardware.

I hadn't been to one of their stores in years.

But, recently on a client trip to Cherry Hill, NJ, I had the pleasure of stepping into one of them.

Holy wok-a-molie!

I was blown away.

This was not the R.H. I remembered.

It makes me want to throw out everything I own and start fresh, completely with
Restoration Hardware stuff!

So I was thrilled when a new client called with this...

a blank slate.

When my client describe her vision for this room, I immediately thought of 

R.H.

and, I came up with this

it's not ALL R.H.

but it definitely has the R.H.Feel.

I'll keep you posted as the project carries on.

Living Room Area Rug

So here is our living room carpet thought process up to date. We are looking for an area rug but have the following things to consider.

Consideration #1 - Who lives here....a baby

We have a baby that is learning to crawl --- carpet has to be somewhat soft (no sisal) Next, we have a baby that is going to spit up, eat food, and spill things. Although I won't let him eat purple Popsicles in here, I also don't want to rope off this room from him. So we have to take into consideration baby messes, which means a carpet with some pattern would be ideal. We tested the front hall carpet from Dash & Albert in here and it was perfect, but it sadly comes not large enough for this room. (Shaking fist at whoever decided to make it 8.5 feet and not 9 over at that company. You ruined everything. Boooo)

 Consideration #2 - Floor Plan

 Here is a floor plan showing you what I'm working with. What we are looking for is an area rug that is ideally between 9.5-10 feet in width, and in length, ideally would be 9 feet long as it would bring the area rug right beneath the couch. Problem is, rugs don't come in those sizes.

So here are my possible options:
(1) Get a rug cut & bound to size of exactly 9x10
(2) Get a pre made rug that is between 9/10feet in width and the lengh can be up to 12 feet. It would just go further behind the couch. We could address this possibly by bringing it to a rug company to cut, and bind. Or, we live with the extra lengh under the couch for a bit.

There you have it. I'm leaning towards Option #2 because Option #1 isn't proving to be as economical as I thought. And I freak out with custom things as I like to see how something will look in a room, before deciding. And after going to Elte and seeing some GORGEOUS rugs my heart is aching for one of them. (See this post and the first photo - aren't they divine?) Seriously, I wish someone in my family was a decorator and would just come in and do this all. It gets kind of stressful sometimes as you don't want to make a (costly) mistake.

Art for the Living Room

Anyone else have major problems hanging art? I think our problem is we have none, and so I'm trying to create art to fill voids. The huge Ikea frame that I tested for the wall in the Living Room didn't work, however looky, looky. It seems to be the perfect size for this side of the room. Next step, finding a photograph that I have to blow up in size and fit to this frame. We may even put in a nice famlily photo that I think we're going to  have taken. What I do know would happen is that I would  have the mat recut as Ikea seems to put off white mats in their frames. (They aren't bright white...anyone get annoyed by that like me?)

Living Room, Tackling Art

With the bookcases complete in the Living Room, I now am itching to start filling in the other gaps. One thing this room is lacking is art.  We are not in a position to buy art like I've profiled on our blog - and won't any time soon, so to leave this wall blank would be so sad. I'm determined to make some art for this room. But how to display it will impact what I do. It's backwards I know. Normally you find art and then find a frame --- but in this case, I'm figuring out the framing and working on what to fill the frames with.

I used as a sample of piece of art I created as I love the colours, and the gold frame. Here is Aubrey helping me out...I did the photos actually more for me (not necessarily for the blog post) because I can sit and study them and see what I prefer. So if you're doing the same thing, I highly recommend taking photos as it will help....

or do we do one BIG piece of art?

My concern is that creating something this large would require me to hire out to have it made. And even with my business and trade accounts for printing, I'm looking at a huge investment. So I feel more comfortable with spending more on little frames and creating a grid. Plus, creating the art inside the frames is something I can print at home. But then this morning I pulled out of storage one of the Ikea HUGE frames to see if it would work.

Nope. This doesn't work.  I feel as though the frame is too small.  So back to the idea of the grid. :) But before I do the art, I do think I need to address a console table so I can determine he width of the frame block. Thoughts?

Here is the story. I bought 2 caned chairs with a cushion in a jewel tone blue. Although recovering the cushions was a future goal, it wasn't planned for right now. But then I decided that the covers should go in the wash, only to discover I had shrunken them beyond recognition....? Well, I finally got them recovered in a fabric closely matching our couch. Sure they may look boring now, but the plan is to add a throw pillow in some beautiful fabric on each chair. Again, my philosophy is to go with neutral tones for big things (like things that require me hiring a re upholsterer) and add in the style with easy to change accessories. Next step is to find some fabric, or some cushions already made, that will go nicely in the room.

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Update - See blog comment section to see where they were done and how much it cost.