Help! Sofa, Pillows, Paint.

I have an old home, 100+ years old, that still has the original woodwork. I have spoke on here before about painting the original dark woodwork white, but I know I'll never do it. [maybe for the next house!]This afternoon I was browsing the internet for sofa ideas. [mine needs a punch up with pillows and such] and I found this amazing before and after on Domino's website. This image really makes me rethink painting my woodwork!

Right now I only have two pillows for my sofa. They are a great orange, lime green, and aqua modern pattern. [my sofa is a charcoal gray] I think that I need a few more pillows, different sizes, along the same color scheme to really make the room pop. I have also been hunting for an aqua or bright green rug as well. [affordable of course]

These sofa images from the blog: Made By Girl, really inspired me for the multiple pillow look.
Here is my sad, un-styled sofa. I love the pillow in the front, I am just note sure how else to get my living room to be more stylish. The dark woodwork always holds me back from experimenting with bolder colors.I think that a light rug would do the trick as well as a new wall color and some great pillows.

Our Guestbedroom

I saw this photo of a bedroom from Porridge Home Bedding a few months ago on Design*Sponge. I fell in love with the image right away because it is so difficult to find inspiring ideas for interior decorating that uses natural colored wood work. [i.e. the chair next to the bed] I loved the gray purple color of the wall immediately. I also spied a similar bed in the ikea catalogue. I thought: I can do this!

So, with the help [lots of it!] from my handy man hubby Pete, we transformed our vacant front bedroom into a sweet serene guest room.

1. Remove Old Wall Light Fixture
2. Spackle & Repair Walls
3. Prepare & Paint Walls
4. Install 3 Electrical Outlets [the room had zero working electrical outlets]
5. Install Bamboo Flooring
6. Construct Ikea Bed, Buy Rug, Install in Room.


It was a fairly quick re-do that still needs some decorating work. We had lovely guests coming to stay with us for New Year's Eve, so we really busted to get this done in the fall. Pete installed the floor in two days! He is an amazement! I think the final paint color came out a tad too purple and I think it would look better with a touch more gray. We also need to find a nice black and white bedspread as the sage green coverlet is getting quite worn. I also wanted to take down the ceiling fan, but I imagine it is nice to have for your guests.

1. Bookcase: Vintage
2. Bed: Ikea Leirvik $129.00
3. Paint: Lowes Valspar: Livid Violet in Eggshell
4. Flooring: Supreme Bamboo 1.99 sq. ft.
5. Curtains: Ikea Alvine Spets 14.99
6. Lamp: Vintage [rewired by my husband]

xo

Custom Portraits @ Olivesomeday

I painted a new frame for a custom portrait. I think it came out pretty cute. It would make a very sweet wedding gift. You can pick it up in the shop!

It is snowing in Eastern Pennsylvania, again. This is the view from my studio window. I have an outhouse my back yard! Its snow covered and the snow is expected to continue. I miss the maple tree and its leaves. When that tree is full, it is a sight to behold. I adore it. I love layingin my bed, listening to its leaves rustle...

My husband and I bought a 100 year old farm house about 19 months ago and we have been fixing it up, slowly, but surely. This is a little sneak peek at our upstairs bathroom that we re modeled this summer. It was a long process that involved repainting a claw foot bathtub, moving a sink, removing a sink from the wall, light fixtures, pipes, paint, etc! I adore the new look very much!For a month we had the tub shoved on its side in our hallway next to our bedroom. We had to inch by every time we walked down the hallway! The frustration was worth it in the end!

The wall paint is Martha Stewart's "Celadon Pottery" and the shower curtain is from Ikea. [it is actually a curtain turned on its long side and held in place with large window curtain rings] Only $14.99, which I love that price tag! We kept the same toilet but bought a new sink from Lowes. [as charming as the old one was, it was in horrible shape and we could hardly fit out hands underneath the faucets to wash] Also, we have oil heat, so the hot would get blasting hot and scald our poor hands! My hubby tiled the floor, which was an entire major project in itself, but he was amazing. His only request: that I stop coming in the room to "help", ha! Guess I wasn't very helpful!

Now enjoy a cup of hot cocoa brimming with marshmallows...

xo