Living Room Refresh

So, it was only a few months ago that I showed you a mirror, that I had made over, hung up over my sectional in the living  room.

But, you know me I'm always changing everything.

This makeover was kind of an accident. One day I bought a throw blanket for the room (on clearance for $15.) It was white, and putting it in the space inspired me to bring in a lot more fresh elements.

I wound up having everything I needed on hand, so this may cover cost me no more then the clearance throw blanket. But it made a significant difference in the room. It's much cheerier now.

These pillows are all made from scraps of fabric that I had laying around. Which are used to recover pillows I already owned. I wanted a lot of texture, but not a lot of color so this worked out great.

This pillow was made from a tiny bit of fridge I had left after adding it to my throw blanket in my family room. I just sewed it down the center, two times facing each other, and so it up-and-down it to hold it in place.

These pillows, were made from scraps of cotton blanket. And I will be in my own yard to give it extra interest.  And for the biggest pillow I made my own tassels from the yarn. The yard is one of those Kenzie are in it's like the current thinner as it's woven, so it gives a lot of nice texture. ( and I actually got it for free once when ordering a different yarn online. Extra bonus! )

The art I have up and there was kind of an accident but I kind a love it. I want of scraping off old art thinking I would paint on this again that really like that was left over. So I'm calling it an abstract art. It works for me for now you know me I'll probably change it later.

So that's the living room now it's looking a lot brighter. I feel like it's more welcoming this way. Which is nice since the first room you see you when you walk into the house.

A Few Living Room Updates

Hey Guys, sorry for the slow posts again. I’m kinda in a funky place again.

I suddenly have a really big passion and drive for being more of myself, and myself really loves interior design, so I really want to push past a internal barrier I have, and turn the blog up a notch, and maybe even purse a bit of something more than just on the blog (we’ll see) -- but my barrier is hung up on a bunch of stuff I’m working through. So my fears are louder than normal lately, and I AM working on pushing through those and really bringing it. But just like that discussion I had about weight loss before -- my fears are almost always more afraid of success than failure (Which is saying something, because I HATE failing.)  But I have this lame hang up about my success being detrimental to others. (It’s hilarious in a way, how cornered I can get within that mindset. But then it’s actually not funny.) Which is wrong, I know. But I’m training my heart and it’s kinda stunted here. 

   So I’m really -- well it’s like when you want to go off the high dive for the first time, but you are also terrified. That’s where I am -- inching forward, pulling back, looking down, shaking -- excited and horrified, wondering if I will survive, thinking about how cool it would be if I did it. But what if ALL THE WATER goes up my nose! Oh my gosh….forward, back, forward, back. Standing still.

    And all that is happening just because I want to take pictures with my real camera and maybe do a little staging (try to look legit) when I show you my backyard.

Who does that? Who get’s scared of that?

I do.

Ha. 

ALSO…gotta be real here -- some of my delayed blogging is also the fact that I have to clean off my hardrive because it’s so stinking full of photos, that to upload any new ones takes... for stinking ever getting my photos off the real camera….and I’m just dreading the upload process --wondering if it will even be worth the payoff. 

AND I’m dreading even more the idea of trying to clean up my computer (because I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m afraid I’ll ruin something.) Which might maybe after the hard work make moving forward better. But I don’t even know if that’s true. I’m not techy enough. I’m guessing. lol

SO ANYWAY -- Not sure you care about that stuff.(?)

I thought for today I would take a couple iPhone photos of a couple things I haven’t showed you. (Of which there is a lot -- because grief messed up (is messing up still) my sense of time and so I think I’ve been more interactive than I have been. But lots of stuff has shifted and I forgot to blog it.

So apparently I did this in January, says my camera roll. Geeze I have an amazingly messed up sense of time. I thought I just did this.

This mirror came with the thrifted dresser I got and redid for the girls’ room. I was really excited about it it’s a cool shape. But the frame is blah plastic that’s yellow-ivory, with touches of gold in spots.

I wanted to make it look like weathered wood. So this was my process. I got out this tan paint. Forget the name but it’s a valspar sample jar I had made up for re-doing some tables. It has something about wood or a tree in it’s name.

Then I dry brushed white craft paint over it.

Kept playing with it.

Then I got out the brown craft paint. I went light at first, tried focusing on the edges and keeping the brush strokes looking like grain and sandpaper marks. This look was really pretty and I would have left it like this for some spaces. But I decided it needed to be a lot darker since it would be going up next to a really dark “wood” medallion I have over our fireplace.

And so I just kept going. It was actually really fun. Each step from here on out could have been a good look. But I just kept going until I was happy with the look for the living room.




Then I took off the brackets it came with (to attach to the dresser) and then added some mirror hanging bracket-loop things and hung it up over our living room couch.

(Never mind the bodiless guitar hanging there -- Blake’s doing a project.)

Figuring out what goes over that couch has been hard for me.  This whole room’s scale is so hard. I don’t know if it’s becuase 60’s vs modern scale furniture, or if it’s just a hard room. But everything in this space’s look is so hard earned.

I do like this mirror there. I like how it bounces more window light into the space, because the back of the room doesn’t really get the sunlight, so this helps a little.

I hung the mirror lower than would be good for tall people to see themselves in, because room scale (but I’m short so it doesn’t matter.)

I’m still not 100% sold on just that mirror there. It still feels a bit small for the space. But it’s good for now.

Moving onto another thing I find hard. Lighting sources. I need to up my Pinterest-interior-studying game on lamps and ceiling fixtures, cause those really challenge me. 

But I’m finally happy with two of my lamps.

Over here I had envisioned a clear glass lamp vase -- however reality struck and I didn’t want to spend a fortune on something so delicate with kids around. So I found this lamp for I think $9 at ReStore. (I may have showed you it before?) But the lampshade I was using didn’t feel super great. It was vintage so it’s scale was right, but the tone was less right. I found this one at Goodwill a few weeks (probably longer - ha) ago for maybe $4(?). And it’s so good for this lamp. I was really hesitant to buy it since it’s always so hard to tell without the lamp there -- but it’s great.

I had actually been hoping the shade would fit this other lamp I’ve been struggling with over on my entry way dresser. But it totally did not fit that one. (Lucky for me -- it was what the stripped lamp was looking for!)

But I finally figured this one out too.

I found this lamp shade at Lowes. 

Once again, nervous. I’ve tried so many things with this lamp. 

I love it, I think it’s so cool with the scales on it. (Probably due to the mermaid love being revived with young ladies in the house.) A long while ago, I saw it a Restore for $8 and left it, but I had to go get it later because it wouldn’t stop speaking to me. But very recently I was *this close* to sending it back to the thrift store since I couldn’t find the right shade. I was starting to think it was hopeless.

Finally Lowes came out with this and I was pretty sure it was the one. But when I brought it home I was thwarted because the lamp had a tall shaft that holds the light bulb, so the lampshade wasn’t looking long enough. We fixed it by taking the lamp apart and putting the lampshade harp at the base of the shaft. That required Blake to rewire the lamp for me -- but it was pretty simple, just took a couple minutes for him. And then finally the lamp made sense.

I like that it’s harnessing my British Cowboy vibe again. Pairing well with my “new” mirror -- which also works the British Cowboy theme for me. 

I had a different mirror here (well actually a couple have tried this space out -- one moved to the dining area and it perfect there) and the last one just wasn’t right and I finally admitted it. I found this antique mirror from a dresser (not sold together with it) at Goodwill for I think $12. My world is always made by these kinds of finds. Beautiful History for cheaper than new. Life is good.

Since it had the knobs for how it attached to the dress on it still, I decided to do this rope look. I got the rope from Menards in their rope section. It’s one of their medium sized hemp ropes. And the knob it’s hung on is actually a drawer pull, also from menards. It’s (I think) black porcelain. It felt like the right material to pull off this antique/modern look to me. And I was able to just shove it over a finishing nail I put in the wall. I went through our box of nails trying them out, picking the one that fit the tightest since they are irregular. It worked well. It’s been staying put fine. But if I need to I may add a bit of flexible glue called E600 (that stuff is sooo handy for everything!).

So yeah I’ve been enjoying this look for a bit now.

(The tray there is actually intended for my coffee table, but it’s currently a lego castle, so ya know.)

(Also ignore that black thing behind the dresser -- its a project I abandoned while pregnant and now don’t know if I want anymore -- need to make the call and get it out of there.)

Alright well I hope I tided you over with this post.

And Hopefully I can get my mind to let my heart take those pictures of my backyard.

(Did I mention outside photos are harder because lighting is more fickle? Well that’s true.

Also because bikes, brooms and ladders seem to pile up on our patio and I will have to find toddler free time to accomplish allthethings!)

(But hard things can’t stop me. It’s my head that’s in my way. 

Maybe if I call myself hard headed it will mean my head can’t stop me!)

Living Room Update

Today is the day.

I’m stepping up my blog game.

I gave the blog-space a facelift.

And

I pulled out my real, actual camera to take some quality photos.

Which isn’t to say my home has arrived by any means. I’m still working out lots of kinks -- for example, that totally white “art” on the walls up there. I’m planning on coming up with something lovely to do there. But for now, it hangs there helping me brain storm.

I also feel like I need to come up with window treatments. But I’m not sure what yet.

 But something I am sure of….my new leather pillows.

Do you remember how I recovered my piano bench with leather I upcycled from a large suede coat? 

Well I took the rest of that coat, and made two pillows for my couch out of it. And I seriously LOVE the results. 

I keep thinking, well if I didn’t want to splurge on a leather couch (and worry over kid-mistreatment), this is a really nice compromise. (A washable Ikea couch meets leather pillow that only cost me $20 split 3 ways --into pillows and bench.)

I am not going to show you a tutorial of any kind, because this is something that was really random and based totally on what I had leftover from a coat. So it was actually about a two evening mental game of me figuring out exactly how to squeeze two pillows out of it and piece those pieces together. There would be no re-creating it.

But I’ll show you the tools I used.

I’ll say that this project challenged me, and I had to use my seam ripper more times than I wanted to because fitting leather to something is different than standard fabric and I wanted the fit just right. SO I wouldn’t tell someone new to sewing to start with leather. But if you’ve been sewing for a while, I’d say it’s worth a go -- you just need to buy a needle made to go through leather. 

The actual sewing of it is very easy -- the needle makes it all go through the machine like anything else would. It’s just the fit, that’s kinda different to master.

This bolster pillow’s end pieces proved so tricky for me to get the fit right, that (after about 4 tries with the sewing machine) I wound up hand sewing them into place.

But it was worth it. I love the highly styled look it brings to the arm.

 

I’m also learning latley that I’m much more into textures than I had previously realized, so having this natural fiber in the space really brings me joy.

Also, while we are hanging out, I want to show you something else that brings me joy.

My coffee table decor.

More accurately stated my child-friendly coffee table decor.

I may have a strangely strong pull on me to ensure my space can accommodate both kid-friendliness and beauty.
That solidified one day when -- before I had children, and right after I started getting interested in making pretty spaces -- a guest and toddler came over. I was anticipating child-stuff happening and was totally ok with that. But the parent noted, when seeing the toddler bang on my stuff and drool on my things that I wouldn’t be able to have nice things anymore. I said nothing, but internally I became indignant towards that concept. I knew I could have beauty that could handle being around kids -- and I promised myself I would think hard enough to make sure that happened in my life.
I’ve taken it as a personal challenge to push the envelope as far as I possibly can. The better I get at it, the more vindication I feel against that pretend prison of "kids=unenjoyable spaces” mentality.

 How to get there --
My rules:

•  My first rule is that nothing can be priceless -- in fact it should all be as "low-ball-offer” price as possible. That way, if it breaks I don’t financially mind replacing it.
• My next rule is it needs to be durable.
• And the last rule is it still has to be pretty.

Once you get the hang of it, it’s actually not a horribly hard combination.

The biggest trick is knowing what you like, so you can recognizing it in places like a thrift store or craigslist.

The last thing I do, is I talk to my kids --- even when they are very small -- about respecting our things. 

I let them use pretty much everything in the house (as long as they are safe for their age) but I am honest with them about how I enjoy the item, and how if we don’t treat it with care it can break and that would be disappointing. In addition, I often remind them that people are always more important than things and that I won’t ever be so disappointed that it could change how much I love them. But that part of caring for and about people is respecting their things.  

It’s not like a daily conversation by any means, it’s just something I am willing to bring up when it’s needed. And I like to have the conversation before it’s a correction -- so it’s just knowledge, not a reprimand -- so maybe we talk about the right way to handle a new item in the house the day we get it.

(Of course when they are babies we just start at telling them, “gentle” (and demonstrate that) when they are touching something more delicate. And we just kind of add onto the idea as they grow.)

Anyway --
Onto what makes this coffee table set up so kid friendly.

First of all -- I feel so blessed to have this coffee table itself --
It checks all my rule check boxes. It was free (!) from a friend, strong  and sturdy, very pretty.  And bonus points for being round for baby noggins.

But the stuff on the table.
I browed the concepts from ChrislovesJulia here on child friendly coffee tables, plus just the general idea of pretty things I’ve seen, and then went and found it all for cheaper than cheap.

• The tray cost me $2 from Goodwill and it’s some kind or resin-plastic/something non-glass.

• I asked Blake to cut me those blocks out of scraps of wood he had from projects. (For reference the the dark blocks are walnut and the light ones are tiger maple.) So free for those.

• I found that wood bowl for them at ReStore for about a $1.

• The plant holder is metal and cost about a dollar from ReStore. The faux succulent inside it is from Hobby Lobby -- probably about $4 or so. 

• And The candle holder was less than a dollar from ReStore.

• The “Lydia is committed to this concept” part is the “candles” -- I knew regular candles would get broken and I also knew I never intended to light them. So I asked Blake to buy a dowel rod that would fit in the holders, and we cut it into six sections. Then he milled the tops down a bit for me and I spray painted them white. The spray painting was fun because I just kept coating them and letting the paint drip so it looks like melting wax. (To paint them -- I poked them into an egg carton to keep them upright.)

 I love that we did this.
For one thing it just entertains me every time I see it -- and totally helps me feel accomplished.
But the kids actually have a great time playing with all these parts.
That’s a part of the fun of having child friendly decor -- it doubles as toys.
The “candles” come out and bang around like drum sticks -- and that’s ok. The girls are actually really great at putting them back when they are done.
The blocks come out and make things.
The plant is a jungle place.

 Those brass figurines I got a while ago -- still such a family favorite. Those also fit my criteria for kid -friendliness -- they are ESPECIALLY durable. And they play so well with the rest of the decor as well as the other toys.

So we are all enjoying this stuff together. It feels very special.



Let me know what you think about the new pillows and decor. As well as what you think about the blog’s facelift and better photo quality.

I like authentic -- even in my fibers and figures

So the thing about grief is, even when I’m incredibly sad. I’m still me.
It’s kinda weird.
I can be nonfunctional at times, but I’m still every bit of me.
And then I can be very functional. Like maybe 100%? Maybe not 100, but way up there.
I can hate everything. And love what I love, even more. All at once.
The world is a terrible place full of things I don’t like.
But still, the world is so beautiful. And in some ways it’s more beautiful than ever.
I can be really happy.
But sadness is now just woven into my skin.

I am very split personality-ish now. (Forever?)


So to honor that, I’m gonna keep posting in that manner -- bold intensities when they need to come out, and then somedays I’m going to revel in the minute, silly nothingnesses of life.

That’s this post. Silly nothingness. But nothings that means a lot to me, just because it can, I guess.


Here goes:

I told you I needed to recover our piano bench. And that I bought a suede thrift store jacket to do so.

Guys, this may be my favorite project to date.

It was so easy. Just cut to size. (All while trying not to panic -- worrying how you could accidentally go too small and totally cut the project short.) (I didn’t! Phew!)

I added a tiny bit of padding that I pieced together from left over stuff I had from doing my kitchen chairs. Stapled that down, then stapled the suede on top like a seat cover on a chair.

Doing this project has kind of turned my design world on it’s ear.
A couple reasons.

First -- having real suede on my piano bench is entirely more luxurious than I was anticipating it would be. The touch of it is so substantial and rich. And the look of it is heavier than it otherwise would have been. Having authentic natural fibers in a space changes things.
For me, having seen those fancy rugs I talked about before, and now having this real suede, has really brought home the idea that I’m all in favor of 'quality over quantity' in terms of the things I want to own. 

     Having this leather in here, is suddenly making me grasp why big name designers chose the crazy expensive items. (Blake don’t panic…keep reading, I’m not gonna start throwing cash out the window.) Having something of 'true essence' in the space is really grounding. It takes the hollow feeling out of the room and makes it feel tangible. And having a tangible feeling room, brings something alive into the act of living.

Second -- I feel like I’ve cracked a new level’s code of design-on-the-cheap. I keep feeling incredibly proud of this simple little DIY. It’s just a nonstop “how cool is that!?!”  I have some big-price-tag-level quality for non-big-dollars.
     I am currently filled with the urge to go buy every single leather/suede coat out there in my thrift stores (that’s like a color I like, and has a touch that is nice) and turn them all into something else.
But the nice thing is, I still have a pretty decent stash of leather on my hands right now.

I took the coat apart with my seam ripper. I left the coat’s seams alone that made up the big parts, and just took off the sleeves and the collar kind of things.

My current plan is to make at least one throw pillow for my living room couch. I plan to do leather on the front and some other fabric (TBD) on the back. (I should probably stick to one -- to keep the room sane, but the urges are so strong!)

(I just laid the fabric on top for an example, it’s not sewn yet.)

And I also hope to make simple tote (it might be smallish) out of the rest of my stash. (Hopefully that urge will help me keep the pillow quota down.)

I will also hang on to any scraps, and maybe make some simple jewelry out of it.
Use the whole buffalo suede coat, my friend!

To create the pillow and bag I’ll need to by a sewing machine needle made for leather. Which I should be able to grab a JoAnn’s for a few bucks.

I spent $20 on the coat. It was a 3x size -- which, when doing this type of thing is awesome -- the coats at thrift stores aren’t priced on amount of material -- just on what it is. I’m getting more material by getting this coat than a small leather coat that costs $20.
I’m sure I could have found cheaper leather coats in the thrift market. But this was the one for me. I mean the color was spot on for my piano’s needs. And our piano bench is a longer one -- and I needed something that would cover the whole thing. I wound up going from pocket to pocket and including the side seams of the coat. (Which gave me more length than from collar to bottom.)

I seriously LOVE where the seams fit on here though, it looks so on purpose and on trend. Yet maybe timeless?

If I am able to get a pillow and a bag out of this deal -- that’s gonna be phenomenal savings. Especially when talking bags -- real leather bags cost an arm and a leg.
I’m not sure how mine will look.
But like I said -- I now feel like I’ve cracked the code -- I’m willing to try this again with a different coat. And maybe I’ll be able to get some big scores as the weather warms up, and the stores want to clear space?

And
Third --
I’m feeling pretty savvy about the reduce-reuse-recycle aspect here. I know not everyone feels good about leather. But I’m gonna venture to say the fact that it’s thrifted (already created and not going into a landfill) might mend some bridges there. I know I feel good about that part.
Plus,  in terms of my bench and my home -- because I know it’s not brand new, and it’s not so very pricey (although generally speaking I try to spend less per item when thrifting -- anyway) I don’t feel super worried about the kids doing much damage to it.  I’m attached to this one, but I could always thrift a different one if catastrophe happens.

So all around -- this bench recover is a major win in my world.


Also…

 In the land of “real” and substance. I bought some real brass, vintage, figurines on ebay. I had some paypal funds and me and a certain 3 year old fell in love with these ones.

 

(Oh and that brass lamp was $8 at the thrift store. I oogled it for months, and no one bought it. So when it dawned on me I had the right spot for it, I rushed back to get it. I LOVE those fish scales -- or more likely mermaid scales, in this house. I'm still 50/50 on the lamp shade, hence the plastic wrap still being on.)

To each their own -- these will not appeal to everyone. But man, these make me happy.

 

I didn’t get the the figurines for 'thrift store cheap'. More like 'Target-decor-price'. (Which for the vintage brass figurine world of ebay, I think I did quite well.) But I really like that I got something old and more unique then something anyone could grab at Target.
And once again, the realness of these ,is so delightful in the room. It grounds it even more.

And what’s really nice about these is they are fairly indestructible. Kids are safe to touch them and move them around. (Not throw them of course. These are very heavy! Throwing we be a disaster.) 

They make for really nice coffee table items when you have a bit bigger than toddler aged kids. (I’m under no delusions, I’m enjoying these placed here for the limited hours I have left to do so before baby Bronson get’s just a smidgen more mobile. Then they will have to go up higher for a while, before he learns to handle them.) But I like letting the kids play with with them. Ruby is hilariously cute with them. She’s demeeded the elephant the baby giraffe’s grandma. 

And they call eachother with the mom giraffe’s horns. (Which in her world make this adorable “dododdodododo” sound.)
As I mentioned way back, I found that plant’s container at the thrift and it’s plastic = Also kid friendly. And I just used our Whinnie the Pooh book as an added something-something. Which is fun because it inspires us to read it more often. So a very kid (not so much toddler) friendly coffee table over all.

When Bronson gets bigger I think I wanna try for a soft basket with stylized blocks type something. We will see.

I’ve started crocheting a basket (I want two) to go over our plant’s pots. I'm close to done with this one. I’ll show you a better picture when I am done.

I’m all about adding the the subtle textures of this space now. (And my hands appreciate things to keep them busy these days. Knitting and crochet are so similar to meditation.) I looked at this basket tutorial and just kind of did my best winging this thing to fit. I had to take out decent amounts of rows when I found I was doing things wrong, numerous times. But it was ok. I’m seriously in love with how it’s turning out through. So organic.
I’m using a roll of jute I got from Home Depot for like $2-$3. And some black cotton yarn. (This particular yarn is from a thrift store cotton sweater I once upon a time ago took apart to upcycle.) So this basket is very cheap, but I feel like it’s an art installation.

I’m liking all the cheap thrills of rich textures and authentic fibers and materials. The room is starting to get polished.
Next I’m eyeing new lamps and trying to put my finger on that situation. And I’m hoping to sell off a bit more of my un-used home goods to fund something a bit more pricey on those purchases.