Living Room Art and Such

Since painting and adding new couches to the living room we have also added a few other things. Thought I would update you all on some decorations that have made their home in our home(I’m a loser.)

Remember this photo with the painting above the couch? Well here is a closer look.

Isn’t it cute?  That’s a little chocolate lab puppy in the rocking chair.  Now that I think about it that rocking chair looks just like the one I painted white that I bought off craigslist.  Anywho, Sandy and Kent gave it to us for Christmas two years ago.

Then, there’s these two, that are a couple more of my own artwork.  These are stipplings though. Check out more of my stipplings here.  Once again here is a closer look.

This is the little hall on the way to our bedroom.

And closer…

I think this is my favorite art in my home.  It is a print of a watercolor done by an artist in Vermont named Amber Alexander.  I also found her on etsy, you should really check out her shop as well.   She also has some outstanding art.  I cannot paint with watercolor, it’s just not the right medium for me.  I think that is what makes me drawn to watercolor pieces.  I am amazed that someone can create something as realistic as this with watercolor!  I also tried to dress up the TV console a little more…

I was really torn on what to put in the cabinets.  I added some of our favorite books out of our vast collection(that’s all of them.) Then I added two baskets that matched some other baskets I have in the room.  They are also functional because they are holding remotes and some sick 3D glasses(yes this sucker is 3D!) I thought about putting some picture frames in there but the shine on the glass made them hard to see.

Char watched while I took pictures.  He thinks I’m nuts.  Can you tell?

I also spruced up our end tables with some new knobs(they were blue) and some frames.

I then added some stuff to our lonely mantel.

That’s all the mantel holds for now.  A frame and a cute little ceramic mushroom.  I will add more eventually, when something catches my eye.

Painting the living room and kitchen

Painting the living room and kitchen is something I have been dreading.  I love to paint, but it is a large area! Plus, all of the hallways that lead off of these two rooms will need to be the same color.  Lots of work.  Thank goodness Justin decided to help with this one.  It poured out all last weekend so we figured that was the best time to take on this job.  Picking the color was our first task.  I wanted a light green color and Justin was thinking gray.  I did not think either color would work well with our new green couches so we went with a light tan that has hints of both green and gray.  A perfect compromise.

The color that was originally on the walls was two different shades.  The living room was painted mostly a tanish green color with some accent walls painted with a pretty dark olive green color.  The kitchen was just the opposite, olive green walls with tan accents.  The colors weren’t horrible but the finish was all semi gloss.  You could see every imperfection and to be honest the previous owners weren’t the best at painting.

As Jess would say I am in dad stance.  This is also another time when I would like to point out that Justin is a lucky man.

I did not have the same problem with this color that I did in the bedroom.  I loved it from start to finish and still do today.  I love how much it brightens the room.  I also painted all of the trim in a semi gloss white and I think it just makes everything look clean and new again.

This job took FOREVER.  I think I painted a total of around 20 hours between Saturday and Sunday.  Justin helped on Saturday, by Sunday he had enough of painting for a while so I was on my own.  I finally finished and I love it!

I also think the couches match great.

I will not be painting this room again for a very very long time.