Come On In - You are Welcome

What happens when you pin up a decorative mind for three years then give her the keys to her cage....she goes flipping design crazy.

Well welcome to our new temporary home.  As I extend my decorating wings again I have decided...why not?

Objectives in this project -

• Design to my own taste, not a magazine or trend
• Have fun, it is temporary and will be changing before the end of the decade
• Do all of it in the cheapest fashion and still look good
• Do all of it as fast as possible....making this new dwelling feel like ours faster

As Mary said, "who paints a front door beige?"  So the front door needed attention, inviting you in to join our lives. (Mary is a wonderful artist and shares her work and spiritual wisdom on her blog)

Notice my paint swatches on the side of the door.

Hubby wanted a red door...He got a red door!

Now does that shout out "WE ARE HERE! Come on in!"

Next problem.  I was use to a lot of sunshine...I mean a lot of sunlight, to the point of fading my furniture.  Oh well, live and learn.  Along with the sunlight were very high ceilings.  So when we visited this house it had small windows and lower ceiling, knocking out the sunshine.  Then the walls were painted with a warm gold, a color I had used in my own house 13 years ago, when the walls were flooded with light.  As I walked in, the combination made me feel  like I was walking into a cave...not good.

Solution - Make the ceiling feel higher and the room feel like it contains more light - without spending a lot of money.

PAINT

Here are pictures of what you would see when you entered the door...excuse the mess we didn't clean up.

The gold was painted on all the walls going up the stairs and all over the adjoining family room.

Well the saying "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend"....I am going to have diamonds!

The large diamonds give you the sense that the ceiling is higher.  The lighter color brings light into the room.

The remaining walls will continue to be in gold.  The hotel vertical blinds will be replaced with economical faux wood 2" blinds in white.  There will be valances across the windows mounted at the ceiling to extend the ceiling height visible.  The undersized light fixture will be replaced with a "treasured-find-deal" in oil bronzed, to fill the large expanse table.(shown here without extensions) The gold mirror will be bronzed. Yes, knobs are missing on the dresser which holds all my table linens...I am will be finding some jewelry (knobs)  to adorn the 60-plus-year-old family dresser.  All our art work that was stored for three years came out of their boxes for our enjoyment.  Yea! pictures on the walls!!!

Here is the room.  No tablescape at this time Debbie...I will have to do one soon and post after unpacking all those boxes of dishes.  I feel this room expresses my years of attempting a more formal look.  The chairs weren't bought with the table, they are chairs from my first dining table. My dream is to have eclectic chairs all around the table representing the different personalities of my children.  I plan to collect them from different sources.  Yes a formal table, but with a twist. The two parsons chairs are from when I had my own business and I upholstered them myself...they were finds from Salvation Army then I got a hold of them.  Yes, there could be some updating....but that isn't in the budget...so using what I have with joy.

To lighten up the stairway the walls were painted in Accessible Beige, with a picture hanging through the opening.  The large wall entering into the family room was also painted to reflect the light.

Here is the piano we had to find a room to fit...Rebecca and yes Lea, the bench can seat two.  It was my husband's mother's dream to give her children a grand piano...a true family treasure.

So welcome to the entry way and first room of our new dwelling.  There is more to come...some will be shocking.  My house tells my life story and I read it as I walk through.  It won't show up in the magazines or make for a number breaking blog, but it reminds me of the goodness of my God as I stroll through.  I hope you enjoy the tour as I guide you through in upcoming post.