Well, here we are. The last post of the One Room Challenge. A big THANK YOU to Linda from Calling it Home, for letting us all play along!!! The 20 featured designers posted their projects yesterday, and WHOA... Go check that stuff out. Gah. Good stuff and fun times! Today is the big day for the rest of us guest bloggers and, while some folks have done TONS in the last 6 weeks, I would say my bits were a little less drastic. I say that, but then I look back to the start, and I feel a little bit better about how far I've come. Seeing as we are only coming up on the six month mark since our move into this city/house, I'm trying to give myself, and my timeline, some grace... My real-life completion timeline is probably best measured in years, not weeks. :)
Remember, the listing photo:
We all know me no likey da red, so I schemed and schemed about what color to use.
I kept trying greens, and they were all gross. UGH. But then.... This vision from House Beautiful...
Savannah Moss by Benjamin Moore
Could it be? Could this be it? The color that can be wonky and sophisticated at the same time? Or, would I just be swapping ketchup for mustard? It was time to take a leap. I felt good about this choice. (Say "hi!" to my sister, who has no idea her likeness is now etched permanently into a blog post!) I know this color isn't for everyone, which is part of why I superlove it and hope it never catches on; I don't want to see it everywhere in a year, and then lament that I accidentally am trendy...
Meanwhile, I had found a #thriftytreasure chandy, and ordered (gulp) 12 silk shades for that bugger. $140 + cost of shades (which I thankfully found on Overstock!) and that little problem was solved. Adios pink light.
And now, here we are. Some photos that are resembling the finished product. Wait, Stephanie!!! This is the reveal! How come it's not FINISHED!? Well. That's not how I work. My house is an evolving place, and I'm 99% sure that when I stumble across the right fabric, I will have some lush, full curtains on the windows. In fact, I have some swatches headed my way and, if all goes well, this large scale silk stripe may be the answer. I need something to bridge the seriousness of the artwork to the playfulness of the chair fabric, and I think this could be the missing link...
Until then, we have this...
It looks simple and bare in the photos, but in person it feels cozy... If I close my eyes and picture silk curtains covering the walls on either side of the windows, the room feels quite finished, even though it is technically quite simple. (This is where we gasp, clutch our chests, and marvel at my restraint, since maximilism is my tendency...)
This view is from my office, which is across the entryway from the dining room. I included this because I feel like every room needs some context, and this helps a bit with that. I love the progression of colors from navy to chartreuse. That rug sort of embraces it all... In related news, I think we have decided on a new floor, so come fall when the kids are back in school, I think we'll be tackling that!
I got myself a mother's day gift if the form of a binge on flowers at Trader Joes... I mean, where else are you going to get this many blooms for UNDER $20?!
That's a bummer of a vent, man. When my big pagoda mirror was ousted for that antique tapestry cartoon, I got a severe case of GMW, otherwise known as "Gilt Mirror Withdrawal." Thankfully, I had seen the above beauty (another longtime wishlist item, because hello... BIRDS) listed in an otherwise lame estate sale, and it was hanging there, just waiting for me. I actually prefer the scale of this one in the space, but still adore my pagoda, so that beauty is in a holding pattern until I decide where to put it. Is it weird that I briefly considered hanging it in the screen porch!? Yes. I'll answer my own question. Yes that is weird and impractical and would have been awesome if I didn't care one bit for it's survival... And, I'll use that as a segue to the screen porch progress...
Recall the listing photo:
I suppose their style actually fits with the shingle style of the house, but not with my tastes. At all. So I assembled what I had, and purchased a nice, loungy daybed, thrifted some bits, and arrived at this:
How about those for some real-life reveals? That's right, take that Pinterest. I USE MY SPACES AND THEY ARE FOR PEOPLE, NOT PICTURES. But, with that out of my system, here are some photos without people in them, just so you can see what's going on...
Huh? Yeah. This is what the room looks like while you're laying on the daybed. I plan to see it from this angle as often as possible. This day, I didn't last long in the relaxed pose, as I saw that crumb under the chair and started twitching. Must... Sweep... Floor....
I bought this daybed off of Wayfair.com, and in spite of my reservations, I am pretty happy with it. It's solid Mahogany, has an outdoor cushion on it, and is made in a perfect size for lounging. I added 6 (!) down/feather euro pillows to it to make it a nice, smooshy place to sink into. The shams on the front were thrifted - Pottery Barn and $6 each! Wa hoo! They are in my favsie bird/branch/flower motif, and had a bit of pale purple in them which sort of plays nicely with the chairs that I randomly painted in a pastel lavender gloss. It's all a bit weird in the combo department, but I like it.
These are donuts from our new favorite donut shop. I don't really even love donuts, but these are irresistible. For real. Just add fruit to reduce your caloric guilt, and apologize in advance to your pancreas... Or something.
The little thrifted plant stands that I found in Austin for $15 finally have a home. Loaded with fragrant lavender, some geraniums that refused to bloom for reveal day, and more Trader Joe's bits (Hydrangea and cyclamen) this is my little one-stop shop for my bad plant mom activities. Well, that's not true. I have a little herb garden is also ripe for neglect:
Notice how I didn't actually pot my plants? See how I just set them in the pretty pots? That's because my track record is a bit spotty on the whole "keeping plants alive" thing...
Also note that it is pollen season here and no matter what I do, I cannot keep the green dust off of my floors. It is making my case that a rug would have been a lot to keep up with. Add to that that when I was sweeping this morning, I found 7 shriveled peas and a bunch of crumbs under the table, so now I'm sure the "no rug is a good rug" decision was the right one for us.
Organic herbs, from.... Trader Joe's. I need a life.
I thought about karate-chopping those pillows. Then I just sat on my butt instead.
I think this little porch is going to be quite the hotspot. We eat dinner out here every chance we get, and I'm even wrapping up this blog post while sitting in the dim light listening to frogs and other night sounds, like the neighbor's air-conditioner clunking on and Superhubs cleaning up after dinner. I love sipping my coffee and cream out here in the morning and, if it rains tomorrow like it's supposed to, I'll probably bring the little art easel out and let Smallest Assistant paint or use the chalkboard while I read a magazine and keep one eye on her so she doesn't wipe her grubby paws on that fresh new cushion. I mean, I might love it if my life looked like Pinterest, but let's be real. You can't Photoshop real life, even if you wanted to... Vents are in weird places and sometimes snuggles come with sloppy hands and dirty feet. Yes. This is my revealingly real reveal. Cheers!
This is great! The spaces are truly a delight and the fact that you "kept it real" makes me really happy. I can totally hear you talking and I enjoyed your thought process! You make me feel sane. And I don't mean because you're a whack job- This is a complement and I'm grateful for our chats! And the porch looks incredibly cozy. For real life and for living in, but it looks lovely too. So many nice and thoughtful details!!!
Well done and now...enjoy!!
Posted by: Lesley | 05/11/2017 at 08:52 AM