Yesterday I took photos of Lillie and Lola's room as well as of our new "You Are My Sunshine" chalkboards. Along with the chalkboard version of it we are also going to be offering it in two colors. As soon as we get them back from the printers we will be listing those in the shop - hopefully later this week and if not then we should definitely have them next week. So, I will have some nice colorful photos to share with you soon. Until then here are some more shots of our very neutral family room with our new sconces. They are a much better proportion than the ones that were here. (There is a before shot if you scroll down a bit). We intentionally did our family room and kitchen VERY light and very neutral which I know to some people will seem quite boring but we did this for a few reasons. First - I love neutrals and find them to be very soothing. Second, these two rooms (which are essentially one large room) get VERY little natural light so are quite dark. By doing them in light neutral colors it helps it feel much less dreary in here. And third, I wanted to be able to very easily change this room up seasonally and just in general. Which just some fresh flowers, throw pillows and even fruit in the kitchen we can add pops of color scheme quite easily. I cannot wait to decorate this room in December!
We still have a a couple more things to add to the room like a rug and recovering the ottoman in a darker fabric but we are definitely getting closer to having this room complete. And I have changed a couple of things even since I took these photos the other day - I hung a large photo of each of the girls above the chairs on either side of the television and also switched out the small black frames on the oversized chevron boards for larger ones I spray painted white. They are still on the chevron squares, they are just now thicker white frames in the center of the chevron. I also switched out the mirror above the fireplace with the painting that in our den although I am leaning towards switching it back to the mirror.
Here is a close-up (sorry for the grain - as I mentioned the natural light in here is awful and I haven't discovered where I put my tripod yet - haha!)
Now that we have lived here a while and I've had time to stare at this brick every night while working on my computer and think about the different options for it I am leaning more and more towards whitewashing it.
The trim, fireplace and doors are painted in London Fog by BM in a semi-gloss finish.You can read about that here.
Here is a before shot where you can see the tiny little brass sconces that were there.
We got our Karlstad sectional from IKEA and I have to say so far we have been absolutely thrilled with it! I was a little nervous about it to start with. We ordered it that first week we moved in after I drove Jon and my parents crazy measuring and remeasuring and trying to decide if it was the right purchase or not and it came the following week. Before we ordered it I was quite torn because design-wise I knew it wasn't what I would choose, but we wanted to be able to sit a bunch of people comfortably and it allowed us to face both of the focal points (the fireplace on one wall and the TV on another). There was not a single other sectional we could find that was even close to being in our price range so that made the decision to get one from IKEA pretty easy. We were orginally torn between this one and the Ektorp but because of the meaurements and a few other factors including the fact that we thought this one would retain it's shape a little better we went with the Karlstad. Basically in the end for this purchase we decided to go with the functionality of a sectional over a "pretty" sofa and I am so glad we did! It is really comfortable and our whole family can all snuggle up on it together. We also can fit a surprising amount of people on it. And one of my favorite things about it is that because the fabric fits snugly it doesn't get wrinkly or messy looking at ALL!
I know a lot of people will think we are crazy for getting white but I love the way the white looks. It helps keep the sectional from overwhelming the room and even though it isn't a slipcovered sofa it is still pretty easy to remove the cushions and throw them in the wash. I know this because we already had a rather large spill while someone was eating dessert a few nights ago and ended up washing all of the covers on the seat parts. I won't name any names but let's just say it wasn't a female member of our family. =) It ended up being easier putting them back on after washing them than it was when we first assembled the sofa because I put them on when they were still a tiny bit damp. I know that regardless of that a lot of people will still think it's crazy to go with white but I figured it was worth the risk because if it ever does become too much upkeep we can always ask for one of the darker covers for Christmas to switch out with the white one. For now though I am really LOVING the white and just the overall sectional in general. And I have to say I can't believe I am saying that. I really thought it was just going to be okay - something that was worth getting even though I didn't love it because it was going to be functional for our family, but I actually now love it.
I am basically done now with Phase 1 of our kitchen makeover so am hoping we will have a very sunny day soon so I can photograph it and when I do I will show you the this room from the other side so you can fully see the sectional.
I hope you are all having a lovely week!
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