Unf*cking the Living Room: Step One

This is the first of what will be several posts about fixing up the living room.  I have a LOT of work to do, and I'm starting from the ground up.  I'm excited about it, and I can't wait to see some of the new changes myself. 

The problems we're dealing with in the living room are:

1. Tall, dark furniture looming over the seating arrangement
2. Not a whole lot of natural light
3. Dark furniture in the seating area
4. Not enough seating

Today I want to talk about the first thing, and address the floor plan.  Here is is "before": 

See the line of black bookhelves across the north wall (bottom of plan)?  There's a cabinet adjacent the to west, and across to the south a large, dark tv on a large, dark stand.  Altogether, they make sitting in the room feel like being at the bottom of a big, dark bucket.  Here's the room itself: 

sorry about the text, i was experimenting

From the other side, the room looks like this:

The chair on the left there is crammed up against a bookshelf, and the chair and side table and sofa are so close together you can't walk between them. 

Here's what we did to the bookshelves: 

(experimenting with furniture colors, please ignore)

All the bookshelves slid over and around the corner so that most of them are now on the west wall.  This leaves a lot of open space in the room for the chair and sofa. 

In the room, it looks like this:

Now the bookshelves are a part of the room, instead of towering over it - they feel like a discrete piece of furniture instead of a wall of furniture.  One chair is still at the bottom of a bookshelf, but in this case, it feels like it's part of a library - or so says my roommate, and she likes it. 

The other side of the room is completely open.  Now the chair and sofa are a comfortable distance apart.  The rug isn't large enough for the seating area, but that may be one of the changes coming up. 

New things happening in the room in the next few weeks: 

• A new slipcover for the sofa
• Maaaybe new slipcovers for the chairs
• New curtains on the back door
• New lighting? 
• A couple of new pieces of furniture

I also have some updates for the bedroom in a few weeks.  Stay tuned!

We Interrupt This Living Room...

..which is still in progress, and of which I'll show you pictures as soon as I'm done with everything.

However, I do need to show you two things:

1. I Got A New Loveseat

This is the Ikea SONGESAND loveseat, in "Nolhagen dark gray."  It was delivered on Sunday, and lemme tellya, I'd never put a couch together before. There were only 3 pieces, and I did it wrong twice, LOL.

It's so cute and small and comfy!  I love it!

2. Fabric & Rug Inbound

I also have some fabric for a pillow cover and wall hanging on the way to my house, as well as a new rug from Target.  I'm so excited, and impatient, that I made an Olioboard: 

Basically what it will look like when finished.  

The Craft Room, and Another Big Change

I started this post two months ago, when I began working on the craft room.  I got a little distracted along the way, but we'll deal with why in a minute.   As you can see below, this room is red as fuck.  It's a gorgeous color, but very dark, and there's a whole lot of it in this big master bedroom-turned-craft room.

I started by finishing out all the baseboards, as in the rest of the house, and by cleaning, priming, and re-painting all the doors and trim.  The walls themselves are taking 2 coats of primer to cover up the red enough that it can be painted over. 

One wall of the room is textured with sand mixed into the red paint, just like the walls in the master bathroom walls ; except that on this wall, a sort of strié technique has been used to shape the sand texture into vertical  ridges. Just like in the bathroom, I wondered why??

While priming around one of the windows on this wall, I figured it out:  this wall is covered in wallpaper!  At some point, it was painted over (and over, and over - there are at least three different colors on top of it), and textured with the sand and dragging technique.

Hunter Green and burgundy, with gold.  Oh yeah! I thought. This house was built in 1984! Of course it's got plaid wallpaper. LOL.

I found wallpaper under the vanity in the master bath, too (blue with gold fleurs-de-lis)  - I bet it's all over the bathroom, under that sand texture. I can't believe I didn't put two and two together before.












So, I continue to chug along on this room.  It's about half primed now, and all of the trim and doors are finished;  It just needs a wall primed, and then paint on the whole thing. And while I've been working on repainting, I've also been  PACKING.

The Frost Is Off the Ground 

We're moving again.  My landlady-friend is selling the house.  Sylvan and I were supposed to spend 2017 preparing for a move to Oregon, but we both had a horrible year full of injuries and medical issues, and didn't get our shit together.  So we're looking for another rental house here in Austin. that isn't scary and that will accept 2 dogs and 5 cats.  And, of course, we're packing, and getting rid of as much as we can to facilitate a move into a smaller space, and eventually, a long move across the country.


I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of terrified.   But I'm pretty big on the idea of focusing on the tasks and items you can control, instead of worrying about the ones you can't.  We'll find a place; and in the meantime, I'm looking forward to not being anyone's live-in-handywoman anymore.  Projects are fun, right up until they're jobs.  Also, if I never have to repair any plumbing again, it'll be too soon.

So I'll keep you all updated on the usual house projects, the house search, and eventually, the new place!

BONUS CAT:  not supposed to be napping in houseplants

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OHAI I forgot.

You know, I was looking over my blog(s) the other day, and realized that I never actually posted finished pics of the new craft room (aka "Room of Requirement")!

Okay, so, you've seen the old version:

Which is now my bedroom:  

And my old bedroom, which in this picture is filled with stuff from the old sewing room, during the room swap.  I haven't been a "hanging out in my room" person since I was a teenager.  Who needs all this room to just sleep?

At first, Sylvan and I thought we'd put our work tables in the center of the room, like this: 

Before she'd even moved in, I realized how very, very much that was NOT going to work.  My sewing machine vibrated both tables so much that she'd never have been able to work like that; and also, since all my sewing stuff was jammed up against the wall behind me, but my cutting table was on the opposite side of the room, I kept having to get up and walk around while I was working.  

So we drew up a new floor plan that worked better for both of us, with each of us with a work table against a wall, storage around, and my cutting table in the center, which is easier for me to get to without having to stand up if I don't need to, and also so that we can BOTH use the cutting table as a large, open work surface if needed: 

(made with Icovia Floor Planner) 

And here is the finished Room of Requirement, and folks, this is about as tidy as it gets.

CAUTION:  WOMEN AT WORK!

It works great.  We both love it, and we're both enjoying spending time in there crafting together.  When she moved in, we put her TV in the living room, and put my [smaller] one in the craft room, so we frequently have a movie on in the background while we work (usually a Disney animated flick; though my go-to when I'm working alone is Pride and Prejudice, in case you're wondering.  When it's just me and just music, I listen to a lot of Chinese flute, for some reason. It's calming).  

Meanwhile, I haven't been doing much around the house at all for the past several months, because I've been going nonstop on the SCA stuff (which is all here at my SCA blog, if you're interested).  And then there was Raven, and some sitting around moping for a while, while I was processing.

Also, looking over this blog recently, I realize that I am utter PANTS and things like: 

• decent photographs of anything
• posting finished pictures and follow-up on previous posts

That's going to change, guys.  I hate looking at this blog and being disgusted with myself.  I had this same issue with my SCA blog back in September, made some serious revisions to my organization and self-management, and it's been working out great - I'm really proud of my SCA work, and my SCA blog.  This one?  Not so much.  It's going to get better.  

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New Living Room Arrangement FTW

I had great fun over the summer rearranging my living room furniture, and then the other week with the new coffee table.  After living several months with the new floorplan, though, it just wasn't working.  The open space behind the couch was handy for getting around with the vacuum cleaner, but it bugged me that it was wasted.  There wasn't enough floor space in the room for me to dance, hula hoop, or work out with a DVD, and I wasn't digging the little nightstand I had made over into an electronics console - and I wasn't digging the electronics, either, really.  So last weekend, I overhauled the entire room:

Before

Sadly, there must be a "before" picture:

Ignore the blanket over the couch for the moment (slipcover SOON, I swear), and take a look at the arrangement:  couch and wing chair in the center of the room, anchored by the area rug, with at least 3' all around of open space.  There's a console on the wall behind the couch, with the mirror over it.

And the long view...eww, I know.  A true "before', hehe, complete with jackets over the chair and various detritus on the floor as a result of those lazy dogs getting into the trash and strewing random things all over the room.  Mutts.

So:

1. more floor space
2. better use of space
3. pretty couch under the pretty windows
4. new tv console? 

After

Yay!  Okay, so, now there are different blankets on the couch.  Just go with it for the moment.  At least they're the right color, LOL. 

And from the north end of the room:  LOTS more open space.  The last time I was at Ikea I picked up an UPPLEVA (seriously, Ikea product namers?  hehe) swivel/tilt tv bracket; so while the couch is pretty far away from the television, I can pull the tv out from the wall by a foot, and angle it for better viewing.  I don't watch tv anyway; it's basically a video game delivery system.  :)

Here's the console that was behind the couch now serving a new purpose.  I ditched a 20-year-old CD changer and stereo receiver (not ditched, just removed from the setup) in favor of the electronics I actually use: DVD, X-Box, and laptop!  I charge it here, and blog from it on the couch or in the big wing chair, now that I don't have a computer desk anymore (which I love, since it's a piano now).  

I took the opportunity, while I was working, to clean the cuh-rap out of the fireplace, too.  MAN that thing was dusty.  The screen did it's job - I had no idea, hehe.

A little candle arrangement in front of the screen gives me pretty flames when I don't feel like burning a whole fire in the fireplace;  this is that silver "Moroccan" tray I got at Ikea a million years ago that you've seen on this blog as a wall hanging and table top in years past.  

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Music Room Loading [-------------80%---]

Little known fact:  putting guitars everywhere does not make a room into a "music room".  :D

Okay, so, this was a computer/office area at one time, at the north end of the looooong living room:

If you've been reading this blog long, you know that this was the latest in a medium-length line of computer desks that have been in front of this window.  I don't have internet at home anymore, therefore, I wasn't actually using my computer for anything...so this little table, salvaged from work by a friend and given to me, was basically just there to keep my laptop and some other crap off the floor.

The same friend once sold me a Casio keyboard, which I'd always planned to actually learn to use - but for that, I needed a table or stand of some kind, and before long, I got two ideas...

CraftyNest.com 

This was the first:  

The second was to designate the space at the north end of my living room as a music space - with the keyboard, my guitars, my violin, music stand, books, etc. all set up.  I LOVE seeing musical instruments displayed; and I thought if everything was out in the open, I might use them more often.

 

Meanwhile, ever the fan of combination projects that end up taking me weeks to do when mere minutes will suffice, I realized I really needed a new work table in the garage.  This thing was NOT cutting it anymore. 

Dirty?  Fine.  But the legs weren't holding the thing up anymore, because the screws were all stripped out, and the thing was bowing in the middle with the legs being so far apart.  The top was sound, but...ugh. 

Nothing a little elbow grease and spray paint couldn't fix, though. The legs from the "computer desk", the top from the old work table, and some cleaning in the "music room", and you have this! 

◄  the Ikea KAUSTBY dining room chair that I upholstered last year

◄  That's Ember, my Ibanez. She's the one I play most often, so she's out in the open, the most easily reached. 

The Gretch barely shows there in the shadows in the corner; but that's where the next part of this room comes in: that white folding settee (yes, the one I keep moving around all over the house, which never quite works, ever) needs to GO.  I'm just not sure what exactly to do with it yet. 

Anyway, once it's out of the way, more room for the Gretch and the music stand.  And for people to be able to walk up to the kitchen bar.  It reduces traffic flow in the actual kitchen at parties.  Plus, I like being able to reach over and get a glass of water without walking all the way around, hehe.  Because I'm lazy.  

This. 

And finally, here's that little brown  black  silver  turquoise black lamp I keep spray painting.  I think I actually like it now. It looks grown-up.  

So: tada!  And it turns out I was right:  with my instruments out in the open like this, I DO grab them and sit down to practice more often!  Couple more things to do in this room: 

• replace/update light fixture (I have a new one, I just have to work on it and hang it)
• find a way (and a place) to hang up my violin where it's easy to reach and out of the way of the cats
• move that damned folding settee somewhere. 
• paint the living room ceiling to match the rest of the house - it's the only one left to do! 

Whew!  

Okay, back to work...

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Bedroom Shenanigans

No, not that kind of bedroom shenanigans.  Gutter-brain!  I just re-arranged all the furniture.  Well, most of it.  I wanted to play with the idea of making space for a small seating area within the room, and also some floor space for hula hooping, since there isn't any in the living room at the moment (there are still two people's furniture crammed into my house, lol).   I went from this:

To this:

Yes, the bed is half in front of the window, which you're not "supposed" to do.  But you know what?  I like it.  This is still a work in progress - it needs a rug, and some artwork on that wall (the "Evening Mood" (Bougereau) was left over from the old arrangement), and once the living room is settled the way I want it to be, this piano will be out there:

<---- nbsp="" td="">

And I'll have room to put a little comfy chair, or a bench against that wall, with a little table in between the two chairs, like this:

If I still like this by then, hehe.  You know me.



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My New Closet. Let Me Show U It.

First, though, I have to show you the freaking HORROR that was my closet only three days ago.  I was fed up with the lack of space, lack of organization, maddening disarray, shitty old furniture, and less than adequate hanging space.  Fed UP.  And yet, even three days later, looking back at the before pictures, I'm SHOCKED - how was I living like that?  Good lord!  UGH.

Here's the floorplan we were working with before, which is neat and cute.


But here's what it actually looked like:

AUGH!!!

• 4 shelves
• stack of 10yo Cube-Its by Sauder
• stacks of plastic storage bins
• piles of clothes everywhere that either don't fit anywhere, or won't stay anywhere.  

AUGH!!!

• in case you can't tell, that thing in the middle in both pictures is a small bookshelf filled with baskets and boxes of crap (and dinosaurs)
• whole top shelf:  none of that stuff is even mine. It's just in here. 
• you'll see in a minute how utterly ridiculous that clothing bar on the far right is.

But what's in the center?  I'm glad you asked...

Seriously.   

Believe it or not, this constitutes my shoes being "put away."  At least, the ones that don't fit on the shelf in the hall by the front door, that is.  I *only* have like thirty-some pair.  And nowhere to keep them.  >_<

Even the cats are like...wtf...

Help me, Olioboard!

LOL.


Drumroll, please...

It looks so clean and pretty when it's empty, doesn't it?


I do adore this color, but in this tiny space, I really needed it gone so I could see my actual clothes.  Especially since the lighting in here leaves much to be desired (it's a lightbulb. Seriously. That's it. Just a lightbulb).

Wire. Shelving.  *HISS*

That thing sticking out of the wall for seemingly no reason is a curtain rod bracket I put up to hold my belts.  It's basically the only thing in this closet that actually worked.

I must've patched five. million. holes in this closet before I started to repaint.

Goodbye, old closet! Goodbye, five million holes!  Goodbye, beautiful blue that was still too dark! Goodbye, clean floor (no dropcloth. Oops).  Goodbye, Laura's back, and knees, and shoulders!

After  

Look how clean and fresh!  This is Behr's "White Clay", the same color I put on the ceilings in the bedroom and dining room.  This time, though, it's in a Valspar prime-and-paint, satin-finish base - Lowe's doesn't carry Behr, but they matched the color for me.

Those same four shelves are back up on the left side, in a slightly different configuration; and I've added a fifth.  Why is it so far below the others? Just you wait.

No! More! Wire! Shelving!   Instead I now have one loooooong clothing bar stretching from left to right, for more than double the hanging space than I had before.

Center stage is Ikea's STOLMEN post - meant to be used vertically and in pairs to support other organizing components.  It took a little bit of hacking to get it to hang securely horizontally (and in the process I discovered the purpose of the little inset-corner on the left side: it's a pipe chase.  Which meant that it took a bit more hacking to get that end of the STOLMEN post secured to the wall without putting any screws into my plumbing!)

It's a bit higher than the old clothing bar was, to accomodate my loooong SCA costumes and gowns.

 
Ta-da!  

Omg, that is soooo much better.  Look, I have shoe storage!  And space on that bottom shelf for boots (none of which are standing up right now, because I don't have inserts for them yet, lol).

Those old Cube-Its now have a home underneath the shelving, out of the way.

And all those clothes now have a nice, comfy space to live...

...I'm not even kidding, all of these clothes were crammed into the right half of the closet on the clothing bar under that wire shelf that I took down.  THAT WAS NOT ENOUGH ROOM.  It was literally less than half the length of this new bar.


I do still have some plastic storage bins in here, but now they fit neatly underneath one end of the hanging clothes, out of the way, and mostly out of sight.



Hey, what's that over there?

It's the dresser I refinished over the weekend!  :D

This replaces that stupid bookshelf-and-baskets situation that wasn't working before.  Notice the lack of clothes piled on top!  :D

I haven't really finished decorating the top of it yet; for now there's a tray meant to keep small items from sliding off the top (a problem I had before on the very rare occasion that there weren't clothes piled on top of the bookshelf).

The artwork is a very faded copy of a Matt Manley print I cut from a calendar a million years ago, that used to hang in my bathroom before I put the gold-framed mirror in there.

Winchester says hi. 

I did, however, put my newly-repainted Ikea FIRA jewelry chest in here, which was the plan all along.



Whew!   All of this happened in one day.  Including like 90% of the work on the dresser.  I'm pretty sore.








There's another four-day weekend coming up.  I think I'll sleep through this one.


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