Tweaking my delivery from Ocean Styles...

I can't express how happy I am with my latest delivery from Ocean Styles!  I didn't even get to track the delivery and it was here!!  Talk about fast!!??!  I was so excited when the delivery came.  Everything was packed so carefully and nicely.  Holding my breathe as I unwrapped the lamps, just because they were glass, I was thrilled with each one being in perfect condition.  Everything was exactly as I expected.

I had just thrown a drop clothe over my couch as a slipcover and the pillows go really nicely.

You can find these and so many more here!

My NAUTILUS  lamp on....surrounded by love of the beach!

My Flip-Flop Trinket Dishes hold more shells.  You can find them here.

I think this STARFISH lamp looks so darn cute on this table!!

To see more information about my table, click here.

Heidi building sandcastles in her dreams!

Sofa almost Up-dated!

ugly sofa.com

 As I told you here 
that is just a big drop cloth throw cover (slipcover).  So I got a drop cloth that measured 12x15, from my new home away from home, Titusville ACE Hardware.  Let me just tell you, it is bigger and heavier than I imagined and even more clumsy to work with too!  I still have to pull the sofa out from the wall again and straighten it out.

I tried to do it around the dog but she wasn't cooperating. and 15 feet just seemed to go on and on.

Heidi got down and as soon as I started she was comfy again!

oye!!

It does look sloppy right now but it will do for today.  But I think it goes nicely with my new living room and the relaxed, kick off your flip flops attitude! I didn't wash it and I want to get it straightened out before I start ironing!  Heidi is back up on there where she belongs.  I think she likes it too.   


Then UPS came!  Sorry no picture of the big brown truck but don't my new pillows look good on the sofa now?  I am really happy with my delivery from Ocean Styles!!

Both Pillows

Before and after

There will be more as I move lamps and tweak the sofa cover.  And still more tweaking!

WOW!  It's July 1st... where does time go? 

Remember when you were younger and time seemed to stand still?  We'd measure time in day light and nights were longer; school weeks took forever to get to the weekend, although there are some work weeks like that; school holidays and vacations zipped by while the school year dragged.

Now, as an adult, in a retired life, there are just not enough hours in the day.  I enjoy my life... is that the difference?   Time flies when you're having fun!?!

It's REALLY hot with a breeze from the south west that blows hot air making it even more uncomfortable outside.  There are things to do outside but not so much in the heat.  So, as if it were a cold winter's day, I hang out inside and look for things to do inside. Not that I have far to look.

So today I am going to try to finish up some projects that need to finished:

Going to start wrapping the silver with jute again and add some shells.  And then see how far I can get with the window.

Stay cool and enjoy your day ~ and I'll catch you later. 

Part 3 Becoming Living Room Proud~ To-do's

Things to finish up

I am so happy with my living room... am I making you sick yet?  I hope not.  It is just about done-done.  I still have to paint the ceiling and finish some projects, keep organizing and enjoy.  I wanted to share some more of my fix-its.




OK, I have this TV/stereo stand.  It is extremely inexpensive (cheap),  silver, assembly required and I don't think I needed tools!  I was going to paint it white but while the coat of primer was drying, I decided to go aqua as all the other tables are.  I wound up using an exterior paint and it covered nicely.

I had to cover those silver legs, so I started wrapping with jute and a dot of hot glue here and there.  I ran out of jute here but hope to finish today.   I'm going to add shells too.

I started covering this trunk with tourist maps and brochures but ran out so I have to hit up a tourist stand.  I really thought I had more.

I'm thinking about covering the front of the 4 couch pillows in the yellow and aqua material (pictured above).  There is enough to do it for now, maybe I'll find fabric I love before I get to this stage.

That's it for now.  I'm already working on 'before and after' pictures.  What a difference!

UP-DATE on living room with BONUS!

Have I lost it or not?

The other night, I felt so much better after getting un-stuck!  I can't tell you how much better I felt, I told my mother, I was determined to finish painting the living room.

My wonderful niece was back in the hospital (in New York) with contractions.   The doctor decided that she would have her daughter (her second child) that night.  I wound up playing 'Words With Friends' in between contractions!  I was so excited, I was no longer tired!!  I was getting more and more excited and more and more AWAKE!  Besides playing, we started sending instant messages... when she got to 5cm, they would brake her water.  Well she skipped 5 and at 6cm, she wrote: I was the first to know and here we go...

BONUS!!  ----->>




Isn't she lovely!?!

 Madison Rose was born at 6:45 AM and it was almost as good as being there!  I was so excited and had started drinking coffee earlier I stayed close to the computer for pictures.

I was awake now!  So it was time to get started on finishing up the living room... don't know where this came from, but it just suddenly appeared!  Just like that!!

The yellow is coming and continuing from the kitchen; under the cabinets across and then extends up and down like a lighthouse beam!
What do you think??

So, truth be told, I am running low on "Going My Way" aqua paint and determined to finish, I decided to continue with this light beam on the other side of the window... something like this:

 AND it really has that folded (?) or curved look in person!?  So I am trying to get pumped full of coffee to get moving again... and moving things out of my way again!

I hope you are following along on this journey...I'm never sure where we are going but it's all good!!

Inspiration couch and chair...I got stuck!

I wrote this Wednesday, June 6, 2012 and as I finished, I had another one of those light bulb moments!  Sometimes, I hate when that happens.  I was ready to hit 'publish'.  But that's what happens when something or someone inspires you...or me.  As I worked on this and flipped back and forth between Completely Coastal, the different fabrics, Pinterest and my pictures, I got an idea!  The juices were flowing!


Fantastic  post from Completely Coastal and at the right time!  As I have mentioned before, as I redo my living room, I also want to recover the couch and chair.  In this post here, I went looking back for the measurements of the fabric I like and it was out of stock!  What a difference a day can make! 

That was last night and this morning was this fabulous post:  Upholstering a Chair Coastal Style!  I am so excited!!  I can't thank Completely Coastal enough.  For those of you who may not realize it, there is allot of effort and work that goes into such a post!

I am not, although it would be easy enough, going to repeat and share all the good pictures and information.  Go check it out yourself.  What I want to share is what I found that I like for my living room.

Here's what I have:

My $5 Thrift chair!
By the way, that's the panelling throughout before painting.

And this is what I like from Brick House Fabrics:

A nautical fabric with ships, birds, seashells, and documents with script! This nautical fabric has a weathered, beach look.. perfect for any cottage from Nantucket to France!
A background with documents, compass roses, post marks, and script is covered with rectangles printed to look as if they were basket woven, with pieces of old letters mounted on them. The background's writing is mostly in French, but the occasional English address and postal stamp is also there.
The papers that are mounted have ocean and beach motifs- an anchor, birds, starfish, a seashell, and a sailing vessel. It is as if someone drew the pictures atop pieces of deckle edged letters, and then mounted them to a heavier basket weave material. Other nautical motifs on the background tie the whole together. There are two different compass roses, a shell, and an official stamp with an anchor that reads Maritime something, and then Service A La Mer.
It is as if the background is made up of the correspondence from a Frenchman in the French maritime service to someone in London. Are the mounted letters part of them? Did the receiver draw the pictures? Or are they the return letters to the Frenchman who used them as drawing paper? Another intriguing documentary script fabric!
The colors used are navy blue, muted dusty sky blue, buff golden beige, muted brown, pale grey, rusty orange, and charcoal. There has been over-printing, and blending, so many other colors are seen. The background is oatmeal with fleck. The effect from a distance is of blues from navy to pale with brown, and golden beige on oatmeal.
This fabric is 55 3/4" wide. The basket woven rectangle with the sandpiper, the speckled bird, is just over 10 1/4" ( 26.035 cm. ) wide and about 9 1/2" ( 24.13 cm. ) tall. This is a mid-weight home decorating fabric. It has nice drape. It has a matt, dry look and feel. It is perfect for curtains, cushions, totes, etc.
This is for a yard cut.  $24.00/yd

It is very similar to the fabric I like but the difference in price ($24 vs $7.69) is making me stand back and look some more.

and for $6.99, this was on Beverlys.com:

It has the elements I like, including sand pipers, but bluer than the others, and I'm wondering if it will look too busy.  What do you think?

So this is where the post was going to end when the light bulb moment came.  So I put this on hold so I could try my idea out...



So here's what I'm thinking...for now...

I have enough material to recover the 'front' of each of the 4 large back pillows on the couch.  Although it doesn't really GO with the colors, it will freshen it up for NOW.  It buys me time to look for fabrics that I really want and not feel like I am settling...not under pressure.  I feel better already.  I've been stuck in this spot...now I can move on.

the journey continues!

Working on A Wall...

I'm working on a wall...in my living room.  It's been a stormy weekend, so I am putsing around the house from one thing to another.  So this is my inspiration:  Casual Beach Inspired Living Room see this link for before and after photos of the living room below.  There are so many details to see which I love and I love the casual-ness of it.

I am liking the use of letters, IE:  SEA on a photo wall, on a shelf, stencilled on walls and/or pillows, etc.  It's an easy enough up-date.  I can't find it but I saw a gallery wall that had painted letters, NY, among pictures.  I can't remember where "she" was living but she was from New York, and the pictures were of favorite places and people in New York.   I thought it was a wonderful idea and decided to do something similar.  I decided on the letters:  NYC and KSC... they are the same number of letters and I am obsessed with the grounds of Kennedy Space Center and it's Wildlife Refuge.

Here's my wall:

some photos I'm thinking of using

I am painting the letters.  I stained them, but they match the wall too closely, so I am painting over with white and then I will sand some edges.  Easy enough.  One side I will put some NY beach pictures and on the other Florida beach pictures...and the shuttle fly over Patrick's AFB (good-bye) and Statute of Liberty (hello). 

"N" at top of picture fades away

stained, now painting white

I want to give a white coat of paint over the brown wood frame and 2 black shelves for under the picture. 

the way I'm thinking of laying it out

I'm looking forward to pulling it together!  My living room, my journey in pictures, one wall at a time.

Just a quick post - from inspiration to reality

I am in love with Pinterest... as many of you may be.  You can check out my boards here .


While looking around today and not finding what I was looking for, I did come across something I did like:

Beach Themed Living Room

And from there, I went here: Using Inspiration Photos to Create your Home's Best Look
That's how I get lost; one click to another; read; click and so on.  Without repeating the whole article, I hope you'll read it if you find lots of inspiration but get stuck on how to implement it.

Their 5 Step approach:

1. Break down each imagine...what draws you in.
2. Now that you know what you like, create a mood board.
3. Go shopping with your board; bring real fabrics and paint samples.
4. Put your spin on it...
5. Don't be afraid  to edit.

When I was re-doing my kitchen on Long Island, it was basically from scratch and I wanted to bring in things and the feel of Prague.  I carried around paint samples, cabinet piece for color, paint samples, napkins, curtain valance, tile... each time I added something to the kitchen I added it to my collection so when shopping, I could easily see if it would match.  Even when I thought so, I'd take it home and lay the things out (in the kitchen light) and see if it still matched... Don't take the tags off or throw away packages until you are absolutely sure.  And even then hold on till you have lived with it a while.  One of those recycle shopping bags are good for carrying these things around and easy to grab to go out the door, (many times I left it in the car for shopping).


I painted that kitchen yellow, walls and ceiling and never got over how happy and bright that kitchen was.  I had to paint this kitchen yellow too.  This time, the ceiling and walls and cabinets are a pale yellow, while the cabinet doors are a brighter yellow.  And I am trying to work around things that I have and "put my spin on it".  See my kitchen ideas.

What I am doing now with my living room is burning that Living Room into my brain and putting my spin on it BEFORE going shopping, and will edit as I put it together.  I'm not sure why exactly but I am working in sections.  (Maybe it has something to do with clutter I create due to lack of room and my disability to move what needs to be moved.)  Right now, I have 3 walls painted a brighter aqua color...the ceiling will be the same pale yellow as the kitchen ( they run into each other).  I keep playing (in my head) with the 4th wall.  There is a break-thru on the wall between the living room and kitchen; so I go over whether to just paint the wall the aqua or the lower half aqua and the top yellow or all yellow.  I'll figure it out, meanwhile, I'll keep working on painting wall accessories from black to white (frames, shelves).

Stay tuned as I go along on this journey.
~pat

Bits and pieces of my journey...starting my living room

Well, when you have no computer for 5 days, besides just going with the flow with the withdrawals, you have to come up with something to do... something constructive. 

I started with my bedroom drawers and closet.  I threw out, bagged for donating and put away.  I did laundry; I shopped and did returns Monday.  I finished painting around the kitchen fan and painted the medallion the same color as the table top.

Then I went on to the living room:  The front door was panelled.  I washed it, primed it and painted two coats of Going My Way from ACE Hardware.  Then I decided to paint the wall behind the couch...after washing and priming, two coats of paint...and then the wall to the door. 

This was the plan with up-dates:
THIS  WAS  A SUMMER PROJECT:  It was almost 90 and going to be over 90 this week...with the air on when it is too hot for working outside.  As I've said, every thing has a story, especially my living room.  Where do I start?  My immediate family is all on Long Island, NY and I am here.  I love to get pictures and frame them but I am running out of wall space!  We now have 2 one year olds and 2 more babies on their way.  I need a plan!  For the most part, besides organizing better, this is my TO-DO LIST:

1. Paint walls and ceiling; sea foam walls, ( Going My Way, ACE Hardware) yellow ceiling (do accent wall in coral?)   >  maybe the far wall in yellow to help bounce some light!
2. Possibly, add molding around the windows, and paint (coral) and/or possibly do board and batten
3. Recover the back couch pillows
4. Recover toss pillows
5. Decide on black furniture: book shelves, couch table, small table...to paint or not to paint
6. The 2 sea grass trunks; keep both together or one as coffee table
7. Create a family photo wall
8. Create a NYC  and KSC (Kennedy Space Center) wall on each side of Captiva picture; add shelves under;  I was just trying to keep them the same amount of letters.
9. Decide on curtains.
10. Cut out rug in front of door and replace with tiles.
11. Get another book case for other side and balance.
12. decoupage the small trunk



  My living room is my hub.  It is my everything room right now.  I have a couch table which is doing duty as a desk.  A night table as a printer stand.  I have 2 sea grass chests that right now are pushed together as a very large coffee table.  I have a book case and a decorative open shelf.  A couch, what I want to re-cover the pillows with beach fabric.


15 feet long by 8 feet wide
3 feet x 4 feet by door to tile



So back to what I did accomplish.  At this point I have 3 walls painted. 

I started with the door



Then went to the wall that goes back to the door



I love the color and I love how it brightens up the room.  I took down the vertical blinds again and have yet to figure out what I'll do there and on the opposite window, but I like the blinds down... just not my style.

That's as far as I got.   I'll share as I go but I am hurting after I have not had much of a break.

I am liking the colors that just brighten up this space.  I want to be surrounded by family photos, especially the little ones that make me smile.  There are certain photos that take me to a place, usually by the water, that bring back memories and all my beachy finds.  And I want my books close by.  I want to walk into this space and feel the outside came in and comfortable enough to almost feel the sand under my feet.  And if you come in, I want you to feel just as comfortable and enjoy my vignette around the room.