We Live Here Now

To celebrate the end of The Grand Experiment, we decided we needed a bigger tv, for the bender we were going to go on when the experiment was over. We'd also been talking (for just under a year), about how to utilize our space better in the living room. Our house was built in the 1940's, and it has tons of charm, but very little storage. For a family of crap gatherers, you know what that means.....
Crap is in the open. There Is No Hidden Crap!

Crap!

When we moved into our first condo, I spent a long time picking out colors, because we didn't rent anymore, and things did not have to be white, and I love color! We spent a week painting before we moved in. When we moved in here, almost two years ago, I was so close to having a stroke from the stress of the move, and I decided painting was low on my priority list. But enough time has passed, and truly, I feel for the first time like we are not going to be moving in the next year, so it's time to get creative. The first thing I tackled was our entryway, which was more of a "WARNING: OBSTACLES AHEAD" kind of deal. Apparently people didn't wear coats in the 1940's, so there was no place to hang up outerwear when you walked in the door. I had attempted something in the past, but it just wasn't working. Coats would migrate from the standing coatrack to the nearest chair, where they would turn on the tv and pop open a beer. So I obsessed about it for weeks, measuring, searching, but finally, I found an arrangement that not only didn't suck, it actually worked. I felt bold. Triumphant. And ready to tackle the living room.

Charley had come up with the plan to utilize the space better, and picked up a new tv at costco. It looked HUGE, and I was terrified that it would swallow me whole if I watched it, but with the new layout, it's a perfect size. On Saturday, we rented a van, drove to Ikea and picked out shelving and a new coffee table and tv stand. And ate breakfast. No meatballs, but there was this fried dough stick that I almost mistook for potato wedges. Anyway, none of the furniture that we chose matched, but I don't like it when things are too uniform. I feel like I'm in a waiting room. My mil always tells me she likes that about me. That and the way I don't have to iron my clothes. I make the wrinkles work for me.

But I digress....

So after we loaded up the van at Ikea, I drove to Home Depot to pick out paint. I had an idea, but hadn't nailed it down yet. I decided to go with a terra cotta color, to contrast the pine and green shelving. The rest of our house is the color of rich vanilla, and I only wanted to paint one wall, plus I needed something that would look good with our rustic old hardwood floors. Just looking at that little dot on the can, both Charley and I were skeptical, but once it went on the wall, it was magic. We spent all day Saturday staining and finishing and painting, and on Sunday we put it all together.

Putting it together. (I did that for you, Kari!) I wonder if Mr. Sondheim was inspired to write that after going to Ikea? If you follow the non-verbal directions super carefully, you won't have a problem. But if, like me, you misread them, you will, as Charley said "ANGER THOR AND THE SWEDISH GODS OF FURNITURE ASSEMBLY" And you will be accursed. And accursing. Despite a few mishaps, though, we managed to get it all together. It looked pretty good, but it still wasn't just right.

So after getting JH to bed, I rearranged the furniture, and I have to say, that did it. It looks amazing. I'm actually proud of it. I promise to post pictures soon.

Now to tackle the rest of the house. Wooooo hooooooo!