Don't Underestimate Stuff

Just a couple updates to our living room for Mission: Foursquare this week, it's coming along! But, back up ... this is where we were last time.

 

Didn't realize until I went back and looked at these photos, just how far we've come since June.

 

Here is the to-do list from that June 12th blog post with the completions highlighted:

• Add a rug
• Add a coffee table
• Paint or wallpaper the backs of the shelves
• Get a better chair to replace the gray one (maybe the chair in the family room?)
• Get a great painting for over the fireplace
• Tile over the red brick on the fireplace???
• Do something with the tile hearth???
• Replace some of the accessories on the shelves with better ones
• Hang art on the large walls on either side of the opening to the foyer
• Get a new, brass floor lamp

Now, here we are.

 

 

I know, right? Some "stuff" makes all the difference. So, I'll start with the painting over the fireplace. We actually found that painting before we selected the wall color for the dining room, and I think they look pretty good together.

 

 

The painting is a beach scene with dunes in the foreground. We found it at the Stockley Gardens Art Festival where we met the artist, Steven Ward.  I love the bold colors in his art. He is from St. Augustine, Florida, just down the road from where we grew up in Jacksonville so his beach art, in particular, feels like home. This art festival is held twice a year in the Stockley Gardens park in Ghent and it benefits Hope House. The next one is Oct 19th & 20th.

 

Designwise the painting gave us a color palette for the living room. I love that there is orange in the dunes which really reflects the color of our pine floors.  One problem ... the red brick fireplace looks even worse than before. So, it is still on my to-do list!

 

 

Rug and Table. I had found this table months and months ago at Bassett. I thought I would like a glass top table to keep the room feeling airy and this particular metal is sort of a blend of colors - perfect!

 

But, wait! I got an email from Bassett about the Labor Day sale. I went online to order the table for 30% off but the shipping was soooo expensive. Negative. So I called the store in Newport News (just a little over 30 miles away) and asked about having it shipped to the store and I would pick it up to avoid shipping costs.

 

"Sure," they said, "but would you like us to see if we have a floor model because we're selling those too?" Huh? Of course! So I ended up buying a floor model for half of the 30% off sale price - yes, that made it below cost! Yay me!

 

And, the rug? I looked at so many white rugs that they all started to look the same. So, I figured, maybe they really do look the same? So, buy an inexpensive one! I ordered this one from Wayfair. 

 

 



I did move this chair into the living room from the family room. I guess it looks like it doesn't go but I like it for a few reasons. A. It's the right size. B. It is similar in color to the floors. C. It adds warmth in a very chilly blue-gray room. D. It's free.

 

But, I despise the pillow - note: add pillow to the to-do list.

 

Also added the cute white garden stool that I found at Home Goods in Virginia Beach. Learned a lesson there. Don't buy something that is not flat on top and expect to use it as a table! Looks good, though.

 

 

Lastly, I had those two posters from Italy reframed in simple white metal frames. Those posters hung in my office when we lived in Vicenza, Italy and I worked in the Civilian Personnel Office. That makes them almost 30 years old and I still like them and use them. The one on the left is Venice (Venezia) and the one on the right is a very rare snow scene in Florence (Firenze).

 

I think we're ready, enough, for company????