Rain, Rain, Go Away

Well I finally mustered up the motivation to get on painting the girl’s dresser when as luck would have it, it’s pouring rain in my workshop…zee backyard.  Good thing it took me all week to gather my wits and make those painting plans for today.  Also a good thing that I put a little extra pep by way of an extra scoop of grinds in this morning’s joe because I’ve got all the energy in the world and a little bit of a shake to go with it.  Sorry sweet babe in my utero, that caffeine high you’re currently experiencing will wear off, I promise.  It probably doesn’t help that I ate some leftover chocolate lava cake for breakfast this morning with a side of a bagel and two eggs (which I waaay overcooked).  So, in a nutshell, chocolate, extra coffee kick, and a rainy day make me one nervous wreck.  The girls are fast asleep and I’m not sure what I’m going to do.  Our house is immaculate so there’s nothing to clean and Anthony is away at work so there’s nothing to pester him about.  Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, twiddle, twiddle, twiddle, shake, tap, twiddle, shake………….

I know, I’ll tell you of our living room plans because I know you all just love to see photo-shopped plans and not actual projects…

First, the fabrics involved:

1 – Dena Nadia Green Tea.  I found this on a random trip with both girls to JoAnn’s.  It was a newbie hanging on their “special order fabric” rack and it was just what I’ve been searching and hunting for for the coffee table going ottoman.  Anthony wanted something colorful and colorful it is.  (P.S.  It looks so much better in person than online.) 
The only drawback?  It was $50 a yard.  Too much for a cheapo like me.  Howev, this particular week all fabric was 50% off AND I had in my stash an extra 15% off coupon.  I needed 1.5 yards and with the sale + coupon, my price would be around $32.  Not fantastic but desperation and ending my months-long search got the best of me so I skipped to the check-out line where female employee #2 dashed my dreams and told me “We’re not taking any special orders because we’re moving the store.”  “It’s okay”, I thought and told her “Oh, okay, well I’ll just come back after you’ve moved.  When do you move?”  “The end of August”, said she.  This was the beginning of May.  Should I have been upset?  Their big move (down the street mind you) is four months away and they wouldn’t order 1.5 yards of this fabric for me?  What a joke.  Well guess what, I went home and hunted the net only to find the same exact fabric on eBay for $11 a yard.  I bought three yards and am planning a roman shade for the front door with it along with the ottoman.  I’ll keep my expletives in for JoAnn but she sure lost out.

2 – Unfortuntely I don’t have the designer, name, or anything on this fabric.  I can’t even find it online.  I got it over a year ago at Five Gold Monkeys on super clearance for $5 a yard.  It’s going to be sewn into pillow covers and, if there’s extra, maybe a pouf or two.

3 – This is a fabric napkin from Target that I found for 50 cents at Dirt Cheap a long while ago.  I have four and I’m planning on maybe making a pillow cover or two with them.

4 & 5 – These are samples of Robert Allen's Velvet Geo.  It’s up in too-expensive alley and until I can find it for cheaper (when and if), it’s just along for the ride.  The idea of making poufs out of this is enticing since it’s a nice, thick upholstery fabric.  Other ideas include recovering a couple of lounge chairs (which we don’t have but I love to add in the room as seating) or even just the seats of the loungers.  We’ll see.

Last, there’s this fabric I recently purchased from fabric.com in graphite (they don’t seem to have it in stock anymore!):

I love it because it’s bold and we need a little boldness up in here.  It’s going to cover a pillow or two as well.

In case you’re wondering about the in-depth details of this future ottoman I spoke of, here it is:
The plan is to paint the base white, remove the glass and replace it with wood, add some cushy padding, staple the aforementioned fabric to it, add some tufting by way of buttons, and put our feet up.  This pregnancy is going to thank me when we finally get it done.

The wall above the couch will be tweaked a little.  I really am dying to paint the frame around Greece (Italy?) white and then add some mirrors on each side to reflect more light around this room.  The living room is the darkest room in the house except in the morn when Sun Rise shines through, so adding mirrors to reflect more light will greatly add to my natural light loving attitude.
 

Then there’s the big, empty, peaked wall. 
 
We really need a system for storing our modem and for stashing/hiding all the cords from the electronics loitering in the area so our idea is to install shelving to the left of the chimney just for this purpose.  A gallery wall of sorts is also in the works.  Also, if I ever find those lounge chairs mentioned above, they’d go here…the swings just aren’t cutting it and I’m tired of trying to get out of them once I’m in.  They’re just way to small for my liking.  ;)

Behind the sectional we have this little catch-all area which we’re thinking of turning into a little office space.  That plan’s not set in stone but something is going to be because right now it’s home to a laundry basket I call my “going to Goodwill” collection, a bookshelf the girls repeatedly ransack, and a few frames begging to be hung.  We need more function.
    
The hutch will stay where it is because that’s the only place it can go in this joint.

Other little things include finding some new lamps via thrifting and getting a new, bigger rug (thought I had one…plan fell through and now Rugs USA is on my bad list…another story for another day).

And that’s that.  Once I get this darned dresser painted (Oh look!  It stopped raining!), I’m on to whipping up an ottoman and some pillow covers with zippers (eek…a little nervous about the z word).  Here’s to hoping these boxes will all be checked before #3 comes.  :) 

The only other thing left to say is “Stay Tuned” or “I’ll be back”…you pick.

Oh, and have a great weekend!