Entry Room - Before, During and After
I have a thing with area rugs; basically I never get it right. One reason might be that I buy them on-line and not seeing a hand-knotted rug in person, knowing you've made a mistake, and then trying to return a rug that weighs 85 pounds is a painful thing.
You may remember this room with an old love seat and a dark blue Oriental carpet. It was looking tired and did not benefit from the cat using it as a scratching post. I then bought a carpet that, after seeing it in person, reminded me of grandma's parlor, and the color also ran. We decided to return it (although so far the badly-folded and tied monster is sitting in my office) and I decided that I would go bold and modern in both the love seat and the rug. Now the red and blue rug seems, well, too red and blue, but there is no way I'm returning another rug (although this one only weighs a mere 75 pounds). Of course now the paintings above the couch don't quite go with the new love seat, but I'm too tired after the Karastan carpet in the bedroom episode (had to buy new bedding to make it work) to even think about that right now.
The new rug and the new love seat.
Comments (26)
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years agoRelated Discussions
before-during-after
Comments (12)Thanks Karin. I don't have too much of a problem with things leaning for the light, partly because the house side is largely planted with Beacon Silver and White Nancy lamium. It's so dry on that side that there isn't a lot of options for what will grow. I planted the lamium about 18" from the house wall so it would have a better chance of getting moisture when it rains, and then waited to see if it would spread into the dryest area against the house. It did, and completely and rapidly filled the dry area. I like the silver as a 'carpet' under the other things that grow there. It enhances everything nicely and lights up an otherwise dark area. It probaly helped with the establishment of the lamium that I dumped potting soil (from pots I used to grow peas) as the top layer of 'lasagna' the fall I created the bed. The potting soil had 'water crystals' in it and the peas would have provided nitrogen. I watered with soaker hoses in the first year but haven't watered since. All the columbine that is in the bed comes from seeds I scattered from plants growing elsewhere in the garden. I think they establish better re drought tolerance that way, so they have filled in back to the house as well and, because they are quite shade tolerant, aren't prone to leaning. The Eupatorium 'Chocolate' was planted, not seed grown, and I wasn't sure if it would be too dry there for it but it seems to be thriving. It certainly billows but I wouldn't say it leans. It's fairly shade tolerant too. Essentially I planted the alley with things that are either shade lovers or shade tolerant to various degrees so I think that was the key to avoiding the leaning problem. I'm always concerned about evergreens outgrowing their space and, since the space is so limited, I didn't include any. The alley isn't visible from anywhere in the house and in winter it gets completely buried in several feet of snow usually (except for the snow-blown path) so evergreens for 'winter interest' was not an issue....See MoreBefore and after Entry way
Comments (80)Goodness, Suddenly old threads are reborn! Thank you all so much. As many of us here know, these big projects take so much time and effort and resources that you can really sour on them by the end. So it really, truly, makes you day when someone likes what you've done. Thanks. Andi K, The link below is for the lights. I really love them. I wanted two lights because i wanted them over a rectangular entry table. But when you enter, the hall goes straight through to the back patio and the pond, and i didnt want the lights to obscure the pond view. These are so airy! (BTW I would imagine they can be found in less costly versions, although at the time I could not find the size I wanted anywhere else and I caved for these. I can't say they are great value, though they are great quality) Lake Girl - my kitchen is STILL not totally finished, and I am waiting for that before I post. Let's just say it now involves courts, sigh. Someday I will give in and post it anyway. Polly, thank you! I am very proud of them because from the time we started our 2+year whole house project I felt the choice of front door was important. In then end I overruled all sorts of fussy ideas from the professionals and chose these doors. I think they fit my vision for the style of the house, which I call "farmhouse, after a particularly good crop" and DH calls "Shaker, but without all the frills". Funny though, I guess we don't have too many farmer friends or equestrians. When confronted with our front door, they never seem to know how to unlatch it. They just slide the whole thing over ... Here is a link that might be useful: my entry hall lights...See MoreA major 2014 project nearly complete~before during and after pics
Comments (20)Melsouth, the floor wasn't difficult, it was just tedious, and the smell was pretty bad. If you notice in the pic, DH had a fan ventilating to the outside. It took a few days to cure. It chipped in a few spots when heavy objects were dropped, but DH says he can patch it up easily. We opted not to tile or put any sort of flooring down for two reasons. One was to save money as we have several other huge projects (new main bath) we would rather spend money on. Second is we live in a flood prone town. We have been here 7 years and did not flood with storms Irene or Sandy, however we didn't want to take a chance. Once our drain the the sewer backed up and we were able to easily clean up. The floor is pitched towards the furnace area where are sump pump is. We opted for a black ceiling after I started taking note of how many people simply paint their ceilings black. DH found the black ceiling tiles at HD and thought that would be easier. Since he was installing it, I wanted to do what was easiest for him. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. He also put a full bath in down there. Our main 2nd floor bathroom had a major leak and needs to be completely redone. Since we are mostly DIYers, it will likely take time and now we have a 2nd full bath in the house. It's not quite complete yet....See MoreBefore and After From Family Room to Dining Room TO KITCHEN
Comments (49)Okay - a few wanted a few more pics of our remodel - and if you'd like to give suggestions I would love them! The plaid chairs is where the kitchen use to be - post hasn't been trimmed out yet (it's a weight bearing). The family room use to be a finished wood shop. Since it was attached to our home - it was a no-brianer to make use of the finished square footage. Now - my dilemma. The colors don't match. Does the striped wall go with the kitchen (paint color: revere pewter). I would love these three areas (sitting area- plaid chairs, kitchen and family room) to look great together since they are adjoining. Sorry this is turned on it side - can't get fixed. Room is large and couch is unfortunately needs to stay - it's new. Wall art - needs to be fixed :( this was the wood shop - turned into family room...See Moreingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Olychick
6 years ago
always1stepbehind
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoingrid_vc so. CA zone 9 thanked always1stepbehindingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years agoingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years agoingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years agoHere is a better picture of the rug in the TV room and a change I made in the entry room. Honestly, I'm not bothered by a medallion rug not being centered or lined up with anything. I do feel I made a mistake with the entry rug; it's just too bright and not really me. I agree, it's a great idea to seek advice before instead of after the fact. I don't know that I can ask my husband to go through the hassle of sending back another rug. A Karastan would be no problem, they're much lighter and easier to roll up than these puppies with their recalcitrant stiffness.
beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
6 years agoingrid_vc so. CA zone 9 thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionallyingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years agobeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
6 years agoingrid_vc so. CA zone 9 thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
Yayagal
6 years agoingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoThank you all so much for your lovely responses; they really made me feel happy.
Yayagal, I can't even tell you what your words mean to me. You understand and appreciate what I'm trying to do, and I'm so happy that you feel I'm doing it well. Comfort is very important to me, but equally so is beauty that is personal and distinctive. For you to see and appreciate that means that you yourself have a discerning eye and a taste for the not so usual. I'd love to see your interiors.
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Jason has appropriated the love seat. Even though he's an indoors-only cat I wonder what he's doing to that light-colored upholstery.
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years agoThis rug still wasn't totally working for me and I was not about to make my husband take this 75-pound monster back. I hit on the crazy idea of using acrylic paint to color in the white areas that were bothering me, including the central medallion, in order to give the rug a softer look. Does this look better? I am much happier with it now, only wondering if I could work in a soft yellow color to further mellow it out.
Olychick