Loving Room

My windows look into your living room
Where I spend the afternoon on top of you

-Tegan and Sarah

Yesterday was Love Day and we spent it painting our living room. Maybe not the most romantic way to pass the time, but I can't think of anything I'd rather have been doing together. We've been dying to attack this room - the last on our list - since finishing the bedroom, bathroom and (mostly) the kitchen. Sure, it's a rental, but for the past 2 years, and at least the next 2, it's home. 

Not your typical rock-star pastime, right? But, Alex's musical influence can't help but creep into our décor: two of his acoustic guitars hang on the wall, as well as the Bob Dylan portrait I painted for him two Christmases ago.

The colour board above is roughly what we're going for in the end, although we do have to work around quite dark and black existing furniture. The wall colour is now what I call "mushroom" although Debbie Travis calls it "Cobblestone".  The top center photo is close in depth and tone. Our accent colour is teal, picked up from a pattern in our papasan chair, which we are keeping. I'd also love to incorporate a bit of ultramarine or navy, but we'll see... there is already a lot of colour happening. We've yet to find the right rug or pillows, but I'm on the hunt. We like these, especially the top two, which have alot of great crewel-work:

 

[ from top: Etsy, Home Outfitters, Etsy ]

Since i'm quite handy with the sewing machine, I may just opt to make them. We're still looking for just the right fabric, though. These are close, but not quite right:

I am also painting a new canvas for the space above our couch. We're thinking something abstract, which will be a challenge for me. I generally don't paint in abstract; distorted reality is the closest I come. We found this artist, Shawn McNulty, (painting below) and I like his use of space, dividing the canvas. I may need more inspiration.

We finished the walls today (yay!) but, while Alex is at rehearsal, I have the daunting task of starting the first coat on the trim. We can't get away with just leaving the trim - it's currently a pale greenish-grey and looks absolutely putrid with the new wall shade. I'm stalling, though. Two days of solid painting have left me feeling a little light headed. I'd rather paint my toenails, which are in worse shape than the trim, anyway.

So far it looks amazing! I can't wait to get the furniture back in place so that we can live again. The dogs are loving the maze created by the furniture pile, but we humans can't use our couch at the moment, and I am crammed up against the bookshelf attempting to type this. Stay tuned: before and after shots to come!

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"A room is never filled. If you feel it’s becoming cluttered, that’s your head and not the room." - Yoko Ono