We Have Pergo!

It took forever, but we finally pulled the trigger and tackled the big DIY project of Pergo-ing the downstairs of our house. Having two little four-leggers running around made laminate flooring a no-brainer. Our entry hallway is a honey oak hardwood so we simply matched that. We went with Pergo’s Goldenrod Hickory from Lowe’s, which had the foam underlayment attached. As hoped, it really matches up well to the already installed hardwood. We did our front formal room, dining room, and family room.

It’s so cliché, but the lighter flooring really does make the rooms look more spacious and airy. We couldn’t be happier with the results.

Here’s a reminder of what we started with:

Yikes. I know, right?

A Home for George

A couple of months ago, I inherited the most amazing gift. A huge oil portrait of my great-great-great grandfather, George. He was the ultimate game changer.

Here’s George the first day I huge him in our formal living room:

We had done nothing with that room yet. And you can clearly see how white the walls still were.

Finally, I have been able to add little by little, working in the quite antiqued, quite ornate gold, gold, gold frame into my brushed nickel, light and airy, cool tones, beach-y feel home.

I guess like so many things in life, you know it works when it looks effortless. I have spent hours going back and forth about what to do in this room, which colors, which pillows, which accessories would make George feel welcomed and loved in our so-not gold and ornate home. I took a few photos today of my progress, and in looking at them on the computer my first thought was how pretty straightforward they looked. It’s a learning process, maybe I’ll keep it for awhile, maybe I’ll change it up in a month. For now, I like the layout and I think I’m doing a pretty good job with George.

A large potted palm, a few pillows, one small vase, one picture, one table lamp made of glass (so I didn’t have to make the awful decision between ORB, gold, or brushed nickel). Leaving it at that.

…Though some picture frame molding in crisp white would look divine…. in time, in time.

The wall color is Navajo Sand (Glidden). It’s a very subtle, sandy light tan/beige. With the living room being two stories tall and so open to the dining room, stairwell, and hall way, we decided to do just one color- a color we didn’t want to be changing anytime soon. It is pretty light, but exactly what we wanted.

 
The bay windows have navy thermal drapes and a oil-rubbed bronze tone curtain rod- brushed nickel just would not have worked. That was a hard choice to make in light of George’s gold, gold, gold frame. Although this is and likely will be the only ORB fixture in the house, I think it was a good choice. I am the most matchy-matchy person- at least the style is the exact same :) Drapes from JC Penneys, rod from Target.

That teal carpet is heinous. Yes, yes I know. It’s departing sometime this month we hope! We will be replacing it with some pet-friendly Pergo. Once we do that, we’ll be moving the matching sofa (told ya) in here at it will be complete.

The entry table is on the other side of the room by the front hallway. Another layout I’ve been constantly tweaking. I know, totally silly, but all of this is fresh for me. Trying to make my house a home and feel warm, but avoid overdoing all the cliché candles, vases, bowls, picture frames, doo-dads that cause clutter and chaos.

A basket for library books, extra pillows awaiting their sofa, bowl for keys, bamboo houseplant still going strong after fours years, one picture, and two matchy but still “in-the-background” vases.  Okay, so I didn’t do so well on avoiding said vase or picture frame, but I did limited myself: )

As you can see, all our “wood” is a middle tone, honey oak which photographs so orange-y (yuck). Not my favorite, but I am really not interested in painting all our trim and “woods” white, no matter how “in” it is right now or how perfect it would look with the cool tones we’re picking throughout the house. This poor girl has a zillion more projects higher up on the list, so I won’t even let myself daydream about white baseboards and banisters.

All in all, our current state of living room is far better than what we started with:

 

The previous owner left us a naked lady fountain-light combo. Filled the nook by the front door pretty well. Henious to look at though. Thankfully, our realtor loved it. No joke. She took it off our hands the day we moved in. We think a Christmas tree just might find itself their this winter.

  

The giant blank wall where George hangs out now. Those walls go up light 20 feet. Thank God for gifted 4-foot tall artwork.

Progress in Paint

Finally, I'm done.

For a while.

The entire downstairs of our house is painted something else besides builder-grade white, plus my office, craft room. It seems like it has taken for ever.

Here's the run down:

Formal living room, stairwell, upstairs and downstairs hallways: Navajo Sand by Glidden, a very sandy, cool beige color

Family room and kitchen: Dusty Miller by Glidden, a blueish, slight greenish grey

Half bath and Dining Room: Country Beige and Wild Honey by Behr (Painted these rooms first; Wild Honey might as well been Navajo Sand, I can't even tell the difference so I didn't repaint to match.... shhhh, don't tell :)

Office, Craft Room: Celery Sticks by Glidden

Lessons I've learned:

The color will never look "right" and you will never be "sure" of it until it drys, it up on all four walls, and it's been there a few days

Paint samples are the cheapest mistake you can ever make

Don't skimp on a good paint brush and the little hand bucket with the magnet to hold the brush

Those disposable tray liners are totally reusable with latex paint.... um, you just peel it out once dry

Home Depot always has $5 off sales around three-day weekend holidays

Always, always pull up the painters tape along trim work immediately after "cutting in" (learned this one about halfway through after careful tape placement and pressure still let tons of paint seep on to the trim. Ugh.)

And lastly, nothing new but totally proven to me all the same, paint is seriously the cheapest redecorating you can ever do (I'm figure about $200 for paint, maybe another $50 for supplies and finally my house it starting to look personalized)

Still way in the middle of various other projects, so hopefully I'll be able to post some photos later this week.

The Game Changer

So.... I was planning on doing a subtle beach-y, light colored home (something a little less modern than Young House Love and a little less cottage-y than The Lettered Cottage, but using both their homes for mad inspiration).

Then my mysterious, never-met-in-my-life great-uncle died and left my parents with a wealth of family heirlooms. As a huge history buff, I think the boxes of letters, photos, and artifacts spanning the last century that my parents received are simply amazing. A letter from a son to his father arguing his worth to the family's name, WWI-era Paris honeymoon photos from a nurse and a soldier madly in love. A Yale entrance exam with French and Latin translations as included requirements. My direct ancestors. History, but nothing like from the books.

My parents also were shipped two paintings. One medium-sized, turn-of-the-century, very Andrew Carnegie, grayed man of distinguishment.

And this...

My great-great-great grandfather George. His middle name comes from a famous general of the War of 1812; he was born in 1813. This portrait was painted in the 1830s. Like Henry Clay, canals and turnpikes, territorial expansion 1830s.

It is also a whopping four feet tall. My mother had no clue where she would put this. I not-so-subtly suggested I might have a bare wall or two, not to mention a sense of crazy cool-ness by displaying and owning something like this.

It barely fit into the back seat of the SUV, but it slide it snuggly bubble-wrapped and boxed. My husband humors me and my crazy ideas quite well, but this took the cake. He didn't get to even see it until 3 hours later when we arrived back home- there was no returning it.

For now, it hangs proudly in our formal living room, competing only with bare white walls and a lonely couch. He owns that space. Owns it.

Designers talk about highlighting a centerpiece in a room , a fireplace, a canopy bed. Um, yeah.... I think I'm good. Sorry bay windows, you've been demoted to a secondary role.

Now the new question is: How will I ever make the room worthy of Grandpa George?

Quickly followed up with: How I will get Grandpa George and his gilded frame to mesh with my beach-y, airy vibe?

I have no idea.