Switcheroo

Ta da.... The new office(which was the dining room). The color I ended up going with is Clothesline Fresh from Lowe's. While I was painting, my hubby said it looked like toothpaste. Not true. Next to the olive green dining room, it's certainly blue. I lucked out with tonal silk curtains from PB outlet. I think the red chair looks great in the blue room. It just needs a blue pillow.

My desk area. Haven't replaced it yet, but will when I find the right one...cheap. I love using the new office. So nice to be out of the breakfast/kitchen/den room.

The view into the 'new' dining room. For now, I'm leaving the walls painted the Olive color they are. I will paint the space between the crown and picture moulding white and repaint it all to be a more solid moulding like the office is now and the foyer is.

The view from the dining room into the office. The furniture all stayed in those 2 rooms, just switched rooms, and my desk moved in.

The view from the dining room into the foyer. So far no one has noticed there's no light above the table. Once I get a couple of buffet lamps on the credenza to the left, I'm not sure we'll even need one. To get one, electrician, drywall person, painters are all going to be required. There are 6 windows in that room, so daytime lighting is not required.

The large blank space above the sofa has been filled with the large mirror from the old dining room. I think it works great in the den. Now to replace the sofas....It will look sooooooo much better with white slipcovered ones. Not to mention being much more comfortable.

So that's the big switcheroo completed. Of course, I still have artwork and photos to put up in the office, and a desk to find and replace mine with, which is why I haven't moved my calendar and bulletin board in yet. The room is, however, functional. We all love it and truly can't believe how much larger our home feels now.

For only around $300 for new light fixture, paint, curtains and new rod we have a house that feels larger and works so much better for us. I'm sure I could have shopped around longer to find things on sale/clearance a bit cheaper, but the savings would not have made up for the weeks/months of hearing my husband ask how much longer until it was done. I did actually find cheaper curtains, but they were cheaper curtains. Not as nice, ie, not lined, did not have drapery hooks included/sewn in. And they weren't this color.

I've learned that sometimes it's just not worth it to buy something because it's cheap if I don't LOVE it. Because I will replace it sooner and end up spending more money. BIG plus of these is that they will work well in the den, and the ones in the den I think will work well in the office if we find the white slipcovered sofas with the french ivory curtains don't jell too well.

That's the tour for now.

Rearranging

These are the current colors of our den/kitchen/breakfast area, office, dining room/half bath, clockwise.

This is what I think I want to go to. The blue would be the office though and the Maine Shore green, the dining room. Just a bit brighter. I'm going to do the blue first, and see how it looks contrasted with the current olive green.

This is how I "play". I have my rooms drawn out on graph paper and cut out paper for my furniture. And I move furniture. It's much better for my back this way. It has helped me to figure out I can do a big switcheroo with the office and dining room. It's my plan to make it happen within the next week. The drawing to the right is of our den area. It's not huge, so picking appropriatly sized furniture is key. It helps my husband visualize what I see in my head. This helps to get the $ for new things approved. The list? new sofas, new accent chairs, new coffee table, new rug, new fireplace surround. The tv cabinet is new as of this spring. The sofas we have are about worn out. Not comfy anymore and the leather is cracking. The rug is 7 years old and not a quality piece. Cheap, but attractive, and easily cleanable are requirements in a home with kids and a dog. Plus visiting dogs. The other things are wants, things to make the room more attractive. I really, really want a limestone fireplace mantel. Not sure that will ever be in the budget though. Especially with expenses on the horizon like new windows, new ac, new roof. Home ownership is so fun.

I'm playing with this rug in the entry/foyer. Not sure how I feel about the asymetrical placement...the stairs and all. It fills the rest of the space well though. The wall color in here is called New England yellow. I want to go to the Pale Sunshine of the rest of the house eventually, but that requires a lot of uncomfortable ladder work, or paying someone $$ to do the stairwell. I'm voting for $$. We shall see which wins.

Reality

My dining room from the formal living room we use as the office. In reality, we don't use the dining room but 4 times a year. Birthday party for each kid, thanksgiving, christmas dinner(not even every year). Other uses include: school project landing pads, dust collecting.

The office. It's pretty. But the only 2 living beings that use it regularly are the dog(see chair above) and my husband. On Fridays. When he works from home. It's the first room you see when you enter our house. I don't want it all messy like my desk/office is. (You'll see the evidence below)

Another picture of the dining room, this time from the kitchen. The reality of the russet colored walls is that I'm tired of them. I love red. Always will. But the walls just look tired. And I don't like the curtains, especially the valance part. I made them all, but just have gotten tired of them. Another reality is that the table is just too big for the room with the extentions in. I wanted a table that could comfortably seat 10, and I have it. I just need a room that can comfortably hold that table. And I think it's next to the dining room. (A hint of things to come!)

This is my reality. My desk is a complete mess. And I have spread out to the breakfast room table. The desk closes up, but who can ever do that? School papers come home every day. Not to mention all my stuff. When the desk is down, there's not but 6 inches between tops of table and desk. Not ideal. Not practical. I need a desk that is just a desk top. That stacks of papers can sit on.

You can see that I've spread out to the den tables too. That large blank wall is begging for help.

The reality of our lives is saying to make some changes for our home to be more. More useful, more organized, more comfortable, more beautiful.