Orange Sofa , pleeeez!

I am in the market for an orange sofa for my family room! I love color and orange is one of my favorites next to purple, of course! But on the real, I think that orange is just the right color for my taupe walls. Here is one of my first prospects:

Its the Zoe sofa from Lazy-Boy. I stopped by the showroom in Brandon on my way to my daughter's basketball tournament in Tampa. Its by 90" wide by 37" deep by 39" high. I found a fabric (Linato / C949415)  that will work with my drapery fabric I found a few weeks ago. I used the tool on the site to recover it in the fabric I like!

Please read about this fabric here! I plan to make it to the closest Boca Bargoons to find out who make this fabric. If I want this sofa I will have to wait  8-12 weeks for it to arrive since its being custom made!

Since I am such a visual person and La-Z-Boy did not have a swatch that I could take home with me, I went to our resource room at work and found an large orange swatch to take home with me and test it out. I love it! This picture is poo, but I promise it looks great!

Oh! The lamp shades int he pic above are form Goodwill for $5 a piece. I go them yesterday! They are very large vintage lamp shades, that I plan to hopefully use for my lamp project seen here. You can also  read about where I found the side tables here.

Back to my sofa search, I checked out the reviews on this, boo-hoo only two! I like to have at least five to read. Here is my priority list in my search for a orange sofa:

1. Size - at least 90x36
2. Style - transitional
3. Quality - very well built for longevity
4. Comfort - not too firm
5. Color - orange pleeeez
6. Price - $1000 to $1500 price range

Do you know any good sofa options to suggest?

Master Suite (What if...)

I have had this on my mind all day and could not wait to get home to put it down in black and white. So what if...I designed my master bedroom and bathroom around my kids birth stones? Whatcha think?

They are February's Amethyst (oldest son 8), March's Aqua (oldest daughter 12), September's Sapphire (youngest daughter 10), and November's Topaz (youngest son 16mths)! Jewel tones are trendy right now.

Here is a floor plan of my master suite:

So this gives you an idea of how my room lays out. The sky is the limit in here because I own nothing that is staying except my TV and my king mattress and foundations.

What made me think of this idea are my hubby and I's wedding rings. We personalized our wedding to the "T," which I will tell you about next month (April will be our 4 year anniversary). Instead of a diamond ring we decided to get our kid's birthstones in matching his and her rings. So if you do the math we only have three stones in our wedding rings, gotta add the baby! Diamonds are not my best friend, I know some of you may gasp at that, but I do not have to have a huge diamond. Not saying I do not like them, I think they are beautiful, but my kids birthstones just have more sentimental value then a diamond.

See here is our love story in a nut shell:

Star (me) and Sleepie (hubby) sittin in a tree,  K-I-SS-I-N-G, first came love, then came "chillens," then came marriage, then came our home, then came another "chillen!"

I know, so backwards, but to me it's honestly the modern day love story! You are probably wondering how does a Star and a Sleepie end up together. These are our nick names which mostly everyone knows us by, mine was birth given, his was acquired!

Back to the birth stones...when I see the color palette of the kids birthstones I think of a few different things. I see a cool or stormy sunset (sunset is where I am going with my color scheme for my house). I also see the bedroom blues I was trying to accomplish in my bedroom. But as I was going through my archives, I actually dug up this image:

I have this in my archives of images, so I have no reference for it (sorry). It reminds me of a certain something! Do you recognize it?

Yes a peacock feather, which is also trendy. I am not saying I am going to put peacock feathers all over my room, but I am inspired by the color palette:

So here is what I am thinking, I know I want to do a blue upholstered head board (just do not know which hue). Whatever I choose as the headboard color will become the paint color for the master bath. I want to add dark masculine dresser and night stands, but add the feminine touch with accents and accessories. Here is a perfect example of what I am talking about:

Via

This is just stunning from the headboard to the wall treatment all the way down to the accent pillows.  And since momma luv da kidz this will make so much sense and have add  more sentimental value to our master suite.

Thinking up a Dining Room Design

While I was in Sarasota the weekend before last for my daughter's basketball tournament, I made it a point to make to the local Boca Bargoons fabric store since I was in the area. I am in search of window fabric for the girls rooms and for the main living areas. I only had 30min (always a time crunch). I did find some fabric for the girls rooms.

Its a Braemore Selim Pattern fabric in Punch and Heather. I have found them for as low as $10/yd online. Not exactly sold yet, I am sitll on the prowl! I will post you up to date about my plans fo the girls room.

I actually fell in love with an especially particuler fabric. There was no information attached to the fabric, and I had no time to check with a sales person since I found it at the last minute. I did however cut a good sized sample.

If anyone recognizes this fabric, please let me know! Its a beautiful bird (I cut off its head) :( fabric with all these beautiful colors of the sunset in it! It has corals, pinks, and oranges with a cream base. It goes perfectly with the taupe walls. So, with this sample in hand...I have been thinking up a dining room design.

The dining room window falls in the front of the house, seen above. The way the house was originally built, this was actually supposed to be the formal living room and my now living room was supposed to be the dinging room. It did not make any sense to me space planning wise, so I changed it! My dining room table was my first furniture purchase. I bought it (in my mind) before I actually knew we were buying a house.

Its a 72" round dining table with a large glass lazy susan. Lu-u-uv it!!! It fits the space perfectly. The only thing is I do not have room for a large china, which is okay, because I like the idea of keeping the room feeling open. With the fabric serving as my window fabric, take a look at what I thought up:

I want to make this room more than just a dining room, I also want it to be a lounging place. I bet the first thing you see is that gorgeous turquoise settee. This is representative of color! Its something I  like to do in each room, adding that punch of color. I also would like to soften up it up a little more. I have to pay attention to the height of the back so it does not block too much natural light and I use this window to watch the kids at play when they are outside.

 

Via

I have always liked the idea of using a settee in a dining room. Its just one more way of making a dining room a more funtional space to lounge and eat. It will definetlty allow for longer conversations due to the level of comfort.
Since I can not fit a china, I am thinking of the best way to create storage in this area. Take a look at my options:

I can either do two matching cabinets with wall mounted shelves above or two matching open book shelf piers. Its something I need to ponder on just a bit longer, but I am leaning towards the cabinets with shelves above because it will allow me to have a buffet surface.

I plan to adress lighting by adding a Z-gallerie gold capiz chandelier above the table (z-gallerie who'd of thunk it?)! Aww...man I bet this will be so gorgeous at night in that large window from the outside. I have always wanted that chandelier, hope to have it within the next 3-4 mnths. 

I would also like to add wall sconces, on my focal point wall. Above is and inspiration photo from my archives, I do not know where I got it from, but here is how its inpired me:

I would like to mount a long wood shelf mantel, no more than 6" deep. Above it I would like to do a abstract piece of art with sconces on either side. This shelf will give me a place to add small decorative elements, like candles, and break up the large expansive wall space since I can not fit a china. I would like to paint the art myself, but this is a great alternative from the "Z."

I have not thought of what I would like to do for chairs, but I know I want either leather or wood. Maybe a woven rattan chair might be a good option. Let me know what you think!

The Big Empty

I must say I have been holding off on showing you the interior of my home for the longest because its embarrassing as a designer! Its big and empty. It has no life, no personality, no color, and no rhythm which are all the things that I am not. It was built as a builder spec home, so everything is blah, boring, and builder grade (what I call the "Tripple B Threat"). But I do have all these big plans that I have been dreaming up since I have been here. I will share them with you as I journey down the long road of decorating our house and making it our home. First off let me just show you some photos of the main living area that just got painted.

Top left: View of dining room from entry foyer
Middle left: Dining room view
Top right: View of dining room and entry foyer
2nd row left: View of family room into casual dining room
2nd row middle: View of hallway into master suite
2nd row right: View of casual dining room from family room
3rd row left: View of sitting room from entry
3rd row middle: View of hallway down into kids bedrooms
3rd row right: View of divider wall into entry from family room
Bottom row left: View of breakfast bar into kitchen from casual dining
Bottom row right: View of kitchen from kitchen entry

I love the taupe paint color (read more about it here), but hate everything else. I plan to eventually:

In the kitchen...

• paint the cabinets and replace the hardware
• add a couple of glass doors to either side of the sink cabinets
• add a back splash
• add under cabinet lighting
• add window treatments
• double the size of the island and add a butcher block counter top (its so small and not functional at all for such a big kitchen)
• add a pot rack above the island (always wanted one)

In the main living areas...

• replace the carpet and tile in the foyer with wood (in the meantime I am planning on taking up the carpet and painting the concrete floor. Any feedback on this idea will be helpful)
• add window treatments
• replace all light fixtures
• move TV cable to divider wall
• add trim to the top of the divider wall to make it look finished
• add lighting to plant shelf

Here is what I am using as a guide right now: I created a flow chart showing our traffic patterns of navigation. I also added arrows showing certain focal points that I would like to highlight when I am decorating.

The flow chart helped me with my furniture plan to use as a guide when I am looking to purchase large furniture items. I played with the family room for the longest about how to place the furniture.
The only thing that I have that is staying is my dining room table and chairs. I actually bought it in my mind before I even knew I was buying a house. I love the idea a 72" round ding table. There is no head of the table, so everyone is important. We entertain alot and we always get comments on our dining table. It's definitely a conversation piece.

New Beginnings Continued...

July this year will make three years that we have been in our humble abode! My husband and I always mention how much we love our home. This is our first home and both of us worked very hard to get here and still are working very hard to keep it.

It was brand new built in 2007 by a local builder in a brand new subdivision. My husband is the one who actually found the house. He even viewed it two times before he even took me to view it. We were originally looking to build. I was already in love with another model that we viewed during the Parade of Homes. I was just going to tweak a little bit had we decided to build of course. But I gotta say he really had to talk me into our current home. It was mostly because I was going to be able to get exactly what I wanted. It did not take long for me to come around being that it was move-in ready!

Loveable Home Features:

(In order of priority)

Open Floor Plan

Large Kitchen w/ Island

Two+ Full Bathrooms

Cathedral Ceiling

Large Bedrooms

Master Suite

Breakfast Bar

Formal and Casual Dining Spaces

Outdoor Living Space

Semi Private Backyard

Two-Car Garage

This year is the year that we inject our personality into our home. Just as I declared in my resolution to make my house my home. Home improvements so far has been in the main living area of the house. We added recessed lighting in the living and family rooms. We did a couple of recessed directional lights in the casual dining area and three pendants over the breakfast bar. We also painted the foyer, formal dining, living room, family room, kitchen, and hallway. Our next improvements are going to be in the kids bedrooms.

Been Too Long

It's been too long to wait for our walls to be painted. We painted only the main living areas and kitchen so far. I feel like I am in a new house. Here is what the walls looked like before. The original color was a off-white that had some peach hues in it. This is a view of the hallway entrance leading to the bedrooms.

It took me two weeks to find the perfect color. I new I wanted a taupe color all along. I had a collection of taupe paint chips that caught my I from Benjamin Moore to Wal-mart. I had a few samples made and painted big two foot squares on several walls in different areas.  I was feeling a color called Sidewalk Square, but it ended up having more grey in it than I wanted. I needed something more on the warmer side of grey with more brown.

So after a couple days of seeing the Sidewalk Square on my walls I went in to work and fell in love with the perfect Taupe on a feature wall in our office. Our department had been recently relocated into another area of the corporate office. There is a feature wall in my supervisors office that was painted in a warm taupe. My supervisor actually found the paint color. She was smart to use a Martha Stewart technique of dipping a paint stirrer into the paint and keeping it. The only thing she did not do was write the paint color down on the stick. But she knew she found it at Porter Paints. So I was on a mission to find this paint color.

We had no luck finding the actual paint color after searching through emails . But wah-lah! We had a small glimmer of hope after the maintenance department found a Porter Paint invoice for one gallon of Soft Taupe #6746-1. I went to the nearest store to take a look and it ended up being a bust. It was no where near what was on that feature wall. So I had them mix a quart of paint from the dipped paint stirrer. It ended up being very close. But honestly a little too expensive for what I wanted to pay per gallon.

With the dipped paint stirrer in hand I went to my local Lowe's and had them mix it using their spectrum. It ended up being dead on. I had a quart of the custom paint mixed and brought it home to paint my two foot square. Perfectamundo! Love it! Here is what it looks like. That's my oldest daughter Bri in her purple attire of course!



Resolution = The Whole Me

The only resolution I have is to focus on  me, myself, and I starting from the inside out! Here are the most important parts of me that make me whole:

Part One - Make my body my temple!

1. make healthier food choices
2. exercise more
3. treat myself to the spa

Part Two - Make my mind more at peace!

1. focus more on what I have rather than what I don't have
2. focus on the future and not the past
3. meditate more to flush out all negativity
4. do more of the things I like to do

Part Three - Smile from the inside out with my soul

1. recognize the beauty in those that may rub me the wrong way
2. spend more quality time with my family
3. give more to others through time or charity

Part Four - Make my house my home!

1. organize everything
2. decorate with the five senses in mind (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)
3. make one house purchase every pay day

I only have one life, one body, and one soul. I am going to make them worth my while as I dwell here on earth!