More on our living room makeover

Hey all! Thank you SO MUCH for all your nice comments about our new living room paint job! I really appreciate it.

I'm back again today with some more about our living room. In case you forgot, here's what it's looking like:

One thing that's always bugged me about our house is that we have white trim, but the outlets and switches are off-white -- they just ended up looking dirty next to the white trim. So, while the furniture was out of the room and the outlet covers already off, we decided to take the opportunity to switch them out to white ones.

Yes, this is the living room wall. Isn't it crazy how much that blue color changes in different lights?

On Saturday, we picked up a couple boxes of tamper-resistant outlets and unbreakable nylon covers to replace the outlets, as well as some light switches and covers. The hubs did some research and managed to do the work himself (with the power turned off, always). He's so handy!

We went from this...

To this.

It was such a simple change, but it really makes a big difference. It makes the room look a lot more polished.

Before we moved the sectional back in, we also needed to hang the curtain rods. The curtain rods we had in there were left for us by the previous owner. Since I joined the home design blogosphere, I quickly learned the curtain "high and wide" mantra. Haven't heard of it? Here's the gist:

Via Elements of Style

It took a while to get the hubs on board with this, but once I did, we quickly realized the curtain rods we inherited were not long enough to go as wide as we wanted. Determined to get this living room whipped back into shape, we made our second trip of the day to Home Depot for a few of these:

I wish we could say we used lots of scientific measurements to figure out the best high-and-wide placement, but we really just eyeballed it. They ended up being about eight inches from the top of the window frame and nine inches out on each side. The rods we bought were 48"-88" long.

To make placing the brackets easier, we borrowed an idea from Miss Mustard Seed and made a template. We used an old piece of cardboard, cut off a corner so it would tuck around the window frame and measured where the screws should go.

Ignore the red lines

Then the hubs put the template against the wall and marked the holes.

This seemed like such a genius idea and worked great in the living room. Then we installed the brackets in the sitting room and ended up with this:

Hmm...how come they weren't even? It didn't take long to realize the problem was that our window frames weren't level. Bummer. We haven't decided how we're going to fix this one. So, if you go with a template, make sure your windows are level before you drill, and if they're not, adjust accordingly.

Anyways...hanging the curtains high and wide made SUCH a big difference! It makes the room look taller and opens up the windows to let in more light. I never disliked our old rods, but I'm really liking these ones a ton. They're thicker, so they're more substantial and give the windows a more polished look, if I do say so myself.

 
Curtains hung just above the window:

See what I mean?

High and wide, people! I'm a believer :)

And yes, those are the same curtains (they're from Target). I'm not sure about keeping them. Initially, I thought I'd get rid of them, but then we hung them up and, well, I'm not hating it. What do you all think? Is the blue and green combo a little too funky? Should I do with something with a pattern or more color? Or maybe just a plain white to keep things light and airy? I'd love to hear your suggestions!

One other little thing about the curtains. The problem with going high and wide can mean your curtains aren't long enough. These ones are only 84 inches long, so raising up the rods meant the curtains no longer hit the floor. But lucky for us, they're all hidden behind the furniture! (You can just barely see the bottom edge of the curtain on the left in that photo above.) So, we don't need to buy longer curtains. And it's better this way since the curtains no longer hang over the baseboards, meaning the heat should be more evenly distributed in the room.

We still have a few things to switch out in here. The coffee table is not staying -- it's too big for this space, and it was a hand-me-down, so we're not too sad to lose it. I'm not sure what we'll get instead. I've been thinking about one or two of these ottomans. I like the texture, that you can put things inside and that you could use them for extra seating or even move them out of the way easily.

Amazon

And that floor lamp you see is from my old dorm room -- clearly, it's got to go! I can't wait to toss it and get something else. I've pondered getting one of these arc lamps and putting it in the corner behind the sectional, but I can't decide if it will just hang in your face and shine right in your eyes. But they are so cool-looking! This one's from Target.

Source: cb2.com via Mindy on Pinterest

And then there's art. I'm not sure about everything that will go on the wall, but I do know I'll find a place for my new sunburst mirror...

...and this painting I got at HomeGoods...

Oh, I also have to show you my new side table. I got it for $70 from a local antique store. I just think it's so adorable. I wish I knew why it's shaped this way, if there's a reason for the cut-out in the front. Maybe it's just for aesthetics.

Anyways, I love the warm wood tones and I think the curves offset the boxy shape of the sectional. The detailing on the legs really gets me.

Okay, okay, just a couple more photos... :)

Now that this room is painted, maybe I can get back to that office redo I've been working on forever... :)

A new, blue living room {before and after}

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. It just seemed to go by so fast for me.

We spent a good chunk of the weekend putting our house back in order. See, I finished painting the living room last weekend, but we still hadn't put the furniture back. So, at the start of the weekend, it still looked like this:

But now, it looks like this!

The before:

I was so, so nervous about painting this room. I really did like the color we painted it just one short year ago, so it seemed a little silly to paint over it. But I'm super duper excited with how it looks after a couple coats of Behr Misty Morn, the same color I painted the sitting room.

It's not too dark, not too light, and changes in different lights -- sometimes it looks really blue, other times it's more gray. And even though it's a cool color, it still has some warmth, making it a nice, cozy place to put your feet up and relax.

I still need to put art on the walls, but I'm liking it a ton already. I'll have more words tomorrow. Today, just photos. Enjoy!

Click here to read more about the transformation.

Linking up!

A bookcase revamp in detail

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend! I meant to be back again last week, but work got busy and it also was super-nice in Maine last week, like record-breaking heat, so I decided to get outside and enjoy it :)

Thanks for all your nice words on my bookcase redo! I thought I'd give you a little more details on what I used to decorate it.

Since this bookcase is in our office, I needed it to me functional...but of course it has to be nice to look at, right? We've got a nice big closet and a desk with four drawers. so I didn't need the bookcase to store much else but books. I picked out books we need on hand, books with some sentimental value, and books I think are pretty :) I also left a little space so we could add books as we need to.

The bottom shelf has our "useful" books -- travel guides, home improvement and landscaping. Holding some of the books up are the hubs' old voltage meter. I really like to add natural elements to a lot of my decorating, so I added some rocks from my collection.

On the next shelf, the hubs' books about brewing beer are nice and handy, propped up by an old insulator and a clearance candlestick from Target that I spray painted turquoise. It was dark brown before. I'm totally loving it in this color!

I've also got some of the hubs' old books about math and engineering. A mask I bought in Venice adds a little sparkle.

Up from that, more books, a bottle of sand from the beach and a nice little wedding photo. I tried to group the books my color as much as I could; I decided to arrange these blue books from light to dark.

A collection of white books is on the next shelf, with two turquoise vases I bought at a local boutique. Actually, one of these vases was the inspiration for the pops of turquoise in this room -- and I had to run out and buy its buddy. A photo of Aruba ties in more blue and just makes me happy to look at. The frame is also a Target clearance special; it used to be gold, but I spray painted it white.

Lastly, the top shelf has a few more books in green and red, and a turquoise fruit basket from Target (do I shop anywhere else??).

The basket is filled with some of my shell collection.

There's lots of great advice out there about decorating bookcases and shelves, but I thought I'd share a few things I like to do:

• Use natural elements. I love bringing a little nature indoors -- it's timeless, easy and cheap. Natural elements can add texture and color. Plus, they're meaningful for me -- shells (like below) and sand remind me of favorite beach trips, rocks of camping trips. I like to group them in collections for impact.

Source: styleathome.com via Mindy on Pinterest

• Stick to a color palette. Especially with the graphic background, I used a few colors to keep things cohesive. Turquoise and white feature prominently, along with other blues and greens and a few pops of red. Again, I grouped the books by color to create visual impact, but also repeated the colors on different shelves to tie things together.

Source: housetohome.co.uk via Mindy on Pinterest

Source: elementsofstyleblog.com via Mindy on Pinterest

• Add personal elements. Framed photos and other keepsakes make decor personal and unique. Just makes it feel like home, you know?

Source: sasinteriors.net via Mindy on Pinterest

• Less is more. Sometimes less can have more impact. I purposefully kept the arrangement airy so it wouldn't compete with the busy background and to keep it from looking cluttered.

Source: makeundermylife.com via Mindy on Pinterest

Like anything I do in my house, this probably isn't done yet -- I'll be tweaking here and there as the mood strikes. I've already got a couple other things I want to add in there for more color and texture. Stay tuned!