Living Room Before & After (Danielle Moss)

I'm a big fan of Danielle Moss (Breakfast at Toast/The Everygirl) and really appreciate how honest she is about not just the successes in her life, but the struggles too.  We all have them, trust me.  But, blogs are generally our "happy place" so let's enjoy her gorgeous apartment!  Have you seen it already??  So bright and full of personality in the little details.

In true Danielle style, I love how she shares the unglamorous "before" photos.

*all images via Breakfast at Toast

Amazing what some paint and styling can do to a room!  And I'm reminded to "enjoy the process"!

DIY or HIRE??

You might remember me talking about wanting to paint our media cabinets dark grey last week.  They are currently Sherwin Williams Divine White (flat) and Jamestown Blue (Sherwin Williams??) on the back wall.

And I want to paint them dark grey like this:

I actually don't WANT to paint them myself, so I called the painter who painted my office for $100 (well worth it in my opinion) to get a quote.  I'm not sure what I expected, but it sure wasn't $750!  He said he would paint it with his spray gun and the cost is really in the care he has to take in covering everything else in the house so it doesn't get sprayed with paint.  

I politely declined. 

My question is:  Is this something I can tackle myself?  I painted the back wall, but that was easy, no drawers and doors, etc.  I really admire all you DIYers out there that wouldn't even hesitate to paint this yourself, but I'm very hesitant because I want it to look good, especially because it's such a focal point in the room.

Would you paint it yourself? 

What do you think is a reasonable price to pay to hire someone?

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And please come say hi to Jenna at SAS Interiors- she invited me over to talk about creating a meaningful home.  Thanks for having me Jenna!

Our Living Room Sectional (Pottery Barn Pearce) - A Review

Our sectional is from, the Pearce Chaise Sectional to be precise and I wanted to let you know the pros and cons in case you are considering this sofa for your home.  Overall, I would buy this couch again, but I wish the back cushions held their shape better.

This sectional comes in four pieces and can be configured so that the chaise is on the left or right. You have to be careful when placing your order so you get the correct piece.  

The couch is big!  It's long enough seat several people and also to take an afternoon nap.

For our space, the sectional fits our living room perfectly.  I love having the chaise lounge and you can typically find me there.  I claimed it from the very beginning.  Well, James and I claimed it. 

The fabric on our sofa is Everyday suede in Light Wheat, but it also comes in a variety of different fabrics and colors.   Light Wheat is a neutral dark tan.  You can take swatches of their fabric home for free.  The suede is great because it is soft and wipes clean easily.  The only stain I haven't been able to remove is an ink pen.  All spilled milk and other unidentified spots have disappeared with a scrub of soap and water.  

My disappointment in this sofa is the back cushions.  They get so "mushed" and lose their shape- especially the ones that get the most use.   I continually have to refluff them.   The cushion covers do unzip, so I guess I could purchase a new insert- I haven't looked into that, but might consider it. For now, I've added another pillow insert into the one cushion that goes where I sit.  

Be mindful that with a sectional like this (with the chaise), you can't have a very large coffee table in the middle.  There are about 70 inches inside, but you need to have room to walk around the coffee table, so the widest coffee table you can reasonably have is about 40 inches.  

I think this couch is popular- I've seen it in my friend Courtney's home (A Thoughtful Place).  I'm not sure we have the same fabric/color though.  And her cushions don't look as smushed.  :)

Balancing Home has the Pearce in Oat.  

If you have any questions about this sofa, let me know and I'll answer in the comments. 

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P.S.  I'm sharing a spinach and fruit smoothie on my health and fitness blog- Honey We're Healthy.  This one's surprisingly yummy!

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Head over to Babble for 12 "Real Mom" tips on how to stay organized.  

Have a great weekend!

A Favorite (Smaller) Living Room

I can't get this living room out of my mind.  It's a beautiful mix of masculine and feminine, a neutral color palette with great texture and personality.  The gallery wall is interesting and, if you can pull off a white sofa, go for it!  I've got a little toddler eating and getting grubby on the couch so it's probably not happening here- although I have a friend who loves her white slipcovered sofas even with her own two little kids.  

I'm also crazy over the black-rimmed windows devoid of drapes- such great light.  And that convex mirror!  The tiniest hint of blush pink in the pillow, vase and book adds a girlie touch too. 

This living room was designed and styled by Crystal Gentilello.  You can go here to see more of her work.

I felt this room showcases how stylishly you can live in a smaller space.  It seems that the ceilings are rather tall, which definitely opens up the room.  

So tell me, are you living large or rockin' a smaller space?  

If you follow me on Instagram (@honeywerehome), you saw me browsing Domino's issue dedicated to small spaces.  It's full of pictures and practical storage solutions.

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Grown Up Coffee Table

Hi friends!  Hope you had a great weekend!  After a major deep cleaning on Saturday, I was hanging out in the living room realizing that I never shared our "grown up" coffee table with you.  Like many of you with small children, we had the easy-to-clean, safe faux leather ottoman as our coffee table for years.

It was from Overstock, fit our living room perfectly, but most importantly, was baby friendly.  I even put ugly rubber bumpers on the leg corners to be extra safe- yeah, first time mom:) 

After a couple of years, I couldn't wait to get rid of it because it was just too bulky and boxy.  I tried to camouflage it by putting a decorative tray on top, but was waiting for the day when I felt it was "safe" to put a round, glass-top coffee table in the space.  

My dreamy coffee table was from Ethan Allen, but was pricy (of course it's on sale now), so I kept looking.  Also, it was 38 inches in diameter and 19 inches high, which I thought might be a little tight.  

I found a similar alternative at West Elm for about half the price (the Foxed Mirror Coffee Table), which I couldn't find online, but they do still have the same side table.  It's oval instead of round, and mirrored instead of glass. 

Also, it might be a tad small for our living room, but I wanted to be sure we had enough room to walk around it.  

The above photos are from awhile ago, and I've since moved the cowhide rug to my home office.  

Most of the time, during the day, the table top is full of my son's cars and trains and it hasn't damaged the table.  

Do you have any "baby furniture" you're ready to be done with when the time is right?  I admit to holding onto our glider- I still rock my son in it at night!  

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Coffee Talk {Link Party}

Emily at Emily A. Clark recently found a fabulous coffee table for her home, which inspired her to host a link party where readers show off their own coffee tables.  I love getting a glimpse into everyone’s living rooms.  And here is a peek into ours:

 

 

As you can see, our coffee table is actually a leather ottoman from Overstock.  I love it because it’s large (39 x 39 inches), fits our space perfectly, was inexpensive, and will hopefully be safer for our little guy, who recently started doing this:

Heaven help me! 

Stop by tomorrow to see my mudroom makeover:)

Media Cabinet Makeover

Thanks to my blog friends, I was able to finally! choose a paint color to paint the back of the media center in our living room.  Most of you who commented here, voted for the blue on the middle shelf.  Well, little did I know that that color was called “Jamestown Blue.”  A color with my son’s name had to be the one:)  Before I painted the media center, which is a built in unit, it looked like this:

 BEFORE

1st AFTER

I left the cabinet like this for about a week, then decided to paint the wall behind the television as well.  I didn’t paint it initially because the t.v. is too hard to move and I knew I’d only be able to do part of the wall.  Then, I realized the t.v. swiveled, making that paint job a bit easier.  So, now all of the walls on the media cabinet are painted and it looks more cohesive.

2nd AFTER

I think it turned out pretty well.  The blue is really nice in person with just a hint of aqua.  It looks more slate and less sugary at home and is even prettier in the evening.

Step 1:  Remove all items from shelf

 

Step 2:  Remove shelves and apply tape to avoid getting paint where you don’t want it.

 

Step 3: Gather supplies (paint, foam rollers and brushes, bucket, drop cloth).



Step 4:  Cover ginormous t.v. with drop cloth.  (must.not.get.paint.on.t.v.must.not.get.paint.on.t.v.)!



Step 5:  Begin painting.  First I painted the frame with a foam brush.



Step 6: Then I used a foam roller to apply two coats of paint.



The cabinet looked like this when I was finished and put the shelves back in.  I do have some a lot of “touch up” work to do where the paint is uneven near where I taped.  I plan to get a small brush to redo those areas. 

 

*Update:  When I went back and painted the area behind the t.v., I also did those touch-ups, this time using Blue Frog tape instead of blue tape and taking the tape off as soon as I was done painting, while the paint was wet.  The results were much better.  I made sure that the tape was pressed down very hard before painting. 

 

Instead of a 4 inch foam roller, I used a 6 inch fabric roller.  

 

A small paint brush was used to do the cut ins, instead of the foam brush. 



  When the tape was removed, I had clean, crisp lines.  Yay!!!! So much better.



I played around with the accessories, using a mix of silver, white and brown.  To me, silver, white, and black looked too stark and so the browns added some warmth.  I’m still searching for the perfect pictures to put in two of the silver frames.  Also, I’m thinking of adding some large books to the shelves above the t.v.  I tried removing the upper middle shelf, but it looked a bit odd.  I plan to do a post soon on where I found or repurposed all the lovely accessories. 

 

 

BEFORE

AFTER

 

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I’m sharing this post at these fantastic blogs:

Centsational Girl



A Few of My Favorite Things * All Thingz Related * Blue Cricket Design * C.R.A.F.T. * Domestically Speaking * Fingerprints on the Fridge * Infarrantly Creative * Keeping it Simple * Mad in Crafts * Me and My Bucket * Miss Mustard Seed * New Nostalgia * Remodelaholic * Seven Thirty Three * Serenity Now * Super Stinky Boys * Tatertots and Jello * The Inspired Room * The Shabby Chic Cottage * The Shabby Nest * Thrifty Decor Chick * Today’s Creative Blog * Under the Table and Dreaming