The peachy pinks, white or marbleized looking ones just work best for me.
This gal has her "do" for the season!
I found these huge coral ones in VA on the day after Thanksgiving.
They rode home with us in a place of honor to keep them "safe"
so I guess they are "imported!" :)
They look right at home in our Library (which used to be our dining room years ago!)
It's sort of our version of a British "snug" - a small cozy room filled with books and comfy chairs.
This miniature white one was irresistible. It's spending the holidays in the downstairs powder room. When it comes to poinsettias are you Team Red or Team Pink/Peach/White??
I have chosen to freshen up our foyer - entryway, if you will. It's the first room you see in a home. so in the words of the famous Julie Andrews- "Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start." #doremi
There are some things we like and will stay.
There's something I don't like but it has to stay because I don't live alone... so, there's that ;)
And the foyer really needs whatever it is it needs (?) to perk it up,
to take it to the next level and to just pull it together.
The obligatory "Befores":
When you walk in the front door this is what you see.
They've been rewired and I love them there. Things staying (I am pretty sure): dresser, elephant on the left, green chinoiserie lamps. Things that might move: prints, accessories on the dresser.
"The Herd" isn't staying.
The largest one on the far left is mine but the others have gone off to the shop @elizabethandpayne
Next. Standing at the front door looking right.
There are French doors to the right.
A few years ago I "DIY mirrored" them.
More on that later.
(The chair and the Amazon boxes were just there temporarily.)
And there is the thing I don't like - the hall tree full of hats.
But my husband wants.it.there. #staying
I have white IKEA curtains across the front door.
They are a game changer. I've had them at least 5 years.
We can pull them for privacy at night and to block out brutal Summer sunshine that would fade artwork, etc. They are great in the Winter - they actually block some of the cold.
They have actually changed our heating and cooling bills.
They could use something - trim, painted stripes, a band of colorful fabric on the bottom. And the curtain rod could be improved upon. It's plain Jane from IKEA.
All possibilities but the curtains must stay - they are so functional.
Here they are pulled (not neatly, I might add #keepingitreal) on a sunny afternoon.
They puddle but maybe I should shorten them a tad? They just look messy because they get moved so much.
On the same wall is a mirror and some of my Haitian art collection.
The bamboo mirror was a thrifting find and I painted it yellow.
Below the mirror is the "challenge" part
of this One Room Challenge...
I found this pair of amazing, fabulous, dream come true Brighton Pavilion Style bamboo chairs and table a couple of months ago.
We were leaving on a mission trip the next day so Mollie and I ran to meet the seller and brought them home.
I had intended for the entire set to go on that wall.
But, guess what?
They are bigger than I realized and do not fit.
I don't want to break them up so I am trying to be tricky and try to incorporate one into the Library where the green bamboo chair used to be and use the table and 1 chair in the foyer.
The set will run along the wall but actually be in two rooms.
I will need to figure out how to make this work and not look disjointed or just plain terrible.
I don't know if I can pull it off or not.
It would be easier if the flooring did not change but, of course, it does!
Fabric or pillows may be the solution to creating cohesiveness.
The room is actually very neutral and may benefit from some more layering.
The walls are white and I'm still liking my clean white walls.
This room opens onto the only non-white walled room on our first level.
The walls are glossy black and there is a lot of color in that room.
Something to take in to consideration.
This is what you see when you walk into the front door and look through the opening on the left side of the foyer at the bottom of the stairs:
(Oh, and the rug has changed since this picture was taken.)
A friend gave me this rug that she did not like and it had barely been walked on. Literally. (I now think the blue ikat on the bottom of the curtains needs to change but that's for another time!)
The second Brighton chair will sit where the green bamboo chair is in the picture.
Whew. That's a lot to take in.
And it's a bit confusing so here is a quick little sketch to help you visualize the whole thing:
In true ORC fashion,
things are bound to change on the daily so follow along
Here's a little One Room Challenge Recap: If you aren't familiar, the One Room Challenge is a blogging event that takes place biannually. Within a five week period those participating completely transform a space and give weekly updates on the progress. The sixth Thursday is the Big Reveal!!
My first ORC was also my most recent ORC.
Wait, what?
I really had no idea what I was jumping in to when I did my first ORC- our Guest Bedroom. I never quite "finished" it so I went back last Spring and crossed the T's and dotted the I's.
It was all about the coral faux bamboo china cabinet.
(You have a china cabinet in a bathroom? Yep!)
And before the Master Bathroom I redid our Library.
It was formerly the Dining Room
but turning the room in to a Library several years ago made the room more useful for us.
Spring 2016
It's all moody and glossy black with lots of bamboo and blue and white touches.
The only room in our house that doesn't have white walls!
Before the Library ORC, Mollie and I did a Mother-Daughter ORC project and gave her bathroom the bohemian chic look she loves. So this is from Fall 2015 One Room Challenge: And Spring of 2015 the One Room Challenge was the Guest Bedroom which was the most recent ORC as well. The One Room Challenge is a great motivator. Jump in if you are thinking about it- You'll have a fresh new room for the holidays. Most of the time there is a lot of support via positive comments on your posts (last time was sadly not the case but I'm back anyway!!) I'll see you on Thursday with the "reveal" of what room I've chosen for my 6th ORC!!
My daughter ran Cross Country in high school. When a teammate was late coming in because he/she was injured or sick or had fallen and lost their spot in the pack the first one or two teammates who had crossed the finish line early would run back and run in beside the struggling runner offering encouragement the whole time. The first time I saw this I almost cried. Not every team did this. They were doing this after a hard, fast 5K they had already run. It was so kind and they were teenagers in that stage that so many older people label as thoughtless and self absorbed. Mollie's team won most of their meets and championships so these were runners who had just set records going back to run the last guy home.
So I hope you will come to the back of the ORC pack (so many great rooms already posted) and hang with me in last place :)
Here is my Olio Board from the beginning of the process.
You can see the "befores" of the room here and here.
I think I stayed pretty true to the vision with a few fun additions
that I squeezed in after I finally got the ball rolling around here!
The bamboo chair and its wine colored cushion was behind the color shift in this room. The other motivator was to put the finishing layers and touches on this room that was improved greatly in the first ORC I ever did but I never went back and really pulled it all together.
So, no more chit chat.
Here is where we ended up with a couple of weeks work time
Before:
And, come on in...
(Hey, look, it's my reveal photo and I forgot to go back and put on the outlet cover !!)
Small disclaimer: I finally finished but it was pouring rain. Not a good photo shoot day.
These are all iphone pics. You gotta do what you gotta do!
