Room Reveal: Our Living Room Makeover!

Yes.. Yes.. Yes, I'm on a roll! One more room reveal!

Its taken a looooong time to get here. And though I'm saying that it is done, you do know I mean its done for now? ;) 

(Shhhh…don't tell my husband!)

Before I show you the makeover, I need to take you back in time, just for a bit…

Our Living Room Timeline:

Do you remember my living room earlier? 

It looked something like this. 

Then it looked like this.

Then came my Living Room Inspiration Post…where I shared some Living Rooms that looked just scrumptious!

Well, after all that… here's our Living Room.

The colour scheme of the living Room is neutral with pops of black and muted red.  

Here's the view from another angle…

Little details on the coffee table… 
A souvenir from Newcastle and a vintage French book from a flea market.

Mini cushions (that I made)…to add that homey feel. Okay you caught me, I love cushions! The more the merrier!

You can see the other ceramic drum stool peeking into the frame.

I actually love this wall art… It adds a bit of interest to the wall behind the TV and helps balance the blank space. 

And it's quintessentially French Provincial!

The rug matches the small lumbar cushion on the other couch. But I think this space needs a round more neutral rug or a bold stripy rug. I can't quite make up my mind on this one!

Another mini grain sack cushion.

The frames are simple and sleek black metal. I cut some white matting myself (since the quote of getting the matting professionally cut for 6 frames that size was over $300) and printed out black and white photographs taken on our trip to France and Italy this year in January. 

I deliberately chose large size frames and thick white matting (the same colour as our wall paint) to make the photographs the focal point. 

I didn't want too much black on the wall and the white matting helps, it makes the photos look like they are floating on the wall.

This was a garage sale score - a huge and heavy antique mirror that will be put up on the wall…one day soon! 

I love how the eye is drawn to the photographs in the centre.

That's a French film poster "Jour De fête" by Jacques Tati, that I ordered from a poster shop in Fitzroy, Victoria. It adds a bright splash of colour to this otherwise neutral living room.

A tripod lamp that I made from an old music stand. That's a simple linen shade bought on sale from Target.

I saw the music stand lamp first on Kristine's blog, The Painted Hive and was so impressed. I had an old music stand lying in my garage that I had used to display signs during my product launch last year in July. But since then it was just gathering dust. So after I saw Kristine's tutorial, I decided to put the stand to good use.

I tried wiring it myself, even bought all the supplies from the hardware store but after nearly burning the house down, I knew I had to seek professional help. 

I scouted around a lot of light shops, but to my surprise, every shop I went to turned me down and said that it was not a feasible project! 

Then by sheer luck I happened to drop into a light store called Lights Lights Lights on Mt Alexander Road. The staff at LLL, Danielle, Elias and George were amazingly helpful! They had such a positive can do attitude! They wired my lamp in no time and now it works beautifully!

(And they have some gorgeous lights at their store!)

Moving on…that's a storage box or rather a 'vintage chest'. It stores all our old magazines. 

To see the tutorial on how I turned an ordinary storage box into a vintage chest, click here.

The living room gets a lot of natural light all day long and is probably my favourite room in the house.

The coffee table was a makeover project as well. I gave the table top a faux rust treatment to give it an industrial look.

It's a calm and cosy place to sit and chat for hours with friends or watch TV or just lie down on that comfy couch with a good book.

We love how comfy and uncluttered the living room looks and feels. And the best part, my husband loves the makeover!

Well there you have it…

Hope you enjoyed my Living Room Reveal!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

xox

Rani

Click here to visit my Etsy Store!

Room Reveal: Upstairs Landing/Master Bedroom Entryway!

Hello All

Finally that day has come when I can reveal a 'done' section of our home!(Woot Woot!) Presenting…

The Before

It was pretty blah and boring before. There was an unfinished painting hanging on the wall for a very long time. I just never got around to finishing it. I don't have any pictures just this one taken one evening with my phone ages ago. 

The Before!

Every time I passed the entry way to go our bedroom or while climbing up the stairs, or on my way to the study, it just looked sadder and sadder… 

So finally, when I spotted a huge wooden frame at a flea market, I grabbed it!

The minute I saw it, I knew exactly where I was going to hang it. 

But there was a bit to do before I could admire it on the wall.

Challenge #1

It was a hideous orangey colour. No backing, just a wooden frame and very heavy. But the frame was in perfect condition. 

Washed off the dirt, sanded it down and sprayed it 3 times with White Knight gold metallic paint from Bunnings Warehouse. 

It looked lovely but just too shiny for me. It looked new.

I was looking for a vintage metal gold hue. So I sanded it lightly again, added a few dings on it and then dry brushed it with black acrylic paint from the Dollar Store. Sanded it back again to show off the dulled matte gold paint. 

Just Perfect! *Swoon-worthy*

Challenge #2 

There was no backing to the frame. It was just 4 pieces of wood nailed together. 

I thought of picking up a mdf backing from Bunnings, but I wanted something different. 

Lightbulb moment… drop cloth backing! 

I'm obsessed with drop cloth and always have some lying in the craft cupboard. I took out the canvas drop cloth, measured it up and stapled it to frame with an upholstery stapler. It looked amazing. Just by itself it looked like a work of art. 

Challenge #3

After admiring the blank canvas for a long while, it kinda looked a bit empty. So I scavenged around in my home and found a map of monuments located in Paris that I had bought ages ago from MagNation but never found a frame for it. So it gathered dust in a drawer. 

Well, not anymore, out came the map! 

But for some reason, the double sided sticky tape did not do the job, the map kept rolling off the canvas drop cloth. Tried some cardboard pins, did not work, neither did the upholstery tacks since there was no hard backing to push the pins into. Finally, it came to me, after I had given up and put the map away in its designated drawer. 

I could stitch it into place! 

Out came the needle and cream/off-white thread and I lightly tacked it into place. A Perfect solution!

From a distance you cannot see the thread and even up close, it's not obvious at all. The off-white thread happily merges into the off-white margins of the map.

Challenge #4 

Balancing precariously on a chair, with a frame that weighs a ton, trying to hang it with one hand and clutching for dear life with the other. 

Done! Next?

(My growing collection of Eiffel Towers)

Challenge #5

It looked lovely, but unfinished. Something was missing. It needed a dresser/table or some sort of a mantle underneath it. 

 But this corridor/master bedroom entry way is quite narrow and anything wide would just not work. I would also not be able to drag heavy furniture up the stairs single handedly and if I were to block the entry way to our bedroom with a big piece of furniture, I might have to run away from home without a forwarding address to escape my husband's extra 'grim' look.

So I walked around the house and the garage scouting. And I glanced upon the Pottery Barn inspired display unit in the dining room, it was narrow and the colours walnut and black would work perfectly with the faux vintage gold frame. Hauled it up the stairs (sometimes I amaze my husband when I rearrange furniture, he doesn't know where the strength to move furniture is stored in my 5 feet 1 inch and a half body!)  

I fiddled around with the display again with a few new antiques, like the binoculars with its very own original leather case on the last shelf. They are truly vintage and gorgeous. My husband's very prized possession.

Added some roses from my garden. I not a fan of picking flowers from the garden, I much rather enjoy them on the plants, but this area needed softening, a feminine touch with all that gold, wood, walnut and black.

Challenge #6

Sit on the stairs and enjoy the view! 

This was the best challenge of the lot! 

The After!

On the left is the Master Bedroom and the right is our Bathroom and Study.

On another note…I just realised that I don't like the carpet in our home and one day… I shall get my wooden floors! 

*Sigh*Day-Dream*Sigh*

Just to give you all an idea of where this space is located…

Right above my Vintage Family Photo Gallery Wall!

I added a garden stool (from the Reject Store, Thank you Kristine from The Painted Hive) on the side, but this space is tiny and narrow, I was afraid too much and it would start to look cluttered. 

And one more time…The Upstairs Landing/Master Bedroom Entryway! Not sure if it is magazine worthy, but it is definitely a much happier place to walk by!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

A big Thank You to Andrea for featuring the display unit on her blog, The Cottage Market! 

And a big Shout Out to Katie from Creatively Living for featuring my Vintage Family Photo Gallery Wall!

I'm so flattered!

xox

Rani

Click here to visit my Etsy Store!