Lightened up Living Room [reveal]

This was what our living room looked like right after we moved in, without changing the paint colour, and using everything we had brought from our old house.

The paint colour. It was in the beige/brown family. I don't know what colour it was. I lovingly referred to it as 'poop water'. (did you just throw up in your mouth a little? I can be a bit crass.)

I wanted it lightened up.

And here's what it looks like now, with new art, new bar cart/side table and most importantly, a fresh coat of paint!

The colour is Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray. 

I think this photo is the most accurate representation of the true colour:

Side note/dilemma: This side of the room screams for window treatments to warm it up, but given the completely odd shape of our bay window, I can't even imagine how I would do that. Plus, it's the only source of light from the front of the house, and I'm scared to take any sunlight away. (Currently the california shutters do a serviceable job of letting light in and maintaining privacy).

Oh and I also added this bowl - found at Ikea! Amazing!

Little reading area.

And a sneak peak into our freshly wallpapered dining room. The dining room is a bit cave like, with no natural light, and as soon as I figure out how to photograph it without it looking like a still from a horror movie, I will.

It's better now, right? Obviously paint colour can change the whole vibe of a room, and it's definitely more 'us' now.

ReStore Find: Occasional chair (before)

On the heels of my fun bracelet stand find at Goodwill, I was inspired to keep thrift store treasure hunting. Our house is still half empty, and we're not really wanting to make huge expenditures at the moment, so we're leaving it like that. It is just the three of us after all.

There is no harm in collecting some used pieces for cheap though! I found this chair at my local ReStore for $25. That actually might be kind of expensive for this chair, I really have no idea. I also really don't care since I think Habitat is a pretty great charity and if my $25 helps pay for part of a house it's all good. Karma, baby.

I just saw great legs, a pretty back and a fairly straightforward re-upholstery job for a complete beginner like me.

Check out what the previous owners chose for the upholstery - I believe that is florescent zig-zag duct tape folks. NICE. Do not adjust your screen.

Won't you take me to...Funky Town???

I've ordered this fabric from Tonic Living:

I'm also planning to paint the chair white.

I think I'd like this chair to live in our guest room, or perhaps in our master bedroom in my future makeup/vanity table area. We'll see!

Goodwill find: Bracelet stand! [Before and After]

I haven't posted in a while. I really want to photograph and post about our newly painted and wallpapered living/dining rooms (bye bye poop walls!) however I haven't been able to coordinate photographing and sunny conditions. It's been gloomy.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this fun small victory. I was dropping off some old clothing to our local Goodwill the other day, and decided to pop in. I don't know why as I never, ever find anything good. But I spotted this hand towel stand immediately:

It's the perfect jewellery stand/bracelet holder thingy! For $2!

I've seen other bloggers turn hand towel stands into bracelet stands before (can't remember where off the top of my head) so this is by no means innovative. But I do need somewhere put my bracelets! My dresser top is a hot mess! The bird cage I'm currently using to house my necklaces and bracelets is actually the worst thing ever. It has so many jagged edges in the design that everything gets tangled up in.

This little guy has a marble base (sweet!), however it's covered with a giant rust stain (boooo!).

I tried a baking soda poultice...lemon juice and baking soda...the stain wasn't budging.

So out came the spray paint! Rustoleum in Gloss White for the base, and a coat of Design Master Modern Metals in Champagne Silver for the top just to brighten things up.

And voila! A place to rest my bracelets. When they're not having a party on my arm.