New Year, New Furniture, New Den!

Slacker=Me. Yep. I have officially been lazy the past month or so. Not lazy as in I didn’t do any projects, lazy as in I didn’t feel like blogging about them. I completed several projects over the holidays. Most of the DIY’ing was in preparation for the ginormous Open House we threw the Sunday before Christmas. I invited 100 people thinking “it’s Christmas, people will be away” but we ended up having a total of somewhere around 75 guests. We ‘did it up right’ with a plethera of food catered by my brother and a stocked bar, manned by Men in Black Bartending. It was a smashing good time. But anyhow…before the big shindig took place we gave the den a big makeover by painting the paneling, buying a new sofa and love seat, and adding a cowhide rug (found here). While we waited for the two leather club chairs to be delivered I decided to paint the stone on the fireplace. I lived with the fireplace for a few weeks, but the orange-ish hue of the stone was too much of an eyesore in this newly updated room.

With left over dark grey paint I got to work with my paintbrush.

I was really hoping to use a roller for most of the painting but the stone surface was just too bumpy. I found a paint brush worked much better so it ended up taking a little over two hours which was nothing compared to the 26 hours I had in the fireplace at our first home!

Much better, yes?! I wish it had a little more depth, but all in all I am very pleased with the final product. One night when I can’t sleep I may try adding a little contrast by accenting some stone with a lighter grey paint. You may have noticed the new coffee table. I moved the brass table that was previously in the room to our living room and found this Noguchi table at a local furniture store. I love how the modern table has become the centerpiece of the room. I also painted those three vases on the hearth white so they would stand out against the grey paint and add a little balance.

The most comfortable part of phase II on this makeover are the two leather chairs and ottomans we patiently waited 8 weeks to arrive. They are Broyhill in flat-ish black leather. My favorite part is the nailhead trim. I wasn’t going to settle for a club chair without nailhead. My only disappointment is that the ottomans are so large you can barely see the metal accent. boo. Oh well.

Overall, we are very pleased with the outcome of this room. The transformation is 180….woot, woot!

I have big plans for the back of those built-ins. Not sure when I will get to it, but it involves linen fabric and liquid starch. All the supplies have been purchased, I’m just waiting for the perfect moment to get on it.

But anyways….now that the holidays are over we are ready to get back into the groove…and let me tell you, 2013 is the year of a VERY big project in the Bauer household….details to come!