Decorating Fun | Operation Home

Yes, that title is to the tune of JT’s classic jam. Anybody else awkwardly bobbing their heads to the music in your brain? Just me? That’s okay. Anything for JT. 😉

So, anyways, I’ve decided that I should never make statements like “I’ll (maybe) write that post today”. Heehee! Every time I do that it seems like life gets in the way and it doesn’t happen. So, from now on if I make ~~preposterous~~ ambitious statements, I give you permission to insert a well-intentioned eyeroll. At least I threw the “maybe” in there, though. Just sayin’. 😉

If you’re new to my little blog here, you can check out this post to get caught up on our wet-bar progress thus far. To summarize, we started out here…

Then, I painted the cabinetry white, ripped off the backsplash/sidesplashes, mirror, and the seizure-inducing wallpaper we found beneath it. I patched/primed and painted the wall, and updated the dated faucet. (although, this next shot was taken before the faucet switcheroo)…

So, next the plan is to to add a concrete coating to the countertop, tile that back wall, hang a mirror in the center, and mount two pendant lights overhead. But until those projects commence, I decided to style the wet-bar to look as nice as possible. I never mind putting in the effort to accessorize a space, even for a short time, if it means I get to enjoy the pretty in the meantime. So, I collected a bunch o’ stuff that I already owned and got to it. At one point, I got here…

…and, to be honest, I wasn’t super happy with it. I mean, it was o-KAAAAYY. Just not exciting for me. I think it was the mirror. I’ve had that mirror since my very first apartment and I felt like it just wasn’t right for the space. It was a smidge too traditional, whereas I felt that something either more modern or vintage-y would be a better fit. Modern to contrast the new door/drawer pulls (which are the same ones I used for our built-ins) or vintage-y to accentuate them. Traditional just wasn’t really jiving with either goal in my opinion. Plus, I knew that once the countertops were grey concrete, they may clash with the frame color anyways. The next day, I hopped onto the internet to see what Sir Craig was offering in the way of mirrors and I came across this gem…

A HUGE vintage mirror for $25!!!

The size was perfect for the wet-bar and I loved that the wood tone would play off of our mid-century media stand on the opposite side of the room. Plus, I felt like I was replacing the vintage mirror that we’d torn out with a BETTER vintage mirror. Vintage-lover-guilt officially stowed. I texted the seller, who stated that it was still available and that she could meet me in Fort Worth (which is halfway between us) the following day. I met her as planned, loved the mirror even more in person, and took ‘er home.

It was a bit dirty and the wooden frame had a few nicks and scratches, but it wasn’t anything a little stain, a craft brush, and some elbow grease couldn’t fix (Tip: Varathane’s Early American stain is the PERFECT mid-century-toned-brown. It matched the frame exactly.). The following day, my dad and Joey hung the beast. Which left this…

Here’s a detail shot so you can see the texture of the frame…

And here’s the wet-bar in the context of the entire wall. I took this pic on a dark and gloomy day and the lighting in this part of the room isn’t great (which’ll be remedied eventually), but you can see that the vintage mirror nicely offsets the more modern furnishings beside it. I definitely plan to hang the alphabet canvas higher now that the mirror is hung so that they’re at similar heights…

As for the bar styling, it’ll change. There’s a bit too much brown happening with the wine-rack, but it was all I had (fornow), so it stays until I either paint it or find something else. I can’t tell you how perfect the mirror is, though. I literally bounced around the house in excitement when I saw it in the wet-bar. I mean, the size couldn’t be better and the shape really softens the bar and makes it feel less square. Once the lighting situation changes with the addition of two pendant lights and that peach countertop bites the big one, the bar will appear much more balanced and bright. I really think that adding concrete to the counters will add some nice visual weight below and a cool contrast in color and texture which will further balance the space. I plan to use some sort of modern small mosaic tile behind it. Something simple that lets the mirror shine, but still adds a touch o’ bling. I have no idea what yet, but I’m tossing around a solid color square glass mosaic, or maybe a sleek penny tile. It really depends on how the space feels with the concrete counters and difference in lighting, so we will see.

Next up, I’ll be concreting the countertop (once time allows… probably not this weekend, maybe next), then we’ll get pendant lights installed, and finally, tile behind the mirror. It’s coming together, people! It’s coming together…

You guys.

Mission Find-Living-Room-Rug = Complete!

And ya know what’s funny?? When I wrote this post and stated “I think the biggest thing will be simply FINDING the rug”, well, I’d already found it.

I just didn’t know it yet.

Ya see, I have a Tuesday Morning roughly a mile from our house. I love that store. They have really nice stuff for pretty good prices. I’d been in and outta there many times over the past few months and each time, I noticed this grey, nubby rug for sale. It was on the floor, all rolled up in plastic.

Each time, I’d look at it. Note that it was the perfect size (8×11… Which was the minimum size that would work in our space) and that I liked the color. The label said it was a herringbone pattern, which I thought would be neat. But each time, I walked out without it. For whatever reason, I thought the grey was too dark for our space. Plus, the $299 price tag was hard for me to swallow.

Fast forward to several weeks later… I’ve now done lots of research on rugs. And know how expensive anything larger than an 8×10 can be. The built-ins are now painted white which gives me a much better idea of what’ll work in the space. I go back to Tuesday Morning. The grey rug is still there. It’s now unrolled and hanging on their large rug rack. Now, I can truly see the color. It looks lighter than I remembered it. It.May.Just.Work. And the price tag now states $249 (original price $699) — That’s 65% off the original price!!! Having done my research, I know that this is a good deal. The tag says it’s jute but feels more like cotton or wool to the touch. Very soft. Good quality.

But still, I leave without it.

I go home.

I tell Joey about the rug. He knows ALL about the rug-hunt and how pricey they can be but states that if it’s a nice rug that’ll last us, it’s worth it.

He picks my brain a bit about what the rug looks like, then goes to pick up a few things from the grocery store for dinner.

And he returns with the rug.

Did I marry well, or what? I’d been sick the previous few days (my trip to Tuesday Morning had been my first attempt to leave the house) so he thought it would make me feel better. It did.

The rug is the perfect shade of grey. The herringbone texture adds just enough interest without being distracting. And the size… Perfect.

The couch sits on the rug entirely with a few inches to spare on each side. Once we had it down on the floor, I stared at it in wonderment as it made the room feel about 30x cozier. It was like the floor was wearing a luscious cable-knit sweater. Plus, the grey tones pull from the grey dining chairs nicely, tying the rooms together.

(Pretend that the yellow transformer on the table isn’t there)

And I love that you can actually SEE the rug from this angle…

(And ignore the green ball, too… Any other moms out there just stop seeing the toys after a while even though they’re right there in plain sight??)

Before, our rug was so small, that you couldn’t. And now that the old rug is gone, that’s one less brown-toned item in the space.

I’m actually thinking about painting our coffee table white to add some contrast but I haven’t quite decided. Thoughts?

So, anyways, that’s the story about how a beautiful, awesome rug found a home. Next up in this space will be revamping the wet-bar, hanging art, etc. plus, we’re thinking of some of the longer term, down-the-road type projects like adding overhead lighting, a solar tube, etc. Slowly but surely we’re getting there with this space and the rug was a big piece of the puzzle, so I’m ecstatic that we found it..