decor | Operation Home

I think one of the aspects of decorating that I get the most thrill from is finding new places for old things. Rethinking uses. Reworking the look of an item to make it work elsewhere. While this satisfies the cheapo in me for obvious reasons, it also appeals to my inner problem-solver (..say, Nancy Drew, whaaat?). 🙂

Ive mentioned several times that I like to Craigslist items (here and here, for example), but I think it’s also pertinent to discuss the process which leads to this decision. Items in this house are definitely not Craiglisted all willy-nilly. Typically, they’re cast off for an undetermined length of time to Decorating Purgatory (also known as No Mans Land. Also known as our spare bedroom.) while I continue to marinate over it. ….Think over relocation options. …Discover any possible way to utilize the item to avoid that ole’ “darn it, why did I get rid of that” regret. And you KNOW that my thrifty side cringes if I (gasp!) have to rebuy something because I’ve sold or donated the previous item prematurely. So, it’s a calculated decision. And you can imagine how happy it makes me to rescue an item from Purgatory to rejoin the land of the living if inspiration strikes. With that in mind, I’m happy to announce that two items found new homes within our four-walls. No Craigslisting today, my three readers!!!

So without further adieu… remember when this wall of Lucas’s room looked like this???

And then it looked like this…

Well in this process, the beanbag chair was displaced as I wanted to free up floor space for a future play-zone. At first, I considered Craigslisting or donating it. Then, I realized that I had the perfect place for it. Our front room is coming along swimmingly. Last we left off, it looked like this…

We’ve been loving it, but I kind of felt like there was a lot of “square” going on. Lots of straight lines. So, I thought the beanbag chair would be the perfect contrast. It’s casual and fun to balance out the clean lines of the sofa and other furniture. Plus, additional seating is always welcome. Especially since the front room has recently become Lucas’s favorite viewing arena for Baby Einstein (he’s still into it after all this time) and other such visual treats. The best part is that since The ~~Great~~ Swap, our little ‘ole beanbag chair is finally getting the lovin’ it deserves. Lucas snuggles up in it regularly now, where as it was often ignored when it resided in his bedroom.

Check it out….

I added a faux sheepskin which I found at Marshalls. for some added softness and texture…

I think it’s fun and quirky… not to mention comfy as all get out. Great for movie watching. I’d love to add some sort of casual, woven area rug to further tie the room together, but I figure when the time is right I’ll find it.

Another item that became displaced when we adopted Drex, was our large Ikea mirror. I wanted to relocate it to the foyer to replace the sizably smaller mirror that hung before it…

Now that area looks like this…

For now, it’s leaning vertically on the wall, but I’m not completely sold on leaving it that way. (And I chuckle because every time I hear the word “leaning” in my head, it sounds the way they say it in While You Were Sleeping when they describe a man’s stance while flirting. The mirror’s “leaning” (insert leaning hand gesture). Heehee!) Anyways, I digress…. I’m still thinking the mirror needs to be hung horizontally both to fill the space and allow room for the guest drop-zone I’ve been wanting to create. And I’m considering painting it a fun color as well.

So, those are two small but happy changes made from stuff we already had. I love giving items new life. Such fun.

Any swaperoos going on with y’all recently?

I’m happy to say that I finally got around to taking pictures of our foyer and hallway. Many changes will be happening decor-wise in these areas as time goes on, so consider these pics a starting point.

Shortly after we moved in, we painted the once beige walls in the hallway, foyer, living room and kitchen. The paint is called Dolphin Fin by Behr and its a soft, pale grey with mild green undertones. I’ve come to learn that this paint color is very difficult to photograph accurately. It appears beige and/or washed out in many of the pics. Just know that in person it’s a nice, soft grey.

With that said, let’s begin the tour, shall we? Here is our entry…

For now, we’ve squeezed the side units from our previous entertainment center together to form a hutch of sorts for storage. It’s working out well functionality-wise, but we’d like something with a bit more character in this spot eventually. Maybe a mid-century console or sleek hutch. We’ll see what the shopping gods bestow upon us.

Looking out from our tri-functional room which is next to the front door…

… we have a mirror that previously resided over the couch in our old house. It was a bronze color and I spray-painted it grey. Again, this is a placeholder. It’s fine. Just not great. Once our master bedroom plan goes into effect (stay tuned for that), we’d like to hang the large, chunky Ikea mirror that’s leaning against our bedroom wall in this spot. It’ll provide much more of a modern presence and fill the space better. I’d like to also configure some kind of non-obtrusive drop-zone on this wall for guests to leave coats and purses. Something that looks decent when not in use, but adds function when needed. Research is definitely required in this area. Boy, I love this kind of research. May the Pinterest eye-candy commence!

I’d also love to do some kind of paint treatment on these walls like stripes or stenciling, but I’ll admit that I’m a little intimidated by these prospects as our walls are textured. Again, research time! I’m sure somebody somewhere at some point has given it a go.

Moving towards the back of the house from the front door…

… we have an entry to the kitchen to the right. To the far left is a small hallway to the non-master bedrooms/guest bath and the hallway in between leads to the living room.

In the middle hallway on the right-hand wall, we have an awesome art piece created by my mother-in-law….

We get to gaze upon it any time we leave our small hallway which is nice.

Looking back the way we came…

…we have an art niche housing a fake orchid and one of the wooden “S”s that Joeys parents created for the centerpieces at our wedding. There’s a coat closet across the hall . And as for the large safety pin, I found it at Hobby Lobby for 50% off and had to buy it.

Back down the middle hall, I still have this blank wall across from my mother-in-law’s painting to contend with….

I have an idea for it, but have yet to come across the supplies I need to make my plan come to fruition. Eventually it’ll happen, though. No doubt.

And the view of the hallway towards the front of the house from the living room…

And lastly, the teeny hallway that leads to the guest bath and non-master bedrooms (the paint color looks right-on in this pic!)…

We have a small linen closet, the guest bath in the middle and one bedroom on either side of the hallway. Within the hallway, one wall boasts a metal wall hanging with votive candle holders…

The other side holds a fun jazz print that I purchased in the French Quarter of New Orleans when I was going to school in Louisiana….

Changes are definitely abrewin’ in these areas shortly. Hopefully, I’ll get ’em done and posted about soon.

And eventually Ill get to posting about the last unseen spot in our house…. Our master bath. Once all rooms of our house are photographed, I plan to create a house tour page with “before” and “current” pics. Oh my gosh, I’m so excited about that. So many ideas that get me all geeked out about this blog, I tell ya… 🙂

Anyways, have a terrific weekend! I’ll be busy writing Mondays post (which I’m uber excited about, FYI). 😉