Sprucing things up

A few years ago my assistant and I scraped off the wallpaper in the vestibule. Then hired a contractor to lay some mosaic slate flooring and fix the wall.  The trim had been left untouched (other then her removing it and reinstalling it). The colour was old and the caulking was still visible, and the grubby little finger and dog snout dirt (he scratches his head/ears by rubbing against wall corners...does yours?) piled up and the painting began.

 Left side before, right side after

Simple update, huge improvement.

And since that is such small update, lets move inside the main room and check out another simple, crafty update.

That 6 panel fake window frame has been up for several months, empty. Before that it was leaning against the wall for two years. Look close enough and you'll see where I bought it from x's 6.  Every time I decided to get some pictures in there, I realized how few vertical pictures I have and that sorting through a gazzillion files was daunting. This morning I finally decided to update the Pier 1 paper fillers with some scrap material.  I have others around my house, frames displaying unique pieces of fabric.

A long, long time ago in my coming of age days, we wore our jeans over and over until they wore out and then we sewed patches on the knees and butts and anywhere else.  Guys and girls swapped scrap fabric. Guys and girls sat around sewing their own patches. I still have my vintage Levi's jeans with patches, I wonder how much they go for, but I digress.  Deep down my my scrap fabric bin were some "vintage" scrap material.

Nothing to explain here, simple crafty update: cut scrap, tape it down, reassemble frame.

Not much of an improvement and a lot of reflection, so I guess I need to find some photos.

BUT the next one is big. HUGE. MY life improved...

 Hooks. Lots of them.

Before this life changing event, all our coats were tossed on the butterfly chair. In sight. Cluttered looking.  A bit depressing. Yeah, there are hooks in the vestibule, but it's very small and if you are familiar with cold, cold winters, stopping in the vestibule to take off shoes or coats is not an option (at least not in my house). No where to turn, tripping over each other. So enter living room and then what?

I won't go in to it here, but front door entering into living room layout sucks. I knew it when I bought the house, I've complained before. And I went ahead and bought regardless, (for many other reasons that trumped this issue).

Up until recently it was a huge quandary of mine; how to lay out furniture so it is inviting (impossible) and family friendly.  How to deal with all the jackets. How to add living room storage for out door stuff without taking away from the space being a living room. Then one day I looked at my room differently. I needed to approach it as a loft in an industrial building. Most have walk in spaces. I moved some furniture around, changed horizontal things vertical to add dimension and accepted the fact that we have jackets. Lots of them. So up go the hooks, in the living area.

And so far, so good.

Sources (because I love the trench coat and the designer, so Ill list other things too:

Paint: Dove white on the trim, Oatlands Taupe on the walls, both by Benjamin Moore
Trench coat: Yargici

Window picture frame: Pier 1 Imports
Sofa: Wests Elm Tillary
Urban Outfitter curtain
Mexican Mirror Frame
Anthropologie lamp shade
Urban Outfitter butterfly chair
Gray & white stripes: Eddie Bauer Vintage Gray & Chantilly Lace Benjamin Moore
Kilim pillow case on chair: bought in Grand Bazaar Istanbul
White pillow case: West Elm