Remember discussing how we are colorful people? We are not white people. Remember this?
Well, it turns out that though it matched our furnishings well, it still wasn;t enough CoLoR!
So, we {james} slapped some paint on the walls, bought 2 new damask chairs from Ross...glorious, hung some empty frames with 'art' suspended inside, and got rid of the red fuzzy rug that the dogs loved to pee on. Oh, we also took the coffee table back to Ross after these pics were taken because it was beginning to come apart at the seams, so it is gone too, but you still get the picture.
Damask chair number one above...LOVE these chairs!
Before we ever had babies we had these empty ornate gold leaf flea market frames hanging on our red kitchen wall with butterflies suspended inside of them. That was 9 years ago.
Glad to drag them back out...fit perfectly.
And, we found the perfect spot for the velvet Spanish castle picture that used to belong to James' Grandma Vivian. We have had that picture for years and almost donated it a few times. So glad we saved it. And, as everyone will notice, and our kids will be embarrassed of in years to come, we do still have a big box dinosaur television set in our Entertainment Center. We take as much pride in owning that baby still as you do in your 52 inch plasma and when it dies and we don't replace it, we'll be even more proud in a cynical sort of way. Wrong, sick and wrong...
As for the chaise lounge, it is on it's last leg, but we can't part with it. I called to find out how much it would cost to reupholster and they said around $1,000. SHwhat? No way, Jose. But we did rearrange it again since this pic was taken. So it looks a little different in the room. When you come to visit, you may sit on the chaise and enjoy it's luxury...it sucks you in and puts you straight to sleep...and you won't have to feel bad if you spill something on it because it is on it's way out at some point in the not too distant future.
The other corner and yes, we do let our kids eat on our furniture. We don't buy super expensive furniture because we actually want our kids and our friends to feel comfortable in our home.
People over things...it is one of our family mottos.
You might home school, or be a hippy if your house looks like this. Art is an Eric Carle book displayed by the splendid cuckoo clock one of my bff's bought me, underneath which is the thrifted game cabinet and sit & spin. Sock monkeys on the stairs, birds hanging from the ceiling, and collage family art on the wall. In the back/sideground you can see Shelby on the laptop with the piano and banjo always ready for a jam session. My Grandpa Woodlee gave James that banjo and we LoVe it! He just needs to learn to play it like he can just about every other instrument.
Tell me that isn't priceless art? Love children's book illustrations.
Sometimes I look around my house and try to imagine what my friends and acquaintances might think as they walk through our colorful unusual rooms, and then I always come to the conclusion that at least they must appreciate that we are not pretentious. Our taste may not match their own, and may remind them of a children's museum or something, but it is non-threatening...comfortable (I hope) and if nothing else it makes them feel proud of their own home because their stuff is probably much newer and nicer than ours. I love how we have decorated and the changes we are continuing to make. We are almost finished with the kids' bathroom project upstairs and we will have an accent wall behind our bed soon. Furniture will continue to change color and we no doubt have more thrifted items to display in the near future. We are predictable in that way.
I thank Enid for giving us back our decorating style...we were stuck in a suburban rut for a while and it was just not fitting for us. Not fitting at all. We still love the 90% of our friends and family who have suburban style, but our homes will probably never look like theirs'...and that's okay.
One last thing you will always see at our house is our kids' art. My favorite displayed on our door right now is the very top one. The simplicity is what touches me most.
