It's Metamorphosis Monday!

Hello my friends...welcome to "Metamorphosis Monday"! Susan over at Between Naps On The Porch hosts this fun-filled Monday event. Many of you bloggers are familiar with Met Monday, but for those of you who are not...Metamorphosis Monday is all about change! Change...evolution...metamorphosis...of our homes! Met Monday gives us a chance to show our home projects and improvements! For all of us who love our homes, it seems that we are forever changing something, redecorating, etc. I don't know about you but my home is always a "work in progress"!!! I do believe that blogging has encouraged this entire process...hehe!!! It's simply wonderful!!! So many times, I have been inspired by your homes, ideas, and decorating projects...I think my home is "better" for it! Thank you, my friends...for sharing your beautiful homes and all of your wonderful ideas!!! I also want to thank Susan for hosting Met Monday! Why don't you head on over to Susan's place for some inspiration and while you're there you can visit the list of Met Monday participants!!! Just click HERE to get to Susan's!

Today I would like to show you this last summer's project. If I may, I'd like to give you just a little "background" of where things were before the summer of 2008. My living room was painted sage green...which I really did enjoy, however it was time to clean things up and there's nothing like clean - fresh paint on the walls. I decided that I wanted to stay with green but I wanted a color that was a bit more formal...richer! I decided to go with an olive green shade....Behr's "River Bank".

Soooo...the fun began! As you will see in the photos below, I have a fairly open floor plan. So my decision to repaint the living room would effect the dining room and kitchen as well. I began by repainting the ceilings in all three rooms a creamy off-white. Next, the sage green walls were painted olive green. Okay...you all know how the "domino effect" always takes place when making a change to anything in your home...right? RIGHT!!! Hehe!!! I just loved the new olive green wall color but it left the dining room and kitchen....lacking! My dearest friend Cindy (who is an interior decorator by trade and author of the Sisterhood of the Creative Heart blog) suggested that I paint the white walls in my dining room and kitchen the same olive green! It was like a light bulb turned on! Sheeesh...why didn't I think of doing that? Thank you Cindy...I have learned so much from you!!! Well...I already had two of my dining room walls painted a dark red...and I wondered how the olive green would look with them...but it turned out fabulous!!! It was truly a metamorphosis!!!

Kitchen, Dining Room, and Living Room...

****Before****

*

Hmmm....lot's of white walls!
*
*

****After****

*

This photo is taken from the kitchen looking into the dining room.

*

****After****

*

This is the dining room...I love the olive green with the dark red wall color!!!
*

****Before****

The kitchen.

****After****

*

As you can see, I made a few changes after painting. A new lamp for my little table and a change in wall art.
*

****Before****

*
This is the wall in my dining room. *

****After****

I just love my big window in this room...I always have lots of nice light! In fact, I have so much light that it's very difficult to get a daytime photo...so this was taken at night. I love my gold drapes...I just couldn't believe how much prettier they looked against the olive walls than the white walls. I made a few changes here as well...added a bench with decorative pillows and I also freshened up the items on the shelf!
*

Well my friends...what do you think? I think that this was a huge metamorphosis and all it took was a couple of gallons of paint!!! I love, love, LOVE paint!!! I've heard so many people say, "I want to change the look in this room but I just don't know what to do and I really don't have the money." Ohhh my, with just a little money and time...you can really change the look of a room with just a little paint!
*
Thank you so much for coming by today...it's always such a pleasure to have you!!! Hope you enjoyed my olive green metamorphosis! hehe!!! You know, since Spring is here and it's time to do a little cleaning and freshening up...have you thought about paint? Sheeshh...I should work for the paint companies...don't you think? Hehe!!!

*******

Have a marvelous Monday, my friends!!!

Love ya'll,
Chari

*

It's Met Monday & Blue Monday....

Hello my friends! Welcome to "Met Monday" & "Blue Monday"!

This is my second time to participate in "Met Monday"...it has been so much fun! Hosted by our very own "hostess with the mostest"...Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch! Please do stop by her place and see her beautiful porch transformation! Also you will find a list of blogs that are participating in "Met Monday"! Ahhhh...to create and transform!!!

Whew...talk about squeezing things in...hehe! It is also "Blue Monday" hosted by Sally over at Smiling Sally! She has some beautiful blue going on over at her place and you will also find a list of participants there! Go...go...go and check it out!!!

Blue Metamorphosis in the Master Bedroom

Before beginning, let me just apologize for the very poor quality of these "before" photos...bad camera and very poor photographer (that would be me!)

In the beginning...there was decor...it was a small step, but nevertheless a step ahead! Our master bedroom has an adjoining bath that is open to the room. I know...I know...this concept has freaked alot of people out...hehe! But let me assure you, we do have a lock on the bedroom door....so if privacy is an issue for you...no problem! I used burgandy to decorate the master bedroom in the beginning. This is a photo of my first attempt at decorating our tub area. Note the white walls and terra cotta border tile.

Yet another small step forward...my "ode to decorating"! I decided to try to add a little seperation between the bedroom area and bath by adding burgandy and gold shears! I also painted the terra cotta tile border a very pretty burgandy color. One of the largest transformations to this room was the faux wall treatment that I did....an antique gold....done in a Venetian plaster effect!
*

This next photo was taken during the same time period...just a different view. Note the vanity!
*

Total rennovation...Our new blue and brown master!

I enjoyed the burgandy, olive green, and gold...but it was time for a change! So during the summer of 2007, rennovation began!

Besides changing the colors of the room to blue and brown...we updated our bathroom. We tore out the carpet and added an old looking Venetian tile to the floor....and put in a new vanity! I just love my new vanity...love the "Old World" look of it! We also added an oil rubbed bronze faucet.

As you notice, I changed the burgandy and gold shears to a plain soft gold shear...hung straight down instead of swagged. I just like the feel of the shears...not only does it offer a bit of privacy but it really softens the hard lines of the columns between the bath and bedroom area!

*

Just another view of the bath area....a few new accessories!
*

A view of the little iron shelf that I added above the toilet...
*

Full view of the bedroom....

*

New seaside blue drapes....I purchased the drapes from Penneys, they're called Panache and made of taffeta...they are some of the most beautiful drapes I've ever saw! They hang so beautifully!!! I added new bedding, also purchased from Penneys..it's a very heavy comforter and just perfect for the cold Colorado winters. It's done in a soft chocolatey brown and seaside blue.

*

Close-up of the new bedding
*

A new dresser and accessories. I also added new wall art! Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we also replace the carpet in the bedroom area...you can kind of see it in this photo.
*

Close-up of the new wall art. I found the pretty plaster panels at Hobby Lobby for just $4 each...on sale, of course! hehe!!! They have a touch of seaside blue on them...can you see?
*

I also wanted to change out the art above my bedside cabinets. I used pretty blue and brown scrapbook papers, arranged them in a frame...sooo easy and really inexpensive! I was happy with how they turned out!
*

and there you have it, my friends! The story of our master bed and bath "blue metamorphosis"!!!

*

I'm so happy that you stopped by for a visit...I love to read your comments...so talk to me...hehe!!!

*

Have a marvelous Monday!

*

Love ya'll,

Chari

It's Metamorphosis Monday!!!


Hello and welcome to my very first "Met Monday"...hosted by our dear friend Susan over at "Between Naps On The Porch". If you haven't ever visited Susan...please do so! You're in for a real treat!!! Also, she has a list of all the blogs that are participating in "Met Monday"...so you can check them all out!!!

Metamorphosis in my living room...Oh my!!!

*

Today I would like to show you my living room in all of it's many "metamorphic stages"...hehe!!! When I moved into my honey's home...all of the hard work had already been done....whew!!! Russell bought an old home that had been built in the 1920's...added an addition to the front and back of the house and he added an entire upstairs. Our livingroom was one of the additions to the home.

*

Stage One:

*

This is what the living room looked like when I first moved to my new home! As you can see, it's really just a "shell of a room". The walls were white...no drapes...and very sparsely furnished!

*
*

Stage Two:

I love color!!! The first thing I did was paint the walls....I decided on a sage green color! I added gold drapes with off-white sheers....and of course a few pieces of new furniture!
*
*

Stage Three:

*

"Welcome to HGTV'S Rate My Space"...about this time last year, I found RMS! Oh my...RMS really inspired me to make many, many changes to my home! One of the first things that I noticed about some of my fellow RMSer's homes were their window treatments....and I just had to change mine! My goal: to achieve a more formal look for this room. I bought new gold pinch-pleated drapes and off-white pinch-pleated sheers...new drapery hardware, etc. I moved the drapery rod as close to the ceiling as I could get it....and WOW....what a difference that made to the entire look of my living room!!! You can see the difference between the last photo and the photo below. The pinch-pleated drapes really gave the windows the formal look I was going for....and I just couldn't believe how moving the drapery rods to the ceiling added height to the entire room!!! A subtle change that brought about a much grander look!!!

*

We also added mouldings to the wall on the right side of the room (before doing this I stripped the most awful wallpaper off of that wall...sorry honey!) This wall is somewhat of a sore-spot with me...it juts out into the living room making this area very narrow...but what can a girl do...on the otherside of this wall is my bedroom closet and a girl needs her closet...hehe!!! So...why not just "go with the flow" and accent the wall!!! Adding the moulding certainly did just that!
*
*

Stage Four:

The next change came by way of a new paint color...you say, "What, I don't see a different paint color!" It was a fairly subtle change...I like to call it "fine tuning or tweaking" the room...hehe!!! I lived with the sagey green color for a few years and decided that an "olive" shade of green would look much better. The room is still green but I've had people come in and say, "Hmmm...this room looks different, what did you do?"...they can't quite put their thumb on it...hehe!!! The new olive shade really does look better with the burgandy colored carpet...and I think it gives the room a richer, more sophisticated feel! I love the olive...it's such a moody color...the room can look so different with just a change in lighting...and I love that!!!

*

New accessories: After painting the walls olive, I added a few new accessories. New wall art...a new throw...a few new sofa pillows! It's amazing how making just a few small changes can give a room a complete facelift!

*
*

Another photo taken at Christmas...a few new Christmasy accessories!
*
*

Stage Five: ???

*

Who knows what's in store for my living room next! My home is ever evolving or "Metamorphosising"...hehe!!!

*

I'm sure glad that Susan came up with "Met Monday's"...it gives us the chance to show how our homes are ever changing!!! Thank you, Susan!!!

*

Well my friends, hope you enjoyed seeing my little living room evolve from that little crystalis....into the full-blown butterfly!!! Have a great day and go move a few accessories around...hmmm, maybe create a new vignette!!!

*

Love ya'll,

Chari

My Latest Project: From Rags to Riches!!!

Part I...."Before"

A couple of years ago I found this little rocking chair at a yard sale...I only paid $5.00 for this little "diamond in the rough"! I decided to use it in my Tea Rose bedroom. The poor thing was painted the most horrible color of green...I just had to repaint it to even be able to use it in the Tea Rose bedroom! I used a Country White (satin finish) paint. The fabric wasn't so bad, although it had seen it's better days...a little worn...no telling how many precious little babies had been rocked to sleep in this old rocker! That thought still makes me smile! But I really disliked the burgandy trim...it just wasn't the right color for this room and it looked so crooked on the chair...yuk! I had always thought I would at least take the ugly old trim off and replace it...but that would be a project for another day! And so this little chair...sat! Ahhh!!!

Part II..."After"

A couple of weeks ago, I found a beautiful beige and olive green toile fabric at JoAnn's Fabric Store. The fabric was originally priced at $16/yd. but had been marked down to $1.50/yd....so I bought a couple yards of it...without any specific plans for the fabric! I just love toile and it was a good deal...I just couldn't pass it up! I also bought a couple of yards of olive trim (with that old rocker in mind). This week I decided to replace that old burgandy trim with the pretty new olive trim...I tugged at the burgandy trim so carefully and I successfully removed it. It only took a few minutes...standing there I wondered why I hadn't done this when I first brought the chair home. It just looked so much better!!! Feeling a little sad that I had neglected this old gal for so long, I decided to dress her up a bit...and that toile fabric would work perfectly!!! The whole process took me much longer than it probably should have...since I basically know nothing about upholstering! I wanted to try my hand at it and always figure that I'll try anything at least once! I enjoyed it and seeing the transformation take place before my very eyes was very rewarding! So here she is...the new and improved little rocking chair for the Tea Rose bedroom.

Total cost: Rocking chair...$5.00; fabric & trim...$3.00 = $8.00...Not to bad!!!

Tea Rose Bedroom

Just a few photos of the Tea Rose Room. I have a few more projects going on in this room...the old rocking chair was just one. So stayed tuned....for another project for another day!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Warmest wishes,

Chari

My Latest Project!

French Country Dining in "RED"!

I have been working on my dining room for a couple of months now. The two red walls were finished and I decided to paint the two remaining white walls Behr's River Bank...a deep, rich olive green. I'm very happy with the results...a little paint works wonders! Adding the olive color to this room gave it just the right atmosphere that I was looking for! Honey hung the chandelier, which I dug out of storage...brass is supposed to be "out of date", however I like it and decided to use it...updating it by adding gold shades to it! A few years ago, I began to collect red transferware...I just love it!!! After alot of planning, I decided to showcase some of my collection on the wall behind our wood burning stove...it was just what my newly decorated French Country dining room needed! We brought in the cutest little bench (that honey made in high school) and placed it under the large window...making a seating area! I filled it with pretty French fabric pillows and Voila!!! I'm very pleased with the changes and my little red dining room really does have that French Country flair!!!