More Paint Decisions - This Time, the Living Room

I hate the colors in our living room.  The walls, the baseboards and ceiling are an awful yellow-y greenish tan.  The woodwork around the fireplace is a yellowish cream.  The carpets are a lovely sculpted light gray.  I know I am describing the room is such a vivid way. 

The room has many lovely features. The triple slider leading to the backyard.  The gas fireplace (once it is repaired and made functional).  The built ins with glass shelves.  The antique mantle (complete with secret compartment). The large size of the room.

But all are overwhelmed by poor paint choices and bad flooring.

Since we aren't tackling the flooring just yet, we are going to paint. The only problem, we have trouble picking paint.  It is a problem we have dealt with before in the office.  After perusing Ace, Sherwin Williams, Home Depot and Lowes paint sections, we decided to paint a number of swatches on the wall. 

Yes, I did tape the flooring sample to the wall for the photo.  I will admit I am a bit odd.

Unfortunately, none of these made Hubs or I say,"Yes!  These are the ones."  So back to the chips we went.

And added more colors to the mix.

 

With this last batch of samples, we had two strong contenders for the fireplace wall.  The two dark colors in the second column from the far right. 

Again, we were at a loss for wall color.  That meant another trip to the paint store where I picked out three possibilities that worked with the accent colors.  To make our final decision, I painted both accent colors on the wall, with the white trim, a sample of the flooring and a piece of our furniture.

 Using this technique, we had a winner (thank goodness!).

Accent color (to be used above the fireplace and in the back of the bookcases) Behr Ultra Perfect Taupe - the darker color found above the white in the photo on the left.

Wall color:  Behr Ultra Mineral - the light color on the far right under the Perfect Taupe sample

Ceiling color: White ceiling paint

Trim, baseboards, bookcases and mantle:  Semi-gloss white

And even better, Behr paint has a rebate at Home Depot this weekend.  

Now that we have a color decision, I better get to the store to buy the paint before we change our mind.  Then we just have to find the time to paint.  That is an even bigger challenge than picking the colors.

We also have a plan for the darker accent color we did not end up choosing (Behr Ultra Elephant Skin, in case you were wondering).  It will still show up in the room.  Keep following to see what I mean.

We Have A Winner!

We have a winner!!

According to Random.org, lucky number 9 gets the coasters. 

lshoes, a set of coasters is yours.  Congratulations!  Look for an email in your inbox shortly to get your address. 

We Are Breaking Away From Our Regularly Scheduled Renovating...

to bring you our newest endeavor:  Claim Our Space Computer Repair and Updating.

Just kidding (sort of).

As you can see from the picture above our dining room has been taken over by computers. You may be wondering "What on Earth?" 

My mother and father needed some computer support.  Mom's computer died before Thanksgiving so she got a new one for Christmas.  However, it needed to be set up, hardware needed to be swapped out of the old computer and put in the new one and additional software installed.  Dad's laptop needed some updates and new software installed as well. 

Instead of spending the afternoon at their house running up and down the stairs, we just brought everything to our house.  The end result?  A dining room transformed into a computer room.

Don't worry, all will be back to normal tomorrow. 

And there is even a chance that the Christmas decorations may also get put away. OK, maybe not that last part. 

It Was a Merry Christmas!

I got this lovely tool from Hubs. 

It is a Laser Level.

I am so excited. It will make creating photo walls, painting stripes, installing decorative trimwork, putting up shelves and any number of other tasks easier.

The best part, Hubs can tell all his buddies that he bought his wife tools for Christmas and she was happy.   Not that I didn't love the jewelry too.  :-)  But anything that will make our life of updating, renovating and getting the house just the way we want it easier, quicker or less stressful, right now that is what really makes my heart go pitter pat. 

Guess I should let him know that I already have an item to put on my Christmas list for next year.  A compound miter saw.   I see crown moulding in our future. 

On a side note, once I have used it for a few projects, I will do a tool review to let you know how it works in real world applications.

Giveaway! - Stamped Coasters

I love natural stone.  I think it adds something when it is used in a room.  I also love coasters.  They protect your furniture.  They also add another layer of detail in a room.  Plus, to be honest, I am on a mission to get people to use coasters.

To that end, we are having a giveaway. 

The giveaway is for a set of four stamped tumbled travertine coasters.  I love travetine since it is slightly pourous and will soak up the moisture that may come off a glass. 

To Enter:

1.  Become a Follower of Claiming Our Space

2.  Leave a comment letting us know you are following us and our adventures.

3.  Make sure to leave an email address so we can contact you.

3.  Do this before January 12, 2010 at 9 pm Eastern time.

We will use Random.org to select a winner.

Nothing is Ever Easy - The Ongoing Saga of Our Powder Room Reno

I think that a recurring theme in home renovations and updating projects is "one step forward, two steps back." 

Our powder room project is no exception.

After my success of installing the sink and the toilet by myself since Hubs was out of town (let's give a big hand for the internet as a resource on How To instructions), I was basking in the glow of having a functional bathroom again. 

Unfortunately that glow was short lived.  I went to use the toilet and realized that when it flushed, water leaked from the area between the toilet tank and the base.  Poo (no pun intended), that meant that the gasket failed. 

I rushed to the hardware store since it was less than 24 hours before we were hosting 27 for dinner Christmas Eve.  Yikes!  So not having a functional extra bath was not an option.  It took me a couple of tries to get everything secured and tightened just just right so there were no drips or leaks but now we, again, have a functioning toilet. 

Like I said, nothing is ever easy. 

Coming up next?  Mounting the mirror and other fixtures.

Creating Extra Counter Space on the Cheap

I love the space and light in our kitchen.  We have a ton of counterspace.  However, the cooktop in the island makes it difficult when we entertain since we have no central serving area.  You can see what I mean in the picture below.

Solution?  Create a counter (of sorts).  Or rather cobble together a cover for the cooktop to act like a counter.

With Hubs out of town, it was up to me to create our "counter" and that made it the perfect project for the Shanty2Chic Link Party.





Using 2 leftover pieces of plywood, lattice scraps and a few 1x2 pieces left over from the dining room redo along with several purchased pieces of 12"x12" pieces of cork and super duty spray adhesive, I was able to create a cover for the cooktop and turn the island into a fabulous buffet.

Here is a view of the underside of the cover.  I painted it white to match our cabinets.   You can see how the lattice pieces were used to join the two smaller plywood pieces.  Since the screws went through to the other side, I used our Dremel with the cutting wheel to cut the screw ends off.   I also used wood screws to join the 1"x2" pieces to create an "L" shape bracket of sorts for each side of the cover.  Then even more screws to join the brackets to the plywood. 

The entire piece rests on top of the burner grates and the brackets on the edges keep the top from shifting since they "lock" on the edge of the cooktop.  

The cork on the top means no hot pads need to be used for dishes. And any spills just add to the patina of the material.

Now our kitchen looks like this when we have parties.  Much better for serving our guests.

Total cost of the piece was approximately $21.00 or so.
$ 0.00 Plywood (leftover from center bedroom revamp)
   0.00 Lattice scraps to hold plywood together (leftover from dining room redo)
   0.00 1x2 scraps (leftover from dining room redo)
  17.50 5-12"x12" pieces of cork
    2.50 part of gallon of semi-gloss white paint
    1.00 approximate cost for the wood screws used (I ended up using about 30 give or take)
$21.00 Total cost for the project

And in the background of the bottom pic, you can see a sneak peak of another upcoming project on the far wall.

Make sure to check out Shanty2Chic to see what other projects are being linked.