Small Changes: Before and after movie wall

Slowly but surely we are making progress and adding color to the house. Little by little, painted walls, rugs and pieces of furniture are coming together to make this big tan box feel more like our home. The office is coming together which has made a much bigger impact than I imagined. It was a room we had sort of become "blind" to and almost became the junk room. Although it's nowhere near finished, we finally painted it and stuck the desk in so that's made a huge difference so far. I decided that since I was already covered in paint I would finally tackle the "movie" wall I've been planning for over a year!

 This was the space before:

A giant yellowish tan blob with equally tan carpet, making the entire space just feel like a pale yellow box.

I loved the little shelf that we had and considered putting some little trinkets and vases there but I felt they wouldn't make a big enough impact on the giant blank canvas that sat above it. So I got to work painting it the same Valspar: Rugged Suede as the office and framed and hung my favorite etsy movie prints with 40% off frames from AC Moore! Score!

Here is the after:

I also made a little "Bear Den" sign, that's the name of our basement, nothing else suited it so well.  I love fun and whimsical area it adds to our house, like having our own little movie theater wall at home! 

Bear waiting to greet you as you come up the stairs.

Some of my favorite prints:

I am pretty happy with the way our little focal wall turned out. There are some spots I need to touch up on the wall, just like in the office but it's nice to finally feel some progress in the house. 

Little Changes: Before and After end table

I don't know about you, but I get bored with decor and therefore frustrated very easily. I remember as a kid I would rearrange the furniture in my room once a month by leaning against the wall and pushing stuff around with my legs, tugging on tables and beds and dressers until the room arrangement was fresh and I was satisfied with a new layout.  The desire for change hasn't left me as an adult, the only difference is I can pick some things up and move them around now, although the sit your butt on the carpet and push with your legs method still works for me most of the time.

Now, if you know me, you know I am all about the mid century mod design. However, what I didn't realize in a lot of my early thrifting/yard sailing was the difference between good and bad vintage. Yup, pretty much anything old was good to me. I was young and naive then, you know...last year. 

I was also a very eager shopper. I had that "I can't leave without something" mentality that had me picking up and taking things home that I really never had any business laying eyes upon. Luckily most of those purchases were either small pieces or were big projects that I eventually got around to. 

One of the purchases I made last year was a set of end tables and a coffee table from Salvation Army. I really had no use for the coffee table and it still sits in the spare bedroom which is now a makeshift closet. However I thought I had it all figured out with the end tables. These end tables were definitely mid century styled, but had a terribly tacky faux wood top and a weird weave pattern on the front drawers. This simply would not do.

So I got to work painting the waffle pattern on the front of the drawers teal.

Yeah...this is when teal was the answer to all my problems. Teal was the end all be all color. Don't like the pattern? Get it in teal! Don't like the texture? Paint it teal! Well, this lasted maybe 2 weeks until I finally repainted the drawers white and stuck them next to the bed in the spare bedroom.  

Although they served their purpose well enough as makeshift nigh stands from end tables, I was never happy with the styling of them, I didn't realize this was because the tables were just ugly.

The other day when I lit my inspirational pumpkin candle and pulled my fall decor out from the basement, I had a total epiphany...

why not use the end tables...as end tables?!

Gosh I was such a genius. The thing is, we've been using two thrifted trunks stacked on top of each other as an end table in the living room for the longest time. Mainly because I couldn't find an end table that I liked. Who woulda thunk I had it upstairs in the bedroom the entire time?!

Now, obviously the table was still ugly, so a little bit of modifying was in order.  I will use almost any excuse to whip up some chalk paint, so I got a creamy antique white color and got to work. I already had a vision in my head of a worn and faded end table that looked like it was dug out of the back of a barn so when the paint was dry I got to work with my sanding block. Chalk paint is great because you don't have to sand anything prior to painting, but is also very delicate in it's pre waxed form. So I sanded as much as I wanted to give it a nice weathered look then took to waxing it.

 I wanted to get the project done before Shaun came home so it could be set and styled before he said "what are you gonna do with that?" which of course is Shaun for "I don't like that please don't put it in our home". 

Once the wax was dry I brought the table in, moved the trunks and put it in place. It was like it was a piece of furniture that was built to go at the end of a sofa...weird, right?!

I'm so happy that fall is here so I get to bring out all the orange and gold and colors that make sipping coffee in a sweater that much more gorgeous.

So what are your thoughts? Is using furniture for it's intended purpose ok? Or should I stick to being a decorating hipster and maybe start wearing ladles as earrings and sleeping on the dining room table?