One day

One day last week I woke up and decided I couldn’t stand my front room for one more minute!! I’ll be frank…I have always hated this room. Why is it that the architect who designed this home decided to make a tiny front room and a slightly larger family room (that connects directly to the kitchen), instead of making ONE decent-size room (and an entry wouldn’t have killed him)?? It’s been my bane for the last eight years. It’s a room that really serves no purpose.

I tried to improve it two years ago. I failed quite miserably. The idea was to make it kind of a ‘library’ room. Yah, it didn’t really happen.

These bookshelf/cabinet/thingies were virtually my first furniture-painting project. They really didn’t out too bad…but the fact that I felt I got gypped in purchasing them always bugged me. They were advertised as “real wood.” They were so not “real wood.” I foolishly did not go to look at them myself, though, and by the time they came home, there were no backsies! I painted them anyway, and they weren’t horrible—but the white primer that showed through the “distressing” also bugged me.

In the picture above, you can also see my first major upholstery project on the left. There were two of those chairs, and I didn’t like them either! They left about a year ago, to be replaced by these:

They were free chairs, so I was only in to them for the cost of materials to reupholster them. Again, they weren’t my favorite. The table, on the other hand, is my French Twist table, and it only joined the room a couple of months ago (replacing another early painting project). It’s still in my good graces.

In front of the window I had an antique writing desk I got in trade from some refinishing work. Underneath it is an old steamer trunk that belonged to my great-grandparents. These are both keepers!

Do you want to see what the room looks like tonight?

Quite a change, huh? I sold the two arm chairs and the big black shelves. (Believe it or not, I got my money back out of them! I couldn’t be happier.) The steamer trunk and the writing desk have moved to my bedroom. I’d love to sell the rug—it’s always clashed with the flooring. And I’m not married to those curtains, either.

Piled on the floor is all the stuff that came out of or off of the big black shelves! It’s been hard to find a place for it all.

Now it’s confession time:

I. don’t. know. what. to do. now!

It’s still a tiny, useless room (about 10’ x 13’). Just with less furniture. Still, it’s a relief to have the ugly stuff gone, so I can start fresh. Taking out the wall to combine the two rooms is not an option--it's a load-bearing wall.

Any suggestions for me? I’m open to all sorts of ideas!