Category Archives: Great Room
Great Room Reveal
Here’s a more detailed first look at the great room.
We still need some key items like a rug, but just haven’t found the right one yet.
At our two days before Christmas IKEA trip, we bought two pieces for the great room. The Besta Burs TV Stand and the Malm Dressing Table (pictures forthcoming).
We have a few headaches with each.
The Besta TV unit stand takes TIME to put together.
Nate worked uninterrupted on it for six hours or so. Let me just say the hours were full of expletives and throwing screwdrivers so please be forewarned. BUT, and I say but in bold uppercase letters for a reason people, the piece is beautiful.
We bought the Malm Dressing Table to put along the back of the sofa. Unfortunately, the back of the table is exposed particle board so it didn’t work behind the sofa. We instead put it along the back wall between the cabinets and sliding glass doors. Luckily it fit. It does annoy me that the back isn’t finished, but we didn’t have enought time to take it back before the holidays so it stayed.
Finally the Couch Reveal
I wrote about the purchase of our new couch in the beginning of December, but not the actual install.
The couch arrived on a rainy Saturday morning as we were beginning to paint the great room with one small hiccup – no ottoman.
The couch I bought comes with a floating chair lounge which in essence is a long chaise cushion supported by the ottoman underneath it. No ottoman meant no chaise lounge which in turn meant no couch.
Unfortunately, after calling Macy’s and getting the ottoman delivery the following Friday, the excitement of the couch had worn off.
We covered it in blankets and continued to paint the room. The kitties found it an awesome place for an afternoon nap.
The following Friday the ottoman was delivered with no problems. I was giddy to see it finally put together.
Now after a few weeks of use, I have to say I am in love. The chaise is a great place to curl up. (I have already spent a couple evenings napping on it.)
The microfiber seems like its going to hold up great. We had a weird stain on it this week, so I pulled out the Worry Free Fabic Cleaner and whatever it was came off without a beat.
Fingers crossed – but I am very happy with the purchase.
Closing out 2009
The last few weeks have been a blur for Nate and I. We scurried to finish up our big projects before the holidays and then celebrated with friends and family in our lovely house.
Below are a few photo highlights. I hope to post reveals of the front and great rooms this week!
Happy New Year!!
Painting our Great Room.
Installing countless IKEA pieces.
Updating all the old electrical plugs and switches.
Installing curtains in the dining room.
Installed New Door Knobs and Locks
Spray Painting the Wood Stove
We went vintage with the purple
I can’t believe it is two weeks until Christmas. There is still so much to do in such a short amount of time. I just need to stay focused and get as much done this weekend as I can without panicking!
Last night I stopped by my local home improvement superstore for 2 gallons of paint for the great room. When I got home, I ate a quick dinner so I could get the new color up on the walls and see how it looked!
I went big with the color. Not a soft purple but a big bold Behr Vintage Purple.
Taking the leap of faith with the color was invigorating. With the size of the room, the amount of light we get and the ratio of wall to windows/cabinets – we knew we could go crazy with the color of the walls and get away with it!
I was only able to paint the small half wall between the washer & dryer cabinet and the couch, but it looked great. It adds so much depth and interest to the previously clinically white room.
I plan on getting up early tomorrow to paint as much as I can before our couch arrives. Nate has school stuff to do most of the weekend – so I am just going to do as much as I can solo.
Hopefully the parents will stop by and maybe help?! 
Checkmark. Couch Purchased!
I can’t believe I bought a couch today on my lunch break.
Nate and I went for a cushion test to the department showroom last week.
We knew we wanted a sofa sectional, but quickly realized that a full sectional would not fit in the great room. We decided a sofa with a chaise that gave us a sectional feel on a smaller scale.
Here’s my checking out our final choice. I got it in micro-suede stone which is a khaki color.
The purchase was a breeze. I walked in, checked with the salesman about what inventory they had in, made a fabric choice and bought the sofa chaise.
Now my only worry is if we will have the painting done before it is delivered. The couch arrives at our place in two weeks!
We have to move the wood stove, prep and paint the great room prior to that. Hopefully we can begin this week, so we can paint most of the weekend.
Oh yeah … and we have to decide on a wall color.
Have you seen me before?
Meet our wood burning stove.
I really like it. It has nice clean lines and may be an original feature of the house.
Unfortunately, its a fire hazard. The chimney is located a little too close to the power lines on the roof.
The plan is to remove it. Question is do we relocate, sell or give it away?
I spent a couple hours researching Jøtul stoves and the Jøtul NR 150 model online, but found nothing helpful.
So, I emailed the manufacturer to see if they could tell me more about the stove. I received a very nice reply from the National Sales Manager.
“In my 15 years with Jøtul North America I have come across a ton of older Jøtul models. NR 150 isn’t one of them.”
He went on to tell me that he would look through the company’s archives to see if he could find the model.
So for the time being, our little guy is without an identity. Hopefully the mystery will be solved soon. I really want to make an educated decision about his future.
Stay tuned.
