New Year, New Ideas

I know, my Christmas tree is not a new idea! And, yes, it is STILL up. It is the freshest tree we have ever had! Still taking over a quart of new water EVERY day since we put it in its stand. But, that isn't why I am showing you this picture. I am beginning to get my thoughts going into the new year-even if my house is stuck in December 2011. I love having projects to look towards. I think on the days that I can't quite get myself going it is because I only have the mundane to do. That is when I seem to procrastinate the most. I haven't done any real re-decorating in a few years and I think I am about ready. I don't really have anything screaming to be re-done. My house is perfectly livable as is. But, I am beginning to look around and think I may be ready for some changes. They will probably be small-a change in wall color, new bedding, pillows, etc. I am not ready to knock down walls or the like although my husband is chomping at the bit to put granite in the kitchen and re-do our master bath. I am holding off on those projects as they aren't exactly inexpensive and I will need to do some thinking first. When I start something like that, one thing usually leads to another and husband stops the project before we even begin...we'll see.

In any case, this picture is here so I can have you look at the wood on the walls and around the ceiling and door. This is also what the base boards are and the same wood was used for the shelving around the fireplace. I have talked about this room before. We call it our family room. It was once a two car garage. My husband and his friend enclosed it and added the fireplace.

Since then, it has undergone a lot of changes. The fireplace wall and hearth started out as used brick. When that got too country for me, I painted the brick white. I then got bored with that and covered the brick with Venetian plaster. That is what it still is. And, I still like it. I have thought about adding some detail to it in the form of a boxed in chimney, but that can wait.

When the room was built, the wood we used was called "barn board". It is rough sawn. When I first tired of it, I white washed it. Hated that transformation and had to pain stackingly re-stain all of the wood to get it back to its weathered color. That was NO FUN!. Since then, I have been afraid to touch it until I knew for sure what I wanted.

At one point, I thought about ripping all of that wood off but I am not a good plasterer-I have tried and it is not my forte. I have thought about painting it but didn't know what color.

Fast forward to the current days of Pinterest. I once took a decorating course and the instructor had us rip out page after page of rooms we liked without thinking about why. Then, when you went back to look at them, a clear image of what you like began to emerge. That is what the Pinterest boards do for me. When I happened to look at what I had pinned for my family room, a clear image began to appear. All of the following pictures have the feel I love. I suspect it may have something to do with the wood beams in each room. I know beams can be added, but that job is probably beyond me at this point in my life. But, I also noticed that the wood is a darker tone than what is currently in my family room and I am thinking that may be what is calling out to me as well!

These rooms are gorgeous! I am not looking forward to tackling re-staining all of that wood again. Before I added the wood to the walls, I put some kind of a rough finish on the walls. Don't even remember what I used but it is very porous and ANY LITTLE SPECK of stain seeped right into the wall. NO FUN. I am now trying to decide if I have it in me one more time. What an inexpensive project-a simple can of stain.



Yes, I know, it would take a lot more than a simple can of stain to make my family room look like these rooms but it is the feel I am after. I think I could do it. What do you think? Stay tuned and see what happens. Guess I had better start by taking down the Christmas decorations.