Mauve Drapes

Before the flood this is what our living room looked like.  We had the same mauve drapes I picked out with the JC Penny decorator the year after we got married in 1989.  I loved the drapes with traditional swags and a darker outline of pink.  They matched the floral couches we bought at Dillards.  I thought my room was complete.  However in the 90's mauve was not a popular color.  So it felt very outdated very quickly.  It seems like mauve became the oh nooooo word over night.  Yet in the 80's everyone decorated with mauve.

Lesson learned.  I grew to love my mauve drapes.  I pretended they were a flower petal.  They became different shades of pink in the light.  I could pull them shut with the cord.  My husband always said I think those drapes are just right every time I talked about changing them.  So I was excited when I found this floral print to blend with the mauve drapes.  My mother made matching pillows for the sofas.   Does anyone have any mauve stories?  

Tile Over Brick Fireplace

It took courage but we decided to tile over the brick fireplace.  It was very inexpensive and easy maintenance since the tile I chose was Travertine look alike.  If there is soot on the tile all I have to do is wipe it off.  It also created a nice flow with the tile in the entry hall overlooking the living room.  The big issue my husband and I had was to replace the mantle. My husband did not want to put it back up. Without the mantle it gives it a more contemporary look.  So I call it Country French With A Twist.

The other issue was hanging our oil painting.  My son was so sweet to hang it as I was visualizing how high to hang it.  We had to put a special hook with a special glue as not to damage the tile.  So far it has not fallen so all is well.

Our wonderful contractor added a spotlight to shine on the painting every time we turn on our light switch.  I use to have a little light attached to the picture frame which was very inconvenient to turn on and off.  I think it also detracted from the painting to have the light on top.  Not sure what the trend is but its nice to have lighting to show off things you love.

My next job was to find a fireplace screen.  I went to my favorite Consignment store and found a screen with scrolls of gold on top for a French Flair.

Bare Bones

Our home was bare bones. The dry wall came down because we didn't want any chance of the dreaded word mold.  It is sooo strange to see your home as it was in its birth.   This is what it looked like when it was being built I thought.  All of the memories you have seem so distant.  I remember Alex crawling on the floor in a circle as we chased him laughing.  This is a picture of our bedroom without the bed, bookcase, and dresser.  It seemed so surreal that our bedroom was still our bedroom but in a different state.  It was an out of the box experience.  It was like we had a chance to do over.  It was a fresh start to try new things. 

Paint Color

It wasn't an easy decision to pick out paint color.  I knew I wanted soft colors from the landscape of Provence. I wanted our dining room to be a natural green from the countryside, but not so pastel it looked like a nursery.  So I went to Sherwin Williams to pick out possible colors of green.  During this time I had consulted some decorators and contractors.  They all wanted me to do beige.  Kiln Beige was the most popular color.  I know because I asked the manager of Sherwin Williams.

"What is the most popular color?"  No matter what store I went to it was Kiln Beige.  I reverted to conformity and used that color for our guest bathroom.  It does look warm and inviting.  Let me show you all the colors I tried.  I think I must be an analytic thinker because I tried quite a few paint colors.  The colors on the family room wall were all shades of beige.  All the decorator books say to try the paint colors on the wall to see if they change in the light.  Our home was vacant after the flood and the walls were ripe to experiment.
It was a daunting task to pick just the right colors.  

After the Flood

After the flood 

Our family had a wonderful vacation on a cruise.  But while we were away our upstairs bathroom toilet sprung a leak.  Thanks to our neighbor she noticed a river of water coming down our stairs.  I found out while we were on the cruise that everything was submerged in water.  My neighbor Jos said on the phone over seas,

"It's bad Sandra, really bad."  

The tone of her voice made me wonder how bad was it?  

As we arrived home I opened the door to see everything moved out of our home.  Luckily Servpro had been busy with fans blowing to dry the structure to keep it intact.. The next six  months was a journey to what to buy?  What was my plan? Who do I follow?  What is my style?  Do I follow my instincts?

I was raised with a mom who loved fabric.  She could cover her couches and make drapes from her sewing machine in her bedroom.  If she was about to change the living room or den it was countless trips to the fabric stores to see what was the perfect covering for her devan.  If we weren't decorating we loved to go to fabric stores just to see what was out there.  Cutting Corners was our favorite so it was the first place I went to study my plan.

I've always loved Country French so I was so excited when I found this fabric by Alex. It went with Comfort Gray paint color by Sherwin Williams.   My neighbor was so sweet and held it up to get a vision of how it would drape for my dining room.

The other choice was a favorite color but didn't stand out as anything special.

Before I decided on the dining room drapes I needed to have something to coordinate for the living room.  So I went on another trip to Cutting Corners.  The aqua fabric stood out as a friend.  I think of pieces of material as friends because you live with them for quite awhile.  It's not like you can have a fight and say I  won't call you again. (Not that I do that ) The fabrics you choose must feel right.  They are apart of your life.