What's On Your Wall Wednesday-Family Room

For this week's What's on your wall Wednesday, I am going to show you the walls in my family room. This is one of the few rooms in my house where I get to girlify the room. My family room is actually a great room that encompasses my kitchen & family room area. Since I have already shown you what is on my kitchen walls, I thought I would show you the other half of the room.

We will start with the East wall. I have my china hutch & TV armoire on this wall. I found my china hutch about 15 years ago at an antique store when I lived in El Cajon (San Diego county). I was living in an apartment at the time so I needed something smaller. I have always wanted to paint this white, but since I am the procrastination queen, it still is wood. Now I am kind of leaning towards painting it black. I can't make up my mind, and that doesn't help me getting it painted. Since this is up against my wall, I consider it as part of what is on my walls. This is how the hutch currently looks. (I so need to polish my silver.)

This tin sign hangs above my hutch. I love what it says. I found this a couple of years ago at JoAnn Fabrics.
To the right of my china hutch is my huge TV armoire. This came from the JC Penney furniture outlet about 10 years ago. It holds my huge 27" TV. Someday I will get a flat screen TV & then I can get rid of this monster. The only redeeming quality is that this has a lot of storage. So if I get rid of it I'll have to come up with something else for the storage.
Right now on top of the armoire I have some birdcages. These were all purchased for my wedding 3 years ago. Two of them came with this green color. The other two I had to paint to match. The Christ tile was a Christmas gift from my sister 2 years ago. You can't see the white ironstone vase that holds the flowers. I consider all this decoration for my wall as well.
Then in the south/east corner is our fireplace. Right now it is set up as a gas fireplace, but the gas logs can be removed & we can burn real logs if we choose. I hate the look of this fireplace. Someday I will change out the tile & have hubby build a wood surround & mantel. And maybe even an over mantel. But for now, this is what I live with.
This is how my mantel is currently decorated. I just took down my mantel clock & added the "Family" letter art that I made this past weekend. If you missed my post about it, you can find it here. The Paris oil painting was an ebay find. It didn't come with the frame. I bought the oil painting from ebay for a Penny. Then paid $20.00 shipping. It came unstretched rolled up in a tube. We bought stretcher bars at Michael's with 40% coupon & stretched it ourselves. Then I purchased the frame at Aaron Brothers Art for $20.00 at one of their sales. So I think the total amount for this framed painting came to less than $50.00. I thought that was a deal. I love the painting & I love the frame. I have had this for probably 6 years. It reminds me of our trip to Paris back in 2003. This painting is 24" x 24".

This iron thingy came from a store that is no longer in business & I can't remember the name of. It was a fabulous store that opened up right before 9/11. I called it the Home Depot of Decor. It was a huge warehouse type store like a Home Depot, but everything was for decorating. I loved it. But when 9/11 happened the economy went down & the store didn't have enough business to stay in business, so they shut their doors. I was soooo sad. I'm sure I paid less than $10.00 for this. It is quite heavy & I wouldn't want to be standing under it if we had an earthquake & it came crashing down. That is why it is above my fireplace. I don't stand there very often.
I can't remember where I got the candle sconces. I've had them for years. They came bronze color & I painted them white & then distressed them. I added a vintage crystal prism to each one. I'm getting tired of these & will probably change them out this summer.

I didn't take a photo of my south wall as it is our sliding glass door & another window. My windows were filthy, so I didn't want to show you. I don't have any curtains or drapes on my windows as there are transom windows above & I am not sure what I want for drapes or curtains. Plus these windows look out into our backyard to our pool. And luckily you can't see the neighbors so privacy really isn't an issue. Besides the dirty windows, the back porch view is currently not good. Hubby is in the process of moving stuff around in the backyard. Someday I'll post photos, but not today.

The west wall I have divided up into 2 different areas. The area on the left has a small shelf with a Thomas Kincaid print of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Here is a close up of the shelf. The pineapple finials came from Home Goods & Marshall's. The books, urns & candlestick/pillar came from various thrift stores. The 2 larger green balls I got on 50% clearance at Michael's & the small variegated ball came from the Dollar Tree. I will probably change up this shelf for summer as well.
Here is a close up of the Thomas Kincaid print. Sorry about the reflection/glare. It is so hard to take photos when glass is involved. I got the print off of ebay a few years back. It was less than $10.00. The frame was another sale item from Aaron Brothers Art, a few years ago. Back then they had fabulous shabby chic frames. So I stocked up when they had a buy 1 frame get 2nd for a penny sale. I change this print at Christmas time with another Kincaid print of a Victorian house at Christmas (another ebay find).
To the right of the shelf & print is the main part of the wall. Here I have another Paris oil painting, a frame with vintage Venice post cards & some of my mirror collection. My couch sits right below this arrangement.

Here is a close up of the left hand side. The wood plaque at the top I found at an antique store in Old Town Temecula. I loved the chippiness of it. The middle mirror came from Mervyn's years ago. And the bottom window mirror came from ABC Distributing catalog years back. The keys hanging from the doorknob on the mirror came from Kirkland's. Yup, they are old too.
This mirror was a thrift store find. I toy with the idea of painting it white & then distressing it. But so far, I haven't. Do you think I should paint it?This oil painting is 24"x36". I bought the unframed/unscretched painting from ebay for a Penny plus $20.00 shipping. Same as the Eiffel Tower painting. I found the frame at a thrift store for $5.00 & then went searching ebay for a painting to fill it. Stretched the canvas ourselves. So this painting cost me about $30-35.00. I'm not really digging the color of the frame, but I haven't painted it yet. Are you sensing a theme here? And I am not talking frenchiness. I'm talking procrastination & lack of decision making.
Right below is a frame with my vintage Venice post cards. These came from ebay as well. The frame I think came from Kohl's. I've had it about 5-6 years, so I don't remember. I bought the post cards to remind me of Venice. If you have never been to Paris or Venice, you must go. Make sure you do it. You will never regret it!!!!
A close up of the cards.
I want to go back to Venice & Paris in the worst way.
And the mirrors on the right. The mirror on the top came from a thrift store. I painted it white & distressed it. The middle mirror came from Big Lots just this past year. And the bottom mirror I purchased at a craft show years ago. I love the tin. This mirror however never wants to stay straight. I'm constantly straightening it out. In fact I am constantly straightening all these mirrors & paintings. Since the couch is right below, my son always bangs the wall & everything moves. I'm thinking of gluing them to the wall. But then that would make it kind of hard for changing around. Which I am thinking of doing since I am getting bored with this arrangement. Not sure what I will put up instead.
This little area is technically part of the kitchen. But since I just put these items up, I wanted to share them with you. The mirror came from Welcome Home store years ago (I miss that store). I used to have it on an easel in another place. I love it on the wall now. And right below that is my new vintage plate. I won this plate from CC Catherine of Catherine de the Cups on her blog giveaway. You can see it here & here. I was so excited to win & receive it. Isn't is just darling? It works perfect under this mirror.


Here is a close up of the plate. I love it!!
And here is the back. Thank you Catherine for having the giveaway. I love this little plate & it goes perfectly in my kitchen/family room.
I was a lucky person a few weeks back. I not only won this giveaway, but I won some white pizza cheese dip mix from Kate at A Romantic Life. I guessed the exact amount of corks in her apothecary jar. Click here to see what I won. I haven't made the dip yet, probably will this Sunday (I'll post photos later when I do make it). Then I won a moss monogram letter from Barb at Grits and Glamour, she is making it for me & I should receive it soon. You can click here to see what she is making me, only mine will be a "C". I'll show you in a later post once I have received.

And speaking of Barb at Grits and Glamour, she is the fabulous host of What's on your wall Wednesday. So be sure to visit her & all the other participants. This is a fun meme. I love seeing what everyone has on their walls. It tells you a lot about the person. As you can see from my walls, I love anything Frenchy and Shabby Chic. My family room & the walls at my office at work show my true style.

Thanks for visiting & don't forgot to leave me a comment. I promise I will come & visit your blog & leave you a comment as well if you do. Deal?

Kim

Project Procrastinators Party-The results

So today is the big "TA DA" day. The day of reckoning. The day we are suppose to show the results or the after photos of our procrastination projects. Did you get yours done? Congrats if you did!!! If you didn't, time to repent and ask forgiveness. Just kidding.

And now I suppose you want to know if I completed my procrastination projects. Well, ummm, did you see American Idol last night? Wasn't it kind of a shocker? Who would have thought that Chris would be in the finals with Adam instead of Danny. Who do you want to win American Idol? My money is on Adam.

What did you say? Am I stalling? Who me? I would never do such a thing. I'm just dilly dallying a little. Ok, I guess I should remind you of the 2 projects that I had hoped to get done by today. Or at least one of them done.

THE BEFORE:

Project #1: Was my dining room chairs. This is the before. I was suppose to finish the chairs by upholstering them. I have 6 dining rooms chairs. My chairs have been this way for 3 years. We painted the chairs black about 3 years ago, but never changed out the fabric on the seats. This fabric has been on these chairs for probably at least 40 years.

Project #2: My blanket chest. See how naked it is? It's been this way for about 15 years. If you want to see my entire "before" post, click here.


And now without further delays, did you notice my little cartoon at the top of the post? I thought it was appropriate for today. It exactly describes me. That's why they call me the procrastination queen.

Was I lolly gagging again? Sorry!

THE AFTER:

Let's start with Project #2: Blanket chest

TA DA!!!! Here is the after. Isn't she purdy? What's with all the whispering? What do you mean it looks exactly like the before? You mean to tell me that the emperor, I mean queen has no clothes? Let me take a look......
Hmm, you are right. She is still naked. I guess I must have dreamed that she was all painted & purdy. Well, I have a really good excuse as to why she is still naked. It's been too windy here to paint. And I had to take my son to the Nixon library a couple of Saturdays ago & this past weekend was Mother's Day and we were out of town. And I work a full time job. You get the picture, life got in the way of finishing my project. I'm so sad. I really thought I was going to get this done.

Well so much for the blanket chest, what about the chairs......

Project #1: Dining room chairs. TA DA!!!! Yay!!!! (insert trumpet horns here)

I got 3 of the 6 chairs done. Here is the after photo of one of the chairs. I guess I should have taken a photo of the 3 chairs as proof. You'll just have to take my word. I (we) got 3 of the 6 chairs done. Which is a heck of a lot better than I thought. Remember, I am the procrastination queen.
Don't you just love this rooster toile? I've had this fabric for this project for 3 years.
I thought this would be such an easy peasy project. Boy was I wrong. First, there was 2 layers of old fabric that I had to take off. Which meant I had to pull out about a million little tacks. Yes the old fabric was tacked on with teeny tiny little tacks, not staples. Secondly I had to add new foam & quilt batting. And finally the pattern repeat in this fabric is 18 inches. I needed the fabric to be more like 24 inches to give enough fabric for stretching onto the back for stapling. So I had to sew on 3 inches of extra fabric to the top & then to the bottom . The seams are just under the edge of the chair seat. So that worked out pretty good, you can't see where I had to add fabric. And trying to center the pattern on the chair was so hard. We (hubby & I) did pretty good though for our first try at this. And since we didn't even start this project until Tuesday evening, I think we did pretty good getting 3 chairs done. My new goal is to have the final 3 chairs done by Thanksgiving. Just kidding. Hopefully we will get them done this weekend. Unless I can come up with some sort of excuse. Ooh, I have a 30% off coupon for Kohl's......
I guess I should have picked a fabric that didn't have a design that needed to be centered. It would have made this project so much easier.

So what do you think? I'm pretty happy that I got at least 3 chairs done. Any one who knows me would have bet money that nothing would have been done by today. So I beat the odds. Woo hoo!!!!

I guess now that I did get part of my project done I am no longer the procrastination queen, more like a princess now. Now go to the Inspired Room to see Melissa's & every one else's results (or lack of).

Project Procrastinators Party-The before

Hey you! Yes you. Don't look around to see if maybe I'm talking to someone else. I'm talking to you. Come here, a little closer. Closer. That's good. I have a little secret to tell you. But I need you to pinky swear that you won't tell anyone else. Do you pinky swear? Good!

Did you know that I was actually royalty. Yup! You heard me right. I am royalty. I am actually a queen. "A Queen?", you say. Yup! I'm an actual queen. And what am I the queen of? I'm the queen of procrastination. I know, I know, you think that you are the queen of procrastination. But I promise you that I am the actual queen. And I have the proof.

Melissa over at the Inspired Room is having a Project Procrastinators Party. Today we are suppose to declare the project that we have procrastinated on and show the "before" photos. Then on May 14th, which is in 2 weeks we are suppose to show the "after" photos. You know, the big "TA DA" moment.

Well here it is 12:05pm Pacific time which of course makes it 3:05pm on the East Coast. So today is already half over & I'm just now getting around to making my post about my procrastination project. I started this post this morning, but got side tracked & I am now just getting around to finishing it. So right there proves that I am the procrastinator queen. Last I looked at Melissa's blog there are already 49 people on the list. I'll probably be the last one on the list. I sure hope that someone gets to my name on the list. But if they do, I am finally prepared. Well, sort of.

And if I needed something more to prove to you that I was indeed the procrastination queen. Here is exhibit #1:

This chair is one of 6 that goes with my dining room table. This dining set originally belonged to my Great Grandmother. It originally wasn't painted black. This dining set sat in my parents shed in their backyard for about 20 years. I've always wanted this set, but by the time I had a house that it could fit in, the years of storage had caused quite a bit of damage to the wood. I wish I had taken before, before photos but I didn't, so you will just have to take my word. So since the wood wasn't good enough to restore, the best next fix it is paint. So hubby & I decided we would paint the chairs and the table black (hubby was able to salvage some of the wood on the table & make it pretty so the table & chairs aren't completely black). Then I was suppose to reupholster the chairs.

Well, we painted the chairs & table 3 years ago. You heard me right, 3 long years ago. But did I reupholster the chair seats at that time? No! I think 3 years qualifies as proof that I am the procrastination queen.
Aren't the chair seats just lovely? They are yucky!!! But not as yucky as the layer of fabric I already removed from the chair 3 years ago. This is the nice fabric. Just a little worn.

This is the fabric that is going to be on my chairs by May 14th! I love toile! Much better don't you think? And how long have I had this fabric? For 3 years. I told you I procrastinate.

And since we are becoming fast friends, I will let you in on another little secret. I'm not only the procrastination queen, but I am also commitment phobic. (I heard you gasp.) I can't make up my mind about anything. But doesn't that go hand in hand with being a procrastinator? I thought so.

So I'm not sure the chair will be my procrastination project. It may just be the blanket chest/coffee table in my family room. Which will now be known as Exhibit #2:
I bought this chest probably about 15 years ago. (Did you gasp again? I thought so.) I think I got it from JC Penney catalog. My intention was to paint it white & distress it. I love Shabby Chic. But is it white? No, it is still naked. Only now, it is grungy & dirty and has a stain or two.



So this chest is the final proof that I am indeed the Procrastinator Queen. You can all bow to me now. Is my crown a bit tarnished? Probably because I have put off polishing it. I am the Queen!
This is how I currently camouflage my chest. Did you notice the unfinished items on top? I have a little naked box that I plan on covering with broken egg shells & painting. And the tray has a broken handle that needs to be fixed. I might get those 2 projects done, lets say, by 2020. But I'm not promising.

So I just need to make up my mind as to which of these 2 projects (I'm not counting the 2 little projects, just the chair & the chest) I am going to do for the big "TA DA" on May 14th. Come on, you really didn't think I was going to make a decision today, did ya? Remember, I'm the procrastination queen. I probably won't decide until May 13th.

So be sure to check back on May 14th to see which project I chose and to see if I got the project done. But don't hold your breath, I am the queen!!! And don't tell anyone, it will be just our little secret.

The bunnies are taking over!!!

Whoo hoo!! It's bunny on a stick day!!! And what is bunny on a stick day? It's the day we all get to show off our bunny or in my case, bunnies on a stick. I'll bet Pier 1 never thought that their bunny on a stick would get his or her own day in blogland. But thanks to Barb over at Grits and Glamour, a special day has been set aside just for these special little bunnies. So if you want to see how the bunny in a stick is popping up all over blogland, hop on over to Barb's blog to see the list of participants.

Now that I have taken care of business, it's time for the show to begin. I had been seeing the Pier 1 bunny on the stick on almost every blog that I visited in the past month. Last week I decided I needed this bunny on the stick. Notice it became a need and not a want. I have my priorities straight. So I hopped on over to Pier 1 to see if they had any left. I figured they wouldn't as Easter was only a few weeks away (my hubby would say that I think too negatively). But as soon as I walked in the door of my local Pier 1, the clouds parted, the angels started singing & the sun shown down on the basket full of these fabulous bunnies. There they were in all their special glory. It was my lucky day, they still had quite a few bunnies. I was in heaven (I told you the angels were singing). So I picked out 2 bunnies, paid the man at the register and skipped all the way home. Ok, ok, I didn't skip home, I had to drive, but you get the picture.

I had great plans for my special bunnies. But anyone who knows me, knows that I am a procrastinator. I always make fabulous plans, but they never seem to get done. So I did want any procrastinator would do. I just stuck my bunnies in some pitchers on top of my china hutch and called it a day.

But then you know about bunnies, they started multiplying & before long, I had a house full of not only bunnies on the stick, but bunnies, period!!!

So the bunnies are taking over!!!! Take a look for yourself.

This first bunny is sitting on top of my china hutch in a pitcher of faux roses. Then we have a bunny pail, with a bear dressed up as a bunny. Everyone wanted to get in on the bunnyiness going on in my house.

Here is another bunny on a stick on my china hutch. And a Bethany Lowe bunny diorama.
Another bunny on a stick showed up on my table as well as his cousin the moss bunny from Michael's.
Then another bunny on a stick hopped over to my heart topiary. He figured he could hide out here as he was the same color as the plant. But he couldn't fool me, I spotted him right away.
Luckily I separated the bunnies on the stick before they could multiply anymore, but I didn't stop the other bunnies from multiplying. Here are 3 I found outside on my front porch. These 3 bunnies were originally grey and from the 99 cent only store, but I painted them white. I love the bunny toile they are sitting on.
This sweet bunny is a windsock. She is also out on my porch.
And even a special bunny to welcome you to our home.
Here are the other bunnies on my china hutch. The small green bunny is from Target. The bunny box came from Sees candy years ago.
This bunny creamer came from Home Goods this year.
The cream bunny is from Target and the bunny egg holder is from Home Goods.
This bunny was from a thrift store.
Another thrift store bunny.
Here is bunny central.
Bunny box from Home Goods.
Cloche I won from ebay. The bunnies came unglued in transit & were upside down, but I was able to shake them around until they landed right side up & in their right spot. This was hard to do without breaking the glass. I bought 2 of these cloches, but the other one with the lamb came broke. I ended up breaking off all the glass on that one & putting it under another glass cloche that I had.
Thrift store bunny & basket. I love the Bordallo bunny plates.
Bunnies in my kitchen.
The only bunny in my living room. She came from the thrift store. I got smart & only put 1 bunny in here. That way she can't multiply.
Cement bunny on my mantle. Came from Ross this year.
I've had this little doll dressed as a bunny for years. Isn't she sweet?
My TJ Maxx foil bunnies.
The trunk in my family room. Lots of bunnies here.
I even captured one bunny in a jar. It's hard keeping track of all these bunnies!
This bunny says "Welcome Spring". I got it from ebay last year. I think it's from Bethany Lowe.
This bunny is actually a little creamer.
Bunny egg jar. I try to hide candy in here, but it keeps disappearing.



Bunny candlestick that I got from the thrift store. I have 2 of these. They will show up in tomorrow's Tablescape Thursday post.
My bunny plates from Home Goods that will also show up tomorrow. So be sure to come back tomorrow to see my Easter tablescape, take 2.
And finally we have the most special bunny. This is the bunny that I will be giving to my Grandson Gunner for Easter. Sshhh!! Don't tell him.
I hate to see what my house will look like next Easter. So thanks for visiting & don't you want to take a bunny or two with you? Then the bunnies will start taking over your home as well.