Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Eight Years in the Making


Our music room

It was the first room I painted in this house.  We hadn't even moved in yet, but as soon as the papers were signed,  I headed over to our new digs with paint cans in hand.  I feel rather badly that I'm thinking of changing paint colors before the room was ever really done, like I'm being unfaithful to sea-foam green.
 But what can I say?  The color blue is speaking to me.  


Soon after we moved in, Lyle installed the bead board and the painted pine ceiling, and after a night of extreme intestinal distress by our big dog Olaf, the blue carpet that once inhabited this room was replaced with white oak.  I love the trim and the ceiling and the floor,  but I never felt like the dark wood of the piano worked with the medium-toned wood of the fireplace.  Since painting the piano seemed like a bad idea, today I tackled the fireplace.


I've done a coat of primer and three coats of paint and it still needs at least 2 more.  If you adored the wood, now would not be a good time to tell me.  There was a wreath above the fireplace and then a mirror and both have felt a little bland. 


It's a tall room and needs something fairly big.  I know Lyle could pull this off, but it's a little more formal than my usual style.  Still in the running though.


I love this, but the ceiling is quite a bit lower than ours and I'm not sure if it would work.


This appeals to me, but again, not sure.


This tall built-in mirror might do the trick, but definitely not the lime walls.



Here's a fireplace with wallpaper above it.  I like it, but I've spent countless hours removing wallpaper from this house,  and have vowed to never use the stuff.


Above the fireplace is this ho-hum can light.  It's the only ceiling light in the room and I think maybe something more interesting would jazz things up a bit.  Would a little chandelier be weird above a fireplace?  If I use a mirror, shouldn't something cool be reflected in it?  What about a pendant light?  Would that be strange above a fireplace?


I'm also thinking about moving the ancestor wedding pictures from behind the piano to over the fireplace.  Maybe a mirror would look better over the piano.  Maybe a big oval?  And lighting at the piano is also an issue.  The floor lamp really isn't tall enough to do the job and it looks strange there.  I don't necessarily want to add something in the ceiling because that would mess up what Lyle's already done.....and even though 8 years have passed, he still remembers how long it took to put up that ceiling.


And I want to keep the wall clock that Lyle made, but the cheapy plasticky pull shades can definitely go.


But if the cheapy shades in the music room go bye-bye, then the cheapy shades in the library, across from the music room, should go bye-bye too so our windows look uniform from the porch.  I feel like the mouse in If You Give A Mouse a Cookie.....or is it a muffin?  Anyway, when you change one thing, obviously you need to change another.  Oh, and furniture.  A couch seems like a necessary item.


If any of you have design inspiration, I'd love to hear it......
except if it's to tell me not to paint the fireplace.
That type of advice would not be appreciated.

5 comments:

Brooke said...

This is probably the LEAST helpful suggestion, but are you on Pinterest? Our even houzz.com?

And, for what it's worth, I love the new paint color. Looks fabulous!

Life frome where we are said...

My vote is for the first mirror...love it! I also love the painted fireplace! Good luck with all those decisions!

Loren said...

First of all, I think it was absolutely the right thing to paint the fireplace. It looks great!

For lighting at the piano, is there room on the top of the piano to put a pair of slender lamps, one on each side? Or if not, how about a couple of wall bracket lights above it. You could hang a picture in between the lamps/lights and move the ancestors (love the frames!) over the fireplace.

Since the room doesn't have a carpet (extreme intestinal distress was very nicely put) or curtains, it could use some textiles to soften it a bit. It's hard to see from the pictures if there's enough space to put a couch anywhere, but you could put an upholstered armchair in the corner instead of the little table, with the floor lamp next to or behind it. Also, if you felt like it, a patterned rug could go on the floor.

I agree that the ceiling light is a non-entity; how about an inverted pendant light - one that doesn't hang too low? Generally I think rooms look better with side lighting (lamps) than top lighting, but inverted pendants give out a softer light because it's reflected from the ceiling.

I hope some of this is useful.

Best wishes,

Loren

Eileen said...

Loren,

I love your idea about the inverted pendant light......O.K., I'll admit I had to look up inverted pendant light, but I do think it's a great idea!

I also like the idea about the wall bracket lights above the piano. I think I'd prefer not to put something on top of the piano, but if I can talk Lyle into doing a little wiring, maybe the wall lights could work.

Thank you!

Tammy said...

Good move Eileen! I love the white fireplace! I know just what you're going through...searching ideas online....going back and forth on what to do. I've done the same thing with our fireplace and ended up just keeping it the same. Where's my courage? I thought about painting the brick white but several of my children threw a big fit when I mentioned the idea. Who knew that they were so attached to our blaw brick? I'm excited to see what you decide to do with the room. I'm sure it will be lovely and I hope to one day see it in person.