Before and After - the living room

I'm not a decorator...at all...it terrifies me. So this is what my mantel looked like for the first 2 years we lived here. I finally spent some time making the house cozier. One of my dreams for our house was the generational wall in our dining room that I posted previously. The other was a painting of the barn that was our clubhouse when I was growing up and is such a symbol of my childhood.

 

 

This is what we have now. Sara Barnes, a friend of our families for many years, painted the barn based on pictures I gave her of it. Above the tv on the wall are porcelain birds in flight. I love how it turned out!

 

 

And this was the rest of the living room...the worst part was the lack of lighting other than the recessed lights in the 12-foot ceilings. At night, it created a very stark, 3rd degree-interrogation feeling...not cozy at all. But that's how we left it for 2 years out of not knowing what to do...did I mention I hate decorating?



This is what it's like now. The pillows and curtains were made by Dianne Gunter, a friend from my days working at Bomgar. I found the lamps for $7.50 each at a consignment store and spray painted them black along with the curtain rod, again made out of electrical EMT pipe. So cozy now :)