Room Re-do

Mike and I loved this room from the get-go. The wood siding is real as are the beams. It's cozy, but definitely not our style. I wish I had taken a picture of it with all the curtains up, but honestly, I don't think I wanted to remember the room that way.

 I was getting distracted by these two.

Could they be any cuter?

 It's a gas fireplace, which we are really excited about. Five minute fire or two hours, we can have one and it's no biggie.

 The start of the progression of painting. We actually bought three samples and my favorite was a Behr color called "elephant skin", my least favorite, the one below. Time passed, perhaps a week, and this one became our favorite it's Behr "nimbus cloud."

 It took so long to paint because of all the tiny holes, the grain of the wood, and the cracks of the panelling boards. So once I had my paint slopped on, I really had to work it in. 

 We also painted up by the ceiling right away because we were worried that the color wouldn't match the ceiling. But after doing our little patch, we loved it with the ceiling.

 This is the little knee wall looking into the kitchen. And...

...this is the finished room. I love it, love it, love it. 

 We found the window at an antique store that's almost across the street from our house. Chopped a little off the side, sanded, and voila! 

I do still need to cut the chains, I know.

 I'm sure that the room will still evolve a bit, or maybe even quite a bit, but we know the style that we want for it now.

 Thanks to my dad for the elk antlers on loan,

and an old table made out of barn boards that I found in the trash and made into a sign, the little touches are finally coming together.

We love the room, but the bad news: it's only half done. We tested a small swatch and sanded over the paint. The wood grain popped, and it was so beautiful and shabby. We also are going to be sanding the ceiling beams to lighten those up and have them match the distressed look of the room.

I hope I don't let it sit too long, for fear of never returning to it, but my arms are enjoying the rest for now. In time.