Doing Spring Cleaning and Painting in the Fall...

by LeSannO

I started repainting our house (indoors) a few years ago..taking my time between a couple of surgeries and working as a florist. This year I finally got the energy to get this living area completed ..wanted to be able to sit here and not fuss at myself for yet another day and the walls not painted..yet another holiday coming and the walls not painted. So son-in-law brought me scaffolding so there would be less chance of breaking my neck teetering on a ladder trying to reach 14 foot walls ...he came and did the stairway for us. My husband helped when he was home and I'd allow the "bull in a china closet" to help.. ;) He's a business man..not a handy man.

painting cleaning fall home improvement, dining room ideas, living room ideas, seasonal holiday decor

Our fireplace wall is 14 ft high..wanted to make it an accent wall so I made my own stencil to copy a design in our sofa..painted the wall with the shades of blue from my oriental china pieces and sofa colors then added the stencil design adding the gold and tomato red color in the sofa.

Fireplace wall before...

Stencil I made coping a design in my sofa

I don't recommend your first homemade stencil being something with skinny stems and lots of curves.. but it turned out OK. I drew the design on paper then traced onto the stencil sheet with a permanent marker and cut out with x-acto knife.

Mantel candle sticks

These were dark oak...refinished with the cream gold and then rubbed down with gold leaf powder...

Makeover for our Entertainment Armoire

Sofa pillows were my inspiration for the armoire. I plan to go back and do the edges of the doors with more of the cream paint to give it more contrast and then sand the edges for that rustic look. This piece is oak and was a basic dull oak finish before the paint.

Updated on Cabinet

I did some more work on the armoire, painting the edges a cream gold color then sanding to distress the piece. Will finish with the dark wax.

Love this Rattan sofa purchased in the 80's

Rattan sofa (hide-a-bed) was recovered with upholstery fabric bearing my favorite colors..blue and tomato red. The inspiration for repainting our living area. Can't find this type of hide-a-bed anymore so I couldn't part with it. Although we have a guest room I always like the extra bed space if needed at holidays. One of the most comfortable sofa's I've ever sat on.

My favorite room..

I love oriental..Our powder room makeover was a fun project for me and my daughter. She did all the cutouts of the wallpaper on the painted bottom 1/3 of the wall..love this room.

My favorite repurposed piece...a planter made magazine holder..just perfect for the Powder Room make over..

Dining Room finished and ready for fall. Did long mingled swiggles of 2 shades of blue and cream paint then used a dry brush to fuse the colors giving a cloudy affect..everyone loves it..