Aiming for progress, not perfection.

"...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

spring cleaning party: living room photos.

the living room is done!

it took me all...day. (i was at home with poor grayson who has an ear infection and bronchialitis) but i did it! all of it! from baseboards with alcohol-soaked cotton balls to soaking and sun-drying the blinds. tsh's book says that blinds house TONS of dust. the woman knows what she's talking about. the bathtub was gross! but i can't tell you how much cleaner my living room seems now that the blinds and the windows and the sills are clean.

i took "before" pictures, though it's sort of hard to get the idea of how dusty and musty everything was from pictures alone. the main thing you'll notice in the pictures is i changed a few things around when i organized and replaced everything. i am happier with my built-ins now. it's easier to change things up a little when you're looking at completely empty shelves.

all-in-all, i'm thrilled. it was lots of work (i'm really bad at maintenance cleaning -- picked up suffices as clean in most cases at my house), but SO worth it. i just want to stand in the middle of the living room and stare at everything. and breathe. tangerine essential oil, candle light and rediscovered counting crows has me in love with my living room tonight.

before:
not too bad since i did the clean sweep on monday!



decluttered, before cleaning: dust. lots and lost of dust. ew.




after: clean, organized, rearranged....glorious!

i do have plans to slipcover this chair something solid. any suggestions? is ivory too optimistic of me?

a few changes on the mantle and neighboring shelves.



do you like these here? i know they're sorta crooked... i'll fix 'em. also, i really want a palm tree -- or some other sort of live indoor tree -- to put in this corner.

i moved the tablecloth from the kitchen table to this decorator table. the one i had on it needed washing, which then would have required ironing. also, i think this vintage one is more interesting than the stock damak stripe from wal-mart. thoughts?



the kitchen is next. it may be 2 weeks before i finish that monstrosity.

4 comments:

Jami said...

Looks great! Ivory might be wishful thinking for the slipcover. A deep red might be nice. Good luck with the kitchen, I'm dreading it!

The Mrs. Long said...

You are doing such a great job sister!!! I'm very proud of you! I think Ivory for a slipcover wouldn't be that wishful since you would be able to take it off and wash it....

Kate said...

Wow--that is a lot of work! You really outdid yourself! And I bet your window blinds are stunning--I started them too late at night and realized I couldn't finish it in the same day. Soon, though! You have inspired me! And we have a small sofa slipcovered in ivory--it gets pretty grubby, but that's why it is a slipcover! Easy to take off and wash!

Wendy said...

I don't know if it's the glare of the the flash, but it really does look shinier/cleaner. You're doing an amazing job. Makes me feel lazy.