Yay! Mattress!

Tomorrow is an exciting day. It is exciting because we are getting our new mattress delivered! We picked it out about a month ago and I wanted to wait until the Guest Bedroom was finished to have the bed delivered (because this will be the home of our current bed). Well...you all saw how finishing that room is going....it still going. It is taking way longer than planned (updates coming soon!). Also, with so many hours sitting these days (I sit in lecture, I sit when studying, I sit all the time now), my back needs the TLC that a new mattress will bring. This is also a much bigger bed than we have now...we are going from a full to a KING!!! So now there might be room for Chris and me after Lucy takes up her share:

This our first big investment for this house (the couches don't count...they were cheap) and I think it is a good upgrade. That being said, we still haven't decided on a bed frame and any bedroom furniture (lamps included). Chris liked this Bahama Bob set from the same discount store that we picked up the couches from (this picture is from their website, I take no credit):

Well, I thought that much matching furniture would be a little overwhelming. Chris said okay...but then I haven't found anything that I really liked. There is no rush to put 'eh' furniture in the house and now that we are getting the new mattress anyway I can take all the time I want in deciding! 

Hung!

So we have been living here for just about three months, and I am a bit embarrassed to admit that we haven't really hung any of the pictures we have up. Well, Chris was in a hanging stuff up mood and we have some new additions to the walls. First off, is this framed mirror that I picked up at Kirkland's for only 15 dollars:

Right now it is on the dining room wall. I like it there, but as we get furniture for that room, it might move. He also hung up a painting that we had from our  Jersey City apartment:

Sorry for the awful glare on that one, but all my no-flash pictures came out blurry. Basically, it is a story oceanscape that we hung between the bathroom and smaller closet in the Master Bedroom. The colors in the picture are shockingly similar to the "winter lake" color on the walls. We didn't plan it, but I like it. Hopefully we can find a dresser or some other storage for below it. Next, we move to the Office, which got spoiled:

A picture and frame that we picked up from Ikea back when we moved into our Jersey City apartment now graces the wall above the piano. I really like the continuation of the nature/forest theme that this room has going on and This makes the room feel more complete. Also in the office went up my white board:

Right now it is covered with a diagram of protein synthesis initiation, so I opted for the picture with the love note from Chris. It is hung on the otherwise empty wall opposite the piano. It might not be the most attractive thing to hang on the wall, but it is sure getting some use. These four things were only the tip of the iceberg of items we need to hang...but Chris' picture hanging interest waned, and I am more than pleased that these items got put up. 

Color for the Family Room

So I am still in the exciting process of taping off, lining, and priming the wood paneling in the Family Room. Woo! But seriously, I need some motivation for finishing these tasks, so we did some test squares! After my happiness at the color in the Guest Bedroom, Chris decided to take the lead on this one:

Well, the boy knows what he likes. The top color on the far left is the color in the Guest Bedroom, Sea Life. The top panel on the middle one is the first contender  Gem Turquoise. The second contender is the second from the top on the right panel, Jamaican Sea (New Dream Job: Making up paint color names...just saying). I said I wanted something bright and cheerful for this otherwise dark room, Chris wanted a bluer version of what is in the Guest Bedroom. So here we are:

The Gem Turquoise (greener, slightly lighter) is on the left and the Jamaican Sea (bluer, slightly darker) is on the right. They only look slightly more different in real life. I am still concerned about the boldness of this color (as I was in the Guest Bedroom), but Chris is still caught in the throws of 'I told you so' about the boldness of the Guest Bedroom - So I am gonna trust him on this one. We are leaning towards the bluer of the two - Jamaican Sea. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. I love hearing from you.

Primer, Part 3

So I mentioned on Monday that I was happy with the oil based primer in the Guest Bedroom, that it mostly covered Paul:

While I was debating if it, 'just needed a second coat', Chris was pulling out the big guns, SheLac based primer:

This is an even stronger primer than the oil based primer that I had used before. It uses an alcohol solvent, so it smells pretty bad and must be used in a well ventilated space (Chris and I disagree on what is worse smelling, the oil or the shelac, either way they stink!). We chose the spray can version because we weren't covering that much wall space and cleaning this out of brushes would have been a nightmare...that and it is more fun to spray paint:

Everywhere I primed with oil based paint was liberally sprayed with the shelac primer. Now, I am certain that Paul has disappeared for good...mauahhah. 

Door, Smoor!

So while priming the Family Room (aka the wood paneling room), there was some debate on if I should prime the door that connects this room with the first floor bathroom hallway:

We decided that it was best if we just removed the door. One of the things that we love about this house is the open floor plan, and this door just wasn't doing anything for us. We could see a world where there wasn't a door between this room and the bathroom (well except for the bathroom door...don't worry we aren't that into the open concept):

So it was taken off its hinges:

It is now resting comfortably in the basement, just in case we need a door somewhere. I am pleased with the change...but I guess we won't really know how successful this removal is until we start using the Family Room. But that is still many moons, oops - gallons of paint, away.