Lately we've been slowly adding things to the walls which has helped to make the rooms feel less empty. After mounting the family room tv on the wall, I had to get something else so that it wasn't so alone (and to hide the view of the mount/wires when you enter the room from the kitchen). I found the wall fixtures to the left of the tv in the Pottery Barn catalog, and after trying a few different combinations, I think I found one that works.
The one of the left is a vase, so I'll be filling that with flowers
soon. I ended up moving the prints that I had initially hung above the
loveseat because I replaced them with the scroll piece (votive holder-
also from PB). Dan initially thought this was going to be too much, and at one point compared the family room to an Applebee's with a million things hanging on the walls. But now that everything is up, I think he likes it.
I'd been having a hard time finding artwork for the house. I had decided to leave the walls blank and wait until I found pieces I really liked. A few weeks ago we went to the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Arts Festival and did some major shopping.
The first thing we were both originally drawn to was a gorgeous oil painting of mason jars by Harry Jarmon (Kernersville, NC). It was amazing, but also way out of our budget. As we looked around his booth we came across a set of 4 fun prints that were framed beautifully. By the time everything was wrapped and ready to go, I had added on the corkscrew print too.
For the dining room, we bought 2 pieces by Philadelphia artist, Nicholas Longenecker. Although his work is contemporary, the technique used (acrylics over lace) was really interesting. The lace gives the pieces a romantic/traditional feel that goes really well in our dining room.
Now that we have artwork here I think I'd prefer just plain white drapes. I haven't decided whether to go with linen (light and airy) or silk (heavier).
I used matching sconces (Pottery Barn) to fill the wall with the smaller piece.
This one is 4'x4' and fits perfectly on the wall.
Finally, the room that I've hardly posted any pics of...the game room. After a rough start, this room is most definitely Dan's favorite. The layout of the basement was one of the reasons we chose a Milan (instead of the Naples). We have a decent amount of furniture set-up and it doesn't feel crowded at all (and you can see the tv from pretty much any spot in the room).
This bar was a craigslist find that Dan and his friend refinished. Closed it's about half the size and looks like a solid wood cabinet. It opens to reveal a marble top and expands to almost 7' wide. To the left of the bar is Dan's humidor (converted from a wine fridge) and in the corner to the right is a speaker.
Dan finally has a place for his Scotch collection, although he thinks extra space is an excuse to buy more. I disagree.
Near the bar we set-up a small pub table and on the other side of the stairs is Dan's desk.
The table-top is constructed entirely of old hockey sticks (and about 25-30 coats of lacquer). We bought this at a recent art show (if you're in Pittsburgh I'd definitely recommend checking out the annual Art All Night event in Lawrenceville).
On the other side of the room Dan plans to hang his dart board (we had a 3'x10' section of laminate wood installed for the "dart area"). I hate that from behind the couch, you can see underneath of it. But since the recliners are super comfortable, I've gotten over it.
There's still a lot to do; the loft and 3rd bedroom are completely empty and there's no paint or decor on the 2nd floor at all yet. We're starting to get the garage a bit more organized, and once that is finished we'll move on to organizing the basement storage rooms.
