Baby Steps

Over the weekend a few more small projects got done around the new house I thought I'd share with you.

Dave assembled and hung the Murano glass chandelier knockoff I purchased months ago up in my study. Given the height of the ceiling in that room, this was no mean feat and took much of the afternoon. The chandelier replaces the builder basic flush mount fixture and adds a ton of sparkle to the space. All the basics are in the room and I've added a few fun throw pillows (also from ZGallerie), but I still need to find some good storage solutions to really make the space functional as an office. In particularly, I'm looking for file drawers that can double as a side table (as just about the only floor space left for storage is on either side of the daybed). Any suggestions?

The benches for the breakfast nook arrived and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I was also relieved to see that they fit the back wall perfectly -- I'm not known for my arithmetic skills! The fabric I chose for the benches is actually a Sunbrella fabric, which I figured would stand up to regular use and kitchen messes better than ordinary fabric. I'm thinking about sprucing up the benches by whipping up a few throw pillows out of these placemats (weird, I know, but this fabric isn't available by the yard or in pillow form and the blues work perfectly!). Of course the existing table I had envisioned on using for this space doesn't work with the benches and I need to purchase a pedestal table for the room. I'm contemplating this table from Crate&Barrel but I'm not in love with it, especially for the price. Again, suggestions welcome.

A few weeks ago I spied some lovely sea fans mounted on navy and sea blue linen for sale on One Kings Lane (email me for an invite!) and purchased four on impulse. They arrived on Friday and I'm thrilled with how lovely they are in person -- the dark bamboo frames in particular are very striking, but I also love how the sea fans mounted on the navy linen are painted silver...all in all, I'm one satisfied customer. In any case, I decided to mount them as a group in one of the two "art niches" that I permitted to stay in the building plans (they had about 6 in total!). They're now happily located under the archway that leads from the entry into the family room. I'm thinking about painting out the niche in a color. The question though is, what color? I have some leftover Drawing Room Blue, Parma Gray, Lamp Room Gray, and RL's Iron Gate from the other projects. Do you think any of those would work? Or do you suggest a bold contrasting color (maybe coral?)?

And what about you? How was your weekend? Did you get any projects done around the house?