After a frustrating day of craigslist shopping for the perfect ottoman at the perfect price, I came home empty handed. Regardless, I have some exciting stuff that went down this last week. We painted and I chose my lighting!!!!

Lighting:

I feel like a drum roll is in order for this chandelier from Lamps Plus I am gaga for it! It is hard to choose a light because it can really define a space. I spent hours pouring over choices and inspiration pics. This guide to choosing a chandelier helped me narrow it down to what I really wanted. Read the guide http://www.lampsplus.com/chandeliers/

Chandeliers in a living room are so dramatic, don’t you agree?

I kept looking at lights with shades because that is what my husband wanted. I couldn’t bring myself to like them because they looked too contemporary for me. I just kept telling myself that they weren’t my style identity. Knowing what your style identity is truly helps when making choices. I enjoyed putting this article together about Finding Your Style Identity The insight that some talented bloggers shared with me was invaluable. For instance Julie Blanner shared her design motto.

I kept coming back to this chandelier. It had the rustic glam that makes my heart go pitter patter. So that was it, I had to have this one, the Jolie Chandlier. Isn’t it gorgeous?

It reminds me of some from Restoration Hardware that I have admired for some time but at a fraction of the cost. The Lamps Plus version is a savings of $1000 

I love the warm gold patina with the shimmering clear crystals. It is literally the first thing that you see when you walk in the front door. It is going to look striking against the dark walls.

Here is a before of where it will be…

It will replace the existing one above the piano. This is the view from my front door. Don’t mind the swiffer vac in the background ( which I love and every one needs one )

A few of the things in this pic that are staying are the piano, the chair and the lamps.

You can see how the room is open. All the other walls will be the white which helps to keep the black from becoming too dark feeling. Which brings us to….

Paint:

I can’t even believe that it happened, but there are now 3 black walls!!! The best part is that my husband loves them. He said that they’re rad. (He really dated himself with that one.) So I am calling it my Glamily Room and he is calling it the Bat Cave. We’re both happy! I honestly wished that I hadn’t waited sooo long. The black is amazing. I am loving it and it really didn’t make the room drab.

This is my trusty painter. It pays being married to an ex painting contractor. 

Sneak peek!! I love the color. The color choices are in last week’s post, you can read that Here At night it takes on an inky charcoal tone and during the day it is a chalkboard black.

Speaking of the other areas being white, isn’t it so true that one project usually leads to another? Well it did for me. Like I said the room is open so it means that the dining room needs to be painted NOW!!! It is just to the right in the above picture. My one room challenge is turning into a two room challenge. We should start that tomorrow. Mr. Hydrangea took the day off work. It’s so sweet of him. It’s because we had a setback time wise…….

Of course the painting wasn’t drama free. That would be too easy. We had the black walls all done and the next morning we noticed grayish streaky marks. It marked after only touching it with our hands. We thought that it was bad paint. So we cried a few tears and went to the paint store and showed them the pics. We are still not sure what happened because we repainted it with a different paint and it still does it just not as bad. It goes away if you wipe it with a damp towel. So I’m not going to stress about it!! It is probably just because it needs to cure and the dark color makes it more obvious. That’s what I am telling myself.

My To Do List:

• Pick out and purchase sectional, rug, and ottoman
• Sell existing furniture
• Paint
• Install new shades and curtains
• Choose new lighting (I have a few in mind from Lamps Plus)
• Hang gallery wall around TV
• Hang mirrors above sofa
• Art above piano…possibly a DIY
• Paint thrifted coat rack
• Brighten up curtain rods with gold rub and buff
• Possibly paint the cushions on the black chair

My list grew this week!!!!

Thanks for reading about my progress. Follow along with the other guest participants Here

*This is a sponsored post but all the opinions are my own