The Den Revisited

Styling this space had its challenges. First, it's a small room and second, we were on a tight budget.

Let's start with a trip down memory lane...this is what we started with during the first round of the remodel three years ago. Oh look, more paneling!



This is after we tore down the paneling so we could paint - um, I mean, so we could figure out how to get the Jackson Pollock glue marks off the walls, before we could even dream of painting!



This is what became of this room after we dealt with the glue stains and painted the walls. This photo pretty much sums up our first year living in the house.

During our remodel, upgrades to the room included new Marvin replacement windows, new base and quarter round mouldings, and new paint (this was all done three years ago). The primary role for this room had been storage, so we've spent little time in here until now.



And here's our new den!



For the most part, we've furnished the den using items we already had. The armoire, an Ethan Allen piece I purchased at a consignment store several years ago, holds our old TV. And due to the small square footage of the room, subtitles are easy to read!



The writing desk is an old family piece, the wicker chair I stole from another room and the couch...that's right, the couch I swore to oblivion, is the couch that use to be in the living room. If anyone knows of a way to dye a couch slipcover, I would love to hear about it!



The salon wall was more difficult than I had expected! This was due to the plaster walls, which required each nail to be pre-drilled. This made it much more difficult to play around with the layout. All the art I used on this wall were pieces I already had or have recently re-framed.

Our budget for this 'new' room was minimal. In fact, I believe Hubby's budget advice was - don't spend any money! With that in mind, the only new items include...6x9 (a hard size to find) jute rug from The Company Store, an armchair from IKEA and a few throws and pillows from Home Goods.

There's still some finishing touches to add...like a ceiling light! I was thinking of a mini chandelier but have also looked at some modern style fixtures. Also, we need to add some sort of coffee table to put cups of tea and other beverages on. I'm thinking it too will have some modern lines.