New Sitting Area

Part 1: Sitting Area

 

While furnishing our new kitchen hearth area, I recently addressed the area by the stair well. This is an old picture taken before construction... 

Here is the area during the expansion project (area by the two arched openings, far right just beyond scaffolding):

 

 

Area when construction was completed, unfurnished... 

 

 

I decided to use this as a seating area and went with a pair of leopard wing chairs (already had one and just recently purchased a second)...

 
                                 I chose this tea table with castors to go between the chairs...

                                              
                                 Close ups of the table's eglomise mirrored top (the "circles" in the mirrored surface are reflections of ceiling lighting)...

                                                               and the burled bottom shelf....

                                                      Close up of the spotted finish on the frame...

                                                            Here are the chairs and the table in place.

     I added a table lamp...

         Close up of the hanging crystals...

    A few items need to be added to the table, but otherwise here are all the pieces together....

 Part 2: Dobers

AND last, but not least, here are some recent pics of Henry, Princess and Rex:

 

Rex...

*(don't the boxwoods look great?... NOT optimal to have short evergreens with tall male dogs)  :)

                                                                         Henry ....

                                                                      Princess ....

                                            and all three together at the top of the stairs.... love my dobes!!

 

 

Linking to:

 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Expanding the Kitchen Hearth Living and Dining Area

 

For the last six months, we have been in the process of expanding our kitchen hearth and dining area.  This is the area where we spend most of our time and the original space seemed cramped, especially with three large dogs. After consulting with an architect, we decided to incorporate the exterior roofed upper level patio (lanai) that was just beyond our kitchen dining and hearth into interior space and then build on a new lanai. Here is a picture of the area before we started construction (the original fireplace is not in view, but is in on the left, in front of the couch.).

 

Another view from the far wall of the area...

To begin, a small foundation had to be poured that would support the new lanai (see below). The boxed jut out (with that God awful roof vent above it, that is thankfully now gone) is where the old fireplace was located.

 

Below, through the windows, workers begin demolition of the old lanai. On the left is the previous hearth area. I always thought that the fireplace looked like it was crammed in the corner.  

 

 

 Below is an exterior view of demolition involving removal of the old fireplace and wall... lots of media wires.

 

 

 Interior construction beginning...  this is after the previous fireplace was removed and an elliptical  window was hung in its place. Heavy plastic draping was placed ceiling to floor to try help protect the interior that wasn't involved in the project. This is when the party really started... not.

 

 Here is an exterior view showing early construction of the new lanai (on left with Tyvec sheeting).

 

 

Here is the new area early in construction, showing the pair of  windows that flank the new fireplace.   

 

 

 The image below was taken after beams were installed, distressed and stained and beginning of the install of the new tile flooring.

 

 

... tile flooring almost complete.

 

 

Here is a view looking toward the lanai after the flooring was done. 

 

 

 Below is a view of the wall across from the fireplace wall. We added five rectangular windows to the three windows that were there originally.

 

Here is the new fireplace and the two arched windows that flank it. I didn't go traditional with the  fireplace, instead choosing a 65" rectangular shaped unit (face/viewing area of the fireplace is covered by card board in the picture). 

Looking back toward kitchen...

 

So this is where we are... still work to be done, but getting closer to completion all the time. We think the space will be nice to use...

  

 

and our Dobermans love the extra 'sunning' space. :)

 

Linking to:

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

 

 

 

 

Leopard Print Chair

We needed a chair for the hearth area in our kitchen, to be placed to the right of the leather chair shown below, replacing an  old chair we have now (the second photo shows my Dober boy Max in the chair being replaced).

As an aside, I am showing old photos of the space because presently the area rug is pulled, the furniture is shoved against walls and doggie fences/gates are up.  This is because Henry, one of our Doberman pups, swallowed part of a rope toy and had to have emergency abdominal surgery for a bowel obstruction.  It was a big operation and because of his post-op activity instructions, we have had to restrict him to the kitchen and hearth area till he heals.  (See pic of Henry below... with a big shave job and a very large incision).  I mention this and  publish his picture only to show the potential dangers that rope toys, or any toy whose parts can be swallowed, can pose to pets. I certainly was naiive.

Anyway, here is the chair I purchased. It is a wing back that is upholstered in a textured leopard print fabric with two different leathers and nail head trim. The size and shape are good and I like that it has interesting lines but isn't too fussy. It is really comfortable, too. 

Here is a close up of the pattern of the fabric. You can sort of see the texture of the fabric in the second image (and a Dober head popping up at the perimeter of the doggie fence).

Below is a side view showing the croc embossed leather on the outer side arms and a view of the nail head trim. 

Below is a close up of the lumbar pillow... love the  fabric and the trim.  On the other side of the pillow is the leopard print fabric.

And the back, with more croc embossed leather.

 Below shows the chair in place.  It is hard to show how the chair really looks in the space until I can put the area rug down and the other furniture back in place, but will post pics when I do, which will be in a week when Henry is off his activity restriction. Although I was concerned that the fabric and finishing of the chair might compete with the surrounding pieces and overwhelm the small hearth area, I am glad I purchased it because I think it works.

 

Linking to:

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal 

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch

Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter

Motivated Monday at Be Colorful

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style 

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Flaunt It Friday at Chic On a Shoestring Decorating

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Sofa Finish Fix

This is my hearth area sofa as it looked when I left my house the other day. Please note the condition of wooden frame, especially the corner on the left side of the image.

This is how the corner looked when I returned home a few hours later.

One of my Dobermans decided to lunch on my couch. Almost as bad was that my husband saw it first AND he had already been giving me a little grief about two sofas I had just ordered a few days before for another room. UGGGH!  Right away, I started sanding the s**t out of the area because it was all fuzzy, with splinters sticking out everywhere.

...after more sanding.

After I got it to where I thought the surface was smooth enough,  I brushed on and wiped off Rich Brown Stain and Seal. Here are pics during application.

I needed to apply a darker glaze over the Rich Brown Stain, so I clear coated the area with Aqua Guard as a barrier coat to prevent the darker glaze from biting into the surface and covering up the underlying Rich Bown color. Here is a pic of the clear coat after I applied it, still wet.

After the barrier coat dried, I brushed on and blotted off an American Walnut Stain glaze. When that dried, I applied two coats of polyurethane.

... without flash.

Even though the shape of the corner is more irregular than the other ones, I still think it is hard to tell that the area has been worked on unless you look real close.

Linking to:
Funky Junk Interiors' Saturday Nite Special
The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday
My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday
Finding Fabulous' Frugalicious Friday
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating's Flaunt It Friday
Be Different, Act Normal's Show and Tell Saturday
Under the Table and Dreaming's Sunday Showcase Party
DIY Showoff's DIY Project Parade
Between Naps On the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday