The Painted Hive

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments about my little living room. It really made me feel all warm and fuzzy!

Now, as promised, here are some details about how I achieved the look.

SOFAS
When we first moved in we had nothing to sit on for a while. Then we borrowed my now brother-in-laws bulky 70′s setting. Then we decided to buy some sofas.
It doesn’t really look it in the photos, though our living room is pretty tiny so the requirements were: compact, decent quality, comfy enough and budget-savvy!
I was really craving some gorgeous vintage leather style sofas (not even close to in the realm of possibility for us back then) when I spotted these sofas on clearance in a furniture store.
Although not quite as classic in shape as I wanted they have a nice neutral palette and clean lines.
$900 (for both)

COFFEE TABLE
This is the third coffee table I’ve had in this space. The first was a glorified side table suitable for holding precisely one glass of wine at most (okay, exaggerating slightly) though it was ridiculously inadequate. The second was a big round ottoman I made and covered in blue and beige damask (now sold) and the current one was picked up on eBay. Sorry, I don’t have a before pic (had no idea I’d need one for a future blog back when I bought it) though it was jarrah stained. All it needed was a light sand, a few coats of black acrylic, a distress and a seal coat. The handle is original and I love the fact it has a drawer so I can hide the remotes.
$30

TV TABLE
As you can probably tell from the photos, it needed to have pretty perfect dimensions to look ‘just right’ in that space. I searched for a l-o-n-g time and was so excited when I finally came across an orange stained hall table. I lopped off the legs with my friend Mr Circular Saw, stained the top walnut and painted the base a soft antique white before distressing and sealing it. The handles were originally shiny brass so I scorched them with a blow torch (to penetrate the protective coating) then soaked them in some verdigris solution for an aged patina.
$80

SIDE TABLES
At the risk of sounding like some kind of eBay addict (okay, I may as well just confess now) that’s exactly where I picked up both the side tables.
The drawered table was sun-damaged and had unattractive veneered drawer fronts so I painted them black. I wanted to retain the remaining timber finish so freshened it up with a light coat of walnut stain. The gorgeous handles are original.
The elegant tray style table is as I found it. It came complete with a hall console which I didn’t require so on-sold for a profit which more than covered the original cost of both tables which basically made them FREE.
$0

WINDOW TREATMENTS
Okay, so these were reasonably affordable though not super-duper cheap.
We needed blockouts (for light filtering and weather reasons) and I certainly wasn’t going to make them! I had seen these ones at a homeware store and knew they’d be just right so waited until they went on sale. The day I chose to buy them there was also a storewide 20% off everything including sale items so I ended up saving a couple of hundred dollars.
$380

FRENCH CHAIR
Found as is on eBay (yes, I know, eBay…again!).
$50

CUSHIONS & THROWS
Both throw rugs were gifts (thanks Mum!).
The floral cushion is from Ikea ($30 when I bought it a few years back).
I got the faux fur one in a pack with a blanket from a local manchester store. It was mega cheap though feels quite plush ($8).
I made the dark brown one ($6).
The three linen cushions were bought on clearance from a local furniture store ($18 for all three). I added numbers to two of them using iron-on transfer paper. By cutting precisely around the graphics I was left with no shiny residue as can be the case with transfer paper.
$62

WALL DÉCOR
The wrought iron grille was a gift (thanks again Mum!). The six timber frames above the sofa were found in a dollar store. I painted and distressed them before filling with ‘Cavallini and Co.’ postcards gifted by one of my sister-in-laws. I made the matt boards myself.
$35

CANE CASES
These are both old picnic baskets I’ve had forever. One was a gift and one is my sister’s (shhh, don’t tell her I’ve got it!). They were hiding away in the cupboard for a while then one day I had a sudden wicker craving so dragged them out and put them on show (not sure why I didn’t think of it sooner).
I added the numbers myself with a stencil I made and some black craft paint.
$0

DECOR
Tray – Another gift from Mum – $0
Wire Basket and Apples - I found two of these baskets (the other is in my entryway) at a local charity store. They were gold so I sprayed them. The faux apples are from one of my favourite stores: Provincial Home Living – $17
Pewter Jug – Yet another gift from Mum (hmmm, is it starting to sound like she’s accessorised my whole house?) – $0
Cane Basket and Hydrangeas – The basket (actually supposed to be a candle holder) is from Target and the hydrangeas are from the décor section of a local hardware store – $18
Books – The two large books were gifts. The little blue one was my Dad’s primary school dictionary and the green one was hubby’s Dad’s ’How to Play Tennis’ book (I love little personal touches like that). The other two are vintage thrift store finds – $1
Birdcage – Dollar store find (I wish I’d bought more!) – $15
Topiary, Terracotta and Twine – I made the standard topiary by attaching a bought topiary ball to a stick I found outside (rocket science I tell you). The terracotta pots were bought cheap from a local plant nursery. The twine is from a hardware store and the spanish moss I already had – $16
Letter ‘F’ – Bought as plain MDF then painted with hammered metallic black – $3
Vintage Fan – Found at a local antique store – $15
Cane Basket and Pinecones – The basket is a thrift store find and there are millions of pinecones in the reserve behind my house. It’s always nice to go hunting for them with my little puppy – $2
Large Wire Basket – Wedding gift – $0
Decor Total $87

Overall Total $1624