Settling: The Living Room

So here's what happened a few weeks ago.

It was Monday morning and I was on my A game.  The coffee had been downed, the Bible had been read, I was dressed, and I was upstairs getting my little boy dressed for the day.  I threw a load of wash in the our upstairs washing machine (oh so convenient), and was organizing said little boy's sock drawer.

The sun was shining brightly, but from his upstairs bedroom, I could hear a sudden downpour outside.  "Wow, freak rain fall," I thought.  It was loud.  Really really loud.

I went downstairs to see the rainfall from the patio.  As I turned from the stairwell into the living room I quickly realized the rainfall was not outside and it was not rain.  A literal sheet of water was pouring from my ceiling into my living room through a crack between two drywall pieces and on to my desk/computer/important papers.

Things drying on the patio.
The washing machine had overflowed (a quick fix there).  My mom and the apartment complex handyman quickly came to the rescue.  The water was cleaned up, the computer was actually not damaged beyond a ruined keyboard and mouse, and the ceiling now supported by what I lovingly called "2x4 city."  And it stayed that way for over a week.

2x4 City
Do you know how much it sucks to have a really small house and then lose the function of your living room?  And basically your kitchen, too, because all the stuff from the living room went into the kitchen.

Anyway, everything is back to normal now, although the ceiling still hasn't been patched.

The silver lining was that when I put the living room back together, I had the perfect opportunity to rearrange it (just a little bit).  Previously, I had our very large entertainment center and comfy huge chair diagonally on corners for reasons of feng shui and tv  viewing.  When I put furniture back, I squared the furniture up.  It's not as feng shui, but I squeaked out a few extra feet of floor space.

See?  Craft junk barely visible from the door.

This rearrangement also gave me a hidden corner for my craft cabinet and some floor toys, and more of a purposeful cubicle-esque office space.  Please don't judge me for my mess of a craft cabinet - I'm actually considering a tension rod with a curtain between the entertainment center and wall to cover it up.
Before
After

I donated my office floating shelf back to it's rightful owner (Levi's nursery) and crafted up a new pin board, using this tutorial from Emily.  I didn't have any burlap or linen on had, or any money to spend, so I cut up a brown twin size sheet from my goodwill pile.

Pin board close up.
Another problem area had been the guitar corner.  Fighting for floor space were several guitars, curtains, and a floor lamp.  The floor lamp had to go.  The curtains got raised and on ring clips now, they are much more moveable and I think it makes a huge difference.


To compensate for the lost floor lamp, I moved my hanging drum pendant light to the guitar corner and brought the blue gourd lamp into the living room.  That blue gourd lamp used to be amber glass and I got it for $5.  I love it, Herb hates it.  We did a facebook poll and I won, so the lamp stayed.  I think he actually likes it now that it's spray painted blue.


Another fun change (which Herb is legit happy about) is that the light switch now turns on two lights (gourd and hanging), the baby monitor, and my Scentsy burner.


Dare I say when I walk in to my living room and it is this clean I actually (gasp) like it?  It's crowded and multi purposed, but it works for us.

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