'LAND'S END" - Living Room #HBS Denise kit

   blue hydrangeas by Fatima
I have nearly finished the Living room at Land's End
and here it is so far.
To get here though, meant that I first needed to tackle and finish the 
 FLOORS

Having already installed the floors on the left half of the cottage, I needed to finish the second half.  I used the same IRON- ON oak veneer strips that I had used previously.  This time however, I had to treat the wood 2 distinct ways for both the hall and the bedroom; the bathroom would be entirely different.  The planks for the hall floor ran in the same direction as those in the kitchen and I was able to get a rather close match to the original stain.

the new hall floor

 the bedroom floor
For the bedroom floor boards, I used less black chalk paint and less white wash which allowed for more of the brown to show through to the final finish.  A light application of liquid floor polish gave it just enough shine.  Notice that I chose not to stagger the floor boards as they will later be mostly concealed with the bed and an area rug. 

For the bathroom floor, I opted for CORK!  I bought a sheet of a large pebble- pattern cork from Michael's craft store.  It looked more interesting to me than the solid cork sheet that I had originally purchased from the dollar store.  
BONUS: Both the cheap sheets and this pricey one from Michael's were the same thickness as the wood veneer strips and thus level with the surrounding floor.   I cut the cork sheet to size and glued it into place and sealed it with "PUZZLE SAVER"
I reasoned that if it preserved cardboard jigsaw puzzles it should also work for sealing the cork.

.
 I had never used this product before but wanted to try it
because I wanted a Very HIGH SHINE.

I poured it on and smoothed it out with the spatula

I let it dry overnight, sanded lightly then applied a second coat of the PUZZLE SAVER and let that cure too.

Lastly I lightly sanded the floor again with a fine grit sandpaper, wiped it down and that was it!  It is both practical and durable for this beach cottage bathroom and I am quite pleased with the end results.
Two Thumbs Up! 

Here's what all of the empty floors look like.
Time now for rebuilding the living room and rethinking the floor plan.
 This house is 2 rooms deep.  Placing the front door at the front opening, ( my original idea) would make it even DEEPER.  I would like to eventually add a deck or garden and that would later make it quite difficult to properly display in my compact Real Life Studio.  

 My solution was to remove the side window and change IT to the front door.   
I shall make a removable fourth wall which will entirely enclose the front of the cottage. I'll install two sash windows in the fourth wall so that you can still see staight through and into the kitchen.  

the old side window idea

and the new Front door position.
Once I committed to this plan, everything else about the room began to make more sense
AND  
I found that the house stopped fighting me and Actually began to cooperate! 
whoohoo!!!

I then turned my attention towards the fireplace and that over-sized mantle that had also been driving me crazy! 

Not only was the mantle too wide
(which left little usable space on either side of it)
 but it also protruded too far into the room. 

A tight, awkward and unusable corner due to the over-sized mantle.

The old mantle was easy to snap off.  I made a new
VERY Simple and decidedly PLAIN 
replacement, which I liked a lot better.
Right
That's done!  
Back to the other side of the room again and into the PORTHOLE
an idea that I had mentioned in my previous post.
Originally I was going to make Three but

cutting circles is not much fun.
And after doing ONE I had had enough!
I used wall patch to line the inside of the cutout; sanded, then painted the inside with an acrylic paint and let it dry.
I had some left over puck lights from my Real Life kitchen and the photo below is what they looked like with their original trim.

I used the frosted glass insert which fit nicely inside the opening.  I then glued the brass picture frame over the opening on both sides of the wall.

Here's the finished porthole on the living room side. 

and with only the light on in the bedroom, you can see how atmospheric this window appears; 
it looks like the moon - so Coool!
 
And since I am still on this side of the room, I should mention the rustic vertical wood beam that I also decided to install.  It divides the space and defines the porthole section of this wall.  This support beam also came in handy for hanging and displaying Nautical gear as you can see from the photos above.
Works for me.

Okay, Everybody back to the fireplace again....
and the Wall Sconces
I had a pair in my stash which had possibilities. 

I could have left them "AS IS" but  NOOOOOO!!!!!
I was determined to change them.
Janine had given me some novelty Baby Shower tokens that she had picked up at the dollar store.  She was going to transform hers into canning jars as they are already hollow on the bottom.
I decided to use mine for lamp shades. 

I sawed off the cap with a razor saw and filed the cut edge smooth.  I glued the inverted glass onto the brass sconces with Quick Grip glue and Voila!

And as I waited for the glue to set, I made a shelf for the dead space above the mirror and the wall lamps.
More room for storage and display.

pretty good
but now I wished to change the color of the sconces.

So first I applied a coat of Matte Varnish to dull the shine of the gold metal.
Then I brushed on a Second coat of Revlon's (Bronze-look)
#100 Enthrall to darken the gold metal

After the polish was dry, I gave it a third coat of the Matte Varnish to dull the shine of the dark enamel as well as age it.

From dark and shiny to

Dark and dull
Much Better!
The wires were threaded through the foam core over-mantle and then again, through to the outside wall.  They will eventually be hidden by the exterior chimney and the shingle siding.  However none of the electrical is hooked up yet.
That part comes along much later.
Meanwhile it's time to load up the new shelf

 with lots of patriotic red, white and blue
and it's
Mission Accomplished!

Back again to the sofa wall

I don't have a "before" photo of this sofa that Janine surprised me with when we were at the 2015 Seattle Show last March, but as you can see it has a very high back which looks 
very New England-ish.  The original skirt it wore had a wide, single navy blue velvet band with a very short, stiff, and formal organza ruffle which really didn't work for me.  I removed the sheer skirt and replaced it with a canvas string fringe and added narrow double ribbon borders; which visually is more relaxed and effectively anchors the sofa to the floor. 

and of course the cat likes it too! :D

Margaret Taylor's floral cushion is tucked comfortably in the corner. 

Fatima's over-stuffed beach tote sits patiently waiting next to the sofa

Nautical gear hangs at the ready on the beam.

A play is in the process of being typed with a cold glass of lemonade to sip between breaks.

Cute cork wedgies have been kicked off under the table, 
these shoes were another great gift from
Linda Park? 
Whoops!  a correction
Janine brought these back from Australia and I believe that they came from the Brisbane Miniature Show which she attended.  I thought they were from Linda but she says "no".
The label inside the shoe says "Tiny Finery" and they ARE!

 An active and busy wall in a very relaxed room which has been filled with all kinds of interesting items both practical and amusing.  

                           And there you have it!
   

The end of this post
Till we meet again.... 
but next time - in the kitchen!

elizabeth