The Five of Us, Spring 2014
Rearranged
7 September 2010
Early last week A said to me something about rearranging the furniture. I love to rearrange furniture. It makes everything feel fresh and new. But, I felt I had created the optimal arrangement when we first moved in. And moving one of our living spaces would mean moving three. A big job. So, I told him he should get out his beloved graph paper and map each room (formal living, dining, and family rooms), then cut out little movable squares and rectangles representing (to scale, of course) each piece of furniture so that I could see if it would work.
He provided what I asked for, so I played around with my paper house (think grown-up version of a cross between paper dolls and doll house!) for a few nights. I came up with a solution which I felt was less ideal than what we started with but would furnish (ahaha!) change.
So, we lured some friends over Saturday and fed them amply (ending with scratch-made Angel Food cake and chocolate whipped cream--nummmm!), then put them to work. Even with the meticulous planning stage, we still ran into a few problems, but they were good sports and we accomplished the goal. A helped me rearrange the art on Monday, but I would still like to do a little repainting (I'll show you where in the pics below), hang some more curtains, and add a couple of area rugs. In the meantime, though, we think this will work better for our family, and for our small group needs.
Here are the befores:
Looking from the kitchen into the dining area 
Looking toward the back door into the family room/great room
The formal living room
And NOW...
Looking toward the back door into the family room/great roomThe formal living roomAnd NOW...This was the formal living and is now the family room. I hate that green paint under the chair rail. It doesn't look good with anything in there now! Grrrrrrr.
Another look into the new family room. Obviously, we need to do something about the art on the wall to the left. A little spare!
One last look into this room. Nothing very exciting about this view!Another look into the new family room. Obviously, we need to do something about the art on the wall to the left. A little spare!
And here is the new long room! :) You can just see the edge of the flowered couch up close. This arrangement facillitates easier feeding/gathering of groups larger than 8.
A nice private seating area if you need it, but never far from the action. I would like a little area rug in that corner. Maybe a round one? I love that my maps there to the left can be easily studied. There are some interesting things in those old maps!
And looking back into the house from the back door, you can now see the flowered couch. Very easy to pull the dining chairs around after dinner for discussion. I would like to have a rug over there under the couch and coffee table. The "curtains" are a sari I picked up in India and have never been able to use before! The other window needs to be dressed somehow, though.
All in all, I think I like it. It has yet to be small-group tested, but it's working well for the family so far!
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My Man and Me
married 7/7/2001
Punk
ours through biology, born 7/25/2004, home 8/1/2004
Pea
ours through adoption from Liberia, West Africa, born 7/15/2005, home 10/25/2007
Pup
ours through domestic adoption, born 1/15/2011, home 2/10/2011, final 8/3/2011
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