Stairway of the Damned (Part 3 of a Never-Ending Saga)

Stripping the staircase is one of those projects that I know will completely change the character of my home. Multiple layers of glossy white paint just didn't do the woodwork justice, and the molding is more complex than I had initially thought. Once it's finished, it will be the focal point of the living room. Once it's finished... Somehow, in my typically optimistic fashion, I didn't realize what a huge, tedious, chore this would be. It's also one of the most rewarding experiences I've had with the house. I'm taking something ugly and making it beautiful again.

Unfortunately, I can't work on the stairway for more than maybe 4 hours in a day. Holding the sander or scraper at the angles required is torture for my back, and I have to take frequent breaks. Should anyone out there in the blogosphere decide that the years of paint on their staircase is unbearable, I'd definitely recommend either hiring a professional or disassembling the banister and spindles. We couldn't afford a pro, and our railing doesn't wobble at all, so I was afraid that if we took it apart, it wouldn't go back together as sturdily. I'm not even sure how to take it apart. The only nails that I've seen simply hold on the inverted quarter-round under each riser. There are no nails or other fasteners visible anywhere else. Talk about good constuction...

I probably have about 12 hours of work left on it, so it's possible for me to finish before summer... I only have 3 spindles left (12 sides), the area under the railing between the spindles, and the inverted quarter-round molding under each tread (16). The flat parts of the risers and the baseboard will be much simpler.

I think I've finally settled on a color palette for the living room. Ironically, I'm using the same colors as before, just in different quantities and places. I still love the Roycroft Copper red, it's just too overwhelming to use on the walls. It will be an accent color instead. The Hubbard Squash or a golden tan (top or lower left) will most likely be the wall color. The brown will be the sofa. The green will be the secondary color, and will probably be found in the rug.

I did find a rug that matches the palette, and Shayne and I both like it. It even looks a bit Arts and Crafts-y. It's from the "Kharma" collection by Oriental Weavers Sphinx. I don't know yet if I can find it locally, but there's a store online that I can order it from and have 30 days to return it in case it doesn't work out. We'd have to pay return shipping, but Shayne has a friend that works at FedEx that can hook us up. The local place only gives 48 hours, and I'm not sure that we can make a decision that fast...

I also found a couch that would work with everything. I think we're going to go with an apartment sized sofa, since we're happy with the size and scale (if not aesthetics) of the futon we currently have in there.

So... Maybe the living room is finally going to come together. I've never decorated a room from the ground up before, and it's nowhere as easy as I anticipated. Usually I have at least one thing to match to, but we started from scratch with this one. No furniture, no wall color, no rug. I now know that if this whole law enforcement thing doesn't work out for me, I'm NOT going to go into interior design!

Interior Decorating Advice Needed

This is our inspiration picture for the living room:

Yes, I know it's a dining room. But those are the colors that now grace the walls in our living room. Our pine floors are about the same color as the ones shown in the picture, and the woodwork, should we ever get it stained, will be a few shades lighter than the photo.

We are going to be buying all new furniture, so we're starting with a clean slate. We're thinking that a lighter colored couch would be good, since the walls are so dark. We also want an area rug, probably also in light colors. The furniture, aside from the couch and a piano, will be Craftsman/Mission style. I realize this is pretty wide open, but I'm a color wimp, and I'd like some suggestions on what colors would coordinate well without being boring or looking too modern. Any suggestions on what color the couch and/or rug should be? Thoughts on accent colors?

The Craftsman Living Room?

Now that the living room is kinda-sorta-almost done, we've been thinking a lot about furnishings. Particularly, how much period style do we want the room to have. Obviously, we still want the room to express our tastes and style, but we'd also like to remain true to the Craftsman ideal. This quote by William Morris perfectly condenses the ideal that we are striving towards: "Have nothing in your home which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

Sounds simple, right? In the end, it will be. For right now... We already have a surplus of non-useful, non-beautiful items, but as we decide how the living room will take shape, I'm confident that the beautiful and useful items will rise to the top, and the rest we can donate to Goodwill.

The issue that I'm most struggling with right now is the couch. Specifically, since we don't have one, what kind of couch would look good in the living room. We really, REALLY like leather, but I'm afraid that a dark color will not look right against the dark walls (and neither of us is fond of light-colored leather). I'm actually considering getting a new frame for our futon, since it has a nice mattress with springs, and it could double as a guest bed until we get the upstairs done. I found a futon frame online at Creative Futons that looks like Craftsman-style sofa, but is actually a futon. And, best of all, you don't have to move it away from the wall to turn it into a bed.

Once we get a little closer to completion, we can take a look in town to see if there's anything comparable.