here's the cure for the new house blues (and it involves blue!)

Lee Ann has been a blogging friend of mine since nearly day one of The Petersons Go Public! .It was so much fun to watch her new dream house take shape via her blog! If she ever feels so generous, I'll gladly take it from her when she dies :). Anyway, she had a few questions about said house that I am more than happy to try and answer... and hope all of you living in houses that look too new might find a few answers too.

The first question was what to do to with her mantel (?)


First of all Lee Ann--good for you mixing up the wood stain with the white trim! Craftsman style homes are gorgeous but can feel a little oppressive and dark with too much wood. I think the mixed finishes make your home look much more fresh and friendly while still maintaining gorgeous period details. As far as your mantel (which is TO DIE FOR, by the way!)--I would start by painting the two niches (starting from the edge of the column and ending where the wall bumped out over the fireplace) an earthy gray-blue. I KNOW the last thing you want to do in a new house is PAINT...but I promise you can knock it out in an hour or two and you'll love the effect. Next up--get some oiled silver frames for the black and white pictures of your cutie pie girls. I think leaving them frameless might be a little too contemporary. After that, let's try and create a grouping of three on the portion of your mantel over the fireplace. I would choose a chunky framed mirror hung on the wall, with your family picture leaned against it to one side and grouping of candlesticks or pottery on the other side, something like these "Farm" vases from IKEA (which are only $1.99 a piece) would look great up there. Now....study this mantel:

Not that I want you to buy a giant picture of a cow--but see how the homeowner uses different objects to give her long mantle a "lived in" look? Don't be in too big of a hurry to fill your mantel though. That's part of the fun of new home...taking the time you need to find "just the right thing" and letting it look slowly more lived in over time. The picture above also holds my solution for your desire for a coffee table AND more color...an ottoman!

This one is ultrasuede, will stand up to heavy use, AND will tie in to the niches you painted (because you WILL paint them, of course :) ).

Yup! I think an ottoman would look great on top of that rug! Now try pairing it with some blue, chocolate brown, and pale gold pillows on your sofa (pick those suede looking ones off of your floor and put 'em on there! ).

Finally, I know you mentioned loving the trim on your windows and wanting to leave them bare. I LOVE the trim too...but I also see this window as the perfect spot to add a simple pattern that this room really needs. So--I think you can have curtains and STILL be able to appreciate the gorgeous window detailing. I want you to take down the two small flanking pictures and choose a simple oiled bronze curtain rod. Install it just below the crown moulding and make sure it's long enough to extend a 10-12 inches over the edge of the side trim.

Then, try a drapery like these from Z Gallerie:

The simple Greek key pattern is in keeping in harmony with the right-angles of Craftsman architecture, and the blue and brown will re-emphasize your color scheme. Although you still want the treatment to look full, don't worry about them being long enough to close over the windows. What you're doing is essentially just creating a "dummy curtain" using them for the decorative effect more than their functionality. The final look would be similar to this:
If they're not long enough, it's easy enough to sew on a bottom band of solid chocolate fabric to extend the length. Make sure they don't hover! You want them touching the carpet!

I would say my only caveat about these projects would be to WATCH YOUR BLUES! It's a tricky color to match, and you want to stay in the gray-blue, not baby-blue arena. Thankfully, with blue and brown being such a hot color combination right now, you should have a good selection. Make sure to share pictures of any and everything you do with us....and thanks for letting me help :) ! Thanks to you too readers who didn't comment :), for sticking with me through decorating week!