HOUSE TOUR {great room}

Alright. We left off in the entry way...let's make our way into the great room. 

This is what it looked like a few days ago. 

This was a looonng time ago. I'll do a time progression from here.

An entirely white room.

With repose gray SW paint and the beginnings of the built-ins. 

Counter tops being installed. 

Andrew's beautiful stained tops.

Installing upper shelves over top of the wood counters.

Carpet, the rest of the shelving, and two-thirds of the blinds. 

(The fireplace mantel is resting on the blue blanket in the foreground all ready to mount.)

Andrew attaching two 2x4's to the wall as a brace for the mantel. 

(I started decorating the built in shelves at this point. I think I've rearranged the shelves fifty-seven times since then...and it may take another fifty-seven times before I'm satisfied.)

Mantel bolted in place and scratch coat applied in preparation for stone.

Hearth covered with slate tile and pallet wood around the base. 

I like that the rustic look matches the dining room ceiling. 

Finished stone. We used leftovers from the exterior. 

Isn't the sectional couch fabulous? Andrew's parents gave it to us for free, feigning excuses like it's not good for mom's back, and it's getting really worn out, feathers from the down cushions are pokey...yeah...whatever.

Don't think we didn't see through it all to the simple fact that Joel and Rhonda are incredible generous and awesome. The couch still has tons of use left and in the meantime, we spend more nights on the couch then we do in our own bed...it is sooooo comfortable. 

I need all you talented people to come over and provide me with some of your shelf styling input. 

I am going bonkers from staring and analyzing and changing things over and over and over...

I threw some old windows up on the mantel I salvaged from one of Andrew's remodels. I haven't decided yet how I feel about them. Maybe wreaths over top of them would help?

Finishing touch of trim around the hearth...a much cleaner look. Grout is all that's left.

The big questions now is: What the heck do I do with this gigantic blank wall?

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Our plan was a computer table up against the wall similar to this. We liked the computer in a high traffic area in the same room as everything else. 

But after we we put wood and carpet down, we could see it wouldn't work. With the way the flooring defines the sitting and walking areas so distinctly, a desk would block too much of the wood path to the bedrooms. It would look awkward and force people to walk on the carpet instead. 

So now what?

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The only thing I can think of is a gallery wall of sorts. But I don't know. My thoughts are: 

• Wouldn't it make the room look too busy to have it on a wall adjacent to those crowded built-in shelves?
• Would it look less busy to have it all white like this?

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• A narrow hall table would fit in this space...
• But is a gallery wall going to drive my OCD self crazy with frames that aren't exactly straight and go crooked at the slightest bump?

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• Is this kind of project just a lot of work and effort for something I might hate?
• Would it look all that bad just to leave it blank?

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I like the look of the wall arrangement behind the stairs here...it's not too busy/crowded/cluttered like some can get. But that could be because there are no pictures in those frames, and I doubt Andrew would be cool with empty frames on his wall.

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Have you created a gallery wall before? What did you learn? Was it worth it? If I need to buck up, just do it, and stop being a crybaby about it all, let me know. And if not a gallery wall, what?

Thanks,

Rachel