Chomping at the bit to make this dream room transformation a reality

I know I still have some unfinished projects in the front sitting room, kitchen and dining room and I won't even get into the laundry list of things I need to do on the second floor, however, I have now set my sights on transforming the den.  Funny how we spend most of our time in this room and I have yet to do anything to it. 

Our back room is an addition and part of the reason we fell head over heels for our house.  We were able to get some much needed extra space that the other homes on or street do not have along with getting our wood burning fireplace which was a must have on the house hunting list.

Let's get right to it.  Here is the den now:

I also came across these from the day we went to look at the house for the first time, seems like an eternity ago! 

And now for the fun part :) Welcome to the inside of my mind:

Den Transformation by joneal on polyvore.com

First off, the paint color. I love the dark grayish blue that gives some warmth to the room and makes it feel cozy like a den should be. I don't have a picture of the plan for the fireplace but I am currently testing some bricks with a liming technique so I will keep you posted on that.

A new sectional is not in the budget just yet but I will replace it one day with a cream slipcovered twill sofa (lucky for me the cats don't seem to bother that material). Oak colored blinds will take the place of the white venetian blinds that we have up now and a distressed wood O will go next to the window. I love the idea of the distressed ivory wood on top of the deep gray paint and hanging next to the oak blinds, such a pretty combo.  Next up and most certainly not in the budget right now, my true love, the Pottery Barn Manhattan leather chair. Drool fest people, have you ever sat in this chair? AMAZING, and it should be for the price tag!

My inspiration picture is in the bottom left corner (sorry for the wacky coloring, not sure what happened there). I plan to knock off the picture arrangement above the couch, the mix of wood tones with light colored mats helps to break up some of the darker coloring in the room.

The mantle and mirror you see in the before/reality pictures above need some jazzing up but first to tackle that fireplace! Enough of me yammering on and on, let me know what you think and if anyone out there has used this liming technique please let me know how it worked for you.

Happy Monday everyone!  Here's to a great week :)

See you swoon,