It's all in the details!

I thought I'd share some of the small details that I've updated around the house that make it feel more like our home! It's the details that really make a house for me (For Mike, it may be the demolition...)


#1: White Trim - we (finally) painted the trim white in all the bedrooms, making it feel more crisp and clean. It makes any space newer

 

 

 

#2: Wall art - I started collecting pieces of wall art in our last house. To Mike's despair, I just can't have enough. They're all so different and all so beautiful. Here's a couple shots of the wall art from our house. I'm a firm believer that art (as for everything else in your house) should mean something to you.

(In our bedroom)

(Letting my inner artist out!)
 

(I have a thing for maps. And what you can't see are the tiny icons that represent each state)

 

(Art can take the place of a headboard)

 

#3: Trinkets - I have no better for them, but I love trinkets. The little things around your house that don't necessarily have a function besides being awesomely cute/cool/pretty/funky. The adjective for your space and find a trinket!

We were able to snag this buffet table from Mike's grandparents (who are so ridiculously generous) for our entryway. I already had the plant from Marshall's that I bought for our last house. Same with the candle sticks but I bought blue candles for a pop of color. The long bowl and wicker-like balls are also from Marshall's (a trinket-lovers paradise). I'm in love with the simplicity.

#4: Lighting - the lighting you choose for your house also makes a huge difference. We're currently on a hunt to replace the light above our kitchen sink, but in the mean time I can share the new lighting we have in the four seasons room. We replaced this ugly old fan with a new, crisp fan. Makes a world of a difference!

 

 

Hope you enjoyed looking at the little details around my house. I seem to add more and more everyday. It may be an addiction. Up next on our plate is our master bathroom demolition (Mike's favorite), so stay tuned!

The Rug Difference

It's quite amazing what a rug can do to a room. I don't think I realized the impact until our new rug was officially laid in its place today! We ordered this rug a couple weeks ago from rugsdirect.com (I have mixed reviews because it was late and they didn't have the best communcation. But because of that we got it with an additional discount so they made up for it?)


Anyways, here's a couple shots of our old rug and we got from Mike's grandparents that we gracious enough to give it up. It woked well for our apartment and for the house up until now, but with all the furniture updates it just doesn't make sense in the room.

 

And here's our new rug!!

 

 

Much better! So much brighter. I love the clean lines. LOVE LOVE LOVE

That's all for now - I have another blinds update coming soon! Our kitchen is on the brink of being completely finished! WOOHOO

Our growing furniture family

Hi all (don't freak out about the Christmas picture yet - there's a point)! Short but sweet post to introduce the newest additions to our furniture family! We've been looking for chair to go in the alcove by the fireplace. See here, where are Christmas tree is?

Well, without the tree, it's essentially an empty space. As much as I would LOVE to keep the tree up year-round, Mike says no. Ergo, we needed to get a chair. So here it is (sorry these pictures don't do it justice - eventually we'll get something that's not a phone camera!)

Surprisingly we found the chair at Target (I L-O-V-E their newest home line, Threshold!) And I had a coupon so it was even better! However, I didn't like the ottoman Target offered with it (it was too similar in size to our exisiting ottman). Luckily, we found this square beauty of an ottoman at Marshall's for only $40!!

And here's a close up of my new wall art. I love it! Another great find at Marshall's; it was more expensive then I would've liked but I couldn't resist. Again, sorry for the poor quality of the picture, but it's an awesome modern sketch of New York. Love Love Love!

 

 

That's my update for now! Look for a tutorial on how to make a side table. We want to make one (similar to our coffee table design in our living room) to put next to the chair. I love that spring is coming because now we have the ability to start building things again! You may wonder why that matters - well, it's because our garage has been a freezer for the last couple months. And sadly, the garage is our "work shop." So get excited for the projects ahead!!

Home Away From Home

We have a guestroom downstairs, right off our family room. It's been pretty ho-hum since we moved in. It had hand-me down sheets (meaning my mother-in-law gave them to us unused!) and a cheap bedding set I picked up. Looking back it seemed a bit juvenile. See below it's sad state:

 

And here's it now! I bought a new (crisp & clean) white down alternative comforter, white (crisp & clean again!) sheets and a charcoal gray bed skirt. I can't find the link for that but all I can say is upgrade! I got everything for super cheap because of coupons and sales!

 

 

 

 

The flowers on the night stand I found at TJ Maxx ($14!) and the 2 pillow shams too ($12 each). The throw pillow is from Target. To finish up this room I want to spray paint the lamp base a glossy white and find a more contemporary lamp shade. In addition, I want to get wall art for above the bed. But for now, I'm content with how the project has started!

Blinded By the Light!

I had to make the song reference. It's so much more fun than "Blinds." I'm sorry for the delay in posts. Christmas came around and the house project money turned into gift money. Alas, we stopped updating for a bit. And we were just busy, people!

Anyways, we're back at it again! We finally got blinds! You may be wondering how we've been living without them, and I'll tell you. Downstairs in the family room they didn't seem to matter because it's pretty private. Upstairs ...well, we scamper. But nooooww we don't have to!

I have no tutorial because Mike installed all these as a surprise! All I've got is a Before & After (and we know how I live for those!)

Upstairs Living Room - BEFORE:

 

 Upstairs Living Room - AFTER:

(We had to wait for the sun to go down to take a picture of blinds. Too much light! Haha - literally BLINDED BY THE LIGHT! I know, I'm a cheeseball).

Downstairs Family Room - BEFORE:

 

Downstairs Family Room - AFTER:

 

OH! And do you see my new mantle decor! Slowly but surely I will decorate this large room! And I realize I haven't shared any pictures of our new ottoman (Christmas gift! Woohoo!) so here you go:

 

 

 

All we need now is wall decor. And a new rug. And another chair. And And And!! Until then...

Tis the Season!

I know I haven't updated in a bit but we've been preparing for Christmas. It's the craziest, most wonderful time of the year! Because I work in retail, it's even crazier. But I love the cold (I'm one of the few) and I love the cheer and the corny movies (which Mike is sighing about in the background). I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT CHRISTMAS. I should most importantly say, I love it because it's a great reminder of the God's love. Through his grace alone are we saved. How great Thou truly art!

Since we live in a tri-level, I told Mike I wanted needed two Christmas trees - one for the front window and one for the family room. You just NEED to have one next to the fireplace (with my stockings that are hung with care)! Here are the pictures (don't mind that the tree by the fireplace isn't decorated - it is now!!)

 

 

And here's the house from the curb! As Mike's grandpa says, "How can people not find your house?! It's like a lighthouse!" I should update the picture (but it's cold out) because we lit up the big shrub by the front door too.

 

 

 

Weeeeee love it! Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season!



More Decorating - My Favorite!

Another project we can check off our list is finding wall decor for above the couch in the living room. I love decorating - like the painting was great, the new floors are beautiful - but I just love the small details! Below shows the progression of this room:

 

 

So this is how the room has been - that back wall just waiting for some decor. It's especially bland when you look in from the street (and since we have no blinds yet, you can do so quite easily). All along I've wanted big frames with extreme matting - like gallery frames.

I've been looking around everywhere trying to find some without breaking the bank. So while wandering around Target - yes, I'm fully aware I'm obessed - I found them! at only $22 a piece! Now my only problem was figuring out what to frame. I didn't want to do more wedding pictures - soon our house will be wallpapered in them if I'm not careful.

So then because I'm such a lyrics person (they make the song!) I printed out lyrics with lessons.

I chose 3 different lyrics:

1. "You can't always get what you want but if you try sometime you might just find you get what you need" -The Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want
2. "Be a best friend, tell the truth, overuse I love. Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense. Never let your prayin' knees get lazy, and love like crazy." -Lee Brice, Love Like Crazy
3. "Here comes the sun, and I say, it's alright." -The Beatles.

And here they are (And I say, it's alright!!)

 

 

 

The Mantle

Sorry it's been awhile! I just haven't felt like anything has been post-worthy. We've been doing a lot of little projects but everything matters to a house right? So here's the first little project I've started - decorating the mantle in the family room.

 

Below is the progression of our family room. Slowly but surely we've been working on the fireplace.

I just want to take a moment to note how AWESOMELY CLEAN the fireplace looks in the third picture. I literally swoon (thank goodness for finding Quick N' Brite at our local state fair!) over it.

Anyways, I've never been very good at figuring out what to put on mantles. I find them to be quite difficult so I'm sure what I have now will change. Below is one of the small projects we did - furthering updating the mantle decor:

I bought the candle holders from Target. The "Scatter Joy" print I made on the computer in a simple word document. I couldn't find anything that I LOVED to put in the frame - so this is a good placeholder for now.

 

 

 

 

Here's what I still need to complete the vision:

• A tall vase for between the candles and frames - perhaps with some cheery yellow flowers
• Greenery to put next to the 2 picture frames - to add some contrast to the hard line

 

Clearly another update will be coming! I promise it won't be so long this time!

Painting!

I say "painting" with excitement for this post, instead of my new-found disdain because of the ridiculous amount of painting Mike and I took on in our first 2 weeks. That's because this time it's painting on canvas! Not sure if I've shared this, but I love art and paint when I have the spare time. Lately, I haven't had so much spare time because of the house - but I made time this weekend so our bare walls can finely start becoming cluttered with art and pictures and other items I love.

For this project, I bought a 4'x5' canvas at Michael's (of course with a coupon). I already have an obscene amount of acrylic paint so I was set with that. The funny part of this shopping excursion? Well, I may have over-estimated the size of our 4-door Camry (even though Mike had warned me). We tried the side doors first - taller than the car. Then we tried the trunk - only about 1/4 of the canvas fit in. That's when I got that "Lucy, you got some splainin' to do" (c'mon I Love Lucy reference) look from Mike. Ergo, Mike had to go pick up his parent's truck while I sat around at Michael's with my over sized canvas. And in case you were wondering, while walking back to Michael's unattended with the canvas, I literally looked like a canvas with legs since I am as tall as the canvas. And it was windy. Awesome, right?

Anyways, the canvas made it home safely. And I went to town. I painted - whited out. I painted again - whited out. I painted again. And finally liked it - here are the final results of what our living room looks like now.

 

 

I'm so pleased with how it looks! I finally feel like it's not just a room with furniture. It's becoming part of our home. Along with the painting this weekend, I picked up that plant in the far corner (from Michael's on sale for only $17!) and this bowl on the coffee table from TJ Maxx for only $10. I love the stripes and funky shape!

The decorative balls are tiny globes - awesome! I have a thing for globes/maps. I picked them up at Kirkland's awhile ago. They've just been waiting for their place.

All in all, the room is coming together. We still need to get a lamp for the far right corner (there are no ceiling lights in this room; only right by the front door) and a couple big framed pictures for above the couch. Oh, and we may also make a small end table similar to the coffee table. But for now, I like to sit in there and look around like a pleased mom.