Paper and Lights

There are two fun new things going on in our dining room. First, Dave gave me these awesome pendant lights for my birthday a couple months ago (I know. It's taken me FOREVER to post about it!). I really love them, and I love how they bring the room up a notch.

Even after the new lights were in, we both felt like the dining room was way too stark and colorless. My solution: wallpaper! Before you get too scared, just look at how beautiful it is! It's from Hygge & West and it's called Daydream.

We're planning to have the back wall (the one with the colorful canvas on it right now) papered as soon as the wallpaper comes in the mail. Can you picture it?

The colors in the photo they have online are not very accurate. Here's a pic of the sample they mailed to me. It's going to be so whimsical and soothing at the same time.

Now I just want to get some sort of sisal rug in there, and put a few things up on the wall.

Guilty

Basically every time I blog I feel guilty because there are so many other things that I should be doing. And even though the photos of Lucy are super cute, I'm tired of seeing the same post every time I visit my blog. That said, let's move forward.

We decided to hire our friend Mike to install molding and taller baseboards to the office, Lucy's room, and the guest bedroom. I can't believe the difference it makes.
In process...

After:

We decided to put a comfy chair by the windows, and I really love it. Our windows are bare at the moment, but we should be getting new shutters sometime very soon.

It's hard to post these photos, because nothing is actually completed, but I thought it would be fun to document our progress.

Here are a couple images of Lucy's room:


Before we had it painted, the dining room was a dark tan-ish orange with a light tan ceiling. You can't really tell how dark it is from the photo, but you can get a glimpse of how it used to be.

We had it painted white because it tends to be a dark room. We still want to get two pendant light fixtures, and put more colorful artwork up on the walls. It looks pretty stark right now, but I can see the potential.

Now back to real life.

Jewelry Organization Project (plus paint colors)

Here's a project I finished a few weeks ago, but haven't gotten around to posting about until now. I saw something similar to this in Better Homes and Gardens, and I just fell in love. They used a radiator grill like this woman, and even though I think it's really lovely, I didn't want to take the time to hunt one down AND spend a good chunk of change on it.

My friend, Carol, and I went the easy, budget route and bought a $6 roll of wire mesh from Home Depot. The employee recommended treating the metal with white vinegar before painting it, so I did. Once the vinegar was dry, I spray painted the mesh white (along with a frame that I already had).

I used a staple gun to secure the mesh to the frame, and viola! It's so functional! My dangly earrings just hook right on, and I used some tiny s-hooks to hang the necklaces.

It is SO much easier to find my jewelry now. AND my necklaces are no longer a tangled mess!


P.S.
Many of you asked about the specific colors we used in our design. So I will tell you!
1. The red spray paint that we used on the mirror and frame is called "Paprika" by Rustoleam in the satin finish.
2. The living room color is called "Silver Sage" by Restoration Hardware (although the paint itself is not Restoration Hardware brand).
3. The kitchen and nook color is called "Meditation" by Benjamin Moore. It's in the the swatch packet from Pottery Barn.

I'm hoping to post more photos of the rest of the house sometime very soon. I still need to get stuff hung up the the walls, and then make sure it's all tidy enough to take a picture :).

I really need to pack but...

... I wanted to post these photos really quickly! We got our coffee table (yay!). But I'm realizing now that a round rug would really tie it all together.

After seeing our new paint color, I made an executive decision and painted the chalkboard the same red as the mirror.

Aren't these paint colors SO pretty on the walls?

lighting

I found one more photo of an "after" shot of our house. We bought this chandelier at Home Depot to go over our little seating nook.

It's kind-of Crate and Barrel-esque without the Crate and Barrel price.

More Little Changes

We've been doing a lot of little things here and there to make our house feel more our style. The sconces in the hallway weren't awful, but they weren't awesome either. Replacing them was inexpensive and quick.
Before:
After:

I was a little bit stumped about what to put above our bed, but then Carol and I saw a whole bunch of really cool crosses at Hobby Lobby. Most of them were on sale (yay), so we decided to buy a bunch and spray paint one red, and one white.
Before:

After:

Some are ceramic, some are poly-resin (I think that's what it's called), one is metal, and there's one wood one. Aren't they pretty?

Our house is almost done being painted, and I CAN'T WAIT to post photos of our new colors! Having the ceilings painted white (instead of tan) makes SUCH a huge difference. I'm so excited to start putting things back up on the walls.

Hard At Work

More and more things are getting done! I'm beginning to really fall in love with our home :).

I was able to talk my mother-in-law into writing on my chalkboard using her beautiful penmanship. Didn't she do a good job?

I just love this quote by David Meeks. It struck me when I read it for the first time. P.S. That's a new chair the photo above :).

I also got a chance to hang a window that was given to us when we were living in Nashville.
Here's before:

And after:

Red Mirror

My friend Carol is visiting, and she is such a great influence on me. She encourages me to be bold in my decorating, and I'm SO glad.

Do you remember what the mirror looked like when I bought it? Here it is before:

And check it out now! I love it, I love it, I love it!

Living Room

First of all, I wanted to say a big "thank-you" to all of you who posted links to lighting photos on my last post. I think we've settled on doing a criss-cross pattern to make it feel bistro-like.

Now... I was wondering if you all had some input on furniture arrangement in the living room. The glider that's in there right now is just temporary, but we'd like to get something else. It would be nice to get a love seat, but I'm not sure how it would fit. A chair might leave us with not enough seating. I brilliant friend of mine suggested finding a chair and a half. Keep in mind that we can adjust the angle of the rug as well. Thoughts?

P.S. New carpet is being installed RIGHT NOW!

Little By Little

We invested in new door knobs! I couldn't believe how much it totaled up to be, but it was SO worth it. We decided to go with "aged bronze" to match our front door. This box makes me feel like we could have our own hardware store.

But look at the difference!!!
Before:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Sometimes it's the smallest things that can make the biggest difference. For example... my husband brought these flowers home for me last night. I love him :).

House Progress

We're steadily making progress on all the projects around our new house. It feels so great to be able to cross stuff off our list. We decided to put doors onto the den to create a nice big office/quiet place to read. Here's a view of it from the living room.

Here's the space (clutter and all).
Here are the new doors installed! We still need to frost the glass (we're thinking a film maybe?) AND...

... if you hadn't noticed already, we removed the monkey shrine. I'm so relieved it's gone. I had NO IDEA what to put in there.

So, here's the question: do we stain the doors to match the front door and the french doors, or do we paint the new doors white, and paint the french doors white to match (and possibly paint the front door as well).
I would try to find the same white as our new entertainment unit.
What do you think?