A Little Cheese

So I know you all want to see more house pictures. You want to see anything and everything that we have done and plan to do to our new home. I mean, why else would you be keeping up with this blog. (Like how I assume that you are actually "keeping up" with this blog? Ha.) 

Well, you're not getting it. At least not yet because it's now time to get cheesy.

Before I jump into all the home progress that will fill up many a blog post, I would like to say thank you to everyone who has and who will be helping us along the way. 

Our first two days as homeowners immediately reminded us of how truly blessed we are with loving friends and family. We have already received painting help from the in-laws and two of our friends this past weekend and my parents are spending this next weekend here to help us progress even further. I know there will be more than a few people helping us with the official move and whatever else we need to accomplish. It is an overwhelming feeling of love to know that there are people in this world more than willing to sacrifice their weekend to help us advance our dream. We appreciate you all more than we can express. (Although we will try to show it by buying you pizza and beer.)

I also want to recognize the fact that God has hugely blessed us in our marriage and in our journey to own our first home. Not that many months ago this house thing seemed so far away and out of our reach, but God came through for us as he always seems to do. 

We are blessed. 

OK, enough cheese. Don't fret, these types of posts shouldn't happen often. Although, I might show some intense emotion over some throw pillows. Just saying.

Until next time...

Blank Slate

An amazing amount of work has been done on our new home this weekend and quite frankly, I'm tired. I refuse to be one of those people (one of those blogs) that pretends that it's easy to balance getting work done on your house and well, anything else. I'm going to be honest, we accomplished a ton, but I'm basically behind on anything and everything else...reading, laundry, blogging, etc. But lets stay on the positive side, shall we?

Before I jump ahead and show you what my hubby and I have achieved with our mad skills, I must show you what we started with. Off we go.

Den/Bonus Room - Entry from the Carport

Den/Bonus Room - Looking toward Kitchen & Carport Door

1/2 Bath & Laundry Room - Connected to Den
I'm in love with the green paint. Aren't you?
(You better say no. That would be typed sarcasm people.)

1/2 Bath & Laundry Room - Laundry Room side
Lovely, right?

Kitchen - Looking from Den towards Living/Dining Room & Future Master

Kitchen - Looking from Den
Love that stainless steel, don't you?

Kitchen - Looking towards Den from Living/Dining

Kitchen - Extra Cabinetry
Awkward. Not sure what's going to happen over here. Stay tuned.

Future Master Bedroom
No, I'm not crazy...we've got big plans for this one.

Future Master Bedroom
I'm serious...It's looking better already.

Hallway - Looking towards the future master

Main Bathroom
Jealous of that green tile? It's pretty sweet.

Main Bathroom
Yes, those crappy shelves above the toilet are already gone.
You're welcome.

Main Bathroom Vanity

Hallway - Looking from Bathroom
No, your computer screen isn't messing up. The hallway is pink.

Extra Bedroom
No plans for this one yet. I hesitate to say that it will be the future nursery cause...well, you know...we don't want to start that game.

Extra Bedroom

Hallway - Looking towards the Guest Room

Guest Room
The beautiful wallpaper is going.

Guest Room - Looking towards the pink hallway

Hallway - Looking from Extra Bedroom towards Living Room
Sorry for the blurry picture. We can't all be perfect.

Dining Room - Looking from the Living Room
Such amazing paint colors, right?

Living Room - Looking from Dining Room
Front Door is on the left next to me. :)

So that's the interior of our new home. If I wasn't so stinking tired from all the painting, I would update you on more, but yeah. Not going to happen. 


Until next time...

SOLD!

Today, we bought our first house.  After signing a few (a million) papers and giving away all our money, we were finally handed our keys.  It was quite exciting.


Check in later to see all the Pre-Robin and Brent house pictures. Until then, I leave you with these...

Until next time...

"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol.4

Here you go, kids...

Yeah, this one is just creepy. Not much to say other than that.

This apartment actually belongs to French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. It sits in front of the eiffel tower, with amazing views over Paris. Check out the doll comforter. That's just wrong. Way to ruin it, Jean. Way to ruin it.


All the rooms in his apartment are pretty, uh, pretty interesting. (I'm being nice with that one.) If you want to check more pictures out visit http://bestdesigninterior.com/crazy-apartment-interior-design-of-fashion-designer/


Now, if you need some really good design advice, please visit the newest design blog on the block, Simple Thoughts. You'll be amazed by his mad skills.


Until next time...

Just in Case

I'm basically posting this because I'm scared that if I don't "you know who" will. I got to maintain my cred, yo.

So here's the break down of our guest room plan. (Starting at the top left and moving clockwise. Try to keep up.)

• The lamp is just an inspiration cause it rocks. (Can't remember where I found it.)
• The chandelier is a homemade item featured on the funky junk interiors blog. I'm pretty much in love with it and hope to make my own.
• The headboard is another DIY project we hope to tackle. I found that one on the kara paslay designs blog. (She even teaches you how to make it. Thanks, Kara.) We will be doing the bed with all white bedding to contrast with the dark wall color.
• The pillows are actually just one pillow and its A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I'll definitely be grabbing a couple of those from Target.
• The chair my sweet hubby already bought me.
• The dresser will be painted white and will receive some fabulous new knobs. The yellow ones are in the running.
• And the paint you've already seen...on multiple blogs.

Now, if you will excuse me, I must go check as many blogs as possible to see if I've unknowingly stolen anyone's design plan.

Until next time...

Wow.

So if you want to see our guest bedroom color, please check out Young House Love. I cannot believe how similar it is to the color we've picked out. I seriously feel like we are peas in a pod. I'm just hoping they don't use white bedding with yellow accents. That will be just too much for me to handle.


Here's our "Moonlit Pool" paint color:

And here's their "Plumage" paint:

Pretty darn close, huh?


Wow. I may need to start posting all my ideas as soon as I come up with them so you guys don't think I'm just a copy-cat. I promise I decided these things before spotting them online. You believe me, right? Right?


(For a better  understanding of this post, reference my Get Out of My Head post from this weekend.) 


Until next time...

Design Plan: Living Room

I spend a lot of time creating design plans for myself. Usually in just a Word document. I copy and paste home decor items and furniture that I'm in love with (for the moment) and dream of how it would all come together. It helps me think. (And gives me something to do while the hubbie plays Xbox.) 

It's quite entertaining to look back over all the design schemes I've come up with before we even started house hunting. I've created tons of "perfect" designs that have later been deleted, redone or forgotten. Knowing how often I change my mind on what I think is the ideal home decor can make moving forward on designing our new home a little worrisome. That is, until I realize that all these plans have been put together before I even knew what our home would look like. 

Once we are actually in our home, I believe I will be able to easily nail down a design plan that we will love. I have a game plan for now, but I'll have to stay open to any changes that may be needed along the way. I think you never really know for sure until you get to plug some items into the space. (Budget issues will also affect some of the overall choices. Got to have some cash available first...bartering doesn't work so well.)

Here's the plan (for now) for our new living room:

(We obviously have furniture already in our currently living room that will be joining in with these items as well. I just didn't feel like making the effort to take individual pictures of everything. Call me lazy.)

I'm pretty sure the living room wall color will work and we already own the media cabinet and chair so you can be sure those will be around in the final design. I also grabbed the Target pillows (that Young House Love stole from me) this weekend. As for everything else, we'll see if they actually get to make it to our home. It will be fun to see what the final result is. Stay tuned.

Until next time...

Get Out of My Head

So as you can see in my "Blogs I Dig" section, I like to check out the very popular design blog, Young House Love. It's actually the blog that inspired me to finally start blogging on my own. I discovered it a couple months ago and fell in love. It's written by a young couple that documents all of their home renovations. They give step by step by step instructions on how they completed their projects so you can attempt it on your own as well. Basically, it's wonderful. 

But there is now an issue. They are stealing all my design ideas and posting it before I actually get to do it in our home. Seriously.

First, I had decided that I wanted to paint our main living and dining room grey. (Behr's Silver Sateen may be the winning paint color.) I've always loved grey walls. I'm pretty sure my parents thought I was a little strange when I told them I wanted to paint my bedroom grey in high school. (Don't worry, I proved them wrong. It looked great.) Anyway, I made the paint color plan and then days later Young House Love posted photos of their newly painted grey living room. Geez.

Second, I decided that I wanted to paint our new guest room a dark color. (We're thinking Behr's Moonlit Pool will do the job.)  I wanted at least one room in the house to be a bold, over the top, dark color. The guest room has two decently sized windows and therefore can handle the dark wall color. Also, since it isn't a room that will be constantly lived in, it allows you to have a little more fun. Well...I just peeked in on Young House Love and they just posted that they are planning for a dark paint color for their guest room. Why? Because it has two windows that bring in plenty of light. Better not be Moonlit Pool.

Finally, after seeing the guest bedroom plan, I scrolled down to some previous posts that I hadn't had a chance to read yet and found a picture. A picture that shocked me. Yes, as I scrolled down that blog page I spotted none other than the Target pillows that I picked out this past weekend for our living room. Apparently, they've already stole that idea from me too.  Get out of my head!

I can't wait to see what other ideas I can come up with just to find them on someone else's blog. I guess I should be proud. They are super popular (even appeared on the Nate Burkus Show) so I must be moving in the right direction.

Oh, and don't worry, I'll be sure to just plain steal some of their ideas for our home. There is no shame in copying good design.

Until next time...

My New Gems

We are a week away from closing on our first home. (Woop, Woop!) 

Today the seller had a moving sale where I was able to snag a couple gems that are just waiting for a fabulous makeover. I grabbed a dresser and a chair that I had spotted at a previous walk through of the house. Originally, she had the items priced well over my generous design budget ($175) so we were sadly going to have to pass. But then, in an excellence change of events, she dropped the price to $100 for both items and I quickly snatched them up.

First, here's our new guest room dresser:

Isn't she just adorbs? ("Adorbs" = Adorable. I told my hubbie that I was going to make it a thing...just go with it.) 


Here's the plan: 1. Paint it white  2. Paint the interior a bright color (or cover the drawers with wallpaper)  3. Add new funky knobs  4. Sit back and admire my mad makeover skills. 


Now, here is our new chair. I'm not positive where it will end up, but I'm thinking it will join the living room. Take a peek:

I love the style lines of this chair, but the finishes push it too far into the traditional realm. My plan is to:  1. Paint the frame (probably white)  2. Recover it with a modern patterned fabric.  3. Sit in my super comfy, super cute chair. 

I'm really excited about my newest additions for the house! I can't wait to fix them up and find some additional hand-me-downs in need of a new home. We'll be in ours soon enough and furniture is currently at a minimum. 

Until next time... 

"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol.3

Happy Hump Day, my dear followers. 


Here is today's crazy, what were they thinking design moment. I think this is from the 60's or 70's, but either way it is BAD. Check it out:

Thanks to http://chasblogspot.blogspot.com/ for posting this amazing interior.

I can only hope the owner of this room also had the matching bathrobe, slippers and PJs to go with it. 

Until next time...

Romance 101

Get ready to take notes. Brent and I just mastered V-Day. 

Check out these pictures of our evening:

My sweet hubbie started out by sending me flowers at work. Unfortunately, the flowers came to me via mail and looked pretty shabby. Someone didn't care for them as required. After comparing what I received with what Brent ordered, we decided that a refund was in order. What do you think? See any differences here?

  

Kind of a joke, huh? Not very impressive when your husband spent quite a bit of money on them, but once you get your money refunded they are quite pretty, don't you think? I'll be picking up some tulips at Kroger to spruce up the bouquet for the rest of the week. :)

First came the flowers, then came the refund. Next came a new chair! Yes, indeed! My sweet hubbie stepped it up again. He bought me the World Market chair that I spotted this weekend that will be perfect for our guest bedroom. It's going to be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. 

After doing a happy dance for my new chair, Brent and I had my favorite meal...BRATS! What's more romantic than brats? I have no idea. After our fancy dinner we watched "How I Met Your Mother" (such a great show) and then ran up to Home Depot to check out some possible paint colors for the house. Yes, I said Home Depot on Valentines. 

Finally, we enjoyed a couple cupcakes while Brent did some master photo editing and I blogged it up. Pretty sweet Valentines, huh? I thought you'd be impressed.

Until next time...

Bathroom Confusion

When family visits, blogging stops. I apologize.

I did, however, get to show the fam the house-to-be. It was pretty interesting since the seller was there setting up for an estate sale. I always think it's awkward running into her. I mean, we've argued back and forth over money before. Doesn't that make everything more uncomfortable? The plus side (hopefully) is that there were actually a couple pieces of furniture I'd like to buy from her. We'll have to wait and see how those negotiations go. She's a little stubborn.

I of course wanted to let everyone see our new home, but I also had another, more selfish  reason for stopping in again. I previously posted a picture of the totally green tiled bathroom that we are about to own and as you can imagine, it's a design challenge. I had purchased a possible shower curtain that I was DYING to try out. So I excitedly entered our future bathroom on Saturday, pulled that perfect shower curtain out of my bag, laid it down on the counter and instantly...

realized it sucked. It wasn't even close. Regrettably, I was back to square one. 

I've been wanting to find a shower curtain that would incorporate at least a tad bit of green so it would appear that I'm embracing the tile rather than trying to hide it, but I've really had no such luck. We've got about 4 different shades of green to deal with between the walls and floor and the main tile is very, very pastel in color. There just isn't much out there that can rock it out with that tile. As a result, I gave in to the neutral shower curtain option. 

Today, I purchased (with the approval and support of my mom and little sister) a shower curtain from Target along with a couple accent towels. Check it out.

Simple. Neutral, but at least a bit of pattern. We are going to add a brown fabric panel to the bottom of the shower curtain so that I can mount it higher up on the wall. It also helps by combining our color scheme of the grey and brown on one specific item in the room.

So the general game plan to "modernize" the bathroom is this:

• Grey Walls
• Brown Roman Shade in the window
• Brown frame added around the existing mirror
• Floating shelves above toilet
• Grey or Brown Bath Mat
• Modern art work - TBC ( "To Be Created")

I can't wait to get started! Hopefully the hubby and I will be tackling this room the last weekend of February. I'll be sure to post all the amazingly fantastic photos later.

Until next time...

"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol.2

Here is an interior from the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, Californi. Thank you SO much to the Ugly House Photos website for posting these. Check out this Inn's "Sugar & Spice Room." Amazing.

http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/?cat=85
Check out the website for more amazingly bad photos. You won't regret it.

Wow, That's So Wrong. 

Until next time...

LOVE IT! Inspiration

Although this isn't something I would necessarily duplicate in my own home, I absolutely LOVE IT! Check out all that pattern and color. (This is from HGTV's Sarah's House with designer Sarah Richardson.)


What do you think, Goldilocks? Is it too much, too little or just right?

Talk about creating a bright, bold, active space. It's super happy. I mean, what a room to wake up to! It reminds me of how scared most of us are to use lots of color and lots of pattern in one space. How many of us live in solid color rooms with solid color furniture accented with solid color pillows plus maybe one patterned one? It's sad and yet we all do it. What are we all afraid of? 


I think this room is beautiful and I want to keep it as an inspirational reminder to be bold in our new home. Obviously not every room needs to be this intense in pattern or color, but in the right area it can really bring a house or room to life. 


It just makes me wonder...how can I mimic this in my home on my scale with my budget? I'll let you know when I figure it out.


Until next time...

My Broken Heart

I've never been one to really focus on Valentine's Day. Brent and I haven't ever really gone all-out for that particular holiday. It just doesn't really seem necessary. And now I feel like  the universe it telling me I need to keep it that way. 


I had decided to make a Valentine's Day themed wreath for my front door. I found a heart shaped wreath form and eagerly got to work on my new creation today. It was all going well until...well, take a look.

Apparently I don't know my own strength. I broke my heart. Ugh, and it would have been so cute. Don't worry, I didn't cry. (But only because Brent was here and I didn't want to be judged.)


I guess Valentine's Day decor is not in my future. When the universe tells you "no," you have to listen. Let's just hope for better luck on the next project. 


Until next time...

Our First Purchase for Our First Home

We have officially purchased our first piece of furniture for our new home. Yay! I'm pretty pumped about it and I was able to convince the hubbie that we should purchase it now rather than waiting until we move in. (What girl wants to wait to purchase home decor? Not this one.)

Wondering how I managed that? Well it was on sale at World Market, I had a coupon and we had a $50 gift card from some wonderful God-Parents to use. (Yes!) And much more importantly, it relates to what my man really cares about...the T.V. and the Xbox. (Both of which is he using as we speak.) These are two every important items in his world so he was easily convinced that it was necessary to get are media cabinet ASAP.

Here she is for your viewing pleasure.

Sadly, she's still in her box and is now ruining the look of my dining room, but she'll be the perfect fit for our new living room. I just have to figure out a way to hide her when all my small group ladies arrive in the morning. (That's probably my best tip for keeping your house looking good for guests...close some doors and hide some crap. Works like a charm.)

I'll keep you updated on all the purchases to come.

Until next time...

"That is so Wrong" Wednesday Vol.1

I'm pretty sure that I love really terrible design just as much as I love great design. It's so fun to see the things people create and are actually willing to live with. It's comical and has led me to believe that it is 100% necessary to have "That is so Wrong" Wednesdays on my blog. I will be finding a delightfully hideous photo to present each week and together we can all enjoy that moment of, "What were they thinking?" 

My first "That is so Wrong" Wednesday really isn't that terrible, but it features a room we have to tackle in our soon-to-be home. It is the very green 50's bathroom, but it's not the green tile all over the place that I have a problem with. (I mean, come on, it was the 50's. They were keeping up with the Joneses.) My issue lies with the dreadful shower curtain, matching window treatment, and plain white walls. I mean, really? It's 2011. Try a little.

Let's see what you think.

I'd like to add that this is the same seller that wanted to be sure that we understood that we were not allowed to keep the martini glass light-switch cover in the laundry room. It took me a while to let that one go. Obviously we are buying the house because of her tacky light-switch cover. 

(I hope the seller doesn't ever stumble across this blog. That could be awkward when she stops by the house to take her strawberries in the Spring.)

Until next time...

My New Friend, Ester

After debuting my first yarn wreath, I got the urge to keep my wreath-mojo moving. For those of you who don't know, Hobby Lobby is a crafter's Disney World. (OK, maybe that's too strong of a comparison, but you get the idea.) Basically, I could unknowingly spend hours in a Hobby Lobby. There are so many craft ideas just waiting to jump into your head as soon as you walk in the door. It's oh, so exciting. The hard part is deciding on one idea so you don't end up overspending and making your husband mad.  

I haven't been married long, but it's been long enough for me to learn that men do not understanding the need to spend money on craft projects. They just don't seem get that excited about the perfect fabric or the adorable stamp you found in order to make the perfect magnet. Strange, I know.

Anyway, I entered Hobby Lobby the other night and was instantly inspired for my next wreath.   I would now like to introduce to you, Ester. (I named her Ester because it looks like Easter...get it? Ester? Easter? Yep. That's it.)

This wreath is also super budget friendly.  Here's the breakdown for those interested:

• Wreath: $2.99 @ 1/2 off = $1.50 (only about 10" size)
• Full Bag of Mini Clothes Hangers: $2.99 (but only used 7 - plenty left for another project)
• Patterned Fabric: $1.22 x 3 = $3.66 (1/4 of a yard each - again, plenty left over)
• Burlap Fabric: $3.49 (1/2 yard)
• Twine: $3.47 (more twine than I will EVER use)

=$15.11 Total

But only the $1.50 wreath cannot be used again. Everything else is sitting in my craft bag waiting for their next project. Pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Here are a couple close ups for you kids.

Don't they look like little Easter Eggs? Oh, Ester. You're so sweet.

TIP: Purchase items you really love so you can be sure you'll want to use it again. That fabric can be used on another wreath or it could be put in a frame and used as art. I'm sure you'll see them again.

Until next wreath...