Empty Walls

Posted By: Kristi

Wedding invitations went out today so by the end of this week I can finally share what I have been up to! Love crossing things off of my list. = )

Other than the fun wedding details, I have been getting a few house "to dos" crossed off my list as well. Do any of you have bare walls in your house that bug you but you can't decide what to hang? Please say I am not alone? Well, I finally figured out what to hang on one of those walls. I found these sticker dog photos at Michaels and framed them. I love the feminine/masculine feel of the frames. I am happy with the outcome!

I would like to show you a more zoomed out view but I have other things to show you that I haven't had a chance to post yet. Soon friends, soon... ; )

Rug Shopping

Posted By: Kristi

I never realized how difficult rug shopping could be. There are so many different sizes, colors, carpet types and lengths.  My living room was feeling cold and uninviting and also looking really dark and...brown.

See what I mean? Brown floors, brown furniture, brown pillows. There is no ceiling light which makes the room even darker. This room has a ton of potential and eventually we will get there. I love the floors but I wanted it to feel cozier, warmer. I wanted a rug that could work with whatever furniture we choose in the future and that was large in size. I wanted something that wouldn't easily ruin by our dog babies nails. That said, I started searching.

I found many great options but wasn't completely satisfied until I found this one on the West Elm site.

It is an indoor/outdoor rug which is perfect with our dogs, nearly indestructible. I ordered it in an 8x10 the perfect size for our living room. HUGE. It is/was on sale for $179.99 regularly $599.99. That is a $420.00 savings and I found a code to get free shipping. SCORE!

I also ordered a rug pad from Amazon. This is the one I ordered; I wanted to be sure to protect our wood floors. I paid $54.99 (regularly $89.99) and I am happy with it.

Here it is in our home.

And here it is with the coffee table I showed you the other day.

Here is what are in the plans next.

• New pillows on the couches (adding more color in the room including black and grey)
• Add some kind of throw on the couch
• New curtains
• Buy and restore an old end table and replace the one we have, preferably pedestal style
• New lamp
• New wall art
• Decorate the coffee table

Another reason I went with a plain colored rug (besides possibly changing the furniture out) is because the living room is connected to the dining room and I bought another rug (with a design) for under the table in there. It hasn't arrived yet but when it does I will share it and give you all the details.

I also came across some amazing deals on Overstock, I definitely recommend checking out what they have.


*Update- The rug I ordered has sold out. Sorry!

Cedar Chest Turned Coffee Table

Posted By: Kristi

Finally, some projects are coming together! I have had this cedar chest for a long while now and decided to bring it out from hiding and give her a little makeover. We needed a coffee table in the living room and I figured this would be an inexpensive solution.

As you can tell, she was banged up, scratched and one hot mess! Not for long though. I went to Home Depot and bought a can of this.

 

Oops, I dropped it. 

I learned about this awesome stuff on one of my favorite blogs, The Little Green Notebook. It is oil-based so it leaves your painted object nice and shiny.

Are you ready for the after shots? Here she is, all dolled up!

What do you think? Isn't she pretty? There is another change in this room that I will be sharing later this week. This room has a lot of changes to go but each update gets me pretty dang excited!

Entry Table and Weekend Recap

Posted By: Kristi

I did it, I found an entry table. I am happy with how it turned out and think it is going to be the perfect solution for staying organized. 

This is what we had before.

I love the mirror but it was never meant to go there. Honestly, I never could decide on where to put it so it just landed there. I have a few ideas for it now that it needs to be moved, I will show you soon.

 Here it is, our new and improved solution.

This is the Hemnes shoe cabinet from Ikea. I love it because we can store our shoes and leashes but also set our keys, wallets, etc. on top. I haven't decided if I want to keep the mirror the color it is or spray is a deep blue, green or some other color. What do you think? I am kind of liking it how it is right now. Something about the shine makes me smile. It was only $2 at a garage sale.

 I didn't use the knobs/pulls it came with. Instead, I used these I found at Anthropologie.

I think they dress it up a little which is perfect since it is in our living room.

Do you have the Hemnes? How are you liking it?

As for the rest of our weekend, we did not end up going to 1000 Acres. Instead, we went to Carson's parents (my future in-laws) house to swim. It was the perfect day! The weather was hot but I had no idea how hot it was since I was in the nice cool pool. It felt AMAZING, I am hoping to go back there again this week.

We took Kloee and McKnight and they loved it too. McKnight enjoyed following the little kids around (he hates water but loves babies) and Kloee swam with us in the pool. 

Kloee was all smiles and we were proud parents! She was such a great little swimmer! She had swam in a river, ocean and lake before but this was her first time in a pool. She dove right in and was excited the entire day.

Have a great Monday! Hopefully your Monday goes smooth, it is always hard to get back in the groove of things after a nice relaxing weekend.