Little updates - Gallery Wall, Room Arranging and Cabinet Removal

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

I have made some little updates to the house.  Sorry for the bad pictures...

 

1.  Finalized furniture layout in the den...for now anyway!  The TV is going to go above those IKEA bookshelves.  At some point we will get something better but for now those will hold the kids toys and are very functional.  I cannot wait until this  room is painted and we have our new sofa and chair recovered.  So blah now!  The new rug came yesterday!  I can't wait to put it down!

 



2.  Rudy removed the doors on the bookshelf to the right of the fireplace.  I like how it opens it up.  You can see what it used to look like below.

3.  Rudy removed the corner cabinet!  It is awesome the difference it makes!  The room is balanced again, it feels roomier and calmer visually.  Some might think I am nuts for wanting it out so badly but that was the first thing I saw in the pictures of the house online that just looked wrong to me.  And it was such a small cabinet that it really didn't hold very much. 

So here is the empty space.  The bottom is what we had before.  Rudy still has some work to do to clean up the vent. 

 

 

4.  I added a gallery wall in the back hallway.  There is a blank spot on the bottom left.  That is going to be for the new little babies footprints.  :)

I cannot wait until I feel more settled in this house!  Little by little!

Have a good one!

~ Sarah

New Rug For Our Den!

I know I sent you some ideas for our den...of course they have changed since I am now in the house.  I wanted the gray ektorp sofa from IKEA but the fireplace has so many warm tones that I am going to go with the beige one instead.  I know some people paint brick but I just can't bring myself to paint this hearth.  Rudy loves it and the brick is really pretty.

The rug I picked is the Cadiz from Home Decorators.  I purchased the 6'7'' x 9'6'' for around $220.  it was on sale and there was free shipping.  It is the bottom one in this photo.

It is a synthetic rug and can be used in or out so can withstand lots of wear and tear.  I can't until it arrives!  Then I can determine the wall color and other elements of the room!

Area Rug Idea

I was looking at my friend Bryn's blog who was featuring rooms with darker trim when I saw this living room arrangement with the double rugs.

It was one of those moments where you are like "ohhhhhhhhhhh"  I could do that!



I have a very beat up small oriental rug that I love.  But it is small.  This would be the perfect way to use it.  All I would need is an inexpensive sisel rug.  I like how it is something not so expected you know?

Can't wait to get in this new house and start putting together my ideas!

~ Sarah

Painted Ceilings With Beams

 

One of the things I am most excited about in our new house is the den which has a great fireplace and beams in the ceiling.  Right now the room is white - walls, ceiling, woodwork and beams.

This picture is from MLS.  We have our inspection tomorrow so I hope to get lots and lots of "before" pictures of the house.

I found these pictures online which are exactly the color I think I am painting the room.  A soft pale gray.

www.theflippingcouple.com

 

www.artisanspecialties.com

 

What I would love to do is paint the ceiling a few shades lighter than the wall in the same color.  I am so excited about all the fun things we can do with this house!  I know we won't be able to do it all at once but still fun to dream!

 

Hope you are having a good day!

 

~Sarah



WE GOT THE HOUSE! Den dreaming...

So excited to share that we got the house!  BUT everything has to go through with our inspection and of course we need to do an inspection at the new house too.  Selling and buying at the same time is an agonizing process.  The first time I was only buying so I didn't feel the pressure as much.  I know this will all work out but man, I am on pins and needles!

I have been thinking of what I might want to do in the new den...because you know that is much more fun that worrying about the inspection!  here are somethings I am thinking...

 

1.  Charcoal gray comfy sofa.  This is the Ektorp from IKEA.  Only $699 but I am still looking.  Thought the gray would be forgiving on lots of lounging and little hands.

2.  New Rug:  This is the mystic wool rug from home decorators.  I have loved my brown rug in my current living room from them.

3.  New club chair or recovering the one I have in a fabric kind of like this.  This is the santa fe classic indigo from Calico Corners.  So basically deinm.  :)  Is denim out?  Again thinking this would be forgiving?

 

 

4.  And then accent in colors in some kind of oranges like this:

 

I would like to find one with some gray in it too but you get the idea.  These are also fabrics from Calico Corners from their orange collection.  I really like complimentary color schemes...and anyone that knows me knows I am not a huge sports fan but there is something about blue and orange that reminds me of UVA, which my whole family loves and my Dad's alma mater that makes me smile.  Kind of like a little bit of home without hanging the pennant over the fireplace.

 

I love looking at Calico Corners for inspiration and then I go to Mary Jo's in Gastonia to actually make my purchases.  Waaaaaaaay cheaper and usually has similar things!

 

But again...we have to get through all of this inspection stuff...April 4th can't get here soon enough!

Unexpected Present Origination

I got this adorable pillow from my brother and his wife.  Which I promptly put in my new QTO office area that is slowly buy surely coming together.

Obviously painting this chair is project in the slowly but surely category!  The pillow came from a very unexpected place.  Can you guess?

I like the embroidery and the cut pom pom fringe below.  Orange is such a happy color.

Can you guess where they got it?  The fabulous Cracker Barrel Store.  Yes, I am serious.  So I will admit that I really love Cracker Barrel food.  I am southern and love home cooking and all the fixings.  And I have always loved to poke around their shop.  They always have some really cheesy collectibles (aka dust catchers) but usually some great childrens books, old fashioned toys and the like.  I haven't been there in probably 10 years.  So I was pleasantly surprised to see the tag.

They do have an online store, so you can enjoy the shopping without being tempted by all the calories!

Gallery Wall Shelves Combo

I have a wall in my basement that has 6 IKEA shelves and I haven't been sure what to do with them.  It is the anchor of my office area the room but all the blank wall space bothered me.  I had so many pieces of art that needed to be hung so I decided to think of the shelves as art and to hang the pieces around them.

The first thing I did was cut out templates for all the pieces of art that I wanted to hang.  I used brown craft paper and placed them where I wanted them to go.

Starting with blank shelves really helped!  I hung the art first and then my sweet husband helped me place all the items on the shelves.

One is still TBD...I wonder what will make it in that frame?

It mismatched and sort of a hodge podge but it feels cozy and creative - which are the two exact things I hope this space conveys.

I have some other things I need to finalize in the near future for this space so stay tuned!

Craft Paper Fall Wreath Tutorial

Fall is here!  It's time to get the front stoop fall ready and a new wreath was just what I needed.  But I didn't want to buy a new one.  Do you remember this wreath from my post last year, Wreath Uncorked?  Well when I pulled it out for this year it needed some love...

 

The corks were all gone and it was just a mess.  So I started over.  This time I simply wrapped it in strips of brown craft paper and twine, glued the bow and hung it on the door.  I love its simplicity!

 



 

Here is my fall stoop!  I don't go too crazy with Halloween so it will last through Thanksgiving.

 

 

Gray and Yellow Bedrooms

My mother-in-law is moving into a new home in just a few short weeks.  She is looking to make a fresh start in her new home and mentioned last night that she was thinking of a yellow and gray bedroom.  If you have seen pictures of my house, you know I LOVE yellow.  love love!  Very happy color and it looks great with gray.  I decided to do a little inspiration shopping for her.

She already has a great gray tufted headboard and beautiful mirrored lamps.  This wall color looks like what we have in our house.

Kingdom of Women Blog
 

I like how in most of these rooms you really don't need yellow walls. You can actually bring it in just small touches with pillows and accents and still feel like you have a "yellow" room.

 

Here are some great bright pillows that you can get quite resonably on etsy.

Premier Print on Etsy

I love the soothing colors in this one...not so YELLOW...more like yellow.

Decor Pad

This one again is very soothing.

Source unknown, featured on www.thingsthatinspireme.net

Sushi Date Night and Sushi Rolling Tutorial Demo

Rudy and I love sushi so on Friday night we found ourselves with a baby who went right down (yay!) and not much we wanted to cook in the house.  So Rudy went out for sushi.  While he was gone I thought it would be nice to set the table up for a sushi date.  Away I went scurrying around the house to gather my sushi plates, chopsticks, napkins and glasses.

This is what Rudy came home to.

For an asian look, I used bamboo placemats, sushi plates and bowls, chopsticks and lemongrass cloth napkins.  The effect was quite charming!

Rudy snapped this beaut once we had everything plated.  It was the best dinner we have had in such a long time and it was so nice to sit down for a "date".  No babysitter needed.

I love Rudy's photos!

Sometimes Rudy and I make our own sushi...click on the link below to see my cheesy sushi tutorial back in 2008.

Sushi Rolling Tutorial

How To Get Really Big Photos Printed For CHEAP

Young House Love

I always liked these large photos in Young House Love's Bedroom.  They actually glued posters to a canvas which you can see on their tutorial here. 

But if you didn't want to use a poster and would rather frame a large personal photo you could easily have it printed for super cheap.  How?  Using the Engineer Prints from Staples...for less than $5!  Thanks to Bargain Hoot for pointing this out to me today!

Here is a cute post from Infarrantly Creative on using them in a project.

4th Of July Star

After being inspired last week, I put together my 4th of July "wreath" from a decorative star and some ribbon I already had on hand. 

I looped the flag ribbon several times and then cinched it in the middle with the red and white ribbon.  Then I used this to attach it to the star.  Pulling out the loops of the bow was easy after that.

I think this could be considered kind of country...like I am one step away from painted birdhouse wallpaper but I still like it.  Also love that I put it together from supplies I already had.  So a free project! 

I am at the beach now...can't wait for a week of relaxation.  More pictures to come!



Simple 4th of July Decorations

I am going to be spending the week with my family at the beach all next week.  As much as I would love to style the occasion and think of all these great DIY decorations, I really just want to be with the family.  So there will be pictures from our week to come, and definitely our tablescapes but they will be low key, relaxed and not involve much effort. 

I wanted share these for a little inspiration...keep it simple inspiration!

Food & Wine

Menu in A Bottle - Food &Wine

Rustic Flag Centerpiece - Food &Wine

Blue Bottle Centerpiece - BHG

Mom has lots of blue bottles at the beach - definitely doing this one!

Star and Wreath - BHG

I could easily do this one today!

Fabric Garland With Yarn - BHG

Probably not going to do this one beacuse it would require buying fabric but so, so cute!

Lots of ideas to get me thinking - can't wait to share photos with you all next week!

Blue

For the last week I have been helping at MDA summer camp.  If you want to know about an incredible week for kids, check into your local MDA's camp.  Its one week where kids with muscular dystrophy can be with other kids just like them.  It's awesome I tell you!

Inevitably at camp, you need to make a run to Target or Wal-Mart.  Well it was my lucky day that I made the run to Target and stumbled upon this beauty.

And since I brought a huge suitcase I bought it and took it home.  I was so excited to bring more blue into my living room.   I was able to add these two storage baskets from Reed's room to organize his toys in the living room.

Now that I have this I am sure on the blue walls...hmmm...still pondering that!