Top center - new carpet idea # 1?
Bottom left - Ikea fabric for curtains
Bottom right - new carpet idea # 2?
Bottom center - inspiration focal point - the HBC blanket - DIY wall mural in living room
Here's a board I made for decor in the living & dining room - big projects include the sideboard with quartz countertop in the dining room, curtains in both rooms, a carpet, new lighting, some art, and perhaps even a new couch and coffee table at some point! Top right & left - our current living & dining room
Top center - new carpet idea # 1? Bottom left - Ikea fabric for curtains Bottom right - new carpet idea # 2? Bottom center - inspiration focal point - the HBC blanket - DIY wall mural in living room
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So although we want to do some outdoor projects (make some bench seating and a table for our backyard), we are focusing on the inside until the mitre saw is fixed. Today we did our usual weekend Home Depot trip along with Benjamin Moore to get paint. We are painting the dining room Newburyport Blue (HC-155), which is a nice navy blue, and our adjoining living room the classic Cloud White. We are going to start painting next weekend as Matt has a day off on Friday. What we did do today was put up the pendant light in the dining room, which wasn't as daunting as a project as I thought, because the individual capiz shells were actually all hooked together for each piece. Between the two of us attaching them to the light, it only took about 10 minutes. The problem, as usual, was the actual hooking up of the light to the junction box. This one has one, unlike our bedroom light, but it didn't fit perfectly and hung a bit from the ceiling, so we headed to Home Depot. We got a piece we thought would work...but it didn't, so currently he is back there trying something else. We also got a longer garden hose, a spray nozzle, a watering can, and a little hand-held broom and dustpan that I needed for both inside and out. Hopefully it will work, but until then, here are some pictures of the progress! Original light that came with the house - ugh. All gone! 53 capiz shell lengths to attach Matt attaching some shells I forced him to take some pictures to PROVE that I actually do a lot of this house stuff too! Yes, I am wearing a halter top and sweatpants...I got half-dressed this morning Very pretty, and much more light than the last one Success...sort of... See the problem? Hopefully we can get it fixed today! Here are some dining rooms and living rooms for inspiration: Love the light chairs and dark table Great window treatments and sideboard I like the open hutch Very elegant Scary picture, but I like the colours Peter Fallico loves Cloud White too! Gotta have the navy accents to tie in the two rooms- love the vase and pillows
A few people have been asking me where I find inspiration and ideas for rooms, and about the process of it all. First off - I look at a TON of magazines both online and in hard copy. I have a subscription to Style at Home, but my mother-in-law also gets Canadian House and Home that I always read when she brings them up to the cottage. There are a ton of great style blogs that I love as well that I am going to compile. I do admit that I am tempted to switch to Blogger, that has better Blogroll and following options compared to Weebly, but I have paid for my Pro account until September, so I'll decide then. Until then, I'll try to make a list on the side of sites I like! There is about 55 that I go through once or twice a week! When I see images of rooms I like, I save them to my computer in separate folders for each room of the house, plus folders for certain pieces of furniture and decor. I sometimes go through store websites too, looking for pieces. Here are some inspiration pictures I found when I was looking for gray and yellow decor ideas: My original inspiration room, via Casa Greer I like the fun curtains that and textured pillows a lot! I love the white tufting that is so in right now, plus I'll always love the starburst mirrors and art I want some yellow frames too! A bit warmer grey Love the headboard and linens Very clean and simple Even works for teens! Love the pillow and headboard, although it's a bit too "country" for my "French Country" bedroom. Matt, however, is dying for this type of headboard - he'd pull it right out from the side of a barn if he could! All above images except the first found via DecorPad The process takes a while as well. I thought we could finish the basement in a weekend - it took a weekend to paint, another to set up bookcases, another to build the built-ins, and then you really only have enough daylight hours on weekends if you need to sand or saw, because it needs to be done outside in decent weather. Our bedroom was quicker - prep Friday, paint Saturday & Sunday, bring it all back Monday, but it's still not done in terms of things to purchase. We also did the wardrobe a few weeks into the new place, but it took us 3 months to get around to anything else. Again, it's all time and money, and we can't do anything until we have both. It's a process! First you take everything out of one room and put it into another (we are lucky we have a semi-empty room right now beside us) Then you have to take off all the electrical covers, lighting, and tape Then you have to drape things like your giant immovable wardrobe Then we did the ceiling. That white mark was out of spite after a told Matt to stay in the lines. Then once you get to the walls you have to cut in and edge Again, after one coat it will usually need another, and ladders are needed for short people (Yes Matt is in all these pictures, but only because I am taking them and waiting for him to cut in before I paint too) Confined spaces like the closet usually result in paint in various places...like your hair... Or your clothes...these jeans have primer and "Sweet Sandy" from the stage, "Moonshine" from our basement, plus "Cloud White" and "Asphalt" from the bedroom. Ahhhh memories... Once it looks like this, you still have to do all the trim and doors and frames! Then move stuff back in, and remove the tape the next day Then it will look like this...
Although we still had to bolt the mirror to the wall the next day (which we did), and add hooks behind the door (which Matt tried to do before puncturing our stupid plaster walls and had to fill it in and get better plaster plugs before attempting it again today). Again - it's all a long (but very fun) process! So Conan O'Brien (or at least his decorator) have the same taste!? Love the navy dining room, minus the jewels on the light and the rug. The dining room may be our next project, since the basement is almost finished!!! via Emily A. Clark
Is this really progress? Matt is priming and painting the fuse box cabinet door and putting on the hardware to match the built-ins. This basement keeps going and going. Today we went out with 2 stores in mind - home depot, to get trim, and Ikea, to get "decor" things. Well, we went to Home Depot and got baseboard trim, and also trim for the chalkboard. Let me explain that a bit - there is this plumbing panel that, because of some point, you can't really see. I decided it would be a fun place for a chalkboard, and so instead of hiding it, we are not accenting it, but at least now its for something fun instead of a stupid place to get at the plumbing. Anyway, we did indeed get all of those things, so it was a successful trip! Baseboard trim - do you KNOW how many choices there were? One choice I did not care about at all - "JUST PICK ONE" I said to Matt Pretty braided trim for the chalkboard (Please note the sad, unused KitchenAid mixer in the background) Chalkboard Panel Chalkboard Paint & Chalk from Ikea We then drove all the way to Ikea, which really isn't that far, but when you're going to Ikea, you have to have a divide & conquer attitude, or else it can swallow you alive. Unfortunately, if you aren't looking for something specific, this process can be really hard. We wandered around aimlessly, following the blue arrows, somehow made it through the children's section, which was INSANELY busy (but I did get chalk for the board), and to the lighting section. I wanted to get a light to hang over the reading area in the basement, but I didn't love any of them, and I wasn't going to buy something I didn't really want. Then to decor, plants, and random stuff area on the main floor. The website has way more decor stuff than they do in that small area...I only ended up getting some white baskets for decor. Yes, more baskets. So we drove ALL THE WAY TO IKEA to get 6 baskets and coloured chalk. I apologized to my husband for that one - I wanted to get some colourful vases or something better, Baskets - now what to fill them with? In other randomness, at Home Depot, we got a light for the dining room! Remember that Capiz shell light I wanted from West Elm? Well it was far too long, but this one seemed pretty good as an alternative for when we do the dining room! Original West Elm Light Still drool-worthy and I still want it for SOMEWHERE in the house! The one we got instead - it has an adjustable length and 2 lights so it can go a bit longer for some drama in the dining room Finally, I forgot to take a picture of desk light and the curtains I got - I really liked the curtains at first because they go with the pale cream and blue colours and brown of the couch in the basement, but now it is turning out so colourful with the shelving...we'll have to see if I still like them when they go up! Pretty little lamp Notice the piles of lists and paint samples - is this now my life? White curtains with pale blue, beige, brown, and grey squiggles - fun, or too much?
Two weeks ago we bought an Ikea desk, 3 Billy bookshelves, and a white storage unit for my binders. We have (finally) assembled and at least started to organize our stuff. I organized my desk this week and put things on the shelves. Still far from done but it's a start! We are doing a trip to Ikea tomorrow to get some colourful decor stuff to replace some items on the bookshelves, going to Home Depot to get chalkboard paint for the utility panel beside the desk and baseboard trim, plus a shorter curtain rod to hang curtains I bought a few weeks ago, and Costco to hopefully get that pretty white chair I still need for my desk (currently sitting on an automan. Entry View Before Entry View After - New Desk and More Storage Window Wall Before Window Wall After - Shelving and a cover for the fusebox (currently on the floor waiting to be painted) Stairs Side Before Stairs Side After Side Wall Before Side Wall After - Desk and more Storage for my binders (in those black and white boxes) Behind Desk Storage - textbooks, albums, etc. (temporary until lights are installed on the top shelf) Colour-coded bookshelf - I love it! (yes we have a lot of pictures of "us" that will be replaced once I go through my thousands of pictures from the past few years) The frames along the top are temporary too (from our wedding and only used to hide lighting wires right now) Showcasing my Teacher side (apple), Matt's Mining side (rocks) and our Scottish side (Scottie Dog) Somewhat more girly section Our textbooks and my treasured "Post Secret" and other coffee table books Ultimately girly area - wedding momentos and albums
Matt and I want to do a Gallery Wall in our house - perhaps up the stairs in the main hallway - seems the best place for it! Here are some inspirational photos of great gallery walls: The last two pictures are from the home of Young House Love - a great blog I discovered!
*Note - this is the SECOND time I am writing this post because Weebly currently does not offer an auto-save feature, and stupid me did not save a draft along the way and I must have clicked something which took me to my home page and did not save the post that took me an hour to do the first time...so here we try again, but first I will click SAVE. The first thing we got for the house when we moved was a Pax wardrobe from Ikea. We really needed a lot of storage space because our house does not have it! We have a tiny closet in the master that Matt had all his must-hang dress clothes, and I used the tiny closet in the "unmentionable name" middle room for all my must-hang dresses and clothes, plus shoes, purses, etc. It was stuffed. Our guest bedroom has no closet at all, but it is a good size so we put our condo's dresser and chest in there instead. It was full of clothes before the wardrobe and there was so much that there was a big pile of it on my bed. Guest bedroom storage pre-wardrobe - very organized as you can see Middle room packed with all my stuff pre-wardrobe Master closet packed with all Matt's stuff pre-wardrobe Once we got the wardrobe, almost all of our stuff is in the master bedroom. Some of my random stuff like bathing suits and old comfy clothes and hoodies, plus all the extra bathroom toiletries are in the drawers of the dresser in the guest bedroom. Guest bedroom now - much cleaner! Master closet post-wardrobe - ahhh my dresses can breathe! View of the master before the wardrobe Lots of room along the right wall for some storage space Putting it together was challenging. It is Ikea, so of course it was all DIY when it came to assembly. Matt did the basic structure and I made all the drawers and inserts. I had bruises on the inside of my hands from screwing in so many tiny parts. A shelf or storage container is one thing, but if you have the budget, get the Ikea people to make this wardrobe for you! The big splurge was the doors on the wardrobe - this really added cost to it, but they look great! We also added lighting on top versus in-wardrobe lighting (which would only be used when we were getting things from inside), which really brightens up the room after the sun sets. Unit 1 of 3 - my side of the wardrobe A few more doors needed and organization... Done - view from the bedroom door Daytime view Nighttime view - yes, the ceiling fan needs to go! My side - storage for clothes, shoes, and it's not even full yet! Matt's side - organized by me - we'll see how long it lasts He added in his tie rack along the side as well. Center - more of my dressy clothes on top, all our pants below, plus more shoe storage! Love this section for jewelry and day to day stuff we need So what's next for the bedroom? Well paint for sure. We are using Benjamin Moore Asphalt on the main walls, cloud white on the ceiling and trim, and dark grey Philip Jefferies grass cloth wallpaper for an accent wall at the head of the bed. We also need to change the lighting (simple overhead lighting and wall sconces), get a stand alone big mirror, and new end tables, plus some dramatic floor to ceiling curtains. Here is a sample of the grass cloth and paint samples all together
Last week Sabrina Linn came to give up some reno and decor tips for our new house! She was one of the nicest people I have ever met and she was bursting with great ideas. I'm proud to say she liked the navy blue idea in the dining room, and we actually found a grass cloth WALLPAPER in navy that is going to look amazing! She also suggested building a white sideboard from Ikea kitchen cabinets, and top it off with a quartz top so its a really nice piece with lots of storage! I can't wait to start that room! The living room will mainly be white, with accents of navy blue and perhaps a new sectional couch with chaise eventually. The bedroom is pretty straight forward, just paint is the big thing, and she liked the grey idea and suggested an accent wall in the alcove in a darker grey or again grass cloth wallpaper. She also suggested a bigger rug and agreed that we needed some full curtains and a big freestanding mirror. For the basement, lots of white built ins and bookcases and a soft grey paint all around, including ceiling and doors, to make it one continuous space from front to back. I think we are going to start this room first. I need a new desk (I found one from Ikea), we are building in shelves on the back wall, and using bookcases for the sides of the room, bringing the shaggy rug from the bedroom downstairs, and getting some better lighting. The paint colour we are using in the bedroom The paint colour matches the colour of the grass cloth wallpaper in the dining room I like the built-in shelves for under our stairs too! Great chair for the living room - from Urban Outfitters My soon to be new Ikea desk Possible rug for the bedroom
I love the colour, the office space, the cozy reading area, the natural light, the bookshelves. Wow. So elegant and fun!
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KathleenAdventures in married life, cooking, teaching science and new home renovations in the city! LinksArchives
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