Happenstance

Honestly, I'm not sure we're 'Formal Dining Room' kinda people - but the house has one and we own a hutch and matching table... So we went with it!  The wallpaper that was originally in this room was supposedly silk and shipped in from Asia. Which is pretty cool, but the design made me feel... uncomfortable .  As you can see, I narrowed my replacement wallpaper down to six options before I fully committed to rehanging wallpaper.  In the end, I felt the room really called for a wallpaper and I found one that I loved. I love the ceilings in our Dining and Living room. Also, I was shocked at how much lightening up some of the color choices and painting the main ceiling white (it was this really odd light yellow throughout the first floor) really opened up the space!

When Mark and I bought our new house, we knew there would be A LOT of remodeling needed to modernize the house and make it more functional for our needs. However, we wanted to make sure we honored the style and design of the house while we did this. My understanding is that the house was built in the 1950s and has had MANY expansions since then (if you could see the ducting in this place!).  One of my first updates was to expand the Master Bedroom into the small random room next to it. Here's a layout (not to scale) and some pictures to help visualize how it originally looked. You'll notice we updated the color scheme and refinished the hardwood floors. Here is the updated layout (still not to scale) of the final Master Bedroom (the master bathroom is another project in itself) and some pictures of the updates.  We still need to buy or build a lot of furniture (to replace some current temporary pieces) needed to finish out the room. Plus, we're considering expanding the Ma...

There wasn't a huge need to do much more than update the paint colors and refinish the hardwood in the upstairs. But I was excited to get our son's room ready to go and inviting for him. It was the top priority when we started working on the house, as we wanted to make the transition as comfortable for him as possible.  The carpet was down when we bought the house, but outside of that, here's what we started with: If you haven't noticed, I am very partial to blues, teals, greens, grays, and oranges. I think it would be hard to leave my house without being aware of that. Hopefully, our son is into that as well! You might have noticed that his bookcases and changing table have fun backings. As He outgrew his muslin blankets and I needed to start hiding cords from him, I temporarily adhered the blankets to the backs. 

Our new home is not open concept. It has many distinct  rooms, which I'm currently loving and enjoying picking out paint colors for. I love a house with character and color, but I don't think it should overwhelm. When deciding my colors,  I chose some basic neutral grays, bieges, whites, and blacks that could be used as connecting colors throughout the house. I also made sure any connecting rooms had colors that complemented each other. Next, I determined a focal design element (painting, furniture, flooring, etc.) that helped defined the room's aesthetic and took into consideration the era the house was built in. Lastly, I used Sherwin Williams  to make personalized color schemes for each room to keep me inspired and focused. Below are the colors I've chosen for each room - don't judge until you see how phenomenally each room turned out (click the links to see)! Living Room : Dining Room : Kitchen: Library: Master Bedroom : Nursery : Guest Room: Upstairs Bathroom: ...

We're moving! After almost a year in the house with a child, we're feeling very cramped. It could be that we bought too much stuff for him.  It was not an easy or always fun process. But we found a house that we're absolutely in love with. Our realtor helped us stage our house so beautifully that I almost thought us fools for leaving. Front: Back: Foyer/Living Room: Kitchen: Dining Room: Sun Room: Bathroom: Master Bedroom: Guest Bedroom: Nursery: Then I had to remember that in these pictures half of our stuff was in a storage pod and a large portion hiding in the unpictured basement.  It was seriously bittersweet to leave our home. I did not choose this house, as Mark bought it before we were together - but all of firsts and so many of our son's firsts  were here . Now someone else owns this space and their memories (and possibly remodeling) will paint over ours.

Something that always meant a lot to me growing up, and I'm not really sure why, was the homemade  Bucilla Christmas Stockings my mom made for each of us. When Mark and I first started dating, I thought it was time to make one for each of us to hang in our  home.  I even made some for our animals! So once I found out we were having a baby, I knew he would have to have a stocking for his first Christmas. I even went to far as to make new stockings for me and Mark.  We celebrate Christmas at my families home and this means our stocking used to be stored there. Since I wanted some for our home the snowflake ones and our animal ones will stay at our home to start new traditions. Then Mark and my new stockings will be kept at my mom's house and we will use the stocking I grew up with as our sons, when we're celebrating at her house. I already changed the name on my old stocking to his, it was pretty important to me to get it done before his first Christmas.