Changing and Rearranging

We have been making big changes in our main living area of the house and now I am finally getting around to sharing some photos of our updates. I think it's really interesting to see how our needs have changed and how the space has developed over time. The first thing I wanted to show off are the awesome built in stairs that Eric made for under our staircase!

This is a project we have been wanting to do since we moved in. The previous space under the stairs was inaccessible and basically unusable and a waste of space.  We had some bookshelves stuck back there but we really couldn't get to them and they didn't give us as much storage as we wanted.  The new built in shelves are very wide and very deep and allow for plenty of storage for our games and extra kitchen goods.

The top section of the shelves will one day be a reading nook for Echo but for now it's a place to hide the cat food so Echo can't eat it (babies love to eat cat food, don't ask me why). 

In order to be able to access the shelves we had to do a little furniture rearrangement and this is the new setup. It is a much cozier arrangement and allows for better conversation and a better spot to sit by the fire since the furniture is closer together now. We even found a nice little nook for Echo's easel and her little rocking chair.

The area by the front window has changed too since we swapped out the round table that was in this corner with the rectangular table that used to be in the dining room. Eric is now using this corner as his work desk for when he works from home. It's great because he has a lovely view out in to the front yard and plenty of light. He also sold his IMac and works exclusively on his new Chrome Book and his Ipad so he doesn't need much room. We almost never use the loft now because we have pretty much stopped watching tv altogether and Echo hates being confined in the small space up there, preferring to have free reign of the whole house. The consequence of this is that we are using our "formal" living room a lot more now and not really spending much time in the the loft. Plans for how to revise the loft space to make it more usable are in the works though.

We got a cool new firewood holder so we can have dry wood inside and it fits nicely with the new furniture arrangement (it needs to be filled up more though!). The house is starting to feel like a greenhouse because I had to move so many plants inside to save them from the freezing weather but it makes everything feel a little fresher and greener so that's nice.

Here is a picture of the new dining room arrangement. I actually think the round table fits better in this space. Unfortunately this area wasn't very clean for this photo, oh well.

I also felt the need to change out the art on the dining room wall so I got a huge poster sized print of one of my photographs and framed it for this wall. I'm loving the updated look. The glass in the frame is a little too reflective though and messes with the photograph, I'm working on a solution to this. I'm moving the art that used to be on this wall up in to the loft where I'm making a gallery wall.

Here is an aerial view of the new downstairs space. Sometimes I think it really helps perk up your spirits to rearrange and redecorate a space. I think this is just what we needed and we are appreciating our house in a whole new way now.

Updating My Throw Pillows- DIY Pillow Sham

My throw pillows have been around a while and by a while I mean since college (more years ago than I care to remember!). Back then i was going for an eclectic, world traveler vibe in my apartment with a definite tendency towards Asian decore. These days I definitely tend more towards rustic and, well modern themes in my house with a little bit of urban and a little bit of country thrown in (maybe this is what happens when you move to the suburbs). I recently decided that my throw pillows could use an update to reflect my current since of style. Having a toddler around also meant that I wanted them to have removable covers that could easily be washed since she tends to get food on just about everything. 

Being on the cheap side I decided to use fabrics I already had on hand and was able to piece together some scraps from a skirt I made last year to make a new pillow sham. I think it gives the couch a little pick me up and perhaps distracts ever so slightly from the cat scratches at the edges ;-)

I still have the pillow on the right side of the couch to make a new sham for but I haven't decided on fabrics for this one yet, hopefully I can use some leftover fabric scraps again and pull off something that will go ok with the other pillow. I have a whole host of holiday sewing projects in the works so I am in full on crafting mode. Hopefully I'll have more to show soon!

Christmas is Coming

I'm trying to focus on my upcoming Thanksgiving dinner hosting but Christmas projects are already starting to edge their way in. I already made my Thanksgiving shopping list and did a little pre-shopping for dry goods and things that would keep until the big day so my Thanksgiving prep is going well, maybe that's why I am already jumping ahead to Christmas. I am pretty much always ridiculously excited about the Christmas holidays but this year I seem to be getting started on my Christmas festivities even earlier than usual. My shopping is already 99% finished and have already given a lot of thought to decorations. Part of my excitement is from the fact that this house will be so awesome to decorate for Christmas, it is so cabin like, it'll be perfect! My first Christmas craft this year is a pine cone wreath. We have so many pine cones in our yard that I am planning to use them heavily in our holiday decorating. To start my wreath I got a cheap grapevine wreath from Michael's. Then I used floral wire to tie the pinecones to the base wreath. Finally I used a hot glue gun to add smaller pine cones and a little bit of sparkle by using some gold spray painted pine cones and a few gold glitter balls. Lastly I added the bow and ribbon to hang it from. I'm very pleased with how it came out, I feel like you would pay big bucks for a wreath like this at the store and it cost me next to nothing. Here are some pictures of the process and finished product.

in progress

in progress

almost done!

ta da!

Tree Triptych

At long last I've finished the tree paintings I started so long ago! This is a project I began back in February when we had a full week off due to snow and I was cooped up in the house all day. To me that week was heaven, staying at home all day, painting and cooking delicious food in my crock pot. By the time the snow week ended I had only finished two of the three paintings however and I never could quite work up the will to finish the third painting, until today that is :-)  I planed this series of paintings to go over our fireplace in our current house as soon as we started the buying process. We have these huge high ceilings and a big blank wall over the fireplace and I knew I wanted a large piece of art to go there. As a new homeowner however, I knew I wouldn't be able to afford something the size that I wanted to go up there so I decided to make it myself! The imagery is inspired by all the lovely windows that offer views of our plentiful trees. I wanted these paintings to mimic the windows on either side of the fire place and provide a trompe l'oeil effect, acting as faux windows to the outside world. I'm so pleased with how they cam out and so happy to have the whole set finished! Here are some pictures.

The finished triptych

 The images above are some in progress shots taken back at our old house when I was first starting the paintings. I worked in multiples layers of color to add depth and used a lot of scumbling during the process. The paintings are oil on canvas.  

 These a few close up, detail shots of some of the tree branches.

Finished and in their proper place, hooray!

Sunday Morning Thrifting

Sunday just happens to be our local thrift store's 50% off day (provided you have the right coupons) and man did we score big this week! I couldn't resist a post about all our vintage goodies. I've recently become a passionate thrifter, we got everything pictured below plus some clothes for around $12.

Bowling bags, one for Eric and one for me! They came with balls that actually fit our fingers and mine came with shoes that not only fit me but are super cute!

They also make good dance shoes

My bowling bag, I thought it would make a cute little overnight bag. 

Eric's more manly bowling bag, how cute will we be on little weekend getaways with these things?

Wire basket for kitchen organization, I've wanted one of these for a while but was unwilling to pay 18 bucks for it.

Ikea bread box, we plan to hang it on the wall and using it more like a shelf, I'll post pictures when we figure it out :-)

Home Sweet Home

Eric and I stole away to do some camping for the weekend and I have to say it was the perfect trip at the perfect time. The weather was fabulous, the scenery was beautiful and the location was full of sweet memories (it was the State park where we got engaged two years ago). It was great to get away for the weekend, just the two of us, and forget about reality for a while. It took me back to that giddy period right after we first got engaged, ahhh memories :-)

All that being said it is the most incredible feeling to be home again. Am I crazy to think that part of the joy of traveling is the relief of coming back home? I have been thinking a lot about my true nature, trying to know myself really well and there is a big part of me that is just a huge home body. I like to get away for a short while and then retreat back to my nest. Eric and I are both Cancers in the zodiac and I always think about how we are so true to that in so many ways. I know that signs of the zodiac are just for fun but it really is incredible how many Cancer characteristics describe us to a T. One of the biggest things I've noticed is that we love making our home a wonderful retreat, we both really value home and family.

Getting away is probably the best way to make me appreciate my home all over again, along with all it's little homey touches. What is it about your house that really makes you feel at home? Here are some of my top things that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I'm home:

Number 1: Our cats. Nothing makes a house a home like having little furry babies around. We miss them when we're gone and they definitely make our home worth coming back to.

Number 2: Candles. If you've ever been to a party at our place you've probably noticed we have a million candles burning. We love having candles around, especially of the scented variety. 

Number 3: Our bed. Especially after camping, nothing beats sleeping in your own bed. Bed by Ikea, quilt by Urban Outfitters.

Number 4: Lighting. As anyone can tell you, lighting has a huge influence on the look and feel of a place. For me nothing says home light the warm afternoon light coming through our giant front windows. 

Number 5: House plants. Something about having these little living things that depend on you for survival gives you sense of purpose and ownership in your home. 

Of course sharing you home with the right person is also a huge factor in loving where you live. I'm fortunate enough to share my home with my wonderful husband. Not only that, but the other people who mean the most to me in the world, my Mom and Dad, live just a few houses over. What more could a girl ask for?

Ikea Trip

Today we took our first trip to Ikea since we purchased the house. Wow! I can't believe it has taken us this long! The last time we were there it was to buy stuff for the wedding but we have been planning a trip every since we closed on the house back in February. Ikea is such a strange place, we were there right when it opened to beat the crowds and there were already all these people lined up just to get in, crazy! Still, it's easy to see why it's so popular, it has such nicely designed furniture and accessories and they are so cheap! We had a lot of fun browsing and got tons of inspiration for things we want to do to the house! (more on that later). We also continued the kitchen organization quest by purchasing some more spice containers and additional racks to hang kitchen stuff from. Here's what we came out with,

some of our new spice jars on the new corner pantry. It's starting to egt that eclectic apothecary shop look we are going for. 

more spice jars

new wrack for hanging mugs before we put it on the wall

racks and mugs up on the wall! now we don't have to stack our mugs on top of each other in the cabinets.

the kitchen is starting to look so much more clean and organized. 

It's pretty gratifying to see the kitchen getting so much more usable and organized. It's also a much more pleasant place to work in when it's clutter free. So far so good but I have a lot more plans for this kitchen, I can't wait to get it all together in here!

Store Review- Kudzo Antiques

Today we went on a little outing with some friends of ours to the wonderful Dekalb Farmers Market in Decatur. On the way there I mentioned how I had never been to Kudzo Antiques, the huge, colorful antique store we passed on the way, but had always wanted to go. My friends agreed that they would like to check it out as well so the 4 of us made a detour and wandered around the store for the better part of an hour. Oh man, let me tell you, I was in heaven. The store is huge and has a wide variety of styles from vintage industrial to mid century to folk art so a little something for everyone. I found a ton of stuff I wanted, I mean a TON but my better judgement won out and I walked away empty handed but with lots of ideas. My favorite items were the vintage and repurposed industrial furniture, so cool! Here are some pictures from their website of some furniture I would love to own one day.

If you ever find yourself in the area I highly recommend that you check this place out. Just be prepared to spend about an hour to hurt from wanting all the things you can't afford ;-)

New Additions

I've been rounding up some cute new home accessories lately and thought I'd share. Now that we are home owners I take any chance I can to use coupons or sales and gift cards are just about the best thing ever. We recently got a belated wedding present from some friends of Eric's family (which was awesome because we totally weren't expecting it) in the form of a Target gift card and we used it to get this sweet new lamp.

My other recent purchase for the house comes from being a World Market rewards member. They sent my a $10 gift card for my birthday, that's just free money for me to buy something special! I ended up getting this awesome bamboo cutting board with prep bowls (which was more than $10 but at least I was able to get it half off). Since we try to eat healthy at home I could really use something like this while chopping up veggies and herbs. And it's bamboo so it matches every thing else in our house.

If you ever shop at World market and haven't signed up for their rewards program yet I highly recommend it. Not only do they send you birthday cash but they have great coupons as well and they are such a great place to shop.

Tree Table DIY

Finally I get to post about my tree table! I got the idea from this post on Design Sponge and have been in love with the thought of it ever since. I have always loved this kind of natural wood furniture but it will cost you a pretty penny if you buy it from a store (see this example from Amazon). There is no reason you can't make this yourself, it's actually super easy (if I can do it so can you!). I started by selecting the perfect log, this was not too difficult because if there's one thing we have a lot of in this neighborhood it's trees. Lucky for me my parents had recently had a tree cut down and had a whole stack of beautiful logs in their back yard from which they let me take my pick. A word of caution about starting this project, these logs are heavy!! Be careful trying to move something like this, you can kill your back. Fortunately I have a big burly husband who carries my heavy things for me and he picked it up like it was a rag doll and hauled it back to our house for me. After I had it in the garage I knocked all the bark off of it and sanded it smooth. I didn't go overboard on the sanding because I personally like having some texture to the wood but you can sand it as much or as little as you like. After the sanding I cleaned off all the dust and coated it with several layers of polyurethane. Here are some pictures of the finished product.

this is replacing our $7 Ikea end table :-)

I love that you can see the insect paths on this thing.

The stump was not quite level so I used some of these to help it stand a little straighter. 

So that's what I've been working on this week. I must say I am pretty darn proud of it. It has really inspired me to take on some of my other DIY projects that I have been putting off forever.

Kitchen Organization and Storage

As I may have mentioned before our house has a teeny tiny kitchen. There is lots to love about the kitchen like it's proximity to the dining room and deck and the fact that is has surprisingly deep cabinets but it is still small by modern standards. It would probably be fine for a normal person but we both love to cook and have kind of a ridiculous amount of kitchen gadgets (all of which we can't do with out). The result of this is that we are always tight on space in the kitchen. We have used a lot of the wall space for storage already as you can see in this previous post, and we recently added a few more items to help us stay organized in the kitchen.

First of all is our new dish drying rack. It may seem silly but it has helped the kitchen stay a lot neater, we used to use a dish towel to dry things on and this just looks a lot cleaner.

I also recently purchased something I've always wanted and that is a tea box. We have a lot of teas (way more than will fit in here) and this helps us keep our favorites close at hand while still looking stylish and uncluttered.

My last recent improvement is adding hooks on either side of the sink to hang dish towels and pot holders. Again, this is a small thing but makes a big difference. Having things close at hand and easy to reach can really make your cooking experience.

The next thing I have to tackle is organizing our ridiculous spice collection which is now spread out in three different places.

Spices are currently stored here,

here,

and here.

Any suggestions for this one? We'd need something pretty massive to hold all of it in one place.