You see, I have always, always, dreamed of a formal living room. A living room that didn't have a TV in it, but rather books to sit down and read. One where we could set up our piano and guitars and fill our home with music. One where we would have formal chairs across from a couch for an intimate feel when guests came over. One that would stay clean because we weren't always lounging in it. And guess what? My dream came true, yes it did! (as Mary Murphey would say)
After finishing our basement, we were able to take our TV downstairs, move the furniture around, and add some fun new pieces to the space. If you look at the before of our front room in this post, you'll see that our couch was exactly reversed and although not ideal, was the only logical place it could go because the TV console only fit on the one wall. But with moving the TV downstairs, we were able to re-position the couch to the best place for it- the corner of the room, and it really opened the space up! The night we moved it, I breathed a huge sigh of relief that I didn't have to go all the way around the blasted couch to get to the right side of the kitchen. My grandma has been the coolest of grandmas and passed down some of her neatest 60's style items to me (agggggh!) She gave us the gold mirror on the wall, the hanging light pendant in the corner of the room, the sheepskin rug, and the awesome wood flower clock next to the front door. I could barely breathe of excitement when I heard I could have them because I knew they'd be pretty perfect with the style I was going for. My dad was awesome, as always, and bought me the cool green side table and coffee table, and again, was exactly the look I was going for. I love the lines on them and the green adds a pop of color to the room! The pillow covers I bought on sale at West Elm. We were able to move our piano in, finally, from the carport and my stress of having it outside for the last year is gone. I painted the coat closet door and the stairs a deep gray to add a little bit of contrast to the space, and we moved the black shiny shelving piece that was originally on the TV console (again see this post) above the dining room table so I could have easier access to my milk glass. What do you think? Do you like it better now, or before?
In addition to the living room, we've been working on lots of other things we're excited to share with you guys! Wren built a deck to bring our eating experience outdoors (boo ya, no crumbs everywhere after Radcliff eats!) with hanging lights and everything above it. A dream I've had for a long time! We did a simple but high impact project to the kitchen. We're almost done decorating the basement (it's lacking something and I can't pinpoint what). We're almost done with the finishing touched to Radcliff's nursery, and then our yard! We will be posting these very soon. Excited to see what you guys think!
We've lived in this house for a little over a year now and I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how much work we've done and haven't done to it all at the same time. Buying a fixer upper is lots of work, and everything takes so much longer than you think it will, but it has proven to be one of the funnest things we've done together yet (besides you Radcliff!) Not only does it force us to work together for long periods time while simultaneously keeping the baby alive (there should be some kind of award for that type of thing), it has helped us learn to communicate better (we aren't always on the same page... I'm usually one page ahead! ;)), and really hear each other out on what the other one is thinking. Not only that, but we are able to live in an area that we love- super close to the mountains which is perfect for this outdoor loving family as well as Wren having a five minute commute to work, both are so much more important than any house period, in my opinion because it's time well spent. My new motto is, "You can always change the house, but never the location." If there's a house that's not up to par but in an area that you love, I say GO FOR IT! You can do it! If we can, you can, I promise you that! And maybe you'll get lucky and have as creaky of floors as we do and you'll get into fights with your spouse on where he/she can't/can step to ensure they don't wake up the man child :)
And it's a bit early but...
Link WHATEVER, WHENEVER up! As long as it's cool ;) Just have it be to a specific blog post.
I want to see what you've created, done, eaten, made, worn, or just think is awesome enough you have to share! Please visit a couple others who have linked up as well. We all love some comments right?
Link away....
