Home Sweet Home

Our house.  How I love the deep wooded backyard.  The sledding hill.  The trails that begin in our backyard and wind through the trees, connect to more trails, and eventually lead right into downtown.  The court filled with friends for the girls to ride bikes with, color with chalk, and play chase, without concerns of cars whizzing by.   The award winning schools that will benefit them in ways I can only imagine.

The only problem with the school district? The homes built in our specific area that we wanted to be in based on the elementary -- middle -- high school flow are all from the 60s to 80s with no open areas for new construction. Thankfully our home was mildly updated but for the past two years my plans to kick this home up a notch have been in full force.  

Finally FINALLY we are almost complete with the living and dining room.  This room never felt right to me though I couldn't put my finger on it.  Right off the bat I knew the purple walls had to go.  I must have been intoxicated though when I decided to go with baby blue paint.  I wanted this to be our bright room (a choice I quickly regretted) so I decorated with reds, yellows, greens, anything bright was invited into this space.  But it still didn't seem right.  

So we made and installed a new mantle, changed the base trim from tan to white, and installed a new dining room light.  Still not right.  So I white washed the fireplace, removed the curtains, and took our the bright accents.  Still didn't help.  So we went all out and ripped out the wood floors and installed new wide planked rustic ones.  Framed out the doorwalls and added crown molding.  Turned the dining room wall into a gallery wall, repainted with Sherwin William's Lazy Gray, and tada.  Go big or go home, right?? 

Listing pic below :: too dark, too crowded, no details

Transition phase :: wainscoting added, new light, bright accents and wall color 

Today :: MUCH more my style (funny how my style changes so much in less than two years).  Yellowed small plank floors -- adios.  Baby blue nursery wall color is a thing of the past.  Gallery wall in process.  My babes are on the right -- all 9 months old, all in the same car, all in the same polka dot dress.  Crown molding is up.  Bright colors, buh bye.   

Listing pic :: should be titled, how to feel depressed in a room.

Transition phase :: all the colors.  I don't hate it and I like where we are headed. 

Today :: still need to figure out the decor aspect.  What to put next to the fireplace? Should I add a tan couch in front of the fireplace like the red one? The current feel of the room is a little cold so I need to make it a bit more inviting.  In the works. I also need a thin TV stand.  I planned to make it myself though K fears I will experience death via power tools.  Maybe an online purchase is the safest bet. 

Listing pic :: blah, just blah

Transition phase :: all the colors and a coffee table which is just trouble with a baby and two big kids running around. 

Today :: clean, crisp molding and fresh neutral paint.  The feel is much calmer now. 

The wood floors were just what we needed to turn this home from boring to rustic modern.  While it was a large scale project it really only took about a month or so from demo to done.  Very happy with the end result.  On to the next one (whatever that may be...)