ta da!

for the foyer

We bought this "hall tree" yesterday at Pier 1, and it comes in today! It will be so nice to have a place to hang our coats during the winter AND I'll finally have a spot for my purse & keys!
I'm also just really excited to finally have a piece of furniture to decorate our foyer! Any ideas of how to accessorize with it? Do y'all think a floor lamp next to it would look cute?

I'm thinking of a decorative pillow on the bench part, then maybe a potted plant next to it. OR a cute little umbrella stand like this:

 Other ideas?

our halloween porch

decorated for fall.

I don't think this looks any different than last year, but here are some pictures of our house decorated for fall!

 

FALL!!!!

I am finally letting myself get excited about decorating the house for FALL!!!! I found these online at Horchow.com, and I think I might make some...

Because guess how much these 3 cost??
$195!!! WHAT!?!?

back yard

Here's what our backyard looks like right now...
I really want to get rid of the hot tub (We've used it ONCE), so we can put the table & chairs under the arbor. Oh... if only someone would just steal it.

:)

kitchen inspiration.

Oh, WHY can't I have a cheery white kitchen!?!?!

before & after

Just a little comparison of how it looked when the previous owner lived here vs. how we have decorated since we've lived here...

before:

after:


I'm pretty satisfied :)

house tour....

I realized I haven't posted any pictures of what our house looks like lately...and since I cleaned up, I decided to take some pictures! Enjoy this little tour! :)

This is the view of the dining, kitchen & living room from the door to the garage...


Another view of the dining room *and Scout*


Breakfast nook *and Scout*


Standing at the kitchen bar, looking at our "guest hall" with the bathroom, laundry room, linen closet and 2 guest rooms...


The guest bath. I really want to paint the cabinet white.


The finished guest room (looks about the same as before)...



The former "junk room"... now the "empty room" or Queso's room...
Will someday be the nursery.



View from the breakfast nook...


Just bought these new kitchen rugs to spice things up.


View of the living room from the dining room.


I forgot to take pictures of our bedroom, but it looks exactly the same as before anyway :)
I WISH I took a picture of our garage because we TOTALLY cleaned it out! So much more space now!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little tour... This will be good for when we do major work around the house, so we can look back and see how far we've come. We feel so blessed to have this home though. Sometimes I just stand around looking at it, and I feel so thankful.

the nursery!

Haha... I bet y'all are confused.

We are a WHILE away from reproducing, but is it weird that I already know what I want our nursery to look like??? I mean... I have already PLANNED it. Am I crazy?

here is the (surprisingly) gender-neutral bedding that I LOOOOVE.

just check out this adorable mobile.
this is the paint color. yes, i'm insane.


...and i'm in love with this print that I'd get framed.

these are just IDEAS, people.
(mom & dad, no gossiping please.)
:)

BLINDS!

Before... Lots of brown bamboo blinds...

In process... already looking better...

Viola! beautiful!

Before... more icky brown bamboo vertical panels...

After! So much brighter!

In process...

Ugh... so dark...

LOVE!!!!

I think this has been my favorite update so far :)
Now I want to add blinds in EVERY room!

flowers in our side yard

Yesterday on our anniversary, I looked outside our dining room that looks onto our side yard, and noticed that there is a tree/bush thing that's blooming with these gorgeous flowers!!! How fitting as we start a new year of our marriage!







Any idea what they are??? :)

**Edited to add: They are pink magnolias!
This will look soooo cool when this tree gets really big!

the breakfast nook project

Okay, my next order of business is to update the breakfast nook a little. We've done absolutely NOTHING since we moved in.

This table belonged my grandmother (Mimi), so it's sentimental, but I'd like to refinish the whole thing to a dark brown... My first choice would be to paint it white and do some distressing but Ryan has a major problem with white furniture. Go figure.. Regardless, I'm not a huge fan of the current hunter green legs and the light wood top.

The valances were left here by the owner. While I think they fit the windows nicely, we're not crazy about the Asian-style print, and we think we could do better. I'm thinking a dark red color with a pattern?

The bamboo blinds will stay, I'm pretty sure. I actually don't hate them on these windows...

A rug is in question. I think the room is big enough that it could use a rug under that table, but Ryan thinks rugs in the kitchen are weird.

So vote in the poll (on the right) about whether you think we need a rug or not.
Your vote will seriously help this debate!!!!

halleluyah!!!!

I feel like that person who says "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!!!!" but instead its...

no more bamboo blinds!!!

That's right... yesterday I finally bit the bullet and ordered faux-wood blinds to put in our living room and dining room! Say goodbye to our ugly bamboo vertical panels!!!!!!!

The new ones will be delivered in 2 weeks, and then we get to install them!
Wish us luck! :)

the torture couch.

We've had this couch since I lived in my teenie tiny efficiency apartment in Las Colinas. Sooo that would be about 3.5 years. Usually couches should last a lot longer than that, but we have spent every single day (and some days up to 12 hours) on this couch.

We LIVE on this couch. We eat, we nap, we lounge, we cuddle, we spend time on the computer, we watch tv, we hang out with the pets, etc. This couch is where we spend the majority of our life at home (besides the bed).

Why we love this couch:

• The neutral chenille hides dirt, spills and stains.
• When you take the back cushions off, it's as wide as a twin bed (great for cuddling).

Why we are shopping for a new one:

• Friends call it the "torture couch" because you sink so far down that it's impossible to get out.
  
• Some springs have broken, so the bottom cushions are uneven.
• You can't sit comfortably with the back cushions on. They are too poofy and make you sit up too straight.
• It is HUGE but doesn't hold that many people (4 at most).

Basically, it has just become uncomfortable to sit in. Which isn't good when we spend so much time on the couch. We are thinking we want a sectional so we can seat more people since we entertain pretty regularly...

I like this sectional from JCP, but I'm not sure about slipcovered couches. Also, I think we need a more "living friendly" color that hides dirt. We spend a LOT of time on the couch. Any recommendations?
I also like this one from Pottery Barn, but it's twice the price, and I'm not sure that microsuede would be the best fabric for us... What do y'all think?

Couches are SO hard to shop for!!! For us, this is a MAJOR purchase, and it's very important to find the right one. Argh!

Does anyone LOVE their couch? If so, where did you find a great quality one?