we've rearranged

So the living room, our most lived in and "in-flux" room, has been rearranged once again - shocker! It was feeling a little too closed off with the couch creating a "wall" between the living room and dining room. I guess it's a live and learn situation: we broke down a wall in order to open up the space and then we placed the couch in a way that the room felt closed off again. Well last weekend I looked at Rob and said "Would you mind if we did some moving" - those have to be his least favorite words. I know this is especially true because I always ask while we are watching some kind of show or movie; all I can do is sit and think about is how I don't like the space i'm in; meanwhile, he is innocently watching and enjoying whatever flick we are watching!  

To remind you what we had going on before, take a look at the picture below - tv against the wall, couch creating a wall, coffee table, chair in corner and an open wall to the left. From this angle you can't even see a bit of floor! 

It definitely goes well enough and there was plenty of room to walk by to the left of the couch but it was just not "right!" Away we went with moving, we tried a couple different arrangements before we ended here. 

The angles are a little different (and the second photo was taken at night) but the feeling in the room is much more open! We were able to keep the television and buffet where they were, the large city scape art was just moved up a couple inches to accommodate the couch and the floor lamp stayed put. After moving the couch we realized that by using our coffee table as a side table under the window (top left) we were able to save a lot of floor space without losing any surface space! And look, you can see the floor! 

Overall, much nicer and (hindsight) it should have been set up like this all along. It's a nice configuration for conversation as well as tv watching and there is a lot of open space for extra chairs when we have people over! 

The dogs love it too, we had my cousin's little girl over the other day and it gave them plenty of room to play!! They got some major lovin' that day! 

        

I know some of you will think i'm crazy, and I think that of myself a bit for even thinking it, but I think I am going to repaint the room. There is still something off about the space; it's a little too warm with the furniture that we have. I won't go back to white, that was too cold but I may offset the warmth a bit with a soft grey... I don't know yet. Painting is such a huge undertaking but it's worth it. I think we will live as is for a bit and see what I decide with color before making any hasty decisions. 

Any color recommendations for this room? What color would YOU paint it!?

the forgotten room

After posting yesterday and going through all our progress we realized that we had never shown you our spare room / den area. It's funny to us, since our house isn't that big... how could we forget a whole room?! 

We think that because the room was a storage room for so long after moving in and because it's not a main living area where we spend a lot of our time, it was easy to over look. Oddly enough though, some of our favorite and most personal decor items rest in this room! 

So there you have it, almost three months after everything was placed and adjusted and hung up, we present our spare room / den!

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In our last apartment we had a second bedroom that we used as an office. We made it as cozy as we could while still having to look at computers, shelves of craft materials, and piles of finished wood signs, etc.. Needless to say, it wasn't as cozy as we would have hoped for a spare room and our guests usually ended up on the couches in the living room. 

In our new house we moved all the office stuff and one of the larger, more comfortable couches down to the finished part of the basement to create our offices and a hang out place to work without sitting at a desk. (We haven't even shown you the basement because it's still in shambles.) 

Thankfully, because of the space the basement provides, we were able to use our second room as a combination spare room / den. As you can see in these pictures (taken before we even moved in), the room has some added interest with the wainscoting and chair rail. It's a little odd to have these details in a spare room but we think that the previous owner used this room (bedroom 2) as the dining room and bedroom 3 (our new dining room) as a spare bedroom. Confused yet? 

    

As for now, the walls are still all white but we may be changing that soon. We know for sure that we will leave the wainscoting as is to give the room a base and then add a color above for some contrast. The color will fall into our house scheme, but we aren't sure of what end of the spectrum. Stay posted to see what we choose! 

   

When it came to furnishing this room we were able to use what we already had. Always a perk for furniture that would otherwise go into storage and for us and our wallets! 

• Futon: Lindsey's futon from college that had been in storage for the previous two years we have been married and now it gets to see the light of day again! We appreciate it's function as a bed for guests or a couch, in its upright position, for some extra hang out space. 
• Side Tables: These were the night stands from our apartment bedrooms, we like using these in this room because it gives a little more guest room comfort. 
• Red Arm Chair: This chair had a home in the living room of our first apartment and our bedroom in our second apartment. It's broken in and perfect for reading! 
• Floor Lamp: A hand me down from Rob's parents that has served us well the last two years. When we moved into the house, I got a new shade that matches the decor and gives the lamp an updated style. 
• Cube Storage Unit: This is a newer addition that we only had for the last year in our second apartment. I love all the cubbies because it's so easy to display simply things in a fun and less "bookshelf" kind of way!
• Carpet: The carpet is a hand me down that we decided to flip over and use the back side for display - this method definitely wouldn't work with all types of rugs, but it's always worth a look!
• Curtains: These were given to us by my mom, she had them extra in her linen closet and they were a perfect match for this room! Thanks, Mom! 

Lots of sentiment is held in this room! Above: you can see how we have decorated the cubby unit with 7+ of our favorite things; it's so fun walking into a room and seeing things that make you so happy. Below: On the left you can see the wall above the futon which is where we display our wedding photos in collage frames along with other odds and ends we use to decorate. On the right you can see our very cute dogs how we kept the seating chart from our wedding day and now use it as large wall art in our spare room! 

   

I'm so happy that you all finally get to see our cozy little den, we're sorry it took so long! It's a great area for hanging out with the pups, reading a book or hosting a guest. We are thankful that we can now have a space like this in our home. 

Until next time, 

Lindsey 

making progress in the living room

The dining room has probably undergone the most changes so far in the house. First we ripped down one of its walls to combine it with the dining room and secondly it has been decorated and redecorated more than once. 

In our apartment we had space for two full size couches because of the open layout and the length of the space but in this house we simply don't. Now, part of the redecorating and rearranging included a layout in which we tried to include both couches but it was too frustrating and tight. As you can see in the layout below [generated by floorplanner], having two couches in the living room was way to smooshed. Even though the room is fairly large, the walkways and front door pose a problem when trying to fit furniture - there aren't a lot of layout options.

I just went crazy one day; so frustrated trying to move around the coffee table and between the overbearing furniture I started to move things around. I ended up with one couch in the middle of the house with no home, ha! We like to say it's all part of the "process" so we don't feel like crazy people! The lighter couch that ended up with no home, is now housed in basement. We decided to keep the maroon leather couch upstairs due to the shape, size, and color! We don't even have any real pictures of the first layout because it never felt right... we knew it wasn't going to last.

 

This is the only photo I could find with the light couch upstairs. If you can use your imagination, the front door is directly to the right of the couch in this picture, the coffee table is just below the frame of this shot, and the TV is where Rob is looking. All in all, not a good situation.

After we removed the couch, we had a lot of empty space. Not enough for another couch or even a loveseat but we knew we wanted more seating. I found a oversized chair at Tootie and Tallulah's that fit the bill! It matched our color scheme and just fit perfectly in the space - plus, it is so so comfortable (as Taylor, Oswin and Harlee are so graciously modeling for us!).

After a couple adjustments and side table switches we came out with a good layout with lots of walking space as well as floor space for our two crazy creatures. My mom was a huge help during this, helping pick out curtains that fit the room and moving everything to its perfect spot!

The walls in the living room have seen many pieces of art and different corner displays, the lighting has changed, frames have been switched, curtains have been swapped and the odds and ends have been added and removed. All in all we are very happy with this current arrangement! 

 

Standing behind the couch, with the front door to your right, this is the view of the living room. The wall above the TV still needs some love and the lighting needs to - yet again - be changed.  All in good time!

 

Standing in the dog's bed (pictured above) this is the view from living room to dining room. The collage corner to the right was originally in the boring white corner from the picture above. We like its new home much more! **please look away from the clutter on the dining room table!

 

Again, standing behind the couch, you can see the over-sized chair and the leather ottoman that we added for seating as well as the art we chose to hang in the living room! 

The thing we are liking most is the flux of everything. Nothing stays in one place and it doesn't have to. The two large pieces of art (which we had framed locally at Greene's Art Supply in Birmingham) were originally meant for the dining room. After one look at the new arrangement, Mom and I decided that the "it is well" art would fit better in the dining room while the architecture pieces fit perfectly in the living room!

We are still going to paint this room and we may or may not already be underway with that project! Results to come later, we are still deciding if we like the color!! 

Thanks for reading, until next time, 

Lindsey

it's the most wonderful time of the year

Christmas is one of the most charming times of the year. It was so fun decorating our new home to make it reflect the holiday cheer that we love being a part of. We put the tree up the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the earliest we've ever decorated, but we were so eager we just couldn't wait! It was fun to find a full sized tree this year, we've never had one before - it was cold and we weren't prepared for the wait outside but we had fun while we waited!

We picked a Frasier Fur, a type of tree we have grown up with, and while they were trimming our tree to fit into the stand I was able to get some extra branches for our front porch pot. If your Christmas tree spot lets you take the extras it's a great way to save about 30$ on front porch decorations! 

After we rearranged the furniture a bit to make room for the tree, we were able to light her up and decorate with our eclectic bunch of ornaments that remind us of very fun memories of the past! For fillers on the tree I always shop the after Christmas sales, that way we can have a fully decorated tree without paying an exorbitant amount of money for the ornaments, garlands and lights (Target is usually my go-to for Christmas sales!)

I found a nice looking fake wreath for only 8$ and was able to decorate it for "nothing" with purchases I had made in the past (woo hoo sales!) I didn't have to use anything to secure the garland (it is just tucked between pieces of the wreath) and the two "love birds" are just sitting atop with their toes for balance. 

We don't have any type of a mantel so we hang our stockings with care on the buffet we use as a tv stand! The stockings are cute pottery barn stockings that we received as a christmas present the year we were engaged - thank you New Jersey Brands! 

I was able to change the table scape just by adjusting the arrangement and adding a filler to some of the vases. Everything was either purchased at salvation army or was at a huge discount (I think I got the two candle sticks for $12 each from Anthropologie!) I always just try and move things around with my dining room table so that I don't have to find storage for the pieces I'm not using and so I don't have to buy more decorations! The pheasant feathers are actually from pheasants when we went out hunting a while back! 

The dogs don't mind the tree one bit and haven't tried to eat any of the ornaments - thank goodness! They even have their own stockings that hang over their food bowls! Maybe they will wake up on Christmas morning to find a special treat! 

The littlest things can add to the holiday cheer around a home. We don't have the ability or space in our pocketbooks to change our whole home decor when Christmas comes around, so I make little additions and changes that can easily be manipulated into the scheme of our home! The little Santa was a housewarming present (thank you Aunt Mary!), the bells were $2 last year at Target's after Christmas sale, and the metal trees were a hand me down from Rob's mom (thank you Kristin!) Decorating for the Holidays doesn't have to break the bank, you just have to think ahead in order to save some green!! 

Well that's all for now! Merry Christmas everyone! 

Until next time, Lindsey