Home Sweet Home: Dining Room

Home sweet home is just that right now - such a haven. It was not anywhere near that two years ago, as pictured below ;)

BEFORE

Have I mentioned the whole blood, sweat, and tears portion of a home renovation? Yes...I suppose I have. And the whole there is no real deadline for things to be done part? Hmmph. But I must say that sitting in our living room, completely relaxed, watching The Office with J while our puppies play tug-o-war with one of his socks, it was all worth it.

AFTER

I know that picture is a fairly cluttered view of the dining room {dining space is probably more accurate}, but I tried to take it from the same angle as the before picture. As you can see, we took out the wall between the kitchen and dining room, and it made a huge difference in the flow of the main living area. At some point, I would like to get a larger glass top for the dining table so that we can seat more than four at the table. Buuuuuut I'm still stuck on finding the perfect snuggly sectional, and that ranks way higher than a few extra seats for supper. ;)

We got our dining table at Bombay Company for 40% off before it closed. I l.o.v.e.(d) that store, and I especially loved that something was always 40% off. That's a LOT off.

Here is a close-up of the built-in. We did our best to keep it as close to its original condition as possible, with just a few spruce-ups to hide 75 years of wear and tear.

Welp, that's it! It is a small space, but I like to think of it as cozy. ;)

If you want to check out the rest of our Home Sweet Home, click HERE and enjoy!

Living Room and room to live

**Update: a picture and a question!**

This week Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life is featuring livings rooms. I did a post a few months ago {technically all my posts have been, at most, a few months ago ;)} of the before and after of our living room - click HERE to see it, or click HERE to see all the posts on our Home Sweet Home so far!


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Here is one AFTER picture so I comply with all the Show Us Your Life rules :)

And my question is.... are sectionals in? .... because I really want one.... they are so very comfortable.... maybe I don't even care if they're in or not....
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Speaking of living rooms...and the rest of our house... for a few days J and I considered renting ours out and starting on a new home project. We actually considered it all the way to the drive to make an offer, but decided at the last minute that neither of us had a peace about it.

And can I get a collective *Whew*

I honestly don't know what we were thinking. Well, I kind of do - it would be closer to my work and to one of my brothers and it was a super fun neighborhood and a seemingly good deal. But the buck stops there. That seemingly bit could have been a corker once we really started remodeling and we would have had to become landlords on top of all the responsibilities of our currently the busiest they have ever been schedules and our nights/weekends/alltimeoff would be consumed with fixing it up so we wouldn't be living in a construction zone again and I could hardly breathe when I thought about the hideous kitchen.

There I go with run-on sentences again. I just feel like they have so much more impact, and they more adequately reflect the chaos that's going on inside my head. ;)

Upside: Ever since we drove away without offering to take on the madness, I have walked around my home appreciating every. little. detail. Thank you, Lord, for protecting us from ourselves and showing us how a level floor and a dishwasher can be such significant blessings!

Amen.

Home Sweet Home: Living Room

I've always heard that the kitchen is the heart of a home, but the living room has got to be a close second! When we bought our house the living room wasn't completely horrible. It was a little dingy and outdated, but it didn't require a whole lot of work in terms of construction. I only wish I had taken a picture of the metal tree and the dead roach that resided in the fireplace before we bought it...snuggly.

BEFORE

The most work I did was on the fireplace. That fireplace is 100% useless, by the way. Since it wasn't in the budget to replace it, I had to try to make it look a little better {or at least make it not as noticeably yuck}. My proudest accomplishment? Sharpie-ing in the white grout around the black tile so that it less resembled a bathroom from 1980. Throw in some staggered glass candleholders for a little ambiance, and it'll do.

AFTER

The picture below is looking in from the dining room. The collection of photos on the wall is from our wedding. In general, I prefer photos to art because I am a Sentimental Sally. Speaking of, my great grandfather built the bench that we use for a coffee table, and I love love love having a piece of furniture that has been used by generations in our home.

If you're wondering why there is a significant {and permanent, mind you} dip in the left couch cushion, see below. She's quite the guard dog ;)

If you'd like to check out other bits and pieces of our Home Sweet Home, click HERE!

Skinny Yard Beautiful

Our backyard is significantly longer than it is wide. The fenced-in portion is a perfectly rectangular blank canvas. That sounds good initially, but if a blank canvas remains blank for a certain period of time {Oh, say...two and a half years...}, there is a risk that blank will translate into blah. We have a beautiful Crepe Myrtle by our back deck that anchors the yard, but other than that it's... all opportunity ;). I think we will probably plant some nice, full bushes or trees and maybe some flowers {of the species: Verylow maintenanceum}, and I know the end result will be lovely!

BUT... just for fun...let's pretend for a t-tiny little moment that I had an unlimited budget {or even just a slightly excessive budget}. I think a little something like this would be so fabulous!

{photo: restorationhardware.com}

Doesn't that just look like a perfect narrow oasis to enjoy after a long day of work or on a sunny saturday {like the one when we met Lady :)}? Not to mention that with the lack of mowing required, it's a win-win!

You wanna know what would make it even better? Silly question. Of course you do.

There is an old building/garage on the side of our yard that is begging me to give it new life. Here's what the budgetless portion of my brain {I get so mad at that particular portion} has in mind:

{I can't remember where I found this photo...}

Picture if you replace that little porch-ish section with the pool and surround from the top picture. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? A combination pool house/guest cottage {with practically an entire wall of sliding french doors}! Holy smokes, right? I know, I can hardly stand it myself.

Inside, everything could be painted white {walls and floor included}, so it would be so completely clean and fresh, and a seagrass rug would show up beautifully with dark wood furniture {and there would most definitely be a hardcore gym in the back, Joshie, if you're reading this...}, and there could be a small kitchenette and it could be so cozy and it would be like getting to have a vacation home right by my actual home and the perfect place for family and friends to stay and relax when they come to visit!

Whoa. If I had to read that outloud I would be blue in the face. ;)


Do you have budgetless ideas? Let's see 'em!

Home Sweet Home: Guest Bathroom

So, yesterday I discovered The Seattle Smiths, {too much consecutive time off, it has to end soon...} a super cute blog that I am excited to follow. Each Wednesday, The Seattle Smiths host "Wishful Wednesday" as a fun way to get everyone through hump day. I think it is such a cute idea, and I am psyched {I don't really say psyched, but evidently I type it} to participate!

However, the topic this week is I wish I could come home to this bedroom. I am actually about to re-redo our bedroom and am super torn {not like I wish there was world peace torn, but more... confused and don't want to re-re-redo our bedroom torn because that would just be excessive} about what I am going to do, so I'll just have to try starting Wishful Wednesday next week.

In keeping with home ideas, however, I thought it would be a good time to share another little piece of our home reno, the guest bathroom {which incidentally, has only been fully functioning for about six months, but it's looked like it functioned for quite some time...a well placed shower curtain can cover a world of hurt, ya know what I mean ;) }


Yet again, we have a phenomenal BEFORE:

This paint technique, which was applied not only to the walls but also to all the trim {painting the trim was the previous homeowner's theme throughout the house...just lovely}, the ceiling, and the door, must have taken some serious time. I don't know if you can tell, but it's a very intricate camouflage design, lots of colors, layers, and texture. And I think the navy and cream striped curtain really sets it off perfectly, don't you? ;)

PROGRESS:

Even just priming it was like... a cleansing of sorts. Looking back on these pictures, I cannot believe how overzealous First Time Homebuyer Beth Ann was. She was so naive.

AFTER:

It is simple and probably needs a bit more pizazz and accessorizing, but it's definitely a step or fifteen in the right direction. :)

If you missed it, you can check out Home Sweet Home: Kitchen HERE!

Happy Hump Day!

Home Sweet Home: Kitchen

Two years ago my husband and I bought a 1940 box of a house in a small historic neighborhood near where he grew up. This house turned out to be quite an...adventure.

We gutted her {I'm not sure why, but I feel that this house is a her}, and in the mean time spent three months living with Josh's parents and one month living with my brother...all during our first year of marriage. Nuts. Nuts. Nuts. We never in a million bagillion years would have done it had we known what lie ahead, but we are so so glad we can't see the future!

We have redone and re-redone countless little odds and ends, but every drop of blood, sweat, or tears {yes, there have been all three} has truly made this house our home. So I thought I would share bits and pieces of the before and afters.

I'm starting with the kitchen because everybody loves a kitchen, and I need to prove I have one since actual food rarely comes out of it.

Prepare yourselves.

BEFORE

When we were about to sign our offer, a little squirrel scurried down the ventahood. I just kept praying that Josh would still sign because I had HGTV plans in my head.

GUTTED

Now before we get to the after, I must point out that HGTV is a lie. Even married to a contractor, NOTHING goes according to plan and you always have to wait "two more weeks" which is inevitably four months. Whew, I feel better.

AFTER

So very much better :)