There’s no doubt about it, we have been VERY busy (hence the lack of updates). *Spoiler alert* this will be a pretty heft post; I have some catching up to do :).  At least stick around for the pictures, there are lots of pictures.

Over the past 7 months so much has happened – from working on the house, keeping up with the minimal requirement for a social life, and working full time (buzz kill).

 

First, I’ll start in my happy place (the Master bedroom, for now…don’t ask…). I last left off on a bedroom that was about 75% complete. From then, the look has changed in a huge way.  I changed the overall feel of the room with the grey duvet cover from Wayfair.com and the bed frame in the color Oatmeal. Rob’s exact words accompanied by a hilarious selfie with the bed frame: “stop buying sh*t I have to build.”

The pillows are mostly from TJ Maxx (in store – sorry no link for these) I tried to go for colors and patterns that I liked, but that would still compliment each other without being too matchy-matchy.

One of my best-kept secrets is the Salvation Army by our house – it honestly has the best stuff I have ever found in cheap resale. The green wreath was one of my all time favorite finds there. If you are familiar with faux plants/flowers from the department stores – the good quality ones DO NOT come cheap, so finding this in the Sal was like my holy grail.

I wanted extra storage that was small but functioned as a place to store our pillows when the bed is not made.

[[Who has the time to make the bed like that everyday anyway?! I guess were just not those people :).]]

This is actually a bathroom bench from the Hemnes line at IKEA and its perfect for what I wanted. The chalkboard was another Salvation Army find and it was actually a mirror – I decided I wanted a chalk board instead so I used chalk spray paint on the mirror portion. I also sanded the wood trim and stenciled on the design.

The guest room is finally 80% put together and (praise the lord!) I have a hair/makeup station and office!

 

 

 

Rob built the desk shown below out of pallets a few years back.

[[Have I told you how talented this man is?!?]]

 

The rug is a distressed take on a traditional pattern from Target. The stylish desk chair in light blue is from Joss & Main. The blue lamp and gold mirror are family heirlooms from both the Moncrieff side and the Bisbikis side.

Please disregard my terrible crooked pictures on the wall, don’t worry they’re just taped up until I find some frames.

 

I had a hard time deciding on a comforter for the guest room. I wanted something simple, so it wasn’t too busy for the small space. I decided on the beige duvet cover from IKEA and it gives the perfect rustic and relaxed look I was going for.

 

The living room, although not nearly finished, has had some major progress with just some semi-simple updates.

 

 

First, Rob quickly took down the golden chandelier that he hated so much. He installed recessed lighting and I am eternally grateful. I was always against recessed lighting because I thought it lacked character and was so overdone. Boy, did my opinion quickly change after seeing the transformation it made with little effort. Sorry no links here because this was all Rob’s design and doing. I can tell you that he got them from Home Depot and the LED lights have been worth every. single. penny.

We also updated the fireplace instantly by removing the gold insert.  And replacing the tiny mantel with a custom made piece.

That decorative candle holder was a find from Diggs Consignment on Dixie Highway in Clarkston. If you like home goods and/or design and haven’t been there…PLEASE, GO. GO NOW!!! Haha – but seriously it’s one of my favorite stores and its consignment, so you can get quality items for a pretty fair price.

And – the pièce de résistance, that gorgeous fireplace mantel, hand crafted by the one and only. Cut from a tree trunk, hand scraped, sanded, stained, and clear coated. I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves on this one.

I scored the two accent chairs in brown on Wayfair.com. I wanted something with a high back to contrast the couch.

The couch is from Art Van and is my dream couch [style] – I never imagined I would actually have it in my first house (thanks Mom!). I was hesitant on putting a couch in the room with the back facing the front door, but it fits perfectly in the space and has a lower back than most couches leaving the room feeling more open.

[[I couldn’t avoid sharing the living room progress, so far, because its come a long way. But we will be painting the walls and hopefully ripping up the carpet and refinishing the hardwoods, who knows when.]]

Thanks for reading and allowing me to re-live our progress. Hopefully it will turn into a major spike in motivation to continue to forge ahead.

 

Love,

Those first time renovators & home decorators

 

P.s. Feel free to contact me to chat about home buying (and home ownership).  I would love to talk real estate!