The holiday bug has bitten. Ok, fine…really just the husband who loves Christmas like a child. If I am going to spend all that time decorating, I might as well share it with someone besides my hubs right?
Guess I better find some gifts to go up under that tree, huh? Bring it on Santa.
Two years ago we moved into our lovely Charlotte home and we couldn’t be happier with our decision. Husband and I are complete opposites in a lot of ways, so to find a home that we both loved took a lot of time and searching (many of you long time readers probably remember how long it took us!). We actually lost this house once and it went off the market, but lucky for us the owner reconsidered. In two years I thought I would have our lovely home fully furnished and decorated to my (our?) taste, but alas life gets in the way. While we have made some progress in the past 24 months, our house is still in the process of becoming our home.
I come from the school of wait until you find something you love rather than making do, so I have been doing a lot of waiting. Take for instance our recent kitchen lighting dilemma. Our 1980’s kitchen came complete with popcorn ceilings and an oh so lovely fluorescent box light (not to mention those orange oak cabinets and Formica countertops!). After a ferocious leak, we made the decision to have the ceilings smoothed out and that big monstrosity of a light torn down, but now the question is what to replace it with?!
For now, we installed a cheap $10 light to cover the hole in the ceiling but we are a on a desperate search to find something that:
A. Isn’t fluorescent
B. Doesn’t require us to cut additional holes in the ceiling (ie. recessed lighting)
C. Provides enough light to illuminate our rather large and dark kitchen
D. Doesn’t hang down over one-two feet so my very tall husband doesn’t bang his head
Original Kitchen
During “construction”
Current
Here are a few things I have been eyeing, but not sure which direction to go.
Eventually, the cabinets will be white and the counters will be a grey toned granite, so I am hoping for something light and airy or a little industrial. Anyone have any suggestions where to look in Charlotte and beyond?
Readers, meet my fireplace. Fireplace, meet my readers. Better acquainted now? Good. This orange brick monstrosity with its lovely gold accented cover is the focal point of my living/sitting room. Which happens to also open up to my kitchen. Meaning I look at this 80’s nightmare every.single.day. First things first, I want to remove that gorgeous gold fireplace cover that the house was born with in 1984 and open up the fireplace. Maybe get a more attractive and decorative cover or even leave it open. Eventually we will install white built ins on either side to replace the movable shelving we have there now. The real question is do I paint the brick or do I not paint the brick? There is no going back once the paint touches that brick fireplace and for that reason, I am hesitant. Check out these painted fireplaces from around the web and please do tell, to paint or not to paint? Or do I just remove the gold cover and paint the mantel white? Decisions, decisions.
Remember last August when we moved in and I said this blog would slowly transition to more home design posts? Well little did I know just how slowly that would be! Between going out of town for weddings, holidays, working, etc., not to mention those random things that happen like broken air conditioning, leaks and RACCOONS, time and money have been lacking. Finally, almost a year after moving in, we FINALLY saved up some money and found the time to start decorating and making our house a home! I decided to start with the room we spend the most time in (the den) and work my way around the downstairs rooms. Here is the progress so far:
We started by painting the walls Sherwin Williams Smoky Blue, which is a beautiful shade of navy with grey undertones.
Then I added a pair of Ikea Merete Curtains in Bleached to each window along with some pewter curtain rods from Target.
After rug shopping forever, hubs and I decided on this diamond jute rug from Pottery Barn to add a natural element to the room.
Usually I don’t like jute rugs very much, but this one is very soft underfoot and I loved the diamond pattern since everything else in the room is a little plain.
I also grabbed some glass top side tables on Craigslist for $30 and am in the process of repainting them. Unfortunately don’t have a pic of those yet, but I’ll share as soon as they are finished. We have decided to forgo our ottoman and replace with a coffee table, but we have yet to find one we love. Well, I lie, we found one we loved at HomeGoods and went back two days later only to find that it was gone! The only other things left to do are hang pictures and accessorize. I can’t wait to share the final product with everyone and move onto the next room.
What is your favorite part of decorating your home? Mine is seeing the results after painting!
Well I finally took the time to choose the colors I want for my downstairs! What do you guys think?
Den – Smoky Blue
Kitchen/Living – Blonde
Dining – Nuthatch
All colors from Sherwin Williams
Now if I can just find the time to go buy the paint and put it on the walls, then maybe I can make our house feel a little more like home! We moved in in August and things haven’t changed much almost a year later. Except maybe a little bit of furniture, a few Raccoons, and a whole lotta mess! Never the less I still love our little blue house 
What do you do to make your house feel more like a home?
