Guess I better find some gifts to go up under that tree, huh? Bring it on Santa.

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.

via Decorpad

via West Elm

via Pottery Barn

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.

Young House Love

DIY Network

Better Homes & Gardens

HGTV

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!

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?

Much of our current furniture is leftover from our old home in Charleston, and as you can tell is slightly large for the size of our current den. This is the configuration we are working with now:

The chair and a half is ‘shoved’ in the corner because that is the only place the darn thing would fit! I love that chair (heck and our couch) because they are so comfy, but it drives me crazy that I can’t fit it in a different layout. I’m thinking about getting a cover for the chair and ottoman and moving them to a different room, but I’m pretty sure the hubs does not like that idea.

This is what we are currently working with:

1. Cheap-O IKEA Lack side tables (we needed some side tables and I didn’t want to spend a lot of moolah until I found something we loved. Plus I figured we could repurpose these elsewhere in the house)

2. La-Z-Boy Daphne Couch, Chair and Ottoman (As you can see, these fit much better in our old home and I was unfortunately obsessed with Red at the time)

3. Throw Pillow from Crate and Barrel

4.  Red/Gold Striped Curtains which I intend on chucking as soon as I find some new ones!

5. & 9. Lamp set that we received as a wedding gift. Will likely repurpose these in another room and find something that fits my intended theme better.

6.  Vizio 50” Flat Screen, courtesy of the husband because 36” just isn’t big enough!

7. Coventry Media Console purchased from Overstock. Had to have something that would fit that big arse TV!

8. Vases, one from Crate and Barrel, the other a gift from my mom

So right now our den is a mismatch of random things picked up over the last four years. It is time for some real design up in here! Here are some inspiration photos (I apologize I do not have the sources because I have been clipping them into a folder over the past year).

(Lonnymag.com ‘I think’)

I love the starkness of the inky blue with the white curtains and crown molding. Oh and those rattan shades are fab too.

Source Unknown.

I’m hoping to find a huge mirror like this one for behind the couch to make the room appear larger and reflect all the great natural light we get in the room.

Source Unknown.

To keep the room from looking too dark with the blue, I’m thinking of painting the area above the chair rail in a navy shade and the bottom in a bright white.

Here is my shopping list for this nautical inspired room redux:

1. Curtains in a natural shade

2. Accessories that exude a natural feel in materials like rattan or jute

3. A large rug, either patterned (brown?) or jute

4. Side Tables

5. New table lamps and a floor lamp (or maybe just new shades for the existing lamp)

6. PICTURES. I would like to find a large mirror like the one in the photo above, and maybe some shelving (IKEA?) for some accessorizing

7. A coffee table

8. This gorgeous chair from Urban Outfitters I found courtesy of Bryn!

So as you can see not TOO MUCH to purchase, but still need some things to pull this room together and make it feel like home. Stay tune for updates on my choices and inspiration board!

Pottery Barn

Katherine Floral Rug

This rug pulls in all of the colors I am loving right now, wheat-y golds, burgundies and blues. This would look great in our den or foyer!

Ballard Designs

Lotus Rug

I love Damask Prints and this brown style would look great in our living room with our green sofa.

Eva Rug

This similar rug in an orange tone would also be a nice addition to the living room.

Horchow

Tonal Vines Rug

I love the subtle pattern in these monotone rugs. They look so soft and supple too!

IKEA

Andrea Rund

This orange and white style would be perfect to spice up our dark office, and better yet the orange screams CLEMSON TIGERS!

Flokati

There is nothing better than stepping out of bed and sinking your feet into soft, fluffy wool. The bright white really pulls together all the blue and white already in our bedroom.

World Market

Wool Tufted Rug

I would have to see this golden two-tone rug in person, but it looks very similar to the color I would like to paint my kitchen.

Wool/Cotton Shag Rug

Another plush, shaggy white rug for sinking our toes into.

Velocity

Honey Wool Rug

Another beautiful golden style in a great graphic pattern perfect for the kitchen or dining room.

These are just a few of my favorites right now. While I may not have the funds to rush out and purchase all of these beautiful styles to make my house into a home, I can always be my own virtual decorator until that time comes!

This could not be more spot on, what can I say, I am a classic kind of gal! Find out your StyleScope now from HomeGoods.

Our tv stand is rather out of scale with our television (this is actually a photo from our townhome in Charleston):

So I decided to get this media console that will accommodate that 50’ TV my hubby just had to have:

Coventry Media Console – Overstock.com

I think the black will look nice with our red furniture in our den, especially compared to our old one!

For our living/sitting room, I started with this sofa I found at Overstock.com. I would have rather had a Pottery Barn style, but I do like the vintage feel of this sofa and it is small enough to accommodate the irregular shape of the room.

Evan Asparagus Sofa – Overstock.com

Here is the empty room we will be putting this furniture in:

I also purchased two small rugs for the doors since we trek through this room every day, along with two bookcases to flank the fireplace, from Target. These rugs are likely temporary until I find something nicer that I really love.

HOME Modern Botanical Rug – 20×32 – Target.com

The only problem with the bookcases is now I have to find something to put on them! The sitting room still has a long way to go (as does the rest of the house) but at least we are one step closer to turning our house into our home.

Our trip began at Garden Ridge, then we continued on to several local furniture consignment stores, Pier One, World Market, and Kirkland’s. I actually only found items at one store, Consignment 1st, a local furniture consignment shop in the Queen City. If you are a Charlottean, definitely go check out one of their locations. I picked up four wrought iron chairs (to pair with my glass top breakfast table) and a solid wood desk for $150! Here are my fabulous finds:

Look at that cute face! These chairs look like they were made to pair with my (free) breakfast table my mom gave me and I kind of love them. My plan is to repurpose the seats with some funky fabric, as soon as I decide my decor theme in the kitchen. I am so ANXIOUS to get my house in order and start doing some major decorating and especially post the changes on the blog. My career path actually started out in Interior Design and I always feel like I missed out a little bit when my school lost it’s program. I also picked up this great desk, which I plan on changing out the hardware:

The desk was about $50 and I couldn’t even find a cheapie particle board desk for that! This one is solid wood and completely reminds me of my childhood furniture that I loved. It has a bit of a shabby chic feel and will look even better with some new classy hardware. I intend to use this as my crafting/sewing table, and it couldn’t be more perfect. Now I just need to find a great chair to pair with it.

Would you like to see more home improvement/decorating ideas on the blog? Let me know, I love all things design and would love to share ideas and tips with you guys, but only if you want to read about them!