House updates!

In order to unload all of these images off of my computer, I decided to post a picture-heavy house update post and I can take this giant picture monkey off my back.  I would have wanted to go into more detail with each project, but who really wants to hear me blabber on when pictures speak louder than words..  So without further ado...

Family Room: 

Firstly, the couch is a HUGE improvement from our 2 camping chairs setup from before.. and much more comfortable.  Believe it or not, this was not our first couch purchase for this room.  We actually purchased a sectional online because we were having such a hard time finding a sectional that would fit well in this room that wasn't overstuffed or overly large!  And after convincing ourselves that there is nothing out there, we searched online without the "butt" test (where we go to a showroom and park ourselves to test is comfy factor).  We were that desperate.  After pulling the trigger, we were informed shortly that the couch was backordered and wouldn't come until about a month later.  So we waited.. and waited.  And as luck would have it, the very same day we were informed that the couch was arriving (with assembly and all), my dear husband spots our current, beautiful, most perfect of all perfect couches at the Crate and Barrel outlet as he was picking up our dining room chandelier that I ordered online.  Oh cruel fates..

But we did not hesitate, even though it was too late to return the other couch, we bought before it was gone and now we are the current owners of 2 perfectly good couches.  BTW, if you are in the market for a brand new sectional sleeper sofa, check this out! (please) https://post.craigslist.org/manage/3820779195

Anyway, one of the other most important improvement here is something you can't see.  We've had an electrician run wires from our wall hanging tv inside the wall, so no more dangerous hanging cords everywhere.  Other than that, we've painted added an accent chair, picture ledge (in progress), and other accessories. Still a work in progress, but I'll leave that for another post.

p.s. one of my other fave finds is the west elm side table housing our entertainment equipment.  I say favorite, of course, because of how much of a bargain it was.  West elm in oak brook, IL was having a moving sale marking everything in the store down to a whopping 60% off.. Needless to say, I went nuts)

Dining Room: 

Pardon the mess, I decided to run around the house and take quick pics of every room just before posting (some of my other stored photos weren't quite as current).  But here you'll see we've added a new rug and the crazy spider looking chandelier is finally gone, replaced with a nice clean rectangular drum chandelier from Crate and Barrel (on sale! woohoo)


Foyer/Front entrance:

Here's another one of my favorite transformations.  I have to admit, I was a little stumped with what to do with our foyer, going from hunting for a teeny, narrow foyer table and mirror combo, to building a shelf.  But in the end, I love that I found this coat hook/narrow shelf at Homegoods and was able to hang my Chicago print above it.  Add a few accessories (tiny candle, fake succulent), and voila!  Also, another fave accesory from west elm, my new corner umbrella stand/bucket vase.  (again, 60% off..)

Oh, in the corner of the first landing, I used a plant stand to accent an apothecary vase with some accessories inside.  And we hung up some baby photos of Olive heading up the staircase.


Front Room:

Now this room, we hadn't planned on finishing off for awhile since it wasn't being used very often and for the longest time, this room was our storage for all the boxes from moving.  But because I am in full on nesting mode, we got around to it much quicker than I thought.  We added this couch/sleeper and used our old coffee and side tables, a graphic ikea rug and before you know it, it was starting to look like an actual room.  I found this great mirror at Homegoods to add another entry room vignette in the corner and for Mother's Day, my dear husband fulfilled my dream of owning my very own piano :)  LOVE!  (I used to play, but I am more excited to see my little toddler, Olive, tickling the ivories)

Kitchen:

The kitchen, of course, is my absolute favorite room and transformation (I know, they're all my favorites), but I hang out here more often now that we have countertops, cabinets, and appliances.
And with the addition of that peninsula, I do a lot of work (and blogging as we speak) here.  I am centrally located with the family room to my left and in full view of my toddler.  And just about every part of this renovation: from the cabinets (which turned out beautifully for a DIY install), our beautiful new appliances, farmhouse sink and industrial fixtures (not to mention, running water), and our glorious quartz countertop, it truly has become my nice, white, dream kitchen.  I really should go into more detail about it, but I'll leave that to another post (I have tons of in progress photos, hate to have let that go to waste..)

Basement:

Slowly a work in progress.  We've moved our man cave appropriate leather sectional and our old entertainment center setup from the old house here, and boy, does it look much better down here.  And I have to say, I am in love with all these built in bookshelves.  Currently housing all of our books, DVDs/CDs, Olive's toys, and even my scrapbooking stuff (yes, I had a scrapbooking phase).  But I am most excited about how easily I can access all of this stuff, hopefully making me more productive in the future and getting more projects done.  We also added a little locker system at the bottom of the steps, adding an Ikea shoe cabinet and mirror combo, and a locker/hall tree with 2 separate areas for the two kiddos.  I picture them getting home from school, running down to the basement to hang their book bags, coats, sports equipment, etc. and putting shoes away neatly.  A girl can dream.

Office:

So this is my tiny little office/dungeon, where I isolate myself for hours on end especially around deadlines.  I actually like the coziness, which helps me focus and get sh*t done, but my favorite of course is the addition of my uber fast new iMac.  For a designer, this is a godsend (Adobe CS6 runs like a dream on it! no more loooong rendering wait times which makes me want to bash my head on my glass desk. ouch.)  and worth mentioning is the wonderful built in speakers --it actually sounds pretty good.  So when I have to buckle down on those late nights designing, I play some Pandora, light a fragrant candle, and I swear my creative juices just start flowing.

Master Bedroom:

OK, very much a work in progress here.  I hate to say it, not much "remodeling" magic happens here.  But we managed to situate our bed in the middle at least and found some nice, functioning side tables for each of our sides (Steve has a simple nightstand while I have a whole vanity setup on my side)  But painting is hopefully in the works in the near future and we are currently gearing up the far side of the room for a temporary newborn station (pack and play, rocking chair, etc.)

We are still working on getting the closet/dresser/entertainment built in (at the foot of the bed), but at least we've had the electrician come in and wire said closet so we are just that much closer to getting it done.  Worth mentioning in the room is my cool new stand up mirror/jewelry armoire.  I am a baubles hoarder, so this was oh so nice.  I actually find myself accessorizing more often now and looking halfway put together when I go out, if I do say so myself.  (it's the little things).  Also worth mentioning is our awesome new giant round mirror with capiz shells that I found on craigslist.  Gotta love craigslist! 

Anyway, more on this room later when it starts looking like a room..

2nd Bedroom/Guest room/Playroom:

Ok, so this was the other room that we weren't planning on finishing up for awhile since it is the 2nd biggest room on the 2nd floor, it housed all second floor moving boxes for the longest time.  But with guests coming to stay the night, we just had to make it somewhat decent for now.  So at the moment, it is a multi-functional room with our old trundle bed and Olive's toys (very convenient for when I have to get some work done in the office just down the hall).  But I know that we're going to have to work on this sooner or later, especially with baby no. 2 coming just around the corner, Olive's room will have to be the nursery and she'll be moving here before we know it.  Oy vey.. no rest for the weary.

Olive's room/nursery:

This room hasn't had too many transformations other than moving in Olive's stuff.  But what's most impressive about this room is her closet, I have to say.  For a century old house, it manages to hold most of her stuff and keep it organized.  But it is a tiny room, so we can only do so much.  Eventually, we plan to paint and neutralize the pink (which Olive loves), but we need to get it ready for baby no. 2.  We're going to go with neutral shades of course, so it can also be the guest room even further down the road and maybe have Olive and baby no. 2 cozy up in the 2nd (larger) bedroom.

Outdoors misc. 

 Ok, so at this point of this post, I am bunching up all outdoor related updates.. Which isn't much.. yet.  We need to get the whole house repainted, new gutters, fix up the yard, and power wash.  Lots in the works, but we are just taking our sweet time.  But I did have to at least post a pic of our new bistro set in the upper deck (which is a perfect little spot for sipping coffee/tea in the morning/reading the paper, and the swing in the front porch --which I've always dreamed of having).


In a nutshell... we have done a lot, but we still have tons to do.  Not only the fun aesthetic stuff, but the icky construction stuff that you don't get to see (i.e. a biblical flood came to Wheaton not too long ago and flooded our basement.  not so fun, but we need to get some sort of water sump pump, flood prevention system.. )

So if you've read this far down, thank you for sticking around.  Hopefully, I haven't bored you to death.

Until the next post..  Now go outside and enjoy summer!

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