To Do List for 2010

Here is my To Do list for 2010.  I may have left out a few things, but this seems to be the main stuff I would like to get done this year.  It's in no particular order.

TO DO LIST

• Get curtain rods for office
• Get curtains for office
• Paint office
• Hang pictures in living room
• Get a chair for the living room.
• Built in bookshelves next to fireplace
• Get something for wall above couch
• New front door
• Butcher block counter tops (kitchen)
• New back splash for kitchen
• New kitchen faucet
• Rug for under dining table
• Refinish ladder back chairs
• Curtain for guest room
• Shades or sheers for guest room
• black out shades for master room
• Put door on guest room
• New door knobs
• Replace coat closet door with fabric
• Rug in front of kitchen sink
• Light over kitchen sink
• bifolding french doors (between kitchen & office)

OUTSIDE

• Plant cherry blossom trees
• Plant flowers
• Paint garden sheds
• Gas grill
• Outdoor dining set
• Plant a garden

I am not sure if I will get to the bathroom this year or not, but eventually this is what I would like done.

BATHROOM

• New floors (bamboo)
• Replace vanity
• mirror
• overhead lighting
• Retile shower floor
• Paint
• Shade for window

And because I always like to post a picture, I was blog hopping and found this from Paul Massey.
A bed in the attic.  I have been living in my house for going on 3 months now and I have never seen my attic.  I don't have a ladder to get up into it, but I read in a listing somewhere that my house has a laminate floor finished attic.  I know there probably isn't enough room up there to even stand up straight in it, but it would be so neat if there was a lot of room.  I guess I should put, buy a ladder, on my to do list!  Wouldn't something like this be grand?

A girl can dream can't she?

Office/Laundry room

I work from home, so I'm in my office quite a lot. It is all brick walls.  This room was built on and I guess since the outside of the house is brick, they were trying to match the rest of the walls with the brick and just bricked them all up, too.  Problem is, it feels like a porch or patio area. It doesn't flow with the rest of the house and it feels dark like a cave in here.    To solve the problem, I'm going to paint the brick. I can't wait!

Here are some pictures of the office/laundry room combo before I moved in and got my desk all set up.

Do you agree, it has a porch feel to it?
My plan to make it feel more cozy is to paint the walls, get some shades and curtains, area rug, replace the built in counter tops and add decor.

The color I have picked out is Sherwin Williams Antique White.  Here is a patch painted on my wall.

I love the look of painted brick.  When I go walking around down Main St., I love how the old buildings inside have the interior brick that has been painted. I don't know if it started out white and has sort of yellowed over time, but it has a cream colored look and looks so nice.  I'm hoping to try to achieve that same look in my little office room.

It's amazing how doing something so simple can completely transform a room.  There is a really great blog called Young House Love where they have an old ranch house similar to mine and are renovating it. The before and after is quite amazing.
They took a room that was mostly brick and painted it a light color.  It went from looking like a cold dark cave to a light and homey room.  I just love this!

From the Young House Love blog.

BEFORE

AFTER

It doesn't look like the same room, does it? I'm hoping my office will lighten up like this after I paint it. I'm going to try to work on it this weekend, but not sure if I will be able to if it gets too cold. The brick walls apparently aren't insulated and feel like ice when you touch them if it's real cold out. I heard you aren't suppose to paint when it's below 40 degrees, so we'll see.

If you would like to see more before and after pictures from their blog, just go here. Young House Love house tour.

Dog days of winter

It has been so rainy and gloomy and cold and, oh I can't wait for Spring!  There are no leaves on the trees, no flowers, no sunshine ... but Little Foot loves playing outside, come rain or shine.

Little Foot's been making friends.

Here is his new little puppy friend from next door.

The puppy has found a way into my yard so they play together a lot.

He's so cute!!!!

I didn't decorate or do anything to the house this weekend,

I need to get some projects started again.

Before and after living room

Here is part of the living room. It still isn't exactly how I want it yet, but it is a huge improvement from how it started out.

BEFORE

AFTER

• Painted the peachy walls a cream color called Crumb Cookie by Valspar.
• Had a mantle installed.
• Painted flashy brass fireplace cover black.
• Replaced the carpet with walnut hardwood flooring.

Can't wait to get built in bookshelves put in next to the fireplace.  Here are a few more tweaks I will make.

Here is something like the wreath I'd like to get.

Let me know if you have any more ideas or changes I could make.

I'll post another before and after shot after I get my armoire, new chairs and get my pictures all on the wall.

Inspiration bedroom

I am wanting to get built in book shelves put in next to my fireplace. Right now I just have a sofa table in the empty space and it doesn't look right.  So, last night I was looking for pictures that had built in book shelves next to fireplaces and I stumbled upon this photo of a bedroom.  For some reason, I couldn't stop looking at it. It's just so serene, simple and perfect.

I love the idea of getting a beach photo blown up really huge in black and white.  Perfect for us who live so far away from the ocean (I think 4 or 5 hours for me), makes you feel like you're seaside.

The photo is from Apartment Therapy, you can go here to read the article. Bedroom Fireplaces

I will continue on my search for the way I want my built-ins to look though, but just thought I would share this picture. I like posting inspiration pics so I can always go back to them later, sometimes things get lost in the sea of pictures on my computer and flash drives.

Mixer

I have been wanting this mixer so bad. Can you believe I don't own any kind of mixer at all? Not even the little hand held kind.  I don't make cakes, cupcakes and things like I would like to because of it.  I keep thinking I may find one at a good price.

This is the highly coveted mixer I would love.

KitchenAid K45SS Classic

They are having a sale at Amazon, but I think I can still do better than that if I just keep waiting. What kind of mixer do you use? Do you think this mixer is worth it?

My Living room collage

I love making these. If you're working on a room and want to see what it looks like all pulled together, this helps you visualize it.  I don't have my armoire or white chair yet, but I think they work with the room just great.  I'm going to try to make a collage for every room in my house, including the patio and backyard.

Each thing in the living room:

• Macy's leather couch
• Pier1 wicker chair and ottoman
• JCPenney area rug
• West Elm wall baskets
• Pottery Barn throw pillows
• Target table lamps
• My photography for artwork
• Pottery Barn Armoire
• Ikea slipcover chair

There are more little things in my living room, but these are the main focal pieces. It will be interesting to look back at these to see the bare bones of how this is starting out.

Plant a Tree

I love the idea of potted Christmas trees.  In the past when I got live trees that had been cut, they always started drying out before Christmas was over, making me worry about the branches catching fire from the Christmas lights.  Not to mention all the shedding from the dried branches that get all over the place.  This time, I didn't have to worry about my tree catching fire and no shedding!  The tree also isn't going to waste, it now has a happy little home in my yard.  I enjoyed having a live tree so much, this makes me want a live tree every year, but I guess my yard would turn into a tree farm if I did that.  We'll see.  I am told these trees can grow pretty big, so I made sure I had it planted in a place that would give it a lot of room to grow.  It looks so much smaller in the ground than it did in my living room.

The trees new home in my yard.

This will be pretty if it snows again, the tree all covered in snow.

Let's hope it flourishes!

(Another) Amazing Inspiration home

This is one of my favorite homes.  When I first saw this place, I was floored!  It has so much charm and creativity, it is hard to pull yourself away from looking at these beautiful rooms.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
With Jennifer's permission, here are a few pictures of the inside of her home.  Please visit her blog to see the transformation of the before and after photos of each room, you will not believe your eyes.

Here's the living room.

I love that huge mirror and how she isn't afraid to go big with decor.

Another living room shot, I need a coffee table like this.

The hallway.

Who doesn't love a chandelier in their hallway?

This is the best kitchen ever.  I can't wait to get my butcher block counters

and subway tile backsplash.  I think it will really transform my whole kitchen.

The dining area.

This is my favorite thing in her home.

This rustic wood frame with a coffee sack.

Wasn't that just marvelous?  There are plenty of more photos of her home on her blog.

This gives me much inspiration to keep adding touches to my home so it, too, can look this inviting and charming.

Here is her blog link,

The Old Painted Cottage

Thanks Jennifer!

Inspiration home

The photos below are one of the first homes I fell in love with.  I love the way she took a city loft and made it look cozy and inviting.  I love love the neutral color palette she used in this place, too!  She is a designer who lives in Atlanta.  Her name is Phoebe Howard, I found her from a decorating magazine.

Here is her Atlanta loft.

She mixes old and rustic with clean and feminine, my favorite look.  It doesn't come across looking too harsh or too girly, just a nice mix of everything to balance it all out.

I'm hoping my home will come together like this one day :)

Shopping weekend

Well,  just a little shopping. I went to my parents yesterday and someone had given her some dried branches from something they call a money tree. She gave a few of them to me.  I think these are just beautiful.  I love the way they look like mother of pearl.

If anyone knows the actual term for what this is called, I would love to know.

A close up of one of the leaves.

My dad said someone was taking these to the dump to throw them away, so he brought them home. My mom never used them or needed them, so she gave them to me.  They are by Sheffield.  I've been wanting some white dishes.

Besides shopping at my parents house, I also bought a couple of things at real stores, too...

This basket, I'm going to put it on one of the shelves in my new

armoire when it arrives.

These cute little birds.

I also was able to get one of the nightstands for my guestroom, so I am hoping to be able to get the guestroom finished off pretty soon.  Everything is still a work in progress, but it's fun watching everything get pulled together.

After Christmas shopping

After the holidays, I hit a few stores to get the discounted Christmas items. Most were 50% and 75% off.  I also did some shopping online since even the online stores were getting rid of their Christmas items at a discount.  Since I felt like the red and green just didn't look right in my new place, next year I am going with more neutral colors, so I got a whole new color scheme of xmas decor.

I found these beautiful burlap bows and garland at the Ballard Designs web site at discount.

And some starfish ornaments I found on Ebay.

*edited: Ebayer eileensbasement1 sells these.

Here is my box full of gold and silver balls, gold bows, ribbon, white birds, bell garland, etc.   A lot of this was from the Martha Stewart line at Kmart.

And I found a bunch of this pinecone garland at Biglots for only $2.50.  I think I'm going to paint the tips of the pine cones white.

I can't wait for Christmas next year now, I am not going to want to take this decor down after I put it up!  I took all of the ornaments off of my tree yesterday, now it is just waiting patiently to be planted outside somewhere.

Firewood, it's cold outside

It has been soooo cold lately.  I am not use to this kind of weather being born and raised in Florida.  I know I'm not up in the far north, but NC is cold enough for me!  I got a bunch of firewood delivered to my house today.

We started stacking it nicely against the wall,

Then our fingers were frozen, so they dumped the rest of it out in my yard so I can pile it up later.

I have a nice cozy fire in my fireplace now, though.

I can deal with the winters if I'm inside warming up by the cozy fireplace.

Little Foot on the other hand seems to be a natural little snow dog.

Maybe it will grow on me.

I own the Armoire

I did it!  I am now the proud owner of the Pottery Barn Linden Amoire.  It won't arrive until February 5th though. So I have to wait almost a month.  Guess what else I'm the proud owner of?  The Nest pillow!  It is backordered and I won't get that until April the 1st, but I guess these things are worth the wait.  I'll post pics when they finally do arrive.  I had a 10% off coupon I put towards them.  If you ever move, make sure you let PB know, they always send you moving coupons.

While we are hooked on PB right now, here are a few other things they have that I really like.  That wooden clock here in the pic below, I love this!  Those fur throws are pretty fabulous, too.

*Sorry, comments for this post have been closed because of high volumes of spam.

Media Stand decisions

Here are the 2 media stands in my living room.  I just copied and pasted them onto the photo in an old Paint Shop Pro program.

Here is the PB Leena Media Console.  I am not so sure this looks right in here.

Here is the PB Linden Media Armoire.  This sort of looks like it was made to go right there, doesn't it?

I know, I still have my tree up.  I don't want to take it down because then it will look blah. I don't  have anything to put in that corner.  I need to go find a place in the yard to plant it. Can you even dig holes in this cold weather? I would think the ground is pretty frozen.  I hear it's suppose to snow again today or tomorrow.

So what do you think? The armoire looks nice there, doesn't it?

Searching for a media stand

I am hoping that the next purchase for my home is a media stand.  I can't decide if I want a table or an armoire.
Here is a table I found that I really like.  I like the idea of a table because I have more room to put my photos on the wall the way I want them.

Here is an armoire that I like, too.  I like the idea of the armoire so the tv isn't always the center of attention.

Here is the wall it would be on, I'm using a metal Ikea cabinet with the doors removed for now.

Which one do you like better for this space?