We moved into our house 4 years ago this week!
This is the first house we've owned... which means it is the first time I have been able to do whatever I want to my place... and experiment I have. :) Some things have worked, and some have not. :) I'm sure no one is ever going to want to buy this place, but we really like it and though we do hope to move in a couple years or so, for now, we are quite happy in our little abode.
I really like to decorate. I am a "nester." I like my house. I like being home. I like having a warm, fun, functional, organized refuge from the rest of the world. I am a very "visual" person. Looking at pretty things and things that have personal meaning to me makes me really happy. So, I put time and effort into decorating my house the way I like it and keeping it clean and organized. We have fun here, and we make messes, but everything has a place and I love being home.
I am a believer in cheap decorating. It does not have to be hard and it does not have to cost a lot. Paint is cheap and can transform just about anything. Just organzing your stuff and finding a place for everything can go a long way to making your house feel more comfortable. I also don't believe in decorating "rules." If something looks good to you, go for it! You are the one who has to live in your space. If you like something, then it works! I'm sure some people come into my house and think it's totally crazy, but just about everything in here has meaning to me. Most of it came super cheap... there has been a lot of spray paint involved... and while there are always things I would like to change or upgrade, we have settled into this house rather well and I am happy to spend my time here.
For records' sake, I figured I would document the place we call home. :)
This is the front. Cute, yes?
This is the front door. It's currently red. I have painted it three times since we moved in. Fickle, I know, but I think it will stay red for a while. :)
These are some "before" shots that we took when we did our home inspection before we bought it. The whole place was white, white, white... white walls, white tile, white carpet, while counter tops... It was a foreclosure and compared to most it was in great shape, but it was dirty and boring! :)
We all know I have no problem with color or clutter, so you can be sure the house looks dramatically different nowadays. :)
The downstairs is all open, so when you walk in our front door, you look into the family room straight ahead, the kitchen and dining space on your right, and the stairs and powder bathroom on your left.
I painted all the "common" space in the house a milk chocolate brown. And the entire back wall and backdrop of the kitchen is red.
I painted the kitchen cabinets black and added some hardware. I also painted the baseboard on the island black. Once in a while I get the urge to cover the island with something... beadboard? rock? brick? wallpaper? but I haven't figured out exactly what I want yet, so it's still white. :) I also keep tossing around the idea of putting a backsplash in the kitchen, but then I tell myself to stop the insanity. :)
The white dishwasher, stove, and microwave were already here and someone gave us the stainless steel fridge. Someday I would like all stainless appliances, but until something quits working, I'm content with our cheapies. :)
Someone gave me the barstools. I recovered them with fabric. I added a pendant light over the sink and put the same fabric on the shade. I like matchy-matchy. Obviously. :) I sewed the polka dot valance over the kitchen window. I leave my KitchenAid out all the time because it matches so well, and because I use it to make cookie dough on a very regular basis. :)
I used vinyl and wrote some words on my pantry door.
My china hutch is one of my favorite things in my house. The knobs were a total splurge... they have little Eiffel Towers on them! Love.
I bought the red valances and red chair pads at Walmart.
I bought the wood highchair off Craigslist and painted it aqua blue because I'm obsessed with that color lately. I'm slowly adding more of it to my space because, you know, there's not enough color in my house already. I hung some plates on the wall and the antique fire extinguisher was a gift. The "Cafe Spears" sign was also a gift and I love it! My dining table has a piece of glass on the top of it. I like that it protects my table from spills and Sonnet's art projects, and I put pictures underneath it, which I happen to think looks cute. :)
I made the "Spears" sign over the door and I bought the red light on Craigslist. It was brown but I spray painted it and added the white shades.
Sonnet (and now Stetson) use that little red dining table all the time. My mother-in-law made me the picture under the shelf and I love it.
There was white carpet in the family room when we moved in and it was filthy. We replaced it with faux wood floors (aka: laminate- haha). I'm all about hard surfaces... much easier to clean!
My mom painted the flower picture on the wall to match my big flower plate.
My grandma gave us the TV and the cabinet it's in. I painted it black and then bought cheap black bookcases to go on each side of it. They're full! No more buying books! :) The doors on the bottom of the TV cabinet hide all the kids' toys! :)
My mom gave me the coffee table and the Pepsi crate on top of it. There's a black shag rug on the floor. I hate the shag because it's hard to vacuum and seeing as how we aren't very good at keeping food in the kitchen, I feel like it's always dirty. I would like a flat, black and white patterned rug in there, but seriously, rugs are way too expensive. I bought the Audrey Hepburn movie posters at the swap meet a million years ago.
Obviously, I really like throw pillows. OK, honestly, I have a throw pillow addiction. I'm on the hunt for some red and aqua blue ones to add to my collection. :) I know, stop Holly, just stop.
The polka dot lampshade came from Pottery Barn Teen. Everything else you see in the room is probably from Home Goods, Target, or was a hand-me-down. :)
The collage going up my stairs is busy, busy, busy, but I love it! This is one of my favorite "views" in my house. I change out the pictures every 6 months or so.
Our stairs had white carpet on them too and it was spotty and stained. Those 7 stairs are one of the first things you see when you enter the house and I hated looking at the yucky carpet. So, before I had the money to totally re-carpet the upstairs, I decided to just do something about those stairs. I ripped up the carpet, Nate put in some new treads and risers, I painted the treads, and put wallpaper on the risers. It's crazy, but I love it1 I also painted the rail black and then did a crackle glaze over the top.
The poem "art" at the top of the stairs was made by me. It feels a wee bit too homemade, but it has my one of my favorite love sonnet's on it and it'll do for now.
That's the door to the garage straight ahead. We use it more than the front door, so we have a little "command center" right there where we can hang our keys, bags, coats, etc. There is also a whiteboard calendar that I update every month. Those are chalkboard and whiteboard stickers on the door that I can write notes and reminders on.
And on the right is the powder bath...
I painted the room pale green. I don't really like green, so I'm not all that sure why I picked it, but it's cute and different than the rest of my house. I've considered changing it a couple times... and it would be easy since it's such a small space, but I guess I kind of like it the way it is.
I replaced the builder mirror with a silver one my mom passed onto me and the shelf in the corner and the towels came from Target. The pictures came from Walmart.
And then you go upstairs...
We did get around to replacing the white carpet upstairs with a dark brown carpet. These are some "before" shots:
When you come up the stairs, Stetson's room is straight ahead, the master is on the right and Sonnet's room is on the left. Stetson's room was originally just a loft. It has a window and a closet, but it wasn't closed off. For the first couple years we were here, we used it as an office/craft room/library, but once Stetson came along we converted it into a third bedroom.
I went with a cowboy theme in Stetson's room (I know, big surprise). I painted the walls blue. The crib, changing table, and rocking chair are black and they were all hand-me-downs from when we had Sonnet.
The side table, is a log. Yep, a log. The little lamp I already had, I just recovered the shade with cowprint fabric. I made the valances.
I made the crib bedding (it's a vintage-ish "little cowpoke" pattern).
I bought the letters of his name at the craft store and covered them with fabric. The three cowboy hats above his crib are actual Stetson's and each one of them belonged to a very special man who has passed on. I planned to make a mobile to hang above his crib, but I ended up putting the hats up there instead and I love it. I love the idea that those three men are looking down on him, watching over him, especially while he sleeps. They are good examples for him to look up to. :)
I just hung a tension rod and some black curtains across the closet. I wanted to build some kind of sweet old barn door thing, but that never happened. Maybe someday.
I hate changing Stetson's diaper because he is SUCH a wiggle worm, but I love his changing table. :) My mother-in-law made the sign with his name on it. My mom gave me the mirror and wood-burned his birthday on the little pieces of wood. The cute dad and boy plaque came from Hobby Lobby (I painted it black). The silver horseshoe is a real one from my dad's horse (the brown one is a fake). The cute red sign came from Etsy. I made the little black and white labels for the baskets and glued them on and sewed the pad cover myself. :)
My parents gave me the brown dresser. I replaced the knobs on it. The top row has little horseshoe knobs that I love! I painted them all white. The Stetson poster came from Ebay. The picture hanging on the side wall is the top of a Stetson hat box. Most of the other accessories were hand-me-downs.
I inherited a light for free. It had really long cords and ugly pendants on it. I shortened up the cords and attached mason jars to the ends to make a custom light fixture. I totally dig it!
Stetson's room may be my favorite room in the house. :)
Sonnet's room is pale pink (with a dark pink stripe filled with white polka dots (that I cut out of vinyl) about half way up the wall). Her bedding came from Anna's Linens. I bought the letters of her name at the craft store and covered them with paper and then attached them to a ribbon.
We bought the bed on Craigslist and painted it white. The dresser and nightstand came from Target.
My sister-in-law painted the newborn portrait of Sonnet. I love it!
The vinyl quote on the wall is part of a sonnet: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Totally appropriate for my baby girl. :)
The S shadow box above her bed has all her baby shoes in it. I don't save many baby clothes, but all her little shoes were too cute not to keep. :)
The white desk was mine and it was in the home office, but when that became Stetson's room and Sonnet started school and needed a place to do homework, the desk moved into her room. It's from Pottery Barn and she spends lots of time there studying and doing art projects. The curtains came from Target. The valance came from Walmart and I sewed the pink polka dot ribbon along the bottom. The chair is from an outdoor set of furniture that my grandma had. I painted it black.
The bookshelves are made out of rain gutters from Home Depot. Super cheap and functional! If I had a bigger wall, I would have a million more of them. I love displaying books. The art was a gift from my friend.
She got the red kitchen for Christmas a few years back and even though it doesn't match the room, we leave it out because she loves to play with it. Her closet is huge and all her other toys are stored in there. The huge corkboard I made when she was a baby. It's just cork squares painted and glued to a piece of plywood with a frame made out of cheap molding. She's constantly hanging up/taking down her latest art projects. :)
My mom drew those four framed pictures for me when I was in college. Now they fit super cute in Sonnet's room. The house bookshelf was a hand-me-down. It and her little reading chair are from PB Kids.
I bought the light at Lowe's a few years back. The shades came from Lamps Plus and I glued the pink ribbons on them.
This is the bathroom that the kids share. It is attached to Sonnet's room. It used to be pink, but after we had Stetson, Sonnet said she wanted to change it. Now it's blue with an alphabet theme. Sonnet picked out the shower curtain and towels at Target a few months ago.
I painted the cabinets white and added silver knobs. I framed the builder mirror with some cheap molding (I just glued it straight to the mirror with Liquid Nails. Seriously, so easy and cute).
I printed these little signs off of my computer. They look totally homemade, but hey, the kids don't care and neither do I. :)
I bought all the S's at Hobby Lobby and painted them different colors. They're attached with Command strips. (I looooove those things!)
Across from the bathroom is the laundry room. I love that it is upstairs near the bedrooms! I copied the wall color from the front of a Tiffany and Co. catalog. :)
The wallpaper border is the same wallpaper that I have on my stairs.
We have an old, cheap washer and dryer. Someday I really want fancy ones that, you know, actually CLEAN my clothes, but for now these ones are still chugging along. :)
I made the "wash" sign. Most of the other stuff probably came from Home Goods.
The little white cabinet came from Target a thousand years ago. I just recently put black knobs on it. I put all my powder detergents in glass jars because, hey, I can. The bottles and iron and stuff are hidden inside the cabinet.
The ironing board cover came from Home Goods and the board is hung on the wall with huge decorative hooks. Let's be honest, it rarely gets used. :)
I cut out silhouettes of Sonnet and Stetson and stuck them on black paper then hung them in some cheap acrylic frames. Laundry isn't so bad when you think of who you're working for. :)
I got the light for a steal ($25) at Lowes and I love, love, love it! Every laundry room should have a chandelier. :)
And then, there's my room. OK, I let Nate sleep here too. :)
The room is painted a light blue because to me, that is the most "soothing" color. I just painted the headboard on the wall with black paint. Someday, I may buy an actual bed frame. :) The white nightstands are from RC Willey. The black and white bedding is from Kohls and the blue bedding and lamps are from PB Teen. We had white shutters put on the three little windows so, you know, the neighbors don't see us in the nude. :)
I think ceiling fans are ugly, but we gotta have it in the summertime, so no cute light for me. :) I want to do something on the ceiling around my light, but I haven't figured out what yet...
We have wedding pictures above our bed. Aw.
When I gave up the home office, I moved most of the craft stuff into the garage, but we put a little black desk (inherited from my parents) in the corner and that's where our computer and basic office supplies are.
The dresser and mirror came from RC Willey too. I know it's not "in" to be so matchy-matchy these days, but, well, I like it. :)
All my jewelry is out on the dresser because if I can see it, I'll wear it. :)
The picture on the side wall is probably the only "real" piece of art I own. It's a Harrison Fisher that my mom gave me. It has sentimental value to me. :)
I inherited that TV table from my mom and painted it white. The mirror came from Target. I swear it makes me look fat. I had a "skinny" mirror that Stetson broke. I am still sad about it. Those circle things on the wall are those things that are supposed to go on the ceiling above lighy fixtures (I can't think of what they're called). My neighbor gave them to me but none of them fit on any of the lights in my house. So I painted them different colors and stuck them up as art. :)
And this is my bathroom. It's gray and I really like it. Nate has a dream of ripping out the tub and building a huge custom shower with a bench and rainhead and steamer. Someday! :)
I painted the cabinets black and added white knobs. The rugs and towels came from Target.
Those are battery operated paper lanterns hanging above the tub. They were like $2 at Pier One. I turn them on when I take a bath and they provide nice soft light and the batteries have lasted forever. I made the curtains out of an old cloth shower curtain.
The hotel sign came from Ballard Designs. The S towel from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
And there's my commode. Yes, I took a picture of that too. Hey, I spend a lot of time there.
And with that glorious shot of the toilet, I shall end this long, rambling tour of our house. :) Stetson has had free reign of the place for the last half hour, so, you know, I shall probably be fishing Hot Wheels out of the toilet and vacuuming goldfish crackers out of the couch cushions for the rest of the evening... Good thing he is cute! :)
