Living Room

Hopefully no one's getting bored of the posts of progress in our house. As I finish this Interior Design course and many of our own projects, I'm getting more and more excited about the prospect of helping other people create a space that is both functional and beautiful. Hopefully I'll have some clients soon (or at least friends/family members who will let me practice designing)! 

So, in our Living Room we finally mounted our TV up on the wall and it also inspired me to organize. I'm really happy with how this space is coming along. I like that the wall color (Benjamin Moore) looks good and contrasts both with white and with black. It's a very clean color and I swear it changes throughout the day- depending on the amount of natural light coming into the room, it gets warmer or cooler so it never looks the same. I was hesitant about putting up such a neutral color but because of the open concept, a bold color choice would have been overwhelming. I am excited to paint a pop of color (or wallpaper) behind the built-in shelves. I think that will really help them stand out.

And, just for context, here's the Before: 

Left (From Listing) / Right (Right after painting)

Ready to Wine & Dine

Sorry for the 2 posts in one day, but- we are just so excited that our dining room set from Bassett Furniture has finally arrived! It really has changed the feel of the room, and makes the space look much more mature than the high top table we had their previously (Sorry, Chris- he still loves that table...).
The set we got is called the 'Emporium' collection and believe it or not, I saw it from the road as we drove by Bassett when we first moved into the house & it caught my eye from the front window. We continued to look at other sets after that but kept coming back to this one and ultimately decided it was the one we both loved. Even better, we were able to purchase the set with a housewarming gift from our parents AND during their 30% off sale!

The dining room is now almost finished. I definitely want to put in a chandelier above the table (thinking about some that are more rustic than super fancy - crystals aren't really my thing). I'm debating a rug for under the table (what do you think?), but I could go either way on that decision. Also there's a blank wall to the left of the table now that we moved the ladder shelves / bar over into the right corner. (We also reorganized it, see below.) I think I want to do a grouping of multiple framed pictures on the blank wall, so that will be a fun project. 

FALL IS HERE...

...and I couldn't be more excited! Maybe its unofficial but today certainly feels like fall has arrived- the sun is out but the breeze is cool, which is my favorite combo! It inspires me to start thinking about how I can decorate for the season. Since we moved, there are still a few "decor" boxes that we haven't unpacked which I hope that my fall stuff is in, but I've already purchased a few new things just in case (and because I couldn't resist). The table napkins and placements & "Boo" candles are from Home Goods, and the fall-scented candles are from Bed Bath & Beyond- they have the best tri-wick candles. The smell is just as strong every time you light the candle AND I bought these in their 2 candles for $22 sale- can't beat that!! 

Also when browsing, here is some inspiration & some things I've seen that I would love to incorporate into my fall decorating scheme. I'm literally obsessed with the Marshall + Hutch from Joss & Main. If I could fit this in my house, I would have already purchased. I love the rustic / modern style of it and the openness of the display (you can buy it here: https://www.jossandmain.com/Small-Space-Savvy-Marshall-Hutch-&-Server~LIF2844~E13132.html.) It reminds me a bit of the open ladder shelving that we bought last year which is now in our dining room & we get tons of compliments on. Also, how cute is that monogrammed wreath for the front door (Etsy)?! 

Good luck with your own fall decorating & if you want more inspiration, follow me on Pinterest as I continue to add to my Fall Decor board: http://www.pinterest.com/kcasey16/fall-decor-cant-wait/!

Master Bedroom Progress

Here it is:

The Master Bedroom.

The master bedroom was very high on our priority list of things to get done as soon as possible in our new home, since its one of the places that we knew we would be spending lots of time. I wanted a peaceful and calming feel in this room. When we decided to go with the wall color (Sherwin Williams, 7669 Summit Gray), at first I was hesitant that it would be too dark but Chris was confident throughout and I'm glad that I trusted him. 
When we first saw the house, this was one of the most boring rooms but instead of being deterred, I saw it as a blank slate. 

Bedroom BEFORE (From the listing)

There was a lot of work done that you can't see here, mainly in the closets- there are 4 total in the room. Two of them are right when you walk in the door- a small walk-in and a linen closet (not pictured) and the other two his & hers closets are on the right side of the room when you walk in, which you can see. They all required lots of TLC but in the end came out bright & clean. We also loved the amount of natural light in the room coming in through the large windows. 

Our Master Bedroom During & After

Because of the dark color, edging wasn't easy, but we did get some help from our friends with the painting (thanks Kevin & Bobby)!

Most things in the room were from our apartment, but I got great deals on the new things we did purchase - the throw pillows, lamps and small mirrored dresser are all from Home Goods. The stand-up mirror (which doubles as jewelry storage inside - pretty awesome) can be found here: http://www.wayfair.com/Powell-Furniture-Cheval-Jewelry-Armoire-with-Mirror-597-514-PW4745.html), and our duvet was a Christmas gift that we asked for from my parents last year from Nordstrom. (http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/nordstrom-at-home-contrast-pleat-duvet/3212613?origin=category&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=&resultback=0)

I still have a wishlist for this room: a rug for under the bed, chandelier for above the bed, and a matching bedroom set (dying for a King!). But for now and until we can afford those things, I'm extremely happy waking up here and wanted to share the progress we have made so far!  

Photography: Jenn's Senior Pictures

This past week in Cape Cod on vacation with my family, I took some Senior Pictures of my sister. Can't believe she only has one more year of high school left, time is flying! She's gorgeous, so she certainly made it easy, and I'm really happy with how they came out. 

See some shots below: 

Where the heart is.

So far, making changes to our house has been as much fun as I had hoped it would be. I've learned so much- for example, the difference between 2 shades of paint on the same swatch can make a drastic difference once you apply the color to a whole room. We have been big fans of buying testers first to paint part of the wall and comparing different shades or hues, since the amount and type of lighting that you have in the room you're painting also makes a huge difference in the end color result.

Sherwin Williams Paint Swatch Book

We have been using mainly Sherwin Williams paint- even though its a bit more expensive, the quality is great and we chose these colors knowing that we want them to hold up for a good amount of time before we have to touch up or change. SW also provided me with a free paint swatch book, which I'm pretty pumped about. (Think they noticed the amount of time we have stood in front of the wall of paint swatches, trying to make the right decision?)

Today I wanted to feature one of the rooms I'm proudest of so far in terms of paint color: the kitchen.

The kitchen started off as completely white, walls and cabinets. We have big plans for this room but of course need some time to save up. Eventually I'd like to refinish the cabinets, add a new backsplash and countertops and even take down a 1/2 wall to make a breakfast bar, opening the room up to the living / dining area. The photos below are the before (from the listing and how the room looked when we first walked through the house) and after (painted and decorated). They are taken from the angle facing away from the sink & cabinets: 

Kitchen Before (Left) and After (Right)

We loved the blue for the kitchen because it felt warm and cozy- a french country blue. The color is Sherwin Williams' 'Open Seas'. The floating shelves provided some depth to the room, and were beyond easy to put up. They are from Target, and come with a template of where you need to drill (still a 2-person job, but took about 20 minutes). I surprised my husband, who went to work outside after we had finished putting up the shelves, with finalizing the decorating and setting up our wine fridge. The Giada cookbook is even open to his favorite meal, linguini with white clam sauce. I'm really happy with how this space came out and can't wait to make some even bolder design decisions in the future for this room. 

Back at it!

Ok, it's been way too long since my last post but so much has happened. WE GOT THE HOUSE! And, I could not be happier. We went on a family trip to Europe in April (another post for another time), and we closed on the house a few days after we got back. It was a complete whirlwind. We closed on April 25th and moved in only a few short days later.

Of course, as mentioned previously, the closing process was not at all what I expected and actually was quite overwhelming. We had been hoping to close within the month of March but thankfully had built in a buffer with the landlord of our apartment. Also, during the final walkthrough I had a bit of a panic attack over the amount of work that needed to be done to make it livable. With our friends and family, we managed to get a few things done before the big move, such as painting the first floor & master bedroom as well as installing a new sink & toilet in the master bath. But, now that we have been in our home for a few months (which I can't believe- it has flown by!), I can say with confidence that every single minute of stress- and glasses of wine drank- were worth it. I feel like a different person. After renting apartments for over 5 years, it is so nice to have a place to call ours. 

We have been taking on many projects, lots that I'd like to share here in a series of blog posts and before & after pictures to show how much work we have really done. It's been an exciting time where I have been able to make so many design choices. And, don't get it twisted- we have SO MUCH MORE to do. But, I'm looking forward to all of it. :)

Our New Home.