A Master in the Making (Part 1)

Our master bedroom needs a lot of tlc.  Day one of move in we were ripping up the carpet.  I could not live one day with the carpet that was in there.  It was soiled from dogs and had holes and snags everywhere.  Not to mention - I am not sure what the original color of it was.  We lived on plywood for a few weeks while deciding on a new floor.  Day two was paint - our walls were almost a burnt orange with a nice space between the ceiling and walls where the previous owner left room for crown molding.  Sound familiar?  Several walls in our house were left like this.  

After several weeks (possibly months, I have lost track) our new floor arrived.  We purchased our flooring from Lumber Liquidators.  After a lot of searching we went with a laminate floor.  We decided on this because of our dogs and our budget.  I had the barn wood look in my head and this floor was dead on for the look I wanted.  Yes, there are many wood and tile floors out there that we could have got that are barn wood look-a-likes, but we have a budget people!  

We are pleased with the look and have gotten many compliments.  It is very easy to clean and with all the dog traffic - no scratches yet.

Ugly tile alert! Off of our bedroom we have a nice area that leads out to the back yard.  It houses another closet and Hubby is in the process of building me a vanity in this little nook.  It is tiled and leads into the bathroom. The tile will be changed when we start the master bathroom remodel.  I cannot wait to have a beautiful tile matched up right next to our new bedroom floor.

A new coat of paint can do wonders in a room.  With just new paint in every room in our house - it looks like a totally different place.  We used Benjamin Moore's Kendall Charcoal for our master.  Hubby and my dad installed all the crown molding to finish it off.

New closet doors. Our list of master bedroom upgrades: -paint -crown molding -flooring -new electrical plugs and covers -bedding -area rug -head board -bench/chairs at end of bed -closet doors/handles -paint french doors black -curtains on french doors -hide TV cords -vanity Still a lot of things to do ( I am sure the list will grow), but A TON has been completed. I am starting to love walking by our french doors in the dining room that lead to the master.  I do not cringe looking at plywood floors and burnt orange walls anymore. I am about 90% sure that I am not going to frost the doors, just hang curtains so that I can look in when it is not a mess! I know these pictures leave a lot to be desired, but come back for Part 2 of the master bedroom reno soon!

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Movie Room Inspiration

Hubby and I have a living room that was an add-on to the back of our house.  It is a really great space to have - it just takes more furniture to make it usable!  Our one bedroom apartment cannot possibly furnish this 3 bedroom 2 bath house with 2 living rooms!  As you can see from previous posts we focused on our front living room first since it is the first room you see when you enter the house.  Also, it has the amazing windows and shutters that I love to look at everyday.  We decided that we would make that back living room into a "movie room".  It was already painted a dark color and it has a good wall that Hubby could put a projector screen on in the future.  I also recently pointed out how perfect it could be for the future- it is connected to one of our guest bedrooms that would be turned into a baby room.  I see this "movie room" slowly transformed into a play room one day! yeeeahhh! All toys in the back of the house - I think yes.

1.  Pantone Mood Indigo - I am in love with navy blue.  It goes with everything.  We have already transformed this room from a dark red to this navy blue (that is really all we have done to it in 9 months).  I love it.  We have large white baseboards and it really looks good.  Also - dark enough for the movie room!

2.  Anthropologie striped curtains - I want some sort of stripe in this room.  I am slightly obsessed, for some reason I am drawn to any type of stripe. Home decor, clothing, anything - if it has a stripe - I want it!  I have crossed paths with these curtains a few times and I like them every time.  We will see if Hubby lets me spend the $ on them or not!

3. Threshold Round Tables - Okay, I want these tables so badly! Loving metallic gold right now - and of course they go great with the navy! Clean and simple. SOLD.

4. Brown leather couch - Hubby and I have recently been gifted with 2 brown leather couches from his uncle.  We are actually receiving them this week!  So, while I am lusting over this leather couch - mine will not look exactly like this.  I am A-OK with that - they are FREE and in great shape.  A girl can dream.

5.  Jonathan Adler pillow - I have been obsessing over these alphabet pillows ever since I saw them on a Giuliana and Bill episode a few seasons back.  I promptly searched for them and thought I would be making a purchase that night - then my eyes drifted over to the price. Pump the brakes. $125 was a little steep for me to spend on one pillow.  So I sent a picture to my mother in law and she sewed us up an almost exact replica. WIN.  Now I want this red one - I shall have it. One way or another.

6. Indoor/outdoor navy rug - Our back living room has carpet, unfortunately. Let's just say that this carpet is not in "mint" condition either.  We are not in a place to completely replace it right now, so I will try to cover it as much as possible. I am not sure of the EXACT rug that I want - but this is pretty darn cute.  I am always drawn to rugs that have a lot of white - not good with dogs. So I will keep looking until the exact one jumps out at me, and it will - they always do!

I am itching to get this room going! It has been just sitting there empty and waiting to be dressed up.  I haven't really touched it yet because I was waiting for our couches.  They are arriving and my wheels are turning!  Get ready Hubby - shopping is in order!

The.House.

I want to start - exactly where we started with this house. We bought this house rather quickly - only looking at it one time. We were pressed on time and knew we were okay with a fixer upper. The former owner had no shame and knew this house needed some work. It was listed as " As is - to finish and create your dream home". While many things had been updated (from the 1950s) there was, and is still a lot to do. We saw a diamond in the rough. This house is placed in an amazing and established neighborhood in our town. Lots of trees and space in between each house. We knew when we found a house we could afford in this neighborhood - we HAD to jump on it. And that is just what we did! She is all ours!

In the posts to come I am going to share many of our "before" pictures and "progress" pictures. We are proud of our work and design choices and know that there are many more months (probably years) of work to come. Hubby and I - as well as our parents and siblings have already put many, many hours of work into this house. It is something we have really come to enjoy and look forward to our next project. We have also established our "roles" in this renovation. Let me introduce myself (clearing of the throat)THE PROJECT CREATOR/IDEA MAKER/VISIONARY. And Hubby (another clearing of the throat) THE DOER OF ALL THINGS/HANDY MAN/CARPENTER/PLUMBER/POOL GUY/ETC. Seriously, any idea or picture I have - he can do it. This has come in very handy in our renovation and has saved us A TON of money! And by "save" I mean - I spend it on another project!! So, sit back and enjoy. Take some ideas, give me some, and leave some comments!