For awhile last year, I shared photos of the progress in our house. But, then, I stopped...for a few reasons. First, my house is always a mess. Don't let the pictures on Instagram fool you. On the average day there are toys and food and dirty dishes and laundry and whatever else my little tornado children have left behind in their path of destruction. Second, I am the kind of person who doesn't like sharing things until they are perfect. I have been wanting to share photos of this room or that room, but I was always just waiting to fix problem A or finish issue B. Well, after a year of living here, it's very obvious that nothing is ever going to be perfect. ;) I love home decor blogs, and this is never going to be one, but I would like to share more photos this year on the blog...mostly for myself so that eventually I can go back and look at all the progress I have made.
Take, for instance, the living room. I last posted about the living room in March of last year. I remember thinking back then that things didn't look so bad in those photos...and now when I look back, all I can think is, "WOW, has a lot changed!!" I loved decorating for the holidays this year, so I thought now might be a perfect time to share some updated living room photos. Things are far from perfect, but there is hope on the horizon!
Looking at the built-ins, we have way more "stuff" filling them up. I'm a lover of stuff! All of my globes have been purchased off of Craigslist, and I keep accumulating more vintage music books. I love when people find them and buy them for me! I even had a friend send me some after she saw my collection on Instagram!
The curtains are from West Elm. I love chevron, but I hate when it's overdone (like, you won't be finding a chevron chair or couch in my house), but I think these curtains are just the perfect amount of pattern and I love their color oh so much!!
I think I get more comments on the mitten garland on the piano than any other holiday decoration! I bought those from Hallmark probably 15 years ago when I was in college. They have a hang on on the piano every year!
I LOVE the artwork of Katie Daisy, and this print was perfect for the piano! The little pedestal candle holder thingy (a technical term) was from an estate sale. We spray painted it yellow because, well, I love yellow. ;)
I HAD to have the star marquee light from Target. It will stay on the piano permanently.
The Advent calendar is from The Land of Nod. The kids were up at the crack of dawn each morning in December to see what was in each pocket!
I posted about my vintage map last year. I paired it with some totally adorable felt garland from my new favorite store Hello, Maypole. I now want to put felt ball garland all over my house. Somehow, I don't think my husband is going to be on board with that plan!
The next couple of photos are pretty bad. I love all the windows in my living room, but they make it hard to photograph! Here is where you will spy the big downfalls of the room! 1) The loveseat. Our old house was so small we didn't have room for a full-size couch, and instead we got this loveseat. It basically began to disintegrate last year and now is in shambles. The good news? We are currently shopping for a new couch! I will be sure to post about it if and when we finally purchase one! 2) The coffee table. This is a $10 table from Craigslist. It was listed as a "solid wood" table - and I had envisioned painting the bottom yellow and having my husband refinish the top. However, the top is actually laminate, which threw a wrench in my plans. Right now the plan is to still paint it yellow, and hopefully at some point he can construct a brand new tabletop.
The old set of drawers was gifted to me by my stepdad, who had them in his workshop. I am pretty sure he (and everyone else in my family) thinks I am nuts for just putting them in the corner of my living room, but I have gotten SO many comments and compliments about them!! Right now they are holding school work. I had hoped for lockers in that corner, but these are just as good...maybe better! The chair was purchased from a local antique store. And, of course we have another globe...and more music books...you can never have too many!
If you've been reading for awhile, you know that I have a to-do list for every room in the house. This list makes me happy, because it's actually got a lot crossed off!
- Repaint/Touch up Paint
- Paint Ceiling
- Sheer Panels for front windows
- Curtains for side windows
- Refinish floors
- New light fixture - get rid of fan!
- Outlet covers
- Pictures/Art on walls
- Bins for bench storage
- New Couch (hopefully soon!)
- Painted Tables
- Coffee Table
- New Lamps
- Lockers (drawers instead)
- Pillows
- Redo piano bench cover
- Rug
- Repaint Radiator
Here are links to my previous Living Room posts:
Built-ins, 2.2014
Room Tour, 3.2014
Vintage Map, 4.2014
Blue Tables, 9.2014
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great week! :)
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