Let The Renovations Begin!

Maybe it has something to do with the winter time and the fact that I want to be inside…ALL.DAY.LONG. The bug to change the world has hit me…or actually maybe starting a bit smaller is key and that has led me to begin renovations on my home!

As you know I completed the guest rooms minus a few decorating items but at least those two rooms are done and the doors stay closed until people come to visit (hint, hint!) On to the bigger projects where I actually have to focus and take my time because these are the rooms that people actually see a lot more.

First up is the living room!! Pinterest inspiration struck again and I decided with this house I really need to stay in-tune with myself and my style. I am a “coastal” girl and I should just allow that to happen! Light blues, creams, and seashells galore! Gotta bring a little bit of the ocean into my mid-west life here. Thankfully, the German husband of mine is just cool with whatever I do! 🙂

So I saw this picture on Pinterest which you can find it’s original place on the House Of Turquoise Blog here. This is the idea! And although I can’t exactly do it JUST like that it was a great start for inspiration!

Previous walls in the living room were in my opinion dark blue. Nothing wrong with dark colors, it just started to depress me. There is only one large window and two smaller ones in this room. Not a whole lot of natural light pouring through so it was important to me that we lighten it up…A LOT!

I fought with the idea of paint colors and finally landed on THE color. Glass Slipper by Benjamin Moore. I spent hours searching for the right color but every one of them was either too “baby blue” or “too dark.” This color by Benjamin Moore has a hint of green in it so its not going to give you that newborn baby room look.

So all in all it took me to do the entire room in about a week! I know, that seems insane but first, I was all by my little self doing this. I had to take SO many breaks because I also have dog duty and other house duties to attend to. On top of that, I’m scared of heights so being on a ladder was just REALLY challenging for me!

End result – Exhibit A:

Harley loves his new space 🙂 He’s going to be 5 tomorrow! Everyone say Happy Birthday to this sweet, cupcake!

End Result – Exhibit B

So as you can see this simple change turned the room into something different. I actually like to sit in there all day now. No…wait, I actually don’t sit around all day. I’m off doing very productive things because that is what housewives do! 🙂

I painted the panel above the fireplace white because I’m having a hard enough time figuring out what to put there. A picture? A clock? An abstract piece of art? A canvas print? It’s not easy! But at least it doesn’t look like its a focal point anymore. So maybe whatever goes there won’t be THAT important.

Also, I painted ALL of the molding…ALL of it.  I couldn’t bare the thought of trying to scrub out all the crayon marks, old pizza, and several other questionable substances I found in my journey.  Another reason why I shouldn’t have children…my OCD does not allow for ANY messes! But doing that simple little thing made this room look like it was just built. Almost. It gave it all a bit of much needed makeover and I’m feeling complete!

Next up: DECORATING!! Will be added a bit of greenery, end tables, lamps, curtains and something for those shelves and above the mantel. Its all getting there! Slowly but surely!

Then on to: DINING ROOM/KITCHEN! Will be adding backsplash, brightening it up as well, and re-staining the cabinets! Wish me luck!

Anyone have any ideas for the space above the mantel? Would love to hear what you got!!!

Until next time, Readers!!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Raise The Roof

As I’ve mentioned in the past its common that the German people save up enough money to one day build a house of their own. Along with doing so comes more crazy traditions. Any reason to party right?

Behind our house they paved a new road last year and now are slowly starting to build a few houses at a time. One house in particular has been moving right along. The night of our Halloween Party we could see lights on and drunk Germans singing every song ever written. Loudly. The following morning, I awoke to this:

Indeed, that’s a decorated tree hanging outside. I did some serious digging….aka asked Toblerone what was going on. I was quickly informed that when you put the roof on a house, you celebrate it and kind of “bless” it. Of course, the Germs would have it no other way then to drink and sing together in a cold unfinished house and hang a tree! Makes perfect sense! And they think Black Friday is absurd??

Until next time, Readers!!! Xoxoxoxoxo

A Writer’s Heaven

Finally….a place for me to sit and do what I LOVE to do most! 🙂 AN OFFICE!!!

I know I’ve been talking about this for months and how excited I am to show you guys. It’s still not 100% yet but I’m working with the small space. Got the furniture bits in there and now it’s time for all the decorations/plants/etc. So…Here it goes!

After much discussion I decided to go with dark gray walls and white furniture. Seems to be “in” for the moment so I went with it! Funniest bit was I worked forever on painting this room. First coat didn’t really dry as dark as I wanted but I was ok with it. Went back to the store to get more paint, started painting and found they were two totally different colors. The girl who mixed the paint the first time around completely gave me the wrong shade of gray. THANK YOU, MORON! So, I decided to leave the largest wall as the lighter gray and the rest as the dark gray….and this is what we have!

Walking into the office you see (right side wall is lighter gray)

Then we have the cubed bookshelf. It’s my stock of English books! 🙂 And a few of Toblerone’s. I told myself I would go back and read all of these again. Doesn’t hurt! I definitely need to add to it though, no empty spaces!!!

This picture is amazing. Everything old is what I want in this room and this is a scene of NYC in 1932. Not sure you can see it so good because of the glare (SORRY!) but the harbor is missing quite a few buildings and this is long before World Trade Center was built. Back before all the terror and Prohibition was just ending. Just a great piece if you ask me!:

And of course this is my favorite part so far. Right now there are pictures of my grandparents and family – all B&W pics of course. It was these pictures that gave me the idea for the room so I went with it. I felt I needed a special place for them to be displayed. Soon this will be overflowing with them and from Toblerone’s grandparents too. Just have to make the copies but it will be all different sized frames all overlapping one another…chaotic…because that’s what family is. A whole lot of love and chaos and in this case – a mix of cultures and memories:

So, that’s what I have so far. I’ll be adding more vegetation to the room to add some color to it but for now it’s my little hole in the house. It’s my sanctuary to write and have peace of mind. It may not be anyone else’s Heaven but for me…it does the trick as far as inspiration goes.

Let me know what you think and what ideas you have for other decorations to liven it up a bit!

Until next time, Readers!!!! xoxoxoxoxo