Switch it up... Change it up

Good morning friends and Happy New Year to you!!!
I can't believe 2012 is here... the year I will become a wife, the year my place of employment gets a HUGE makeover, and the year of so many other adventures and discoveries I don't even know about yet! Woop Woop!
Remember a few weeks ago when we put up our tree and I started ranting about how I wanted to re-arrange the living room? As I also  mentioned in that post, to me the worst part of holiday decor is taking it down, so two days after Christmas, I dove into it head first and took down ALL of our holiday decor. And it felt good. But we were left with a gaping hole on the giant wall where the tree had been.

Please excuse the mess and crappy TV images...

As you can see in the bottom of the image, Cash's crate is giant and takes up a lot of room in our walkway, and all the furniture is smooshed together toward the right of the room. And we are still dealing with the lack-of-tv-console in the space.
OVER IT!!!!
James left the room to take a shower and I started doing some shuffling of furniture.

 

I shifted the ugly floral chair over next to the wall so it opened up the space as you look in from the front door. It also makes a sitting area that's not focused on the TV, which I like in a room. Then I went to our guest room, aka the land of furniture with no appropriate home, and snagged a small shelving system to put our TV on. James was not sold at all on this idea until I started getting whiny about the speaker from his surround sound blocking part of the TV. The wheels started turning and he disappeared to the garage and suddenly!!!! 

TaaaDaaa!!!! I know I know, kind of an uneventful change but... its soo much better than before! We cut about 6" off the legs of the shelf, so now the speaker sits lower and all of our components are off the ground. We also lost the floral ottoman that was a speaker stand before, and used the random side table that used to hold our TV.
I understand, it still looks like a total shit show, but this is one small step towards success people! The ottoman is GONE and at least now all the elements of the console are similar. And I don't have to stare at the back of that damn chair every time I walk in the front door. Much better.

Moral of the story: Its much easier to convince your man to take part in a project if it involves power tools, and you bring him a beer in the midst of all the chaos.

The end.

Tricks and Treats!

Happy Halloween my friends!! In this house right now, its more like HOWLoween!! Baby Cash is doing awesome, and Sammy is his usual self, not wanting to share his toys or food, but sweet nonetheless. Lots has been going on around here, starting with our friend Ash and her contractor hubby Ken staying with us!!!! Ken has some crazy motivation, and decided he was going to re-paint our great room!! WOW!! This is a project I've been wanting to tackle for ages, but I am a shortie and I hate pulling out the ladder so its been on the back burner. Not anymore!!
Remember when I challenged myself to make over our living room a few months back? Painting over the peanut butter (yes thats really what the paint color is called... shoulda known better...) was a major priority.

This picture is pretty true to the color of the paint. Peanut butter, literally. And now... its going bye bye!!!!!!!! Ken has finished cutting in, and James and I are off to buy more paint (Behr Gobi Desert in Eggshell), and I think we are going to get hardware for our kitchen cabinets too!!! Ahhh! So much fun its killing me! I am in shock over how much the new paint color changes the room. The orangey (not a real word) oak cabinets are popping off the lighter wall color, and I sort of like them now?!! What has come over me!?
I love how a small change like new paint colors can steamroll into a mini makeover of a whole room!

In closing, I will leave you with a pile of cuteness in the form of new pics of Cash, and some old Halloween shots of James, Sammy and I.

Cash is growing FAST and will be 10 weeks old on Thursday. He loves laying in the sun and gnawing on rawhide chips.

Here is Sammy at our old house downtown 2 years ago. Our fence was wrought iron with flames on it for real! And James, being the 12 year old trapped in a 30-somethings body, loved impaling a pumpkin on the fence.

Our anniversary is November 11th, so one year we had a pimps and ho's theme party for it. Such a good time. These pictures explain it pretty well. Except they don't show James red pleather pants... Memorable, let me tell ya!!!

 

This was 2009, I was a saloon girl and James was a dead cowboy. He lost that awesome western hat that night. A worthy sacrifice. 

And we finish with 2010. We both had to work that morning, and everyone at work dressed up. My man LOVES painting his face. It gets better every year. 

 

As you can see, we have a dead chef, an 80's workout instructor, me - a ladybug, David Bowie, a panda, Taylor Swift, and Sean Waak (an old bartender). Good times, I love these people!! 

Hope everyone has had a safe and enjoyable Halloweekend!!! Be back soon with pics of our updated kitchen and great room!

The F Word

The word that everyone's been whispering, but no one has truly embraced yet.

FALL. 
 
It's coming. 
And proof is in the Fall West Elm catalog that showed up in our mailbox a few days ago. Of all the home catalogs that we get, West Elm is BY FAR my favorite. I've gone gaga over their Shane Powers Hanging vase here.

As I prepared dinner last night, I cautiously opened the first page of the catalog... and BAM!!

All pictures are property of West Elm, I am just dying over them

Everything about this room is perfection to me. And my love deepened when James said he liked this couch as well. Say WHAT??!! Hiphip hurray! Then he also said I am wearing him down with my incessant design talk. {love him} And have I ever mentioned that my dream house will have a library? Cause it will!

Turn to the next page of the catalog (pg 6)

  

I DIE! Seriously. This room could implant itself in my living room and I would be a happy woman. I am already a happy woman, but it would go next-level happiness.  

Plush Gray sectional? Check. 

Low arching drum shaded lamp? Check. 

Cozy, make-you-wanna-dig-your-toes-in rug? Check. 

Gigantic wall full of sweet vintage details? Check. 

Green-gray door with oak trim? Check. 

The whole catalog is FULL of amazing rooms and fantastic details. James and I poured over the whole thing together, and picked out at least twenty items we want NOW. 

How many will we get now? None. We have Whistler coming up. It is a no-spend time in our lives right now. However, Christmas is coming it's almost fall and I will definitely be splurging on new things. 

This room and its implantation into my brain has also caused me to issue a personal challenge to myself. With this photo as my inspiration, I am going to try and make our living room look similar to this space. In one year. 

GOAL

Here is what our living room looks like today.

It is a large, open space which joins our kitchen and dining room, as well as our entry nook. A hallway runs off it which leads to our bedrooms and bathrooms. The layout of the house is ideal. We are entertainers, and live in our kitchen, so for it to be joined with the living space is perfection.

Looking from kitchen into living room. Entry to the left of the hall.

Here is my list of things-to-accomplish for this space to reach my goal of West Elm perfection:

Paint over 'peanut butter' walls. (They are orange. Our floors, trim, and cabs are oak. Yuck)

Purchase new couches or sectional

Find art or wall covering solution for giant wall behind TV (grasscloth?)

TV console solution (build or refinish something thrifted)

Current console... sweet. Not. But functional lol.

 Refinish drop leaf table

Gorgeous but we have enough oak. It needs to be black.

 Paint interior doors greenish-gray and add moulding detail (or find vintage door w/glass panes for pantry)

I like this color, Behr Witch Hazel

Replace gigantic floral chair 

Chair not good. Not at all. And not comfy so re-upholstery is not an option.

 New Rug

Refinish coffee table

Accessorize

Find fantasy lamp

I love the idea of sliding a small pallet on casters under the coffee table like in the room on pg 41. (can't find the image online) Sigh. I'm in dream-land right now. 

Anyway, I obviously have a Looooooong ways to go but I work better under pressure. Only 365 days left in the living room challenge. I welcome any suggestions, but be gentle. We are living with furniture from combining households, and we aren't bazillionaires. Our house is comfy and not perfect, we upgrade when we can afford it. We have pets. Our furniture shows it.

Whew. Serious biz I am putting myself into right now. But a year is a long time. And goal-setting helps me achieve results. 

Alright kids, wish me luck. I'm off to work on an art project for the giant wall.