House Tour 2016 :: Kitchen & Living Room

I feel like I do a home tour every year and it sometimes is a mess, sometimes it doesn't get finished, and almost always have bad photos because of the maddening light in my house.


But here we go again... I shall try. 
And I feel like many things have changed since last years home tour so... my downstairs.

My lovely teeny tiny kitchen.

Last year we finished off our island cabinet and I can't even tell you how much this pretty lady has come in handy!  In a kitchen as small as ours, any extra cabinet space comes is necessary!   And since it is so teeny tiny, this is really the only photo.

:: Still needs work ::
*New kitchen table
*Paint Cabinets - We got the Rustoleum Kits for Christmas (you can't see cabinets obviously)
*New counterstools & chairs
*Curtains
*Bench Cushions
*New counters
*New Sink

Then we have the living room, right off the entry & kitchen.  Right now it's feeling very bland which I'm kind of liking and kind of not.  I'm torn by decluttering and the love I have for eclectic things.  I don't want to be too wacky.  I think I came to the conclusion that I'm a bit of a hipster and I'd like to infuse my hipster feel through artwork.



We are a bit still in the stage of hand-me-down furniture and mismatched items although I don't really mind. 

We are loving our new sofa from IKEA - I can't tell you how well it washes, wears, and its just so comfy!  Very pleased with my big purchase.

And I like the pop of red that the leather chair gives so it will stay with us probably long past it's glory days.

:: Still Needs Work ::
*Baseboards
*New Sofa Table
*New Lamps
*New Artwork


Not too much to do in the living room, but the kitchen needs some love.  It's still pretty cookie cutter and I'd love it to be a little different. 


Next time -- Entry, Pantry/Office, & Potties!

xo,

House Updates :: Living Room

It's been a long while since I remember posting anything about our house and if you ask me, there have been quite a few changes.  Even if they are small, they are changes and I'm really kind of liking them. 

So this week, we'll go through three rooms that have received major and minor updates.

To start :: The Living Room. 
It's been a long time coming.  It was time to grow up a bit.  While I'm sure I'll always be in Craigslist Hunt mode, I do love the idea of NEW things... Just ask my husband.  But I was feeling like with our space we weren't really utilizing it the best way we could.  So... Enter Karls. 
We splurged on the Karlstad Sofa from IKEA and 4 months later are still in love.  I seriously can't believe how EVERYONE can fit on it at the same time.  It's comfortable.  It seems to be holding up pretty well, and it just overall works for us! 

I had painted all the wood dressers and tables in the room this gray at one point to achieve some uniformity, but then I remembered why I bought the pieces in the first place and it was because I hated uniformity.  So... while the horse stayed gray, the dresser was stripped.

Still one of my favorite craigslist finds, this leather chair.  The wheels have fallen off, there are cracks on the seat, the ottoman is now been buried in the garage (RIP), and it's missing a button cover, but we just really like this guy. 

We haven't really tackled the cord situation in here yet -- that will come shortly -- but for now this is one way I hide the ones by the tv. 

And here you see the ones I haven't hidden yet. 

I'm a little unsure what to do with them until wireless lights are invented.

Right now I'm really happy with how it's looking.  The new pieces really add new life to the room as well as giving us more comfortable seating.  I really love how the dark sofa just kind of pops in here with the light gray walls.  Next up, pillows and changing the wall decorations.  I'm not sure on those mirrors anymore...


xoxo,
Abby

2015 Home Tour :: Entry, Living Room, Kitchen

I figured it would be nice to do a quick home tour this year at the beginning of the year to be able to compare what's changed throughout!  

I know, I'm so smart.  

But seriously.  

Some of the pictures are not great... but I swear I took the time to take good ones, they just were still not GREAT in the end.  

:: The Entry ::

:: The Living Room ::

:: The Kitchen ::

So there's part one.  This is the basic areas of our downstairs.  We don't have a ton of space.  The only other spaces downstairs are a half bath and pantry which will be another tour day! 

Hope you enjoyed!  I can't wait to see the changes that 2015 will bring to these spaces... even though I think they are getting pretty close to done!  

Holiday Living Room Tour 2014

This year I decided I'd take a few pictures of the house with our holiday decorations up to share over with Jennifer Rizzo and friends at the 2014 Holiday House Walk Link party!  I'm not sure how I feel about my décor this year -- I was trying to stay white, cream, gold, and greenery downstairs, but I'm not sure how effective that was.  I tried to do a couple of easy DIYs which I'm hoping to share this week.

I'm loving the clean crisp look of the entry.  I think the green looks lovely against the brown. 

The living room I added some pillows and whatever else I could find that fit the white, cream, gold, or green criteria. I wish there was a way to add a wall between my living room and kitchen for pictures but then take it down all other times. 

These glitter sticks which are hard to see are from a West Elm Craft night that I participated in with a friend.  They needed a home and here they are anchored in ornaments. 

Another DIY is this feather garland.  I'm in love with it.  This picture really doesn't do it justice. 

The stockings are not hung by the chimney with care because we don't have one so we hung them on the ladder this year.  I love this spot for them.  I added a little DIY Pom Pom garland here too.

And flannel(ish) blankets from Old Navy are nice little details and some warmth during the cold nights.

And my tree this year might be my favorite.  It's a little on the big side, but we do love it.  And I think my addition of the champagne colored ornaments and twine really added a nice little something. 

My house just isn't photographing well or feeling as warm as it usually does this time of year.  :( 

Oh well...

Maybe I'll grab some new stuff for next year. 

Happy Holidays!