Pillows!

Dear Target,

Thank You!
love,
me

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When I bought my adorable placemats, I noticed target also had coordinating pillow covers for just $5 each. I only had ten bucks then, and I chose to get the placemats, but tonight I had some extra money in my pocket- and we all know how money HATES being in pockets and much prefers the company of more money in a cozy cash register drawer.

AND the pillow covers were on sale for $4 each. I scored 5 of those bad boys for the same price I would have paid to buy one decorative throw pillow. Score!

I have hated my couch's pillows since we bought the darned thing, and have been quite obsessive about the patterned side always facing the couch. I didn't want to look at it! But now I have 5 lovely "new" pillows!

We technically only have 4 couch pillows- and only 2 of my dining chairs had cushions. One of them got lost in the move, so I stuffed the remaining one inside one of my new covers. The only style of the cover I didn't buy was the striped one. It's my least favorite, but I may go back to get it for when I stumble across that missing dining cushion. Or maybe I'll buy a repeat of one of the solids- I don't know. I have a lot of bold blues and greens in the room. Another pattern might be too much. There is a solid tan option. I need advice. I know I'm bordering on over-kill. It just occurred to me that I could also buy some more to do dining cushions. Dining cushions are so rarely washable- and my kids wipe their hands all over them.

We always like to have bed pillows on our couch as well. My husband flat out refuses to sit on the couch unless we have company. He always lays down on it. We have a stack of blankets near the couch as well. And he stacks all the pillows under his head. It's Snuggle Central.

I want to find some inexpensive pillow shams for 2-4 bed pillows that match the covers I bought. Target's usually pretty good about carrying a pattern across departments- the floral pillow matches my placemats- but I didn't see any shams today. Keep an eye out for me!

Additionally, I bought a new utensil holder ($7 on the clearance end-cap) in my favorite color! The florescent lights give the counter a heavenly glow, and you know what? It is heavenly. Look at my lovely new utensil holder! How well it matches my Scentsy warmer and the frame on that adorable picture of my daughters!They also had a matching cookie jar for $7. I wanted it, but couldn't justify it, seeing as cookies these days come in their own resealable packages. I'm now sitting here trying to think up something I could store in a tall, narrow, air-tight kitchen container just so I can go buy it. And that just reinforces the fact that I don't need it. I'm also eye-balling a fabulous turquoise retro-styled metal breadbox. However, due to counter constraints, it would probably get tucked into the pantry. So why bother? OR I could put it on my "junk" counter, to shove the junk inside. My guests will think "what an awesome bread box" and I will think "thank goodness they can't see my big pile of junk!"

I got new placemats!

A lame thing to be excited about, but what can I say? I love them!


Target, if you were wondering. And I do believe I'll be going back for the coordinating polka-dot ones as well- whenever eight dollars finds its way into my pocketbook again.

House Warming Party And Such

Here are some pictures from our house warming party and the days surrounding it. FYI, I organized them (mostly) by the flow of the house, not chronologically. Like always, clicking on pictures gives you a larger view.

The invitation I made.

A nice family shot.

Pretty hanging basket I got for three bucks- and the lovely blue flowers I planted in it.

The front foyer- my husband, his brother,and their aunt.

The area I call the "nook," outside the half bath and utility rooms. It's also the area the little one's play kitchen is housed.

Finally got Starry Night hung. It's a little crooked, so it's back on my to-do list. Here, you can also see the gigantic atlas we received from an uncle as a house warming gift. He called it a coffee table book, but if it had legs, it could BE a coffee table. :)

Behind the love seat we hung The Old Guitarist. Eventually we'd like to get a better copy of this. It's my husband's favorite painting. I really like how the blues in it and in Starry Night play off our kitchen walls.

Having fun at the party.

With the help of several family members, we got two of the guitar brackets mounted. The darned stud finder didn't like me one bit! Hopefully I'll find the third bracket soon so the wall will look more balanced.

Family at the party.

I've had this rug for some time now. I've always liked it and am glad it finally has a place to go, even if it is a bit small for a dining table rug. The colors and pattern are also on the throws on our couches, so with the open floor plan it looks great. I'm so glad to finally have an obvious decorating scheme/theme in my home!

View of the kitchen from the dining table. The light blue sun used to be orange, but with a fresh coat of paint, it's seeing new life. Eventually that spot will house our freezer, but for now the suns look nice. You can also see our brand new toaster. (Thanks, Tortilla!) It's a black 4 slot with a fancy retractable cord.

This is the top of our fridge- not the permanent home for any of these items. The white candle holders were favors for the girls in our family from Paisley's wedding. The sculpture, which is either a calaca, or a catrina (I'm unsure), was a house warming gift from my aunt. The two of us have been bonding a great deal over the past year and- boy, did she hit the nail on the head with this one! I LOVE it! The colors perfectly match the walls in the kitchen/living/dining, and I have always thought the Day of the Dead sculptures were amazing (odd, but amazing none the less.) Some time ago I bought some Alexander Henry Folklorico Fabrics ( Virgin of Guadalupe, Paseo de los Muertos, and maybe Calaveras ) from Joanne's. They're in one of my craft boxes. I've always wanted a Mexican themed kitchen, so after I get my sewing machine fixed, I think I'll make a table runner or some place mats. I also own a vintage apron with little guitars and maracas embroidered on it, and two little dancers at the bottom. I used it as a window valance in our old town house, but now I need to repurpose it.

This is my greeting card display. It's on the bar top between the kitchen and living room. I want to get some wood and some clips and build a double sided display to set out during Christmas and Birthday months.

Playroom- have it organized now. Definite computer area, home-school supplies, book storage, a movie watching spot, play area with table and seating...

and lots of toy storage!

We've decided this room will also get painted blue (of course!) My husband wants to put Dallas Cowboys collectibles in here, but as of yet the only thing he has is an enormous Game Day Flag for the front porch- another house warming gift. I, on the other hand, just so happen to have a collection of superhero items- and seeing as I'm the one doing all the hanging and decorating and such, I have every intention of blue walls and red shelves. I also have a frame built in my head to display my Supergirl comic books. I've already adapted the fan pulls- the one for the light is a small Batgirl action figure, and the fan pull is the Bat symbol. I'm thinking of using one of my old Supergirl capes as curtains...

This is part of the girls' bedroom. Here's their display wall. Looks better in person...

I finished this painting last week. My daughter and I started it two years ago!

My favorite part of their room is the window. I don't have a photo to post, so I'll describe it. They had a lavender mesh canopy that used to hang over their bookcase. I cut it into sections and used the sections as curtains- one long piece hung all the way to the floor on each side, with the final piece draped acrosss the top. It's supported by a beautiful mermaid hook at the center of the top, and a dried starfish in the middle. I'll post more pictures of their room after we get them a bed frame.

Girls' bathroom. This room will either be a light blue or green. I also want to get them a new shower curtain.

Master bedroom. I love the wall color. I only had one can of paint at the time, so it's a little thin in places, but one of the Home Depot housewarming gift cards we received afforded us another can (among other things.) Add "second coat in bedroom" to my to-do list!

We don't have any other bedroom furniture yet. Sometime down the line we'll get a dresser and at least one night stand. I may want a vanity on my side- or perhaps a night stand and a jewelry armoire?

My mom and step-dad got a bunny hutch! After the boys assembled it, I drove out to our old apartment to retrieve the bunny. We put it in what we've determined to be the shadiest spot. The only issue is that it's on the side with the rain run-off,so the ground tilts heavily here. Fortunately, we kept most of the pieces to the girls' old bed frame. One of the planks was the exact width of the rabbit hutch, so now it's level! The only problem with the hutch itself is that whoever designed it forgot that rabbits are burrowing animals. The lower level is open to grass for nibbling and digging. I purchased some supplies and built a framework for the bottom of the hutch. The last thing on my to-do list is to finish disassembling her old cage so I can use the wire screens to cover my framework. Then I will set the hutch on top of the screen and we can open the trap door for good, so she can hop down the ramp and enjoy some fresh greens.

Here are the kids on the front porch with the dogs that live behind us. I don't really know what the deal is, but these two are never in their own yard. My dog starts whining whenever they come up the street and I recently noticed that the beagle-y one hangs out on my shady porch during the hottest parts of the day. I put a bucket of water out there for them. I know her name is LaLa, but I don't know the little one's name, so I call her Scruffy. They are both friendly and very sweet.

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Well, that's all the pictures I have for now. Things are coming together nicely, and it's quite livable now that I've crammed the remaining boxes into every inch of closet space... Thanks to everyone who came out last weekend! And if you didn't make it, call us soon so you can come visit!

House Warming Party!

Our house warming party is set for Saturday, August 15th. Should be a pretty packed house! Hooray! I can't wait to see all your beautiful faces. Call us if you need directions, have questions, or when you figure out if you can make it (so we can get a head count.)

Don't feel obligated, but if you'd like to get us a gift, here's a list:
We need some big budget items, like a water softening system, a new bed frame for the girls, and a freezer. We've already shopped around for the best deals on the ones we want, so we will gladly welcome gift cards to Home Depot, Lowe's, Ikea and Sears.
For smaller things, we registered at Target- bath towels, kitchen stuff, odds and ends, and a couple of "fun" items. Our registry is under Club Wedd because I didn't realize I had other options.
We also need those clear plastic things that cover the knobs on the oven/stove, to keep the little one from burning the house down. They have them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and "baby" stores.

The run down on our decorating scheme:
Living Room- deep tan walls and couches with green and blue accents, large painting of Starry Night, brownish black furniture with straight lines
Kitchen/Dining- deep blue walls, dishes in shades of blue, green, and brown (mainly plastic due to the kid factor) black appliances, dark brown tile and countertops, medium shade wood cabinets
Half Bath- presently unpainted, deep red accent pieces. I'd like to get a collection of Mexican punched tin hearts to hang on the wall- I bought one the other day- a red heart with silver flames coming out the top. We might want to hang them over the cabinets in the kitchen. Hmmm...
Girls' Room- turquoise walls, purple furniture, under sea/mermaids
Girls' Bath- blue and lime green, puppies and kitties, with a few frogs
Master Bedroom- blue walls, brown and blue bedding, dark wood bed frame
Master Bath- presently nothing, hoping for brown and deep orange color scheme
Exterior- forest green front door, green door mats and flower pots
(Pictures of what we've done so far are available in the previous post- August 5th.)

The new light fixtures my husband installed are all dark brown/bronzish, with slightly yellow frosted glass. The carpet is a light tan with brownish speckles. All hanging picture frames are black.

Candles are also great- I love it when my house smells like Thanksgiving baked goodies: pumpkin pie, hazelnut, cinnamon, maple.

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OK, well I guess I have two weeks to finish painting and get unpacked... Don't forget to RSVP!

Stuff We "Need"

We're trying to determine what we need/want immediately upon move-in. Some of the things we'll buy brand-new, most we'll try to find on Craigslist, and some things we'll need to build ourselves.
Here is our current list:

toaster or toaster oven
Our old toaster was stainless steel and I want to avoid that smudgey nightmare. I think finding a blue one would be awesome,or black to match our appliances.

This orange one from Lowe's for $40 is also cool.This one has a toaster on top and the toaster oven beneath. That's inventive.My husband would prefer a toaster oven. I can't really find any in blue... but these would all look nice.

up-right freezer
The freezer will go in the kitchen, at the end of the counter/edge of dining room. Eventually I'd like to get an additional matching cabinet to hang over it to make it look like it belongs there. I'm not sire there's a cabinet over my fridge. On the blueprint it's listed as an upgrade, so I may have to get two of them.
mirror and sink for powder room (see my previous blog)

bar stools
We want 2-3 bar stools. They seem to have a huge price range: $60-$150 each. Our dining table is mission style, and I'd like the bar stools to match. The trouble lies in what color? Our dining table has a dark brown stain. The living room furniture is all black-brown. The area where the bar stools go is on the edge of the living room. Perhaps we should get the stools in black-brown so that they match the colors of the room they sit in, but the style of the dining furniture just a few feet away. What do you think?

curtains throughout
Target has pretty good prices. Target had their panels 2 for $20. I think we'd need eight of them to do what I have planned. I want matching floor length curtains in the living and dining, tan with a chocolate brown band the bottom. I also think we should do that thing where the curtain rod extends a foot or so past the window on either side so that the window appears larger, especially with the living room being painted a dark color. Plus we need one panel for the foyer window. I may just make them myself. I need to check the fabric store. We need curtain rods, about $30 each. Or we could do Roman Shades. My husband likes them and they're about $34 each.
These drapes are from Pottery Barn. Way more than I want to spend, but the right look. I want a sleeve at the top instead of grommets- especially if I end up making them myself.

Ikea mattress for the wee one
This is, of course, assuming, their bed frame survives the disassemble/reassemble process. towels/bath mat for master bath
deep orange, chocolate brown, maybe a cream color $6-$10 each

I also dig these from World Market:

Floral Chestnut Turkish Cotton Bath Towels

$4.99 - $8.99

Mexican tiles
I want to do a frame around the pantry and also a "chair rail" in the entry out of Mexican tiles. I don't know the dimensions of the pantry door, but I measured my apartment's front door. It would require 55 tiles. I also don't know the length of the foyer. There are a lot openings in the wall for closets and such, but I think I'll need about 35 tiles. I'll do true measurements once the house is actually there... That's a guessing total of 90 tiles. 4x4 tiles are about $1.50-$2.50 each, and discounts are given on boxes of 90. Low end, this project would be about $150 (frowny face.) I'll want to shop around for the very best deal.
We also want to do our house numbers with the Mexican tiles. You can buy a little frame for them and hang it on the house. We also want some sort of exterior art piece to hang on the stone between the two windows on the front of the house.

futon or small couch with hide-away bed
for guest room. we haven't discussed a color scheme.

2 desks
We need two desks to go side by side in our office/guestroom/playroom. One for the computer, one for my sewing things.
This one is the ALVE secretary desk from Ikea ($199 each.) I prefer for the bottom of it to be enclosed so there aren't wires poking out and the baby won't be able to turn the computer on and off. We also need a lot of storage space.
At Walmart I stumbled upon a cool cabinet, so now I'm looking into "computer armoires." I need to be sure that the ones we select can support a sewing machine. Maybe I can find a craft armoire, too?

rugs
I love how rugs look- like artwork for the floor. I definitely want one in the living room. I'd like it to be at least 6x8. I want the color to compliment the living room and dining room walls, in addition to our painting. This is the 6x9 Blue/Brown Striped Chindi cotton Rug 401061 from World Market for $139:Rugs are so expensive. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this wool one from Rugstudio.com, but it's a thousand dollars for the 7x9! The colors are so beautiful and it would look fabulous with our painting.

I waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant it!

coffee table and end table
We have a couple of options with our existing furniture. We have a coffee table for the living room- but I want an end table, too. We can get a matching one at Ikea. OR we can put our coffee table in the playroom upstairs and get a new coffee/end table set for the living room.

lawnmower
We might have a seller for this item.

tall ladder

paint/supplies
Have any leftover paint?
I need small quantities of these colors: burnt red, chocolate brown, purpley blue, and purple.
And at least one can each of a basic brown, navy blue, light blue/turquoise, and a dusty blue.

nail gun

recording equipment

t.v.
We'll look on Craigslist for a flat-screen HD t.v.

supplies for building a bunny hutch

supplies for building a raised flower bed
I'd like to build a raised flower bed in the backyard, to run the length of the fence along the street. I want to put a trellis on the fence itself, and plant climbing things like honey-suckle and orange trumpets. I want it to be butterfly friendly, but minimize the amount of bees we'd get. I actually want to do two beds on that fence. The other bed would be for a small produce garden: basil, rosemary, strawberries, some sort of vegetable, etc. I also want to put a lot of bird houses on posts in the garden. I just have to make sure they won't eat my veggies. And we definitely want some humming bird feeders!

grill or chiminea or fire pit
I saw a fire pit today that comes with a grill for cooking, a bucket insert so you could fill it with ice and cold drinks, and a dome lid. We'll need to clear a space for it in the yard- we didn't add the patio up-grade. Eventually we'd like to lay a small stone patio.

black flat-backed kitchen trash can
I don't care if it has a lid- I probably won't use it. Our trash can will sit at the end of the island near the dining area. I want it to sit flush with the island.

1 or 2 outdoor garbage cans

fire extenguishers

supplies for dog run
We thought a chain link dog run would be easy to do along the side of the house, but it needs to be shaded and protected from the rain. This presents a problem in that adding a roof or awning over the side would be visible from the street and therefore subject to HOA approval. Building a wooden dog run like this would probably be less of a hassle.

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If you have any similar items that you are looking to get rid of, please let us know!

Paint and Inspirations

(click on pictures for a larger view)

I couldn't find any pictures where the rooms were structured like ours, but I did what I could. The Sherwin-Williams website has a cool feature where you can choose a room from their gallery, then change the paint colors. I also did a lot of looking through Google Images...

Living Room:
Our couches are light tan. I believe they are microfiber, but they look like they are made of corduroy. Technically, we have a couch and a love seat. The legs are made of dark wood, as are our coffee table and t.v. stand- although we've discussed putting those last two pieces in our 3rd bedroom. We own a very large dark wood bookcase, purchased on Craigslist for $25, but retails at Ikea for $279 (featured below.) The t.v. will go on the wall that faces the kitchen, the bookcase on the wall to the left. We may eventually go to Ikea for a second one if the wall space (and our budget) allows for it.
We also own a large painting of Starry Night, which I gave to my husband as a wedding gift nearly nine years ago. The colors are quite vibrant. I have an affinity for shades of blue, but he didn't want a blue living room, so we'll go with something in the brown family.


Kitchen/Dining:
When we first talked about it, we thought the wall with the stove on it would be a good accent wall. However, most of that wall is covered with cabinetry and the tile back-splash. Pretty much all you would be able to see is the area above the cabinets.
We both agreed that a deep wine red would be a great accent color. Then I went in the kitchen to make brownies and looked at my existing kitchen artwork. Our theme is Mexican-ish. I'm sort of particular-I like folk-art but want to keep it simple so it doesn't border on tacky. I have a large turquoise sun art piece hanging over my stove. The thought of turquoise against deep red sounds like an eye-sore. In my cabinet I have 3 colors of plates: brown, turquoise and navy. Navy sounded like a nice accent choice, and I decided that painting the window wall of the dining area might help define it a bit more, seeing as it's technically just an extension of the kitchen. The remaining wallspace will be the long wall of the kitchen (most of which is concealed,) a short space by the fridge, the angled wall of the pantry, and the surroundings of the back door. Should these all be painted, too? I could just leave them the cream color. I don't want everything to be too dark, but I also don't want every other wall to be painted. It needs to be cohesive.

This tan dining area looks nice, but I want a punch of color. When switched to navy, it's just beautiful! Our table is brown wood, and I think it'll tie nicely to the brown of the living room.

I love the pop of color under this cabinet, but I think that space in my kitchen will be completely covered in tile. Also, the kitchen/dining/living rooms are open to eachother and I don't want it to be too busy color-wise.
Our pantry wall is angled exactly like this one and I love the idea of chalkboard paint, but I think the black might clash with the navy dining and brown living walls. What I really want to do is get some Mexican tile and either frame out the pantry door, or tile that whole section of wall. Inspiration picture of a fireplace:

Master Bedroom:
We have a brown four-poster bed. Our bedding is mainly solid colors: brown or shades of blue. My night-table lamp is turquoise with a white shade. So I made this room in the Sherwin-Williams paint gadget and think it's just lovely.
We don't currently have any other bedroom furniture (due to our last move,) but I'd like to get some dressers and night stands to coordinate with our bed. Those things are sort of low on the priority list. I'd also like to get some rugs- for the whole house. I love how they look.

Both upstairs bathrooms are small, but I think we can make them beautiful with the right color choices. We threw out most of our towels when we moved last time. The ones we kept are all for the girls- bright shades of green and blue. We can do whatever we like in the master bath. We agreed that a chocolate brown would look nice. I don't think it'll make the space feel too small- there will be lots of white accents with the sink and our stand-up shower. Burnt orange looks nice, and they also mixed some burgundy towels in there. And if we get tired of orange, we can switch out the bath mat and towels for blue or green and still have the room look pulled together.

Girls' Rooms:
Their bath towels consist of the following: white with a turquoise accent at the edge, blocks of blues and greens, or stripes of blues and greens. The baby has a towel that is actually shaped like a puppy-dog. Their bath mat is white with a lime green border, surrounding a yellow dog and a blue cat. The shower curtain rings have the same dog and cat, but also include a white spotted dog and a purple kitty. They also have a lime green frog-shaped bath toy holder. I'll buy them a new shower curtain, but they already have just about everything else they need. We thought a purpley-blue would look pretty and youthful on the walls.


If anyone happens upon one of these robot head toilet paper holders- buy it for me! It also comes in yellow and blue (blue preferred.) I found it on a German website...
I absolutley loved their previous bedroom. My older daughter picked an under-the-sea mermaid theme and everything was either purple or turquoise (finding a pattern?) with pops of lime green. Their dresser and book shelf are both purple, their toy bins are either lavender or lime green. The walls in their old room were my favorite color, with a line of blue waves painted at the top, and the "sky" portion being a deep purple.

I plan on painting the walls pretty much the same this time around. We thought we'd also paint some sea creature canvases to hang.

We recently bought them this blue Ikea bed. It's not a full bunk- the top bed is only about 4 1/2 ft. from the floor. It's pictured without the bottom mattress, but we haven't bought one yet, so it's pretty accurate. Once we move we'll go through the process of switching our two year old to a regular bed. The only problem with this plan is that the bed must be disassembled to get it out the door and might not survive the move...This picture is sort of irrelevant to the girls current theme, but I LOVE the quilt and (given enough motivation) I could make a couple in the right colors for their bed.
I really like the white coral knobs on this dresser (who am I kidding, I love the whole dresser!) The knobs are from Anthropolgie and it therefore must be concluded that they cost 4.7 million dollars. I would love to win the lottery so I could add these to their purple dresser. They also have my dresser from my youth. At some point my mom painted it white and decoupaged it with pink and red and purple roses. It could use a little re-vamping (project-idea!)
Other Rooms:
The only rooms I haven't addressed are the powder room, and the front bedroom upstairs. I want to paint the powder room that wine color we talked about earlier, replace the mirror with something like this:and the sink with one of these beauties:I think red wine and navy will look great together in that space. Also, I want to get some painted/punched-tin accents like these:

Lastly, I'll address good old bedroom #3. It sits upstairs at the front of the house. We'll have to buy most everything for this room. The far wall will ideally have two black matching roll-top desks (or something similar to keep little hands out,) side by side- one for the computer, one for my crafting. The wall opposite the windows will have a nice futon or a small couch with a hide-away-bed. In front of the couch, a small black coffee table. This room will function as our office/guest room/playroom. The closet will house shelving for all the toys. The girls can use the coffee table as a play-table and lay on the couch to watch movies on the computer, but when they're done playing, everything goes back in the closet, close the doors, and it looks nice again. At least that's the idea...

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So that's about it for our brainstorm session. I hope we have the finances and the follow-through to make these decorating dreams a reality! If you have anything you'd like to contribute, leave a comment!