Dining Room {Then & Now}

Just the other day I was going through tons of photos from when Gracie was a baby and I almost cringed at what this house looked like seven years ago! When they say a space evolves with time that could not be more accurate with our home!! Seven years ago when we purchased this home we gutted it and started over with a blank slate.... Lord if only I had Pinterest back then and if only I actually knew what the heck I was doing!

Tomorrow I will start our little kitchen renovation. I say "little" because, for one, I am doing it myself and two, I'm doing it on a very tight budget which means not everything will get done in a week or two or even in two months...Ok, lets face it, it could very well take a year!!

 All I know is that I have a plan and I'm sticking to it!!

Today I thought I would give you a little idea of what our dining room & entry looked like just about three years ago. It's still a work in progress but for sure has evolved with time and Thank the Lord for that!!

I struggled with this wall for years. I thought about painting it with chalk paint, removing the pine boards, buying a large hutch to hide the wall... The list can go on and on. Then one day I decided to just brighten up the whole space. I started with the railings. I was so tired of all the dark stained wood that I just painted everything white. Best thing I ever did!! This room is so much more bright and airy, not stuffy and cold... I painted the pine wall a little over a year ago and I am never looking back!!

This room is still not complete. I am still deciding on what type of open shelving I want on the forever empty wall on the other side of this room. I need to switch out the dinning chairs... I love them, but I'm over them if you know what I mean!! And I've had a tiny issue picking out window treatments. I honestly don't like anything on the windows personally, but they do make a space look complete and gives it an over all cozy feeling.  Please don't judge the before photos, this was way before I had any clue what my style was.... This whole change took literally years of pulling out magazine clippings and thousands of pins later and it's still not 100% where I would love it to be, but I am pretty proud of how the room has evolved in the past two years.

 

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

PROGRESS

NOW

NOW

NOW

Everyone always asks me "How did you do it?" And all I can say is that I just find inspiration everywhere and document it. I can't tell you how many photos I have from magazines that I have torn out and keep posted in my office. Pinterest, HGTV and following numerous blogs is for sure how I found my style and what I love. I have also learned that it's ok to make up your own rules when decorating your space. When you use what you love it's just a matter of placing things where they look and function best.

Now it's off to Home Depot for paint... Those kitchen cabinets aren't going to paint themselves!!

Have an amazing weekend!!

 



Hello White {Living Room Update}

Hi friends!!

I can't even believe it's May already!! Where in the world did April go?

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I have been hard at work picking a "white" paint color for our living room.... The actually painting was the easy, picking the color....not so much.

Here is what the living room walls looked like before.

 

 

And here is what they look like all freshly painted.

 

 

In case your wondering, I hated this color at first....

I originally had five "white" paint colors I had planned on using.

They were all by Benjamin Moore.... Linen White, Decorators White, Horizon, Gray Owl (at half tint) and White Whisp. Then I went to Home Depot and began looking at Glidden paint samples and I fell in love with Dove White. So I purchased a sample and put it on the wall and thought "Perfect!!".... Then as I began painting it looked really blue to me.... Wasn't loving it at first and I was going to repaint it, but its growing on me... If the walls weren't so high I most likely would have followed through on repainting, but it is growing on me and I love that it's so clean, crisp and bright in here.... I have a few more décor items to purchase for the walls and I then I will post some more photos....

What do you think? To blue?? Be honest!!



The Great Debate {White Walls}

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know my new found obsession with white walls and my plans to give our living room a fresh update with nice, bright, clean, white walls.... I am over the current color we've had for a little over two years... It's Wheat Bread by Behr. I seem to say this every two years or so when it comes to paint colors, but here we go again... What in God's name was I thinking? I'm pretty sure I was just looking for some thing other than the cottage yellow I had on them before...

Here is a photo of what our living room looked like this past fall.

 



So yes, I know exactly what your thinking... The walls look great.

Yup, they look great on perfectly sunny days when the lighting is just right and the blinds are all open, but come evening or on a cold cloudy day, to me they are really depressing looking and dreary.... They also have become very "muddy" looking. So, with a ton of research I have narrowed it down to five white paint colors... I will share the names during the big reveal. For right now I am going to share with you the five photos that I found most inspiring and where I've collected the colors from....

 

 

 

I love all the colors in each photo, but I have to admit I am scared to go pure white with no undertone at all.... I'm so afraid of loosing that cozy feeling this room has. I'm also not looking forward to redoing my wall gallery I worked so hard on. I guess I can always just leave all the nails in the walls and put them back up after I paint!! Sshhhh!! Don't tell!!! Pretty sure that's a huge no, no in the design world!!

I'm hoping to get painting next weekend!!

To keep up to what I'm up to on a hourly daily basis, you can find me here!! Have a great weekend!!!