Family room sofa

  Here is the pic of our new family room sofa's. I love the brown leather! It just seemed to be the right fit for our family. We had leather in the past and know how durable it is! With three kids and one pug we wanted something that could take some abuse and still look good five-ten years down the road! Now I just need to find the perfect coffee table. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated!

On a totally unrelated topic I was looking around my favorite craft/home decor store yesterday (Hobby Lobby) and came across this fabric. I was totally in LOVE! I didn't know what I would use it for so I just bought one yard of it (with my 40% off coupon of course). Now I could just kick myself for not buying more. I foresee another trip to Hobby Lobby in my near future. I have a couple ideas of what I would like to do with it. Stop by tomorrow to see what I come up with!

On the HUNT!

  Last week we had our new family room sofa's delivered! I am extremely happy with how they look! I promise to post pictures this week. I am now on the hunt for the perfect coffee table. Here are a few I spotted that I love...


http://www.ikea.com/



http://www.worldmarket.com/

http://www.ballarddesigns.com/

http://www.theshowandtellblog.com/

Please let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions for me! Now I am going to try to enjoy the rest of my rainy afternoon!

   I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I enjoyed spending time with my family and loved ones. With Thanksgiving behind us I can now refocus my energy on my family room! We had our new furniture delivered last week and I hope to share photos with you soon!

Family room progress

     Today I am sharing the progress I've made in our family room! I have some of the items crossed off my to do list and will keep working on completing the rest!

Family Photo Wall

Before

Our family room right now (After)

                                                  Family Room Redo

1. hang flat screen TV over fireplace
2. paint fireplace mantel
3. paint room
4. hang curtains
5. new furniture
6. get rug
7. hang family photos
8. new flooring (eventually)
9. paint brown trim white
10. what to do with those awkward shaped windows

Painted stripe curtains

  My next project for the room was to find the perfect curtains. I did a lot of shopping via foot and Internet and couldn't find anything I loved that was in my teeny tiny budget! While roaming online I found a tutorial to make black and white striped curtains at http://www.theyellowcapecod.com/ . THANK YOU THANK YOU this was just what I had been looking for! Unfortunately for me I can't sew, at all (no kidding)! So I decided to do what I'm good at, PAINT! I bought cheapy white cottton curtains at Target (my favorite store) for less than $20.00 for the pair. I then had to decide how many stripes I wanted and what size. I decided I wanted wide stripes 12 inches each. Please note this project was relatively easy but a little time consuming. I laid the panels on the floor and used a measuring tape to measure my 12 inches and marked along with a pencil. Once I had all the stripes marked I used frog tape along my marks to make a straight line. I made sure to press the tape firmly along the edges to avoid bleeding. I did this project on my kitchen floor because of the paint. I would suggest using a painters dropcloth or plastic under the curtains when painting ( I may have had some black stripes on my kitchen floor when I finished)! I used a simple inexpensive mini paint roller and just painted away. I made sure to remove the tape after completing each stripe so the paint wouldn't dry and peel off. I let them dry for an entire day before hanging them up. Once hung I did have to go back with a small paintbrush and go over some spots that I missed or didn't absorb enough paint. I'm so glad I didn't chicken out and went ahead with this project! I am loving how our family room is coming together!

family room redo part 2

After installing the television above the fireplace I started on the fireplace itself. It was desperately calling to be painted white. To me white is just a more classic airy feel. It took two coats of primer and about five coats of paint, but it was well worth all the work. I love our new fireplace!

What I was most excited about was to begin painting over that red wall. I used Valspar Signature paint with primer in a matte finish. The color I used is called barnwood. I cannot say enough about this paint it is awesome! It only took ONE coat to cover that red wall!!! So happy with the new color!

Family room redo

  This week I am sharing the family room in our new home. When we purchased the house the family room was gold and burgundy with no personality at all. My goal is to make the room more FUN, more us!

I had a long to do list for this room...

1. hang flat screen TV over fireplace
2. paint fireplace mantel
3. paint room
4. hang curtains
5. new furniture (eventually)
6. get rug
7. hang family photos
8. new flooring (eventually)
9. paint brown trim white
10. what to do with those awkward shaped windows



We started with hanging the television over the fireplace. My husband built a frame to fit around it and we painted it black. He then used a mirror window tint from the local building supply store and applied it to a piece of glass he had cut to match the size of the frame. When the TV is not in use it looks like a mirror hanging over the fireplace, but when you turn it on it becomes a television screen.  He cut out the drywall beneath the TV and placed our cable box inside, so you see no wires or cords!

Check back later this week for more family room updates and photos!

Budget exterior facelift

We recently sold our first home and purchased our new larger one. My husband and I immediately fell in love with the homes location, yard and layout. We knew with some cosmetic work and time we could make this our dream home. The first thing we wanted to tackle was the exterior. We disliked the yellow siding and maroon shutters. Keep in mind we are working on a tight budget! So the siding stays for now but an easy fix was to paint the existing shutters, front door and trim. We also took down the brass outdoor light fixtures and spray painted them black. We used paint we already had on hand so this makeover was completely FREE! Now with the shutters painted we don't mind the yellow as much!

My First Post

  I'm so happy to get started on my very own blog! I've been reading and loving other blogs for almost a year now and finally decided to give my own a try. What do I have to lose?

  I love decorating and recreating ideas I see out there in blog land. We recently moved to a larger home and I have to tons of things I want to try out here! Please bear with me I am not the most computer saavy person out there so this will probably take a lot of trial and error. I hope you are patient and will keep coming back!