Cozy Little House Tour

We've decided (mostly) to tackle public spaces first in our home.  Thus, you get a tour of the downstairs.  (Because the upstairs was too crazy messy to attempt to clean up...)

This is the entry to our home.  We've painted most of the downstairs, but that's all we've done in the entry.  We're dying to replace that light fixture, to paint the front door black, to update our rug, and to add a buffet where the carpet starts.  All in good time, my friends.

To the left of the entry is the living room.  It holds the one (yes... one) picture that we've hung in the house thus far.  And, ashamedly, it's not because we're minimalists.  It's because we're somewhat lazy and way behind. The blue couches are lovely hand-me-downs from Grant's parents.  We're fixin' to (we were Texans for a few years... fixin' found it's way into our lives) find a good coffee table, and put a long table behind one (or both?) couches with mercury lamps, and curtains. 

Just past the living room is the dining room.  We recently purchased the Moroccan trellis rug and are currently building a farmhouse table to put on top of it (yay!).  Something about farms just speaks to me.  I doubt it's all the manure... Anyway, the farmhouse table is coming.  We're also dreaming of putting up some board and batten in here, and of course, curtains.

Here's a view from upstairs.  For now, this room acts as a play room.  Who am I kidding?  Every room acts as a play room right now...

Here's our staircase.  I love how open it is.  We need to replace the two light fixtures you can see here.  We're dreaming of a metal cage-like fixture for the dining room.  We've talked about board and batten up the stairs as well.  We also need to replace the window shade/cover/thing (whatever it is...), and hang pictures on the walls (again).  We've toyed with the idea of stenciling the far wall in the same color that is is now, but in a glossy sheen.

Here's the long wall into the family room.  We've got something big in the works for that wall-- can't wait to update this picture!

Then you enter the family room.  We've done the most work in here so far.  We recently bought the chevron rug and reupholstered the wingback chairs.  We also mounted the TV on the wall and made the grey side table out of two basic Ikea tables.  We're planning on building a new entertainment center, decorating the mantle better (duh), replacing the red lamp shade, adding curtains, refinishing the wood side table near the corner, adding nail trim to the grey table, and eventually, upgrading our little couch to something large, comfy, and if Grant gets his wish, leather. 

Another view of the family room.  We need storage, as shown by the baby DVD's and blankets peeking out of the corner.  We made the three boxes in the entertainment center a few years ago by covering cardboard boxes with fabric.  They have served us well, but no longer fit our needs. (Hence, the exposed baby DVD's once more. The black ottoman on the left currently stores Will's toys.  Well, it stores as many as will fit...  so we need some new, more attractive storage that actually compliments the room.  We're thinking a big storage ottoman.

And another view.  We were thinking chevron curtains, but with the rug in there now, it may be too much.  We'll see.

And then, just opposite the family room is the kitchen.  We anticipate lots of changes in here.  Extend the cabinets higher, paint them white, change the awful tile countertops- we're thinking black granite or quartz, change the backsplash, and paint the walls to match the rest of the downstairs.  (Notice the ever present paint samples on the left).  We also want to add a pendant light over the sink, change the fixture over the table, and I'd love to replace the table with a smaller, cozier breakfast nook. 

The view the other direction.  We despise that little half wall, but can't decide if it's worth the effort of moving.  (It holds a big air vent which would be fun *cough cough* to change.)  On the left is the pantry, which we've currently been revamping as part of a new health makeover (read about that here.)

Then, the little hall connected to the kitchen leads to a powder room.  We're still dreaming up ideas for this room.  It's low on the list...

And the frightening laundry room.  I didn't even attempt to clean up in here.  Welcome to what our house really looks like most of the time.  The pomegranate tree is living inside until it's warmer.  We desperately need cabinets in here.  We're also dreaming of a laundry sink, chandelier, and paint (of course).  

So thanks for touring our little home.  We'll be updating this page occasionally as new (and improved!) pictures are taken.