Moved in, Un-boxed, and Decorated — well, mostly

It was one year ago today that our belongings were delivered to our new home.  I made a huge goal, which seemed very doable at the time, to have our stuff completely un-boxed in one month and the house set up and decorated in 1 year.  We had just moved from a house I had liked.  But I really fell in love with that house right before we put it on the market to sell it and I had it all decorated and organized for buyers to come look at it.  Why do we do that?  We live in a work in progress and then rush to get everything perfect for someone else to enjoy. I didn’t want to repeat that cycle.  And because I know this isn’t our forever home and we’ll be moving again in 3-7 years, I felt even more hurried so I could really love my time in this house

Well, I didn’t do it . . . but I got awfully close.  Life threw us some major curve balls this year that really made it difficult.  But we managed to get the whole interior painted (minus 2 bathrooms that still need the edging painted, and a couple spots that are too high for me to reach that I have to leave for Jeff to do) — that was a huge job and we had some help from a friend and my parents that made a big difference.  We changed out the carpet before we moved in, bought &/or adjusted curtains, and did lots of decorating.  I’ve never felt confident with the decorating, but I’ve worked on it over the years and am pretty happy with the results!  I just channeled my inner Rashelle (my sister who was blessed with a great eye for design).  The den still needs furniture rearranged and things hung on the walls.  And at 11 months and 2 weeks, I decided I just wasn’t happy with the master bedroom furniture so it’s been rearranged but I’m at a loss of what to do on the walls there.  But, the entry, dining room (our library), family room, and kitchen are complete!  And I am loving living in this house and okay with having a few projects still to work on (though I hope to finish them up soon).

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If you’re in the middle of doing all this kind of stuff, pull out a project and do some work on it today.  When I really got down to business, it was amazing how much I could fit in in just 1/2 hour to an hour after the kids were in bed.  I was amazed that I didn’t have to devote a full day to painting, etc., but could get a whole bunch done in little chunks of time throughout the week.  So, without me rambling anymore . . . here are our results:

The house was empty when we first saw it and looked move-in ready enough.  But we soon realized that the beige/yellow/brown walls combined with the same colors in the tile felt dark and oppressive.  Once we painted all the walls with Revere Pewter, it made a huge difference to the feeling of the house.  It was a 30 minute drive (each way) every time I had to pick up that paint, but it was worth it!  There were also very formal curtains in every room that all got replaced.

I brought along some of my favorite decor that I had purchased to stage our previous house, then got some new frames from Michaels and an awesome table from Kirklands for my entryway. 

Our couches that were already showing their age, ended up in terrible shape after the move, so we replaced them and had to get new curtains for our taller windows.  This shag rug is one of my favorite things ever!  It is so plush that my sister’s kids even slept on it (with the tile floor beneath) when they came to visit.  I had actually bought a different rug that we had for a little while and it was cute and soft but it was a mess, shedding all over everything that touched it.  I lived with it for as long as I could and then called the company to return it — luckily they did so happily and even refunded my money.  So, I really researched when it came to buying the next one and we have loved it. 

We didn’t have any formal dining room furniture and felt like it was wasted space anyway since we would always eat in the eat-in kitchen space.  So, we transformed the dining room into our own little library.  The storage cubes make great extra seating and store puzzles that can be done on the table.  I agonized over what to do for the windows and rug.  But this vibrant rug and the teal ombre curtains add some great color and fun to the room.  I gave each of the kids a canvas and they got to paint the artwork for the walls.

Since the kitchen is open to the family room, I wanted the curtains to match without being the same.  I also didn’t want curtains hanging down where they would get destroyed by messy hands.  So, my mom shortened an additional set of family room curtains to just go over the top.  And I got the adorable circular shelves from our trip to Magnolia Market. 

Now, here’s where I need your help!  I always struggle with the master bedroom and have used the same paintings on the wall for about 15 years.  I decided it was time for a change and got rid of them.  So, this is what the room looks like.  I love the bedding and new curtains but I have two blank walls that need something.  The walls are the same Revere Pewter in all the other pictures but they look a little darker here because we still need to change out the yellow light bulbs in the room for white — that makes a huge difference!  On the right, you can see part of the dresser and there is nothing against the left wall.  So, give me your ideas, cuz I got nothin’!