Hallway: Before & After

BEFORE

This hallway had plain white walls and 

the disgusting beige outlets

I decided it would make sense to continue the kitchen color up the stairs (only on one side) and into the hallway. I knew I didn't want to keep them white, but I also wanted to make sure it was a light color since the hallway is narrow. Since you can see the top of the stairs from downstairs, I just wanted to keep it fairly neutral and not add another color into the mix since we have the downstairs color, office color, and the hallway all can be seen at once.

DURING!

We used the same color that is in the kitchen and dining room,
Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore

New light! I LOVE IT!
It makes me feel like we are walking on a street in Paris :)

**Technically this is considered an "outdoor" light, but I believe you
 can use whatever you like, wherever you like :)
There are no rules in decorating**

AFTER!

I found two pictures of Paris I liked online, printed it out on
photo paper, bought frames, and
framed them :)
I LOVE how they turned out!
**Cheap and easy DIY**

Ryan changed all the outlets to have a white finish

The hallway is simple, yet elegant. Eventually I will probably add

 more pictures to the walls, but for right now, 
I am really happy with how it turned out! :)

Office: Before + pictures

Office: Before

We have 2 bedrooms upstairs and a open loft.

We needed one room for a guest room. Since we didn't know what to really do with the loft we decided it would make more sense, and look better, to have that be an office, and the other spare room for our "gym"and extra storage room.

You can see the loft from downstairs

very excited to have his own home office

I let Ryan have some control over the office by picking the color..

Kind of...

He said he wanted green and I picked what green I wanted :)

I chose a nice, soft, grayish green to match with the other colors in the house. One of the walls upstairs would meet with the living room downstairs so I wanted to make sure the colors would go well together. 

I am really happy with the color!

It is soft, calming, and relaxing.

 I think it will be a great color for when we do need

 to get work done since it is calming and not bright and distracting.

I also wanted to make sure the office felt sophisticated and clean,

and I really feel we picked the perfect color

Misted Green by Benjamin Moore

It looks a little lighter when it's on the wall

(PS, I LOVE Benjamin Moore paints! They have great and unique colors! We get the Satin/Pearl Finish :) They are exclusively sold at Ace Hardware, but they are kind of weeding them out so they are also on sale for a great price!! )

What do you think of the color? I LOVE IT!

At first we decided to use furniture we already had to save money since we had to buy a bedroom set, and couches, as well as an entertainment center.

We stained Ryan's old desk and bought a cheap book shelf from Walmart

And I mean CHEAP! Both price wise, and quality.

I had a black Ikea desk from my parent's house, along with my big, comfy, white 

chair I bought at a consignment shop a while ago

(Don't worry, I cleaned it well before using it)

After arranging the furniture, I still didn't like it. I didn't like how our desks didn't match, I felt the chair was TOO big, and the book shelf was HIDEOUS!

I literally would not go up there. I avoided it the best I could because I hated looking at it. 

I found some decor stuff from Hobby Lobby to try to make it look better, but I still did not like how the room looked. I was also going back and fourth trying to decide if

 I wanted one or 2 desks. Ryan would actually use his, I was not too 

sure if I would. I like sitting on a chair or couch with my computer on my lap.

But I still wanted a desk of my own :)

A few weeks ago when we were driving home from the Renaissance Festival, we stopped at this new furniture store my mom has been wanting to check out.

And there it was!

The perfect solution to my home office problems!

A DOUBLE desk with plenty of shelving and storage for all our, Ryan's books!

It also wouldn't take up the WHOLE office because it would just be on one wall!

We will have the desk in the middle so we each get a side

The desk is being delivered Friday and I am so excited! I can't wait to set it up, and decorate the shelves so we can have a pretty office!

I am also planning on making a curtain for the one window with this fabric that I bough a while ago

I picked this fabric because I felt it had an "old world" feeling to it. I love to travel and want to incorporate decorations that reflect traveling.

I want to find items like these to fill space within the bookshelf and all the wall to make the office exactly what I imagined. I also have things I have bought throughout my travels that I can't wait to put in the bookshelf and showcase!

 Next week the office should be about done!

FINALLY! :)

What we've been up to!

It's been a while since I was last on here!

After working on the kitchen, then all the holidays, I had to take a break 

and save up some money to put back into the house.

We have done a few small projects since December, but we 

will be starting more bigger projects soon!

So far....

We painted the upstairs hallway, replaced the hallway light, and changed 

the outlets. I also hung two pictures up in the hallway.

I started decorating the space above the stairs and kitchen (I am not sure 

what the correct name for that is)

Started decorating the top of the kitchen cabinets

FINALLY got my shutter put in the dining room and living 

room that I ordered back in October!

Coming up....

We are planning on replacing the back door

 to match our new, pretty shutters! :)

Finish the office by buying new desks and bookshelves

Replace all 3 toilets

(TMI but they are kind of gross. The house was vacant for 

almost a year before we moved in, so the toilets have water ring

stains from the water sitting there for so long)

Start painting the guest bathrooms

Those are the things we want to get done fairly soon to be able to focus on other bigger projects like the yard! We have a great big yard of rocks. i hate looking out at the back yard....its depressing. I also would like to work on the front yard and plant some flowers.

Another thing I really want to do is get the house painted. Unfortunately 

that will have to wait a while since it isn't the cheaper thing to get done.

But....

I am proud of how much we have accomplished so far, 

and it hasn't even been a year yet!

I am not the most patient person, and I wish I could get 

everything done faster, but everything will happen in time

And I don't want to go into debt :)

We actually had to get the house appraised, and it has 

already gone up about $20,000 since I bought it! I think 

that means we are doing something right! :)

Stay tuned! :)