Chow Time

I've been avoiding showing off the kitchen because it always seems to be such the disaster. We had a shindig celebrating Tim's birthday/being in remission and cleaned the house to be spotless, just in time for about 30 people to come over. I think that I'll just make everything look clean and actually do the real cleaning after from now on. We had a great time and it was really amazing to be surrounded by so many of our friends that were able to make it with such short notice. After parties we both really get into straightening modes and are able to get everything nice and clean. Such was the case after Saturday although I have to admit that I hid quite a few things from the camera's view.

Anyways here is our kitchen. I replaced all of the silver knobs with these aged brass ones from Hobby Lobby. I went during a sale so they were only $2 rather than $4 which really added up with as many as we needed. I love the new look, it really did change the look of the kitchen making it look more vintage at least in my view.

I actually have quite a few knick-knacks around the kitchen but they don't ever seem to get in the way like I thought they would originally.

Both the tray and the Gurgle Pot were wedding gifts. My friend Julie asked what she should get our friend Maggie for her wedding and when I told her I thought a Gurgle Pot would be the perfect gift I never thought she'd get one for me but it was perfect, color and everything. I LOVE it.

This coffeemaker is my savior every morning when I'm stumbling out of bed. The sugar bowl was a splurge from Belk's but I love the eclectic look it gives. I also used a cookie jar from HomeGoods as our utensil jar, its the pretty blue I like so much and is just the right size all around.

The blue is carried on in the cookbooks that were given to us by a great friend as a housewarming gift. It then ties in with the yellows and naturals of the kitchen in the dishtowel from Anthropologie my sweet mother-in-law gave me at one of our wedding showers that we leave on the oven.

Lastly there is the little corner over by our bar where we store wine, our decanter, some pretty frames from Anthropologie and a vase and calla lillies from Smith and Hawken. I miss that store, Target carries the line which is awesome but I wish the store itself would come back for me. Oh well. 

I got the wall rack from Pier 1 for only $10 and its been really neat to watch the constant changing of it as we get various cards and invitations in.  I have to admit that I stole the idea from my friend Christy after she got hers to hold Christmas cards last year. It has been a great addition.

Things we have left to do here:

1. Get some barstools - We need something to allow people to hang out and chat while I'm slaving away in the kitchen, haha. Plus it would just allow for something to make that look a little more finished. The blue version would even match the dining room chairs I like so much.

2. Get drawer/cabinet/pantry organizers - I love things that are cleaned and properly organized and right now our cabinets, drawers and pantry are none of the above. I want to buy some of the pull-out racks to make everything more efficient and easier to use.

3. Get a rug? - I'm torn on this one, do I get a rug in order to protect the floors or is that going to be too much of a pain to keep clean. What do you all think?

Lay Your Weary Head to Rest

Our bedroom is my favorite part of the house so far. I think that is in part due to it being the closest room to being finished but mainly I think it is due to my love of sleep. Poor Tim has not only had to adjust to me taking over the majority of our king sized bed but also has to deal with me poking, prodding and nudging him as he snores his way through the night. Apparently I also have a slight issue with breathing a little louder than most but that didn't happen until earlier this year when Tim tackled me in the snow resulting in a broken nose for me and a lifetime of guilt-trips for him. Note: apparently when you are being tackled you are not allowed to lift your head without expecting to get a broken nose.

Anyways, as I digress, Tim's parents gifted us a King sized mattress last Christmas and with some of the money we were given for our wedding we were able to get a bed frame. 

                                     

We got the majority of our bedding as wedding gifts from Pottery Barn and the Biltmore Collection from Belk. Their sheets and comforter are so comfortable. 

                                     

Recently I was at a Pottery Barn outlet and found two of the nightstands I've been wanting so of course I snagged those right up. 

                                               

We've got a bed for our sweet little girl on the floor next to me which she loves and typically will go straight to when she gets back here from daycare everyday (my parents house). Although a few days ago I walked into our room to see a sweet little beagle with a guilty look on her face poke her head out from the covers on my bed. 

                                    

The only other furniture in our room is a TV cabinet leftover from my college days with a TV my parents gave to us when they upgraded to a flat screen. The TV seems to be a little too heavy for the cabinet because I've noticed lately that the side of the piece is pulling away from the support shelf. I'm thinking that we should put a few extra screws in there so the three of us don't get a rude wake-up call in the middle of the night with everything crashing down. 

                                               

There are three things in this room I'm most proud of:

The first are the silhouettes over our bed. The ones on the edges are actually each of us from our wedding day and the one in the middle was taken right after Tim asked me to be his girlfriend a few years ago. The fun part is that they actually hang about the spots we sleep. I didn't mean to do that but kind of neat that it worked out that way. I minored in photography and had to take a graphic design class and just applied a few of those rusty skills. These aren't exactly 100% accurate but I'm pretty proud of them anyways. I took some random frames I found at HomeGoods and spray painted them green and was done.

                                          

My next favorite is the drawing just inside the entrance of our room, which is one that my dad did when he was a freshman in college. I'm still amazed at how talented my dad is/was. He on the other hand was not as impressed that I hung up his picture, the look was more of "Greeaaaaaatt." Oh well, I like being able to see it as I walk back and forth everyday.

My third favorite are the pictures of our parents and grandparents from their weddings. I'll be replacing the picture in the middle with one of ours one of these days so we have a full collection.

Things we have left to do here:

1. Get a quilt for the foot of our bed - Tim likes to freeze me out with the air and heat usage and on top of that he loves to wrap himself like an enchilada with the blanket at night. Not only would a quilt help to finish off the bed and add a little more color to the room but it would help me stay a little warmer. The Pottery Barn Colebrook Quilt is one that we registered for but it sold out in record time so now I'm on a search for a replica.

                                                                     

2. Replace the center picture in our wedding assortment with one from our wedding - the simplest and cheapest project, yet somehow I can't seem to complete it. One of these days!

                                                 

3. Get a new armoire/tv cabinet -  there is much discussion in our house as to whether or not you need a tv in every room. I say no, Tim says yes. Guess who is winning...I can't deny that I haven't used it a good deal as well but I'm still not a fan. Oh well, its my turn to compromise. I want something that looks weathered and well-loved but still looks clean and fresh. Here is an example of the idea I have in mind.

                                                 

4. Get a bench for the end of the bed - Neither of us have a place to sit and put our shoes on after we get dress so it always ends up being a selection of the lesser of two evils. Sit on the floor or put the shoes on the bed. A bench would be great for that purpose and would help fill the space of our very large master bedroom. Btw, whenever you build a house make sure you measure out each room to make sure you get a better feel for how big it really is. Ballard Designs has a great classic turn-legged bench where you can select your own fabric to match the rest of your home.

  

                                                

5. Put up curtains - I didn't really realize how much curtains can complete a room until Tim's brother & sister-in-law got some put in their den. It makes such a huge difference. I want to get some heavy fabric, almost like a tapestry weight and have them made (I'm not crafty enough for this project...yet that is) and some of those nice thick wooden dowels to hang them on. 

                                              

6. Get a bedskirt - This goal actually has a deadline attached to it. We registered for one I really like and have a discount to Pottery Barn & Williams Sonoma through November so my goal is to finish off everything I really want by then. I was going to get my parents to buy some of that for me but apparently my car has to have some kind of specialty tires that are insanely expensive so those have now blossomed from my birthday gift to my birthday/christmas gift. Growing old is oh so thrilling.

                                            

7. Get some bedside lamps - There is nothing I hate more than stumbling through a dark room, yet somehow I end up doing it just about every night. This is why we need some lamps on either side of our bed but I hate how much room they take up on the nightstands and at some point I always end up knocking them off. Pottery Barn to the rescue again, they have some awesome bedside lamps that install on the wall but they actually plug in so you don't have to worry about making sure everything is wired. These even have an upgrade in that they swing around so you can bring them closer or move them further away based upon how much light you want.

                                         

8. Do something with the giant blank walls - I'm not someone who is a fan of blank space. I understand not wanting to overload a room with stuff but then again I always feel like a room is missing something when there are large expanses of wall without anything on them. I feel like we need to either add something to either side of the new armoire or we need something on the two large expanses of wall to either side of our bed. This is probably a project I'll take on after I get the rest of the house finished up.