Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Sunroom Addition: Final Reveal

I have been SO behind on updating our sunroom progress!  For those you new to our blog, we started back in November with the idea of converting our covered back porch into a sunroom... And that idea grew into almost a complete room addition (you can read about our entire process)

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!  And can't sing my husband's praises enough!  He built the entire room... planning, framing, wiring, putting up drywall, tiling the floors.  I still am amazed by how well he could do all of it!  We, of course, enlisted lots of great help from both our Dads, Jeff's brother, and lots of friends (especially from Amy's husband!)  Thank you to everyone who spent time helping us finish the room! 

So after a 5-month long process, we are finally done!  Well, done with construction... For those of you who know me, decorating is a definite iterative process (sorry, Jeff!)  Here is how it looks now...

Before:

After:

Before:

After:




One of my favorite elements in the room, the bead board ceiling....

Before:

After:

I wish I could capture on camera how much light this room lets into the kitchen and living room too, making the whole house feel much more open and inviting.  Definitely the perfect spot for entertaining, relaxing, or working at the desk.  Thanks to Jeff, this room is quickly becoming my favorite spot in the house!

What do you think?  What big projects have you tackled yourself?

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Spring Project Updates: Living Room

As I mentioned last week, I've been behind in posting all of our before & afters from the spring project marathon a couple months ago.  We've continued to make small and large tweaks to our living room.  In our ranch home, it's the room you walk straight into from the front door.  And the room where we spend the majority of our time.  So I think it feels extra important to me to get it right.

Check out our house tour button (still in progress) to see the earliest 'before' shots of our living room... It's thankfully come along way!




And for a glimpse into the most recent 'before'...


And After....


Not really a huge difference, but we just wanted to declutter and make the room feel more open.  So we swapped out the yellow love seat for a wing back chair we already owned.  Eventually, I'd like to get an off-white chair to replace it with, just to break up the blue tones by the new ottoman. 

We also moved out the bookshelf and flanked the tv console with two gray ottomans, also already owned.  They're perfect for extra seating!  We had my family over a few weeks ago, and everyone had a seat in the living room.

We also took the speakers off stands (finally!) and added some new artwork to the wall (post to come!)  I also splurged a lot a little and had the tufted ottoman made with my new favorite fabric.  It's on casters, which makes it perfect for when Jeff wants to pull it over to put his feet up & watch tv or when we put a tray on top to double as a coffee table.

Up next:  Hopefully mounting the tv to the wall (to level it with the frames), painting the tv console & swapping out the knobs, styling the mantel and finding a new side table...

For your blog roll

Exciting news!  My amazingly talented friend Sarah has just launched a new design blog!  She's currently an interior design student and has such a unique, eclectic style.

{right to left:  me, sarah, amy, shiva in nyc}

I'm so hopeful that her new blog will feature pictures and projects from her own home... In addition to chronicling her journey to open her own design business and store!

"I believe that design is a constantly changing process as it molds itself to suit and inspire our aesthetic as well as our conventional needs"

So without further ado, here is The Curator Collective!