Living Room

We decided (mainly me) that our Smokey Blue living room color (while gorgeous) was too dark for our living room. I wanted something more neutral, (which isn't like me) so it would lighten up the room, and be something we wouldn't have to change down the road when we sell our house, plus I felt like our furniture/art got lost in the walls. We chose Sherwin Williams Jogging Path, which is a very nice warm color and has a touch of green in it instead of a reddish/pink hue like most khaki colors. The majority of our house is now neutral, which will help buyers be able to see their furnishings in there since it will be move in ready. I love our house now, it feels homey and I think represents us as a couple/family when people come over. Your home is your calling card, and should represent in some way who you are and what you love, but most importantly it should feel welcoming to your guests. Now, onto pictures which includes new art above the couch:

If you want to change your house, do it! It's only paint and can be fixed quite easily. You should love your home and be happy in it....if you're not, change what you want. It's that easy! We have changed so many things in our first home over the last four years: Living room is now on it's third (and final!) color, hall and dining room are on their third (and final!) color, laundry'mudroom/back entry is on it's second (and final!) color, we did an accent wall behind our bed in the master bedroom, changed the floors in our main living areas of the house. All of that within four years and after remodeling our house for the first time....it does help to get a discount on paint though ;) Hope our little house inspires someone to take a leap of faith on that paint color, or to buy that furniture/art, or to try their hand at DIY art/décor!

New floors in kitchen & laundry room!

After we installed our Allure plank flooring in the living room, dining room & hall, we knew that eventually we would like to extend it into our kitchen and laundry room/mudroom to cover 60+ year old tile/grout. This stuff is seriously the bomb. It comes with a 25 year warranty, is water/scratch resistant (which is awesome with dogs in the house) and its so easy to install. It goes on top of any flooring, self sticks, and can be cut with an x acto knife. Pardon some of the pics....they're from my cell phone. Here is our laundry room with the old tile:

And the laundry room now with plank floors:

Here's the kitchen when we moved in:

And then with the old tile after we renovated everything:

And now with the plank flooring:

Looks so much better, homey, and matches our other floors. I'm loving not having any more grout to clean in this house, lol! If you're looking for a great alternative to laminate/hardwood, I would suggest going to Home Depot and checking this product out. It's about the same cost as some laminate, but not near as much of a hassle to install.

Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes

There have been a few changes done to the house over the past month (and this week). As a designer on the inside, I get bored really easily with the décor of the house (blame my mom). So, I move things around to make the house feel new again. After we installed new flooring in the main living areas of the house the weekend before Christmas (I don't recommend that) I decided that the rug and curtains in the living room didn't really go. So, we bought a new rug, and I hung up some new curtains to flow better with the colors in there:

Then we moved the old living room rug into the dining room, which works better with the brown curtains:

Then we moved the old dining room rug into our master bedroom:

I also painted the inside of my bookcase for a pop of color in the hall:

Buddy ran into our real estate agent who helped us buy the house, and she was very impressed with our house and the renovations we've done to it. We may be putting it on the market before too long and getting something newer/bigger/better. I'll tell you this, even after all of the money and work we've put into this place, I sure as heck do not miss apartment living!