Curb Appeal the Details

Several of you have asked where our light, door knocker etc is from.

So I am back with links to these things. 

And maybe, just maybe if I can get this place all tidy at once I will be back with an updated list of where we are now!

The Pottery Barn Bolton Sconce:

(click on image for link)

Here is the sconce before the brick!

And after painting. 

Man, paint changes everything!

I love the little "leaves" at the base of the light, so much character and brings some serious personality to this boring spot.

 The knocker... ohhhh my knocker. 

This is the ring door knocker in brass by Restoration Hardware.

(click on image for link)

I found this gem at a steal of a deal and knew the door needed this pizazz!

{ignore the fact we need a second coat of paint!}

For the hardware I knew we needed something to coordinate with the light and the knocker, the problem being the knocker is brass, and most doorknobs at stores like Lowe's and HD don't come standard in brass. 

and yes this inner casing still needs to be painted white. 

add it to the list.

we went with something similar to this.

{i can't find the link to our actual knob}

(click on image for link)

And a precious shop in Fairhope, Alabama made the wooden door hanger. 

Kissy Fish Designs is their name!

 The chippendale planters I found at an estate sale!

And the porch pillows were spruced up in a fresh premier prints fabric!!

Left to do:

paint interior casing of front door, 

find a new handle for the storm door

new doorbell

figure out how to "jazz up" or hide, (either one) the lovely box for the home sound system

Gotta love the early 80's!!

continue working in the flowerbeds.

Next up is the flowerbeds, part 1 of 3!

Curb Appeal: The Details on the Paint

In my opinion personal touches are what make a home, well home.

We knew this house was going to need tons of them so slowly and steadily we have been making strides in that department.

Here is the mls picture from last summer, straight from the ole phone! haha

(if you read the previous post you can see all the detailed images with the before and after paint!)

Once we got the house painted we knew we would need a new color for the doors and the trim. 

We sampled about 15 different grey/green/brownish greys. 

After getting lots of opinions from neighbors, friends, passerby's we all determined the grey only drew attention to the roof.

The ugly as sin, stained as all get out roof; that in all actuality is only 7-8 years old. 

Ugh.... 

With all the other updates necessary I can't justify replacing a perfectly good roof when we Need another hvac, new oven, new carpet, and two new bathrooms.

SO for now the roof stays ugly.

Trim will be the same color as the brick, the siding, the whole shebang. 

We referred to these inspiration photo's from pinterest to help justify our decision.

(although their roof is much prettier than mine it had our colors, felt clean and fresh and who doesnt love a coastal living design??)

And this amazing back yard

loving the almost tone on tone!

(all images are from my outdoor spaces board on pinterest)

Once we determined our main paint color then we needed to determine what color for the front door

My friend lauren and I spent 3 days obsessing over the perfect blue.

Then... she said we have to look online. we just arent finding it! 

(thank you lauren for all your help!)

Low and behold, my blogging friend Amanda, over at Dixie Delights had the perfect blue door.

So before long we had a sample of Rhine River.

(I of course can't find the picture of the 11 tones of blue we tested, but trust me, it was a ton!)

Here is amanda's beautiful entry!

And if you are wondering what her paint colors are here is the board she shared on her blog. 

(once we finish this post I will gladly compile the colors we ended up with.)

So we spent the next few days working on the doors, shutters, etcetera.

The other detail work I wanted to make sure and add was some interest to our extremely boring garage. 

This is Exactly what I was envisioning, so over the remainder of the summer this is one of our little projects we have planned.

again all links are in my outdoor spaces board on pinterst.

The hardware is $20.00 at Home Depot.

(link can be found here)

And here is how ours currently looks.

Isn't it simply magical what paint can do for a place?

Den Progress

Just a quick little update to say we are at a mild standstill in the den. 

One chair and ottoman have been sent to the upholster!

WOOO HOOOO!!!!

and it will be 4-6 weeks before we get those things back.

We have found a new ceiling fixture, and a few pillows for the couch.

I am having an exceedingly difficult time locating a coffee table I like.

Suggestions welcome :)

I will hopefully be back tomorrow to show you the plan for the fireplace. 

Then all we have left is picking out fabric for the bergere chair and we will call this room done!

To do:

pillows for the couch

roller shade for the back door

paint the room

pick out a couch

fabric for the arm chair

fabric for the ottoman

new light fixture

artwork above the mirrored piece

plan for the fireplace

flooring for the room

So... just a little over halfway done!

Welcome y'all: inspiration

The entry of this house is in desperate need of some personality!

It's so important to make a good first impression when welcoming someone into your home. 

I have always loves stripes. They just bring such a boldness to a space and I can't wait to stripe our entry area.

Just like in these pictures the stripes will need to lead up into the hallway upstairs

All this inspiration.... I am seeing lots and lots of frog tape in my near future!

Den Makeover: The Couch

Whew... this post has been a long time coming...

When we purchased our house we knew almost immediately the sectional from our previous home would not work in here.

We made it work from July until one glorious day back in November. 

I had been eyeing this couch for months and months in the Pottery Barn Catalog. 

The Carslisle

not skirted, not chenille, and only linen if it was extra soft... 

Then we thought we would order it if  I could find the perfect fabric.... 

Then the 2,000.00 sticker to have it custom upholstered held me up... 

Ugh, alas....

Until one glorious friday morning.

I was perusing our local Pottery Barn Outlet.

There she was.... in all her splendor. 

Not in the ideal fabric but the price was RIGHT yall..

SOO RIGHT.

Called hubby and he wanted to see it, sit on it... I rounded the corner in the store while we talked and I saw the red sign. 

"THE" Red sign.

All upholstry an additional 20% off.

I seriously squealed. Then... while waiting on him to allow me to pull the trigger... I opened my email.

To a glorious 10% off your purchase in store or online, catalog, or outlet.

NO WAY!!!!

So put it on hold to pick up after dinner. 

On the way to the outlet I did this....

I was so mad. 

I kenw it was totalled but I did NOT want this to prevent me from getting the couch!!!

My very sweet friend Lauren picked me up first thing the next morning and we were there waiting as they opened!

Elated yall. 

This was the first iphone picture with the couch in. 

Trying to decide which panel we liked better.

Ended up being neither! 

Next up is paint, accessories and furniture layout!

Actually seeing progress...

You see this??

And this? 

And this guy? 

Well... We are 9 outlets short of switching out every single electrical port in the downstairs of our home! Swapping electrical and all lighting downstairs before any major project was out deal!! 

Hubby rocks and has been working on this during Sunday afternoon naps for the past 5 weeks. 

39 total.... Only 9 to go!!!!! Eeek!!! Makes the house just feel fresh and new!!!!! 

Living Room Style Board

Hello friends!

Can I just say thank you from the bottom of my heart??

Ya'll have blessed me beyond measure with all your kind words regarding a piece of our story. 

Thank you for trusting me with yours and your outpouring of support. Means the world!

Now that my head is clear, I have been thinking its about time to nail down some elements of this room. 

Here is what we are working with. 

Contemplating a cowhide rug....

there will be a treatment like in the picture over the fireplace!

and hoping for some ah ha moment on where my pop of color is going to come from!

This is obviously my rough draft board but this is sort of the direction the room is headed in. 

getting quotes this week on having the builtins made.

wrapping up switching out the electrical.

and picking out a roller shade for the back door.

Once the roller shade is installed and the outlets switched out I will be sharing pictures!

Cheery Coastal Update: The Kids Bath

Enough with this cold!!! 

I am ready for warmth, and windows open and no Mosquitos!!!!! 

Can I get an amen??? 

To help brighten spirits around our little piece of America I grabbed some paint, oyster shells and construction adhesive! 

Then, hubby grabbed some white/blonde travertine, a trowel and a construction adhesive mat. 

And here is where we are at! 

Details to follow! 

Update in the Entry and A Plan

When we moved into our home back in July I had an awesome vision for our entry.

Here are some of the ideas I was thinking about for this space. 

Still strongly considering painting the walls a cream white and doing high gloss white trim. 

 image via houzz.com

The banister is not just exceedingly sturdy so we have contimplated ripping it all out and installing more of a modern railing. 

Our layout is this exactly in the two rooms shown. 

I like both of these styles therefore I am torn. 

image via house beautiful

image via gretchenopgenorthdesigns.blogspot.com

We are planning to rip up the carpet on the stairs, install wooden stained treads and install a carpet runner. 

The likelihood we get to this before next fall is pretty slim. 

We have hit some major obstacles in this home and soooo many things were missed on the inspection report/discovered once we moved in that we will be fixing alot of behind the scenes things first. 

BUT..... one thing we CAN do in the meantime is update some lighting.

I fell in love with this fixture back in the spring.

We saw duplicates at places like Home Depot and Lowe's but I knew this was the one the space needed.

The entry is so small and needed some charm. 

We found it for a steal of a deal at the local Pottery Barn Outlet!

And just in the few weeks it has been hanging we have gotten quite a few compliments on it! 

The shadows it casts are Soo pretty!!

So glad I held out for the one I was really wanting!

Grey Skies Clearing Up! Kitchen Happy Face

SO... when you find out bad news what does any anxious new homeowner do???

Spruce up your 1978 kitchen!!!!

With Black Friday come and gone, we decided to take full advantage of some of the deals on appliances.

There is SOOOOO much out there and sooooo many reviews to read and determine what you want. 

We looked at Sears, HH Gregg, Home Depot, and Lowe's. 

After reading about 2 weeks of reviews and examining pieces we decided to start with the back wall of kitchen appliances first and move out from there!

The first appliance we decided to start with was the dishwasher.

I knew I wanted a flat panel dishwasher, (to keep connor's pesky fingers from starting the dishwasher 15 times a day, UGH, haha)  it needed to be a tall tub to accomodate pots and pans, and the silverware holder in the door.
(picky i know)

We love it!
It is Whisper Quiet and we found a great deal on it at Lowe's the week before thanksgiving.

Now that we have an established "name brand" if you will; we went ahead and purchased the Whirlpool Gold over the range microwave.

We do not plan to use the microwave over the range for long. 

We will need to rebuild the cabinet containting the double oven to accomodate this appliance and add in a warming drawer. 

Trying to find cabinet builders who can build what we are needing. 

(if you are local please leave a comment if you have a person so i can contact them)

The next thing we went ahead and selected was a Beverage Refridgerator.

All three of these appliances have been installed and the beverage cooler is loaded up with my pellegrino and la croix waters!!! 

I told this fridge was only for when mommy and daddy's friends come over so they don't go and indulge themselves in my grapefruit waters (ie ruthie get over here for some la croix!)

Okay.... next up is fridge, backsplash and hardware.

Need your help and input...

side by side fridge?

french door fridge? (this is what I think I want)

Cabinet guys (local people)

Thank yall in advance!