New Couch Reveal!

I know you all have been sitting around with bated breath, waiting for the big reveal of our new couches… so without further adieu, I bring you the first of many updates of 2013!

I’m sure you remember me telling you that my mom was reupholstering our sad, tired couches as our Christmas gift this year.  Well right before Christmas they were delivered and I have been waiting to reveal the room until we got our new television hung on the wall.  That was accomplished last weekend (Thanks Mike and Nelson!) so here we are:

The couches are covered in a warm beige colored chenille type fabric.  I don’t know the exact name (wish I did!!) because we bought it at a wholesale fabric outlet.  But it’s a lovely color and very comfy!  The only thing we changed when reupholstering these bad boys was the dust ruffle.  We just left it off and I like how simple and open it feels without it.  Mama refinished the legs of the couches to match all the rest of our furniture.  Bombay Mahogany for the win. :) 

After I took down all of the Christmas décor, I had to decide how to redecorate the room around the new couches.  They are so plain in comparison to our old plaid couches that it was challenging to bring in some color and pattern without a big statement piece to go from.  I’m hoping to bring in more pattern and color with some new draperies.  I am still hunting for the right fabric for those.

I basically stole all of this from the den, where all my beautiful accessories have been gathering dust and being neglected since we are hardly ever in that room.  I stole the blue and green striped pillows which I think look awesome backed up with the brown floral ones from before.  And the teal throw was originally for the guest room but it goes with all the blue accessories in here.  The metal butterfly art on the wall between the windows is also from the guest room.  After Christmas came down, that spot was looking bare so I threw that up there and realized how nicely the blues and greens played in this room.

My antique trunk turned side table is sporting an ivory frame and a potted plant.  Here’s a close up of the couch detail and the pillows!

I still needed some more teal accessories to wrap up the color scheme so I repainted a couple of thrift store frames that were in the office.  I think they look nice but Michael says they are ugly. haha! :)  They might get relegated to the den later on…

The teal blue bird pillow is also stolen from the den (poor den is looking lonely) and it fits perfectly in my “butter chair”.  It’s called the butter chair because it is the color of sweet cream (or something related to butter) and it so soft it feels like butter… or you feel like butter sitting in it!  :)  And here is one gratuitous shot of the new TV mounted on the wall.  I had to move the gallery wall up to accommodate the height of the TV.  I am undecided what to do about the cords.  I haven’t had a chance to look at cord covers yet…  to be continued.

I will leave you with this parting glance at the new space and a before and after comparison of the old and newly refurbished couches. 

Love love love our new couches! 

Hopefully it won’t be long before I’m back with a reveal of the new draperies.  Stay tuned…

2012: Before & After

December is coming to a close and the New Year is just around the corner.  It’s time to reflect on last year’s accomplishments and plan next year’s home goals.  Here’s a look back at what I planned to work on this past year:

• Paint the kitchen walls and trim and possibly the cabinets
• Paint the hallway, living room and foyer
• Build and install desk for office, refinish bookcase to match, install bifold doors on closet
• Install laminate floors in den (I think it might be the year!)
• Make curtains for den windows
• Hang additional shelving in garage (and reveal after pics of it all!)
• Rebuild deck…  (don’t hold your breath for this one)
• Actually make plans to clear out “the last frontier” for sunny vegetable garden??
• Finish exterior spruce-up with black shutters, black storm door, and freshly painted white trim!
• Install paver patio/pathway between deck and garage

That’s more than 50% accomplished.  Granted the things we did were minor in comparison to some of those big projects on the list.  Like the… ahem… deck rebuild.  We did get lots of painting done, some new furniture installed and I finally got my laminate floors in the den!  Plus we spent the hottest part of the summer installing our paver patio.  But that is something we can check off the list! :)

Here’s a rundown of my most notable projects from 2012.

In January, we built and installed our custom dream desk which was the best Christmas present ever and maybe the best project we’ve ever done.  We use this desk every day and we love it so much!

From pathetic to outstanding! Hooray!  I never refinished the bookcase or installed bifold doors.  I may put those projects on the back burner.

In other furniture upgrades last year, I refinished an old dresser in a vibrant shade of turquoise for the den.  I still haven’t organized those drawers as much as I would like, but I am happy to have a smaller piece of furniture in this space.  And that bright color doesn’t hurt either. :)

In addition to painting some furniture, we also painted some walls.  A lot of walls actually.  I finally got up the nerve to paint the kitchen and a few months later I did the foyer, hallway and living room, too.  It’s been a welcome change. 

The living room was a major project but we persevered and finished it, even the vaulted ceiling part!

We did some upgrades outside, too, completing the English garden pathways and also installing a 200-square foot paver patio in the backyard.

The paver patio was fun and challenging at the same time.  It was 100-degrees out and we were working under time constraints to get ready for a July 4th party.  But we managed to get it done!  It’s not perfect but it’s a major upgrade from the gravel mess that we were dealing with before.  I love our new patio!

and one more gratuitous patio shot. :)

And our last big project of 2012 was of course new flooring for the den!  That was my birthday present and my brother-in-law installed the floors for me!  They are beautiful and so much nicer than the grungy carpet from before.

In addition to these notable projects, I also added more shelving to the garage, but I didn’t get it fully organized so I haven’t posted about that yet.  I also added shelving in the closet under the stairs which made it so much more functional.  I will be sure to share the details from these upgrades in the new year.  Meanwhile, let’s ponder a list of to-do goals for 2013!

• Make curtains for den windows (probably going to inherit curtains from the living room)
• Make new curtains for the living room to match the new couches!
• Rebuild deck… (I enjoy putting this on the list every year)
• Clear out “the last frontier” for sunny vegetable garden (or not?)
• Finish exterior spruce-up with black shutters, black storm door, and freshly painted white trim! (Really have to do that this year… the front door is looking lonely without his shutter counterparts.)
• Resow grass in back yard (again)
• Resow grass in the front yard
• Repaint/replace garden swing in English Garden
• Reupholster Antique Chair for Office
• Mount new TV on wall and rearrange gallery frames
• Refinish dining table and side table in living room
• Install overhead lights in the closets upstairs (are you reading this Papa??) :)

Not too many major projects on there except for the ones we likely won’t do.  :)  Bu I can’t wait to get started on the new year projects with a mini-makeover in the living room and a full reveal post! Stay tuned!

Happy New Year 2013!

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

It’s Christmas Eve eve!  :)  Which means only two days till Christmas, so it’s time to share our Christmas tree details and some night shots.  If you follow me on facebook you will have noticed a sneak peek of our new couches!  I’ll be back after Christmas to show you more pics of the new couches and a full reveal!  Meanwhile, here is our beautiful Christmas tree.

That was a couple of weeks ago before I got all the presents under there.  Here it is now:

You can also see our Christmas card display.  Last night I rearranged them and added a second ribbon on the opposite side of the doorway so I could fit more cards in. 

This year I only added a few ornaments.  Like this little owl one that I got from a coworker… isn’t it cute?

But I did add some tinsel loops and glitter ball picks.  I saw a tree in Lowes Creative Ideas magazine that was wrapped with red ribbon and had these gold sequin loops stuck in the branches.  I loved it and set about trying to recreate that look.  I never found any loops (apparently they were sold at Lowes, but I never looked there, duh!) so I bought gold wired tinsel and made my own version.

The gold and red glitter ball picks came from Michaels.

Ah, I just love my Christmas tree, especially at night with the glow of the tree and the glow from the Christmas lights on the porch.  It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Now I have to get ready to host our Christmas lunch.  More parties tomorrow and Christmas day with some relaxing and “It’s a Wonderful Life” thrown in there for good measure. :)  Hope your holidays are merry and bright!

A Very Guthrie Christmas

With only three days till Christmas I am running out of time to show you all of our Christmasy things!  So I am back today to share the Christmas decorations from Fort Guthrie.

This year Mama bought a secondhand gold mirror which perfectly fit over the mantel.  I just happened to be visiting that day so we coerced my dad into hanging it over the mantel for us.  Then I proceeded to decorate the top with pine garland, lights, red candles, ornaments and gold votives.  It is perfect! 

Isn’t it beautiful?  I told Mama she must never take it down off the wall or else it might disappear into my car! :)  I am already imagining it as the centerpiece for our Halloween mantel!

This year we are obsessed with these apple spice candles from Michaels.  They smell so good!

Across the room are the rest of the stockings (hung by the bookcase with care).  On top of the bookcase we added some pine pieces that were taken from an old artificial tree.  We repurpose repurpose repurpose!  We also made a wreath out of the leftovers to hang on the chimney outside but I am a terrible blogger and I forgot to take pics of the outdoor decor!  Perhaps an after-Christmas special post?

Anyway I threw some gold and red ornaments on top with the greenery.

In the dining room everything is red and gold and green. 

I made this centerpiece with leftover pine sprigs, branches and some tiny ornaments.  We made another centerpiece with silver branches in a big white urn and decorated it with all silver and glass ornaments.  And then I forgot to photograph it.  Bad. 

Here’s the full view of the room.

In the parlor we have set up our Christmas village “Dickensville” on the top of the black cabinet. 

In town the apple salesman is pushing those apples for stocking stuffers and Santa is landing in his hot air balloon on top of the post office.

There’s Santa’s cottage in the middle of town.  Must be his vacation home, huh?

And up on the hill on the outskirts of town is a big country house.  The bears who came to visit are sledding back to their cottage down the hill. :)

In the kitchen, Mama set up another “village” of sorts in the window.  It’s a rustic snowy woodland scene complete with deer, owl, fox and Santa mouse?  haha.  The pinecone trees make their appearance here.  We have since added twig star lights and a giant snowflake ornament over top.  It’s cute!

The Christmas tree Day 1:  Looks kind of sad without all the presents underneath… Don’t worry it looks much happier now. :)

I will be back to share my Christmas tree complete with present pile soon!  Now it’s time to clean the house for our first Christmas gathering tomorrow afternoon.  Have a wonderful almost-Christmas weekend everyone!