House Projects So Far...

So even though we haven't had this house for long, we've done a couple of projects to help make it a little bit more cozy.

I'm going to post my updates so far, and because I'm horrible at remembering to take before pictures you're just going to have to take my word when I say it's a big improvement.

This is going to be a long post full of lots of pictures!

Let's jump in.

Starting with the fridge! It was a huge upgrade in itself getting this awesome fridge when we moved! The previous owners got it at a scratch and dent store, so they got a screaming deal on it. 

Bonus- there's a huge dent on the visible side, so I'm not going to feel a lick of guilt when Cam or Ryan or our dogs damage it any more. 

See that little pink trash can in the corner? It's currently drying after being spraypainted Oil Rubbed Bronze to go into our master bathroom (see post on updating an old bathroom to see where it ended up).

I made these cute little instagram magnets that I saw on pinterest. I just had these photos printed off at walgreens, cut them out, glued them onto cereal box cardboard, and stuck a little magnet onto them. They survived the move and they're probably about a year old.  We've lost four due to the cardboard separating from the magnets.. lesson learned - the sticky adhesive on the magnet is not enough- USE GLUE TOO!

Okay, next we have the living room. The only before pictures I have are from when the house was listed, so I know the before pictures aren't bad-the room was designed around their furniture. Picture the walls with our furniture (ahem, purple couch), and you'll understand how bad it was clashing. 

Here are the befores:

And the dining room:

and here's how we painted to match our furniture:

The top and bottom are now the same color, we got the curtains/curtain rods/chair pillows/little table all from Ikea. You can't really tell, but we also put some really nice pull down blinds from Ikea on the windows as well. Makes a huge difference privacy-wise. I know we live way back from the road..but something about living so far out in the country is really creepy! I don't like people looking in my house!

The photos need bigger frames, but they were FREE because I dug them out of a box in storage, so they'll do for now.

Dining room is the same color as the living room. I added a burlap table runner to a table that we inherited from Ryan's grandparents. I've got a dining room table that I loooove stored over our shop right now, it's a darker wood and it matches better, but hey, what is marriage about? Compromise.

I get to do what I want to the house, Ryan gets to eat dinner at his table.

Maybe one day mine can come inside :)

And here's a shot of over our couch.

I promise, it's really purple. The picture does not do the purple justice!

Also, the photos/cheap frames will not be there forever. The wall was just so pathetically naked and I had less than $30 to spend on something to go over it. I didn't want to do just a piece of art because I was worried our home was starting to look more staged and less lived in (who am I kidding? Our house always looks lived in..thanks Cam!) so I put the pictures up. 

One day I will upgrade on frames and probably add more pictures. In hindsight, I regret the black and white. I see color in my future! 

I definitely need to find something that uses that space better. Any suggestions?

Alright, up next we have the easiest but most functional project I've done. 

Looks so simple, right? 

You would not believe the difference this thing makes.

Ryan and I seriously were spending hours a month searching frantically for our keys that sweet Cam would hide 

(it's so easy to blame her.. I know that we just misplaced them ourselves)

so finally it was time for a solution! 

I found a magnetic knife rack from Ikea that we had used in our previous apartment, hung it with command strips on a wall that Cam can't reach and there we go! Although we've still had a few key mishaps (see what I did there?!), for the most part this has cut down on my key searching time. 

All the more time to sniff that delicious Scentsy my friend Kate got for me. Always thought those things were silly until there was one making heavenly smells that keeps luring me into my kitchen. Get one! And if you don't know what scent to go with, try Rio Beach! 

Onwards! 

Here is another very functional project. There were huge holes in the hallway where we come into the house. I'm guessing they had some kind of coatrack there and ripped them down before they moved. Yikes! 

Mom saves the day. 

Mom gave me "a project" that she was going to toss. It was a coatrack she had bought in the mid 1980's from Pier 1 Import. It was also in 3 pieces (with square nails!). It took me about ten minutes to put it back together and mount it on the wall. 

I had to mount it a little higher than I would have liked, but it covered up all the damage to the walls that we couldn't fix without repainting the WHOLE hall (which includes vaulted ceilings up the stairs) and gives Ryan somewhere to put his 48472589427 jackets and hats. I threw some pictures on top to make it a little bit less ugly. 

Thankfully this hallway is pretty tucked away. 

This was my first attempt at styling a bookcase. Not perfect, I'm sure it could be a lot prettier, but it holds all of my books in a way that they can be on display instead of hidden away! 

Believe it or not, somehow in this enormous house, I absolutely could not find a place to put all of my jewelry. I'm sure I could have found a place to store it, or even just put it in a bathroom drawer, but that just wasn't good enough. 

You see, I've got this amazing husband. And one day he saw me ogling a watch in the Michael Kors store in the mall. Yall. I PINNED this watch on Pinterest. I wanted it bad. And he knew it. When we were eating at the mall, he slipped away "to the bathroom" and later that night he gave me the watch! 

This is actually not the only time he's done that (the first time was with a MK PURSE!), but this time it inspired a whole wall in our bedroom. 

I was not putting that watch in a drawer. 

So this is what I came up with! 

 I propped a mirror up on top of a little table and laid all of my jewelry out right on top of it! I had some flowers that had been table toppers at my wedding in a box, so I grabbed a couple of those and now my long necklaces are hanging from the limbs. There are a couple of plastic cake stands left over from Cambo's first birthday party and a ring dish from Target (on clearance-$3!).

I really don't have much jewelry, and I very rarely wear any of it.. which makes it kind of funny that I'm so determined to have it on display. 

I hate that I'm in the last picture and you can see that hideous couch in our bedroom, but it's the only way to show how cute the little table is. It's always full of funny things ( I actually found a turkey sandwhich in it the other day) because it's Cam's favorite hiding spot! Ryan calls it her bomb survival kit. 

Also, we painted the bedroom that color. Here's a before of the old color (and previous owner's furniture) 

Here is how it looked with our stuff 

The shelves are pretty empty, they were looking great, but I keep borrowing things off the shelves to go other places in the house! Oops!

Hopefully soon we can upgrade the frame around the mirror! It needs to be a thicker frame.

So that's basically where we are right now!

We've also done a lot of work in my office, but it is definitely not in any shape to be photographed right now! I'll take care of that someday in the near future. Definitely before the 17th, which is when school starts back up! Eek! 

Any suggestions for decorating the house are always welcome and appreciated! 

One day my house will be FABULOUS.