Sunday, September 28, 2014

Our New Great Room ...

Greetings, friends!  

Here we are ... in an empty great room ... just as it looked right before we moved in:


And, here we are AFTER!  Welcome to our new great room ... all ready for Fall!  One of the first things we did was to have the hardwood continued in here.  It's all throughout the rest of the first floor, so, we decided to bite the bullet and had it done right after we moved in (by the same company who installed the hardwood on the rest of the entire first floor) ... this way, we knew we were getting the same "dye lot" as the rest of the rooms.


Do you ever let your rooms "speak to you" to let you know how they want to be decorated?  Well, I do ... annnnnd, apparently, this space told me that it wanted for me to trade out our wheat colored sofa for a white EKTORP sofa from IKEA ... to add white/beige buffalo check curtains (also from IKEA), along with bamboo roman shades ... and to throw in black accents!  


Colorful "Fall" pillows from Kirkland's (mixed with white/burlap trim pillows and a single burlap pillow from Pottery Barn) warm up the sofa.  An inexpensive throw (from IKEA) adds just a little bit of texture (and warmth on our now chilly mornings).


Simple Fall stems in a glass demijohn stand loud and proud on the sofa table.  And, I couldn't help but flank it with two chunky matching wooden corbels from Home Goods.



I traded out our gold and glass coffee table for our wooden one (from Pottery Barn) to help with the warm and cozy feeling I was going for in here.  (Again, the room "told" me to do this)!


And, here's our "revamped" Fall mantel (yes, I changed it again)!  


I love how crisp the black and white are together, paired with the beautiful colors of Fall.  And, because of this new color palette, I have a feeling I'll simply have to try my hand at a Halloween mantel this year, too!



Moving on around the room, you'll spy our TV ... the builder added an outlet and cable box above the fireplace, BUT, I'm just not a fan of having the TV over the fireplace if I can help it ... you guys know that I "need" that space above the mantel to be able to decorate!


I covered our torn up ottoman top with burlap and threw another comfy throw from IKEA on there ... it's all about the layers during the upcoming months, isn't it?


After looking and looking and LOOKING for nice black and white photos to frame, I turned to one of our "coffee table" books, which had pictures that I love!  Yes, I removed certain pages I wanted to frame (shame), BUT, I look at it as though now I'm showcasing the beautiful pictures instead of hiding them.  


I carried the buffalo check pattern to the other side of the room by folding extra fabric over the back of one of the wing chairs ... of course, I had to add an orange faux pumpkin and black book to balance the colors around the room!  


And, when you're sitting in that wing chair, this is your little ol' view ...


Of course, I had to mirror the photos that I did on the other side of the room on each side of our window.  It's all about "OCD balance" folks.


Just for grins, let's look again: 


AFTER!


Thanks for stopping by!

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Monday, September 22, 2014

Our New Sunroom

Happy "almost" First Day of Fall!

As I watched our home "virtually" being built, one of the things I loved about it was the sunroom right off of the kitchen.  I remember thinking that if this house were ever to become "ours," I could see myself spending lots of time in this cozy space.

Fast forward a few months, now that the home "is" ours, and, I can honestly say that I do, in fact, spend lots of time in here ... either curled up with a great magazine ... chatting with family/friends ... or, even dozing off for an unexpected snooze (oops)!

Here is what it looked like while the house was being built:


Annnnd, here it is NOW, with a few familiar pieces and all ready for Fall!


Some of you may recognize my favorite fabric from our old home.  The chairs on the other hand, are new!  Well, new to us, anyway ... thanks to Craigslist, these practically unused and comfy IKEA  Ektorp chairs now serve as a place to just "plop!"  They're covered in light sage green slipcovers with cream piping ... and, they happen to match the green in the rug perfectly!  Yay!


The sofa table perched in front of the window holds a few Fall goodies, as well as a pair of lamps that used to be on our old screened porch.



While I played around with adding candle sconces and mirrors on either side of the center window ...


I knew when I stumbled upon these prints at HomeGood, they'd work really well in here for the Fall season!  And, at only $12.99 a print, I found this seasonal purchase easy to justify!


This little coffee table once sat on the screened porch in our old home ... thankfully, because of its petite size, I was able to place it in here:


My favorite wire tray from Pottery Barn sits on top of the table, filled with more Fall goodness:


Let's take one more peek at the whole picture ... 

BEFORE:


AFTER!  I can't wait to see how this cozy space evolves throughout the seasons!


Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Monday, September 15, 2014

Our Simple Fall Mantel ...

Greetings!!

If we could've pried our fireplace mantel/surround from the wall of our old house and nailed it to the wall here in our new house, we would've!  I truly miss it, but, we hope to "beef" up this one a bit in the near future.

Until then, I can't neglect our simple mantel and had fun adding a few Fall touches to it, with things that I already had on hand ... don't you just love free decorating?!


A pretty Fall print that I snagged from Tuesday Morning a couple of years ago, along with our whimsical "GIVE THANKS" blocks, take center stage:


I like "easy" decorating, which is why I love filling inexpensive apothecary jars with petite pumpkins, acorns and leaves:


A simple basket becomes the perfect place to toss a few pillows and add a soft blanket, inviting "warmth!"  Annnnd, our "falling leaves" made a return, too!


Instead of buying a new fireplace screen, I propped a metal piece from Kirkland's we had on hand against the glass:


I love the soft glow that the lights hidden behind our "GIVE THANKS" blocks, along with the fireplace, give off at night!


And, "speaking" of Fall mantels, I was very surprised (and appreciative) to see one of Fall mantels (from our old house) included in a fun Fall mantel article from Country Living!  Thank you!


Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish up our kitchen project where the cabinets are now enjoying a lighter and brighter look... yay!


Happy "early" Fall friends and thanks for stopping by,

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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Our New Sitting Room ...

Greetings, friends!

Thanks again so much for your kind comments about our new foyer!  Since we're still hanging out here in our entry, I thought I'd share our sitting room.

While we appreciated the builder "upgrading" the sitting area off of the foyer by enclosing it and making it a "study," we decided to somewhat undo that upgrade by opening it back up a bit.


TA DAAAA!  We had a local contractor widen the opening and add columns:


You see, because we have a two story foyer, we just felt that having one simple door really didn't do anything for the space ... we wanted it to have a bit more impact to balance the soaring ceilings.  


THERE, that's better, isn't it?! We're LOVING the change, and it made me excited to really get going to finish the room!  So, come on in our little sitting room, already splashed with Fall!


I've loved the 4 chair configuration for a long time and was happy to be able to do that in this space!  Of course, I have to thank IKEA because of their extremely budget-friendly Ektorp Jennylund chairs!  


They're really comfy and the additional slipcovers (in a variety of colors) are beyond reasonably priced, as well, making it easy to change them out to suit the seasons or your mood!  And, because you're saving so much moola, it makes it easier to add new curtains in a pretty fabric, without the guilt!  



You might remember our bookcase from the sitting room in our old house.  We thought about putting it in the office upstairs in this house, BUT, it's such a great focal point, that we decided to go ahead and keep it downstairs in this room.


Plus, it's a great place to add our Fall goodies!



Our postcard art still flanks the bookcase, with added sconces this time around:


Another piece making an encore appearance from the sitting room in our old house is our accent chest (from Kirkland's):


We look forward to eventually adding art to each side:


A cute, Fall printable added to a frame I had on hand (am locating the source):


Finally, a simple vase full of cotton (from Kirkland's) completes our seasonal look:


And, there you have it ... our little sitting room!  I look forward to continuing our new home tour with you soon!


Thanks so much for stopping by,

I'm partying with:

Savvy Southern Style/WUW

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