The Dining Room Rug is Here to Stay!

Just wanted to post another picture of the dining room:

I have framed two pictures with custom dark brown picture mats (handmade by yours truly, of course... wasn't about to pay $35 for just one mat!) the pictures are of Craig & I and of my fab girlies Betsy, Carrie, and I. I will hang two additional pictures above the desk to make the long wall symmetrical. Still deciding on the particular pictures but I know I want great pics of my family and other loves!

Oh and "Papa don't preach... but, I've made up my mind... I'm keeeeping the ruuugg!" ;) wow, so corny. But I do love the rug - it's so soft and works just perfectly in the space. yay! Props to my beautiful Mom on that one.

Dining Room Rug with Green?

So, I have decided that the dining room needs an area rug to define the space from the rest of the living room and the desk area. On a Lowe's Hardware trip with my mom, we found a great rug on sale for half off! I love the rug and it's the perfect size; I am just not sure the green in the rug or the modern curves match with the rest of the living room. A picture is posted below, comments appreciated! :)

Breakfast Nook with a Side of Blinds

This post is dedicated to my girlie Betsy. Many thanks to her for getting me a sweet employee discount on the Levolor (a Rubbermaid company) ;) blinds pictured to the left. Before, the kitchen was like a 24 hour human exhibit tank with me as the main attraction whenever I was in it. However, the custom blinds came today and with my Mom's help we installed them to my delight! Paired with the cute bar table and chairs from IKEA the breakfast nook is ready for it's first Saturday morning pancakes. I also must give shout outs to Craig for helping assemble the table... they don't make constructing these things easy!! It all looks great though and I can't wait to enjoy the view of the trees over the top of the blinds and a cup of coffee at the table with no outside spectators. :) happiness.

Loving my Living Room

I know it has been a while since I have posted on my blog. I have just been busy busy cleaning, painting, and putting away things at my new place. Now after a full month of living at my first place, I am happy to post some progress! I have made my first mortgage and HOA payments...yay.... sorta. ;) Many payments to go, but yet the place already feels all my own. I have worked almost solely on my living room this month to get it looking how I want it. That way, even if the rest of the house is a hazard zone, I can still relax in my living room. Let me know what you think and any design suggestions or tips are welcomed!

A Latte New Latte Hardwood Floors

The new laminate hardwood floors have been installed and they look gorgeous! :) The guys that installed them came early Wednesday morning and finished up just before 6pm that same day. They were very friendly and their detailed-oriented work effort really shows. Anyone looking for new flooring and wanting a recommendation, let me know and I will gladly pass on the name. Here are a few more pictures of the rest of the first floor with the all new flooring:

The kitchen looks dramatically different with the hardwood extended into the whole area and replacing the previous laminate tiles.

Sunday's Helpers

On Sunday, we decided to take on the daunting task of painting the oh so tall stairs and hallway walls. Lucky for me, Jimmy was there to help along with the lovely trio: Carrie, Loren, and my mom! Here are a few pictures from that afternoon...

Gobi Desert.

Progress is being made!

My place is finally starting to look better. They always say that things have to look worse before they look better and that's definitely true for our work. We started by taking things off the wall and painting the not so pretty primer everywhere and now that some color is up, the unit is looking great!

Saturday was a long work day for my mom, Craig, and I. We started at 10:30 that morning and didn't stop until after 6pm. Although it was a long and tiring day, so much was done and you can really see all the transformations taking shape. I couldn't have done it without their help, so I am very grateful that Craig and my mom devoted their day to helping me. :) We put on some music, made jokes about Gobi Desert, Balmy Seas, and who is the lucky one that gets to name the paints, and the next thing we knew it was already 6pm.

Adam and Jen stopped by to visit and take in the progress and later that day Betsy came by too! In the middle of all the visitors and painting being done, I had an appointment with the flooring guy to quote new flooring. 3 hours later and much negotiation, I decided on new carpet upstairs in Natural plush and laminate hardwood downstairs in a Latte Oak. (Again, loved the name.) The floors will go in Wednesday and Thursday... pictures, of course, to follow! Can't wait!