Fall House Tour 2015

While I love all the little things that each season brings, I really love decorating for fall. I love adding new textures, and the burnt oranges, reds, and browns that I don't usually have in my day to day decor colors. It's sort of fun decorating for seasons like this because you can sort of redo rooms with just little touches without redoing the WHOLE room.

Some people go all out for decorating for the fall, and some people like to just add a thing or two and call it good. I think I fall somewhere in the middle. I don't decorate for Halloween, I decorate for fall and keep these items around from October until Thanksgiving.

Every year, I try to mix things up a little and sometimes I may add a new item. This year I did not buy anything new.

Here's a tour of my house this year.

 

As you can see I started out with the top photo of decorating our entry table, but rearranged somethings so I could use things for my mantle.

 

Nothing beats a good chili. 

And I was super excited to see Pier 1 used my photo on their Instagram feed.

 

If you don't follow me on Instagram, I'd like to share my recent design book purchases as of late.

Emily Henderson's Styled

Below, Lauren Liess' book Habitat.

And lastly, Ellen DeGeneres' book Home.

While I have not read through them all, I have started them all and they are all SO good in their unique and different ways.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour and hoping you have a fun & safe Halloween.

Laundry Room Refresh Week Four

Week four here in the six week challenge that I'm participating in for Linda's Calling it Home, One Room Challenge.

This week was rather a slow week, and not much to report. All the walls have the beadboard and my husband installed the crown molding.

I purchased the light.

 I had others higher on my want list but all of them were a little high on the budget and/or were going to take 3-4 weeks to get it. This is just a laundry room after all and I don't need to spend lots of money on a light that only I will see for the most part, and this is not our "forever" home. If it was I'd do things a whole lot differently. But I really do like the shape of this light and the room needs some shine and I think the glass will really help in that aspect. I am excited to have it installed.

Things left to do now: paint ceiling and walls, DIY a Pottery Barn peg rail for my mop and cleaning tools, do some organizing of the drawers and cupboards, and wait for my tile to come in. I am crossing fingers that it'll arrive in time and we can get it installed before the six weeks is up.The tile is really what I am most excited about.

Sorry this post was a little boring this week with not much to report. Hope to have more next week.

Please go check out the 20 selected bloggers/designers progress this week, and the other link up participants like me.

Laundry Room Refresh Week 3

You came back! Thank you! It's week 3 here if you're keeping track on my 6 week Challenge of redoing our laundry room.

If you are new, I'm a linking participant of Linda's Calling it Home, One Room Challenge and here you can see my previous posts on week One and week Two.

I am happy to report I have progress. Yay!  We went and purchased our butcher block for the counter from Lumber Liquidators, who just happened to be having a sale. Very excited to save some money.

 

 We have since put a coat of polyurethane on it and thinking we should put one more coat.

Then my husband and I put up beadboard.

I have to give a huge shout out to my husband. He helps me execute these ideas and pretty sure I couldn't get half these things done without him. Somehow I always sucker him in, and I've found out (and him too) that I am more of the idea person and not so much the executing of the idea person.
So, if you read this Bill... Thank you and you know deep down you love these little projects. Ha!

Next up will be a top molding, and painting. I chose the tile and it's being ordered. The color will be kept a secret, as I have to keep some mystery to this project. Hopefully, it'll arrive and be installed before this 6 weeks is up.

That's a wrap on this week. Be sure to pop over to Linda's to see the 20 designers/bloggers for week 3 and all the linkup's today. So much inspiration happening, you'll love all the ideas flowing over there.

Oh and can I say, I wish my family room still looked like this.

Glad I documented it because now I have all my laundry room stuff scattered all in this room. Projects are fun huh?

See you next week!

Laundry Room Refresh: Week 2

We have come to week 2 now on the One Room Challenge that I'm participating in as a link up participant on Linda's Calling it Home blog.

Shall we play this fun game of let's pretend? Pretend I got a LOT accomplished this past week. Let's close our eyes, and picture the linoleum gone and tile being started, maybe the walls have been painted and possibly a new pretty countertop was installed. Now if you open your eyes, you will see that nothing has changed, other than a higher stack of laundry to do.

I will admit I didn't get much (aka nothing) done this week. Not for the lack of trying though. I went to Home Depot and Lowes, shopping for tile and came home with squat. Looked for a new light fixture and came home with squat. I went looking for ideas for my wall treatments, and came home with squat, zero, zilch, nada.

For first time visitors, you can see what my laundry room currently looks like here in Week 1.

Here's my original plan.

 The plan has now changed ever so slightly. Sadly, the plan to add an utility sink has been crossed out. My plan was to make this as cheap and easy of a refresh to the room as possible and adding the sink would not be cheap, nor easy as I was hoping. Plus, we would have to rip out our hide away iron board to make room for a sink, and that would lead to fixing drywall, and electrical work. So basically, it was a good dream of mine but will not be brought into fruition this time around. Insert very sad face emoji.

Next change is the tile. I was originally thinking I would be doing a black and white cement tile. While I really love the look of this tile, I've decided to go another direction. I know these are a show stopper and they sure are pretty but I've decided I am going for something a little more simpler in design.

 

Agnetha Home

I have decided to go with either white penny tile with black grout.



Kelly McGuill

 Or black penny tile with white grout.

 

Oliver and Simon Design



 

 

I am pretty confident in which one I'm going with but what would you choose?

 







As for the countertop, I said I was 50/50 on which direction I was going but I've made my decision.

I was thinking I would just paint the white Formica countertop with blackboard paint like I did for my bar area.

 After thinking about it a bit more, the room really will need some warmth so I've decided to go with the butcher block.

Studio McGee

In short, not really anything executed this week other than my finalizing some decisions. Time to get busy!

Come back next week, I'll be sure to show you some new changes to the room. Cross your fingers for me.

If you'd like to see more of my laundry room inspiration ideas, you can see my pinterest board, here.
Or follow me on Instagram for possibly some sneak peek photos.

To get caught up with the 20 designers/bloggers for week 2, go here. To see what other linking participants did this past week (which I know has got to be more than me)  go here.



Laundry Room Refresh

If participating in the link up for Linda's Calling it Home One Room Challenge can't get me back to blogging, I don't know what will.

Incase you do not know what the One Room Challenge is.... it is a challenge of redoing a room in 6 weeks, and posting each week your progress along the way. Linda has chosen 20 designers/blogggers to showcase their rooms each Wednesday for the next 6 weeks and each Thursday, you can play along and link up your room as well. It's lots of fun and you get to see so many before and afters. Who doesn't love a good before/after?

I have chosen my laundry room this time around. It is not horrible but it needs some help. It is off of our family room and the door is usually left open, so I'd like it to look half way presentable when company is over. Another reason why I decided to tackle this room was because I recently won 5 gallons of Farrow & Ball paint from a contest I entered with F&B and Lauren Liess. She asked for a mood board and include F&B paint color in the board. I did and I was chosen! Yay! I was super excited. So now I have all this paint and needed a project.

Here is the state of my laundry room now.

 This was my mood board that won me the paint.

 

 

The plan is to replace the linoleum with tile, replace the countertop with butcher block wood or painting it with chalkboard paint (haven't decided), see if we can add a utility sink, new lighting and add some architectural  details to the room and paint everything white with my new paint.

 

Hope you will come back and see my progress.