Living Room on a Budget??

I have saved the room that we use least for last when it came to decorating our home. It also happens to be the one we see the most!! We are either in the kitchen or downstairs in the family room a majority of the time. However, our living room is your first impression when you walk into our home and I want it to be beautiful!! I would love to get new couches, but not in the budget for right now...

The sconces above our TV really confuse me as to what we should do with that wall. I am open to any ideas!! We aren't "formal" people, so no need for a formal living room - just a room that looks cozy and welcoming!!

I would like some more places to put more decor and pictures and think this could work. Maybe put this shelf on one side of the sconces? What do you think?

1st Anniversary!

This weekend marks our 1 year anniversary - October 18. I can't believe we have already been married for 1 year! I am just getting used to calling Stuart my husband! What have I learned in 1 year of marriage?? Well, lots of things!! Most importantly though, I learned that I am very blessed to have such a great husband in my life!

To celebrate, we are heading to Minneapolis for the weekend. Agenda so far: Shopping - Mall of America, nice dinner to celebrate, eating our year-old cake (tradition says to save your top tier of cake for your 1 year anniversary) and Vikings game on Sunday. Stuart actually booked some nicer hotels for the weekend, so should be lots of fun!! I asked him to do one romantic thing for me this weekend, so we'll see what happens. :)

I recently got out our wedding album and am missing that day so much!! I had so much fun planning our wedding! Here are some of our pictures that were my favorites:

Weekend Projects - green damask and guilding!

The past two weekends, I have been pretty busy crafting away. It's now time to reveal the finished products! I will start with the easiest project - spray painting an old yellow frame I had stored away. I painted it white and added of picture of my precious puppy Bailey. Its new home is on our kitchen counter.

The picture above is of what consumed alot of my time last weekend. The pumpkins were from Hobby Lobby and were orange before. I then guilded away!! Silver is more my style, but I could have done gold or copper too. They turned out really cute and now sit on my kitchen table.

My favorite two projects are left to share. I will start with the ugly frame I purchased from Goodwill for $2. If you ask me, I think it should have been free, but I decided the pay the $ since it was just the right size I was looking for. The pictures that were in the frame made me laugh too - which is priceless!! :)

The next picture is of the chair from Goodwill - $4. If you know anything about me - gold is not my friend. I knew right away that I would need to get my trusty white spray paint out for both projects. I purchased the lime green damask off of Ebay and went to work. The chair now sits by our door leading to garage (main door we use) and the frame is above our pantry.

Fall Decorating!

Since we've only been "homeowners" for around a year and a half, we haven't had much time to start collecting fall decor. Today, while working, I was thinking about what I had at home that I could use to decorate by our front door. I started wandering around our home trying to find items I could use. I found a vase that was given to us as a house-warming gift (pulled out the ugly arrangement inside - wasn't my style), a wicker pumpkin I had, bought the flowers from Walmart for $3, and then added my wreath that I bought last year and started my fall decorating today.

As I was looking in our storage closet, I saw a "Welcome" sign that we had gotten for a wedding gift. It was in the closet, because it didn't really match my decorating style - little bit too country for me! I cut the stars and twine off the sign, spray painted white, and now it's something we can use all the time! Simple and just my style!! Here are some before/after photos and what our front door looks like now. I made sure to add some twine to tie everything down to the table - it gets windy here!!

The only thing I am missing are the pumpkins! I can't wait to carve pumpkins!!

Lime green!

It has been awhile since my last blog. You would think I was up to some projects, however that wasn't the case!! With the weather changing, I have a feeling I will be starting projects and blogging more. Mom - I know you are happy now!

Today, I thought I would show off my kitchen changes. Since moving into our home 6 months ago, I have been trying to decide what color I should make our kitchen. After seeing the new Fiestaware color - Lemon grass, I decided this was the color I would make it. I am now going to start collecting lime green kitchen accessories. Here is just a start to my collection! I will keep you posted on additions - because you know I am always out buying something! :) Mom - if you are reading this - be on the lookout for cute lime-green items to add! Maybe I should buy a table to put by the back door and painted it a lime color?!

The flash makes the color more yellow, but it really is more green. The picture doesn't do any justice. Anyways, this was my inspiration.

I always make sure to have some green apples on hand - just to add to the green! :) Maybe I should invest in some "faux-fruit" since we never eat them!!

Keeping myself busy...

Here are some of the new happenings at our home:

298 forks and spoons! Yes, we were spooned and forked!! When we woke up on July 4 - I looked outside and discovered all the plastic silverware in our front yard. Stuart's friends love pranks!! No, I didn't count them all, but Stuart did! This picture was taken around 6:30am! I was wondering what people were thinking as they went by for their morning walks!

Bought a silver tray from Goodwill to display those wicker balls on my shelf to complete the wall! Thanks for the idea Libby!

New storm door on the back of house... Apparently last owner just let the wind take the other one off! Feels great to let some sun in the house. The cats sleep on the rug all day in the sun and love it!

New jar for the ping pong balls in the "Man Room."

Added decal above TV in the "Man Room." Live, Laugh, Golf!

New pictures above the couch in family room... I guess I could have made the couch look nice before taking the picture, but sounded like too much work I guess!

Another guest room! We bought new mattress for our room and moved our old one downstairs! Thanks for the comforter Mom!! Now we have room for all kinds of family and friends to visit Watertown!

The Life of a Puppy

Stuart is out of town for five days, so this leaves plenty of time to be with Bailey! I thought I would share how tough it is to be a puppy!!

Let me out of the kitchen! The gate is in the way!!

Lounging in the backyard eating weeds... Yum!!

By far, my best picture taken of Bailey! She loves our sandbox (as you can see her hole!).

Trapped in the kitchen!!

The dreaded pet gate... These were the best investment we ever made!! Keeps our brand new carpet clean!!