Home Updates

Happy Hump Day folks! I’ve been in such a great mood all week because of the glorious sunshine that has finally decided to grace New England with its presence. How nice it has been to take the flip flops and short sleeve shirts out of the back of my closet. I hope you’re all enjoying the warmer temperatures as well!

So now on to today’s topic: home updates. As I’ve discussed in the past, we bought our first home back in October and it really has been a dream come true. Our house was in pretty good shape when we purchased it, but like all homes and yards, it certainly needs its fair share of attention and work. 

I don’t know about any other homeowners out there, but I find it so hard to figure out where the heck to start when it comes to all of the decorating and upgrades. I really like this post my old friend, Jackie, did about her list of to-dos in her new (beautiful!) home. I have fully adapted her idea of making a list for each room. Who doesn't love a good to-do list!

So after months of being overwhelmed, I finally decided to go about the decorating aspect room-by-room, which has really helped. I recently concluded that the best way to figure out decorating ideas for each room is to think about my family’s personality – what are the hobbies, likes, cultures that define my family and how can I incorporate that into decorating.

Here’s what I came up with:

• Billy loves the ocean and anything outdoors
• I love Mediterranean/California type colors and esthetics
• We both love animals of all kinds
• I want our house to feel welcoming, relaxed and cozy
• I don't want to sacrifice comfort for design

Now on to step two, which is slowly and thoughtfully tying the above into different rooms in our home. I decided to start with our living room, which I felt like I had already began a somewhat Mediterranean style of decorating without really knowing it. And then I thought – this would be a really cool room to tie our fondness of animals into – and off I went with my plan:

1. We already had a nice paint color to go with the style. It is this coral-peach-brownish color (Benjamin Moore Casabella to be exact) – which makes me feel like I am in Tuscany. ✓
2. Create a gallery wall that feels feminine and shabby-chic ✓
3. Incorporate tans, corals, turquoises and whites ✓
4. Find a really cool piece of art that incorporates animals – I’m liking this piece I found on Etsy
5. Find the right piece of art or mirror for behind the couch
6. Repaint the fireplace and baseboards
7. Get a new lamp for table behind the sofa 
8. Buy a round coffee table

Here are some pictures of the room’s evolution. We are nowhere near done, but I am so happy that I finally feel like I know where I’m heading with this room! Once I finish this room, I’m planning to do some updates to our family room to incorporate Bill’s love of the ocean and outdoors. Post to come on that!

After painting and re-doing the floors:

 The room today - try to ignore the ugly lamp!

I was really excited about the curtains.

Gallery wall. P.S. my sister-in-law painted that picture of our dog, Jasmine on the table. Talk about talent! Check out her website here!

Again: Ignore ugly lamp! I am in love with the giraffe and elephant though!

So that's it for today! More home updates to come in the future. 

Have a happy hump day!