Fall Fun & Kitchen

We did a little decorating for Fall, although it'll soon be time to replace it all with Christmas decor!   

 

Our living room plant died, so for now we replaced it with a pumpkin.  There will probably be a tree or something there for Christmas, but I'll have to find something else to go there for the rest of the year (we actually went through 2 plants there... love how they looked, but they just didn't do so well long term).

I don't consider myself super crafty, but this was a fun project from awhile ago (it's been hanging on the door since the spring, so it's not technically "Fall" decor).  I wanted a wreath, but I realized how pricey they can be, and I wasn't willing to splurge.  So, after seeing some handmade wreaths on etsy, I bought a wreath form from Michael's, along with some fuzzy green yarn and felt.  I wrapped the form with the yarn, then made some flowers from felt (just cutting & sewing... I played around and tried to copy pictures of felt flowers that I found online).  Another "crafty" project that was for Fall was a pumpkin for my best friend, Allie. 

 

I planned to make one for our house too, but by the time I went back to Michael's, all the white pumpkins were gone.  Maybe next year!

On another note, I was organizing photos recently & realized how few rooms I've actually posted pictures of on here.  One room that I haven't taken many pics of is the kitchen.  Here is what it looked like 1) when we toured the house and 2) before we closed on the house, just as we were starting to work on it- what a mess!

 

Here is the one good "after" picture I've taken:

 

We painted everything (walls, trim, cabinets), continued the bamboo floors, changed the over-the-sink light fixture from a flourescent tube to a little pendant, and put in a new sink, faucet, & disposal.  We would loooove to change the counter tops, but that's on a long-term list.  Behind the peninsula is the eating area.

Everything continues to be a work in progress!  And let's be honest, the biggest challenge is just trying to keep all of the mail, bills, magazines, and other clutter off of the counters.  No doubt one of the reasons there aren't more current pictures!  Such is life...

yea, about that...

As usual, it's been awhile, and my excuse hasn't changed.  I've been spending lots of time here.

It's hard to believe that it's already NOVEMBER.  Wow.  Luckily that does mean that the first part of kindergarten is over and everyone has really settled in to our routine.  The year is getting more fun and less exhausting.

Back to the house, though.  Thanks to TONS of help from Mom (seriously, she worked her butt off), the stenciling in the dining room is FINALLY over.  Actually, it's been over for awhile, but I had to work up the energy to do the touch-up (6 hours straight of painting with a teeny artist brush- ugh) and then make time to put it all back together.  Here is the "after"!

 

Of course, there is still more to do (window treatments, change the table & chairs, possibly a rug?) but I am SO thankful to have the walls finished.  I'm happy to say that all of the work was worth it (hopefully Mom agrees) and I LOVE the finished product.  It is so much better than the coral, and fits in really well with the rest of our house.  Plus, it really gave us the wallpaper look that I wanted, without having to spend so much $$.  So, here is the dining room's progression over the past year +.

 

before we moved in - the previous owner had started to cover up what had been RED walls with BLUE trim (their kids' playroom)

 

last winter/spring

 

now!

(you can see the glossy sheen of the stencil lines in this pic... my favorite part!)

It's always fun to see how things change.  Some fun facts about the room:

* The base coat (darker gray) is high gloss and we stenciled over it with flat.  It sure was shiny in there before the stenciling!

* The painting of the circles above the buffet was done by my Granddaddy

* The silver rectangular "VOTE" poster between the windows belonged to my Grammie and it came from the League of Women Voters... such a snapshot of who she was!

* The white columns (there are two) came from Lane Sanson, the fabulous Carytown store that closed last year (sob) and Valerie Sanson, the owner, got them from Thalhimer's when it closed!  Love having a piece of Richmond history in our dining room.

There are other fun facts, but they're probably much more interesting to me than to anyone else. :)  I'm just thankful to have a presentable dining room again!