Homey Update

We now have wedding pictures up!

I got them printed on canvas using a coupon code online and am thrilled with how streamlined they came out looking!

I also did a speedy update to our "front hall" closet. I don't have a closet right inside the door, but this is across the bathroom and those frames in the little hall between there and the kitchen. It's under the stairs and holds our coats and shoes:

This was it when I saw the house for the first time:

This was it when I was trying to get a handle on all of my shoes and put them all in shoeboxes:

 And here they are away with a little shoe rack on the bottom:

Well that wasn't cutting it… Especially after I married someone with more clothes and shoes than me! So I went through the boxes. I hadn't really opened more than one or two of them since doing this project two years ago! The rack got the most use. So I purged. Lots of shoes got donated. 

Then I installed elfa to make the most of this space. These shoe racks glide out. The bottom one is for heels and the others are for flats. I did this one night after I got home from work around 11:00 pm. It was super easy and I managed to not wake Chris up!

This is it after I put all of the shoes Chris and I had left. The basket on the top right is for hats and gloves and stuff. I have very few purses. They're not my thing. None of these are probably in style even… Oh well! I have room if I ever get trendy! I have lots of extra empty shoe boxes for future shoe shopping too!

 During the summer I keep my boots in boot boxes under the guest bed. During the fall and winter they hang from the closet rod so they can keep their shape from these guys. It's an oddly deep closet and I wish I could've elfa'd the whole closet, but leaving the rod further forward made more sense. 

 I also got this really cool fireplace from my brothers for my birthday:

 I love how modern it is and we tote it wherever we want a romantic fire

 And now it's living here in the dining room:

 I also got a kind of shadowy picture from our wedding up on one of the walls:

So those are our recent homey updates!

2 Sectionals Are Better Than 1!

We got a second Ikea Sectional! This one was the Friheten Corner Sofa Bed and it lives down in our basement:

After hauling our Kivik home we knew what transporting a whole sofa with a borrowed truck felt like. This time we thought we'd check into their delivery service. This was the BEST decision ever! They came during the window, cleaned up snow that came in with them, and were really friendly. And, we didn't have to borrow a truck! Complete game changer! It was definitely intimidating to look at.

Chris still had about three hours until he was due home when the delivery guys left. I decided I would unbox everything so we could tackle it together later. Once I did it it wasn't anything I found scary. I decided I'd see what I could do alone… An hour later I had finished it myself! I just needed Chris's help laying it back down. 

The couch was crazy easy to build and we love it! Now the basement is a happy marriage of Chris and I. I have the wall next to the leather chair with all of my favorite prints. 

 Chris's wall is all kinds of his favorite guy stuff. He is currently hunting for a sword or something else guyish to finish off his wall:

Here is our dirty little secret though. The couch. I can't seem to even give it away. It's listed for $50 on Craig's List and a local Facebook buy/sell group with no luck. So it sits on its side behind the new couch. 

I also got a C Table from The Container Store which is a great little work surface:

And the sectional folds out into a bed. It's nice and firm and comfy too without that awkward center bar  that pull out sofa beds have. 

And it has some great hidden storage!

We also got our "guestbook" up on the wall on the way down the basement stairs:

And even our books have merged!

 So, here is our basement in action:

 The cat has channeled his inner Lion King and will be very upset whenever I do eventually sell the love seat:

The House Today

It's been a while since you've been through the house with me. Since then some things have evolved…

I got an awesome final sale rug at West Elm for $99 that was far more proportionate for the living room! It looks like it was made to live with us!

I also got the yellow tray from next to nothing at Ikea. Overall the room seems so much happier!

The flower pot held our wedding programs and is now repurposed 

We got a second canister from Target as a gift and Zulu's spoiled lifestyle has now been accommodated 

We picked up two lanterns when we were down in Austin and got a third as a gift from Chris's mom. I finally got up the nerve to string them from the ceiling

We also got this really cool knife block… And the cat needed to photo bomb! 

I bought a bookcase from The Container Store in the spirit of compromise for Chris's Christmas gift. When I was sure Chris was in bed I hauled all of the books he didn't think I noticed that he had hid in the attic downstairs and set this up:

I also got a sewing machine for Christmas… I've truly become the person I swore I never would be! I put off unboxing it until I had a sewing table I could spread out on. A quick trip to Ikea had that solved!

I bought a desk top and two Expedit cubes that I wanted to stand it on. 

First I laid it out like this but it seemed pretty bulky:

Then I tried it like this and liked it… But wanted to try a little more leg room:

So, this arrangement was born. It required screwing the top on from the bottom. 

Unfortunately, the top didn't completely cover it. There is about 1.5 inches of uncovered space… Despite that, I'm loving it!

I found containers at The Container Store and now that I figured out how to use the machine I'll just need to figure out how I need to store all of my new supplies!

We spend a lot more time down in the basement now. We have surround sound, the treadmill, the old living room TV, and my sewing stuff. Next step is another sectional:

Here is our room in action now:

I actually managed to sew the little tiny pillow myself!

We also needed another hamper with all of these extra clothes in our lives. 

So, that's our house these days!