House Tour: Dining Room & TV Room

Sorry for the long interruptions of the house tour!

We are back in action!

And to make up for my incapacity to keep up, I am sharing TWO rooms today!

Here is our dining room!

This table we purchased in Virginia and took to Oklahoma with us. 

We adored it. 

But then we had an eat-in kitchen and it worked perfectly. 

The bar table wouldn't have worked as our "kitchen table" in our current home.

And now we love it less...

We dream of having a huge rustic farmhouse table that seats 12 - okay maybe just 8.

But it would fit into our lifestyle perfecly, because our table has suffered many dings and dents from our kiddos.

But that won't work at the moment, so we will stick with what we have...

I recovered our dining chairs. You can read about the process and reason behind it HERE.

This is what they look like now...

We have plans to paint this room this summer.

The paint color is quite dark not something we would pick (it was like this when we moved in).

The color is also flat paint and has many dings and handprints, ect. 

We also plan to paint the builder's beige with something.

We even have thoughts of flipping the colors and putting a color on top and a neutral on the bottom.

The curtains were put in here because they "matched".

They were in our bedroom.

So were the candles...however, they kept setting off the fire alarm.

Which definately isn't a good way to set the mood...

If I am being honest though, our dining room doesn't really look this perfect.

We actually have our old (new) refridgerator in there.

We purchased it before we moved and ended up finding a house that came with its own fridge.

We considered getting rid of it, but that didn't work out for us...

Beside the fridge, I have a kiddie-sized coat rack that I snagged from my mom's house.

I also moved a storage drawer downstairs to store the kids shoes, our doggies leash, Richard's running watch ect.

Oh and I have gotten to where I leave our easel out instead of getting it out everyday...

And we have a basket of balls, a basketball goal and their kitchen living in their right now.

But you would never know that if I didn't tell you ;)

And directly across from the dining room is where we house our TV.

I despise everything about this room.

When we moved in, I wanted a playroom.

Richard wanted a big couch to match our huge, oversized red chair....

He won that battle. 

He picked out the couch. 

He picked out the curtains.

It looks *okay* together....however, I don't feel like it *fits* in with the rest of our home.

We kept the paint color that was already there. 

The windows are jammed right up next to the door frame, so we couldn't make the rods wider than the window....

Don't get me wrong, the couch is soft and comfy. 

House guest prefer to sleep on it than our pull out mattress in the red chair.

The painting was a steal...

The ottoman stores toys.

This little table is an antique from my Grandma that I used in my college dorm.

How cool is that??

This completes our tour of downstairs!

I look forward to showing you the rest!

Yummy Bread

I am interrupting our house tour to tell you

that you HAVE to buy this bread. 

Okay, well you don't have to, but if you don't, you are really missing out.

I first told you about the Arnold Sandwich Thins here.  I still have a love for them, AND they make them in wheat now!!

We have tried the regular loaf bread by the same name....And it is *okay*.

I like it because it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup!

So two weeks ago, we were piddling around Harris Teeter to pick up a few things.  The "short"
 loaves of Arnold's Grainy Bread were Buy One Get One Free. 

We absolutely LOVE it! 

Turkey sandwiches, BLT's, PBJ, French Toast. 

All were amazing!

Let me show you again so you can remember. 

We purchased 12 Grain and Oat Nut. 

 We didn't have a preference.

Try it next time you buy bread!

P.S.  I am not being paid to say this

P.P.S. If you don't like this bread, don't blame me.  I am just telling you that we liked it!

House Tour: Living Room/"Office"

Directly across from our kitchen, you will see this living area.

And forgive me now for the awful photos.

This is my "office" - this is where I sit and write to you :)

The back wall is still Dancing Light and unsightly cords.

I never realized it looked so awful!!

The chair is quite comfy.

As for the living room....

We purchased this couch over 5 years ago. 

She has been good to us.

This chaise is my favorite seat in the house. 

We found it about two years ago and it was a perfect match for the couch.

The wall color changed to divide this living space from the kitchen.

Georgian Leather.   

As for my photographs, these are some of our favorite still vacation shots...

The top was taken on our honeymoon in Jamacia.

The bottom was taken during our time in Oklahoma.

Then these, I promise they do hang straight on the wall!

The first was taken in Oklahoma.

The second is part of the chain of mountains surrounding Mt. Rainier in Seattle.

And this painting is by my Mere! 

I adore it.

I am trying to find a permanent home for it, but I don't know where right now...

So until then, it will live on my mantle.

And that's it for today, minus all the toys! 

House Tour: Kitchen!

Today, I am sharing my kitchen with you all. 

First, I would like to show you what it looked like after we first moved in...

Builder's beige.

I HATE the cabinets, but since this isn't a forever house, I

 don't feel inclined to do something just because I hate them...

Enter a happy shade of blue.

I painted this all by myself while Richard was deployed.

The color is called something like "Calm Sky"

Here is the kitchen up close and personal...

I put the Dancing Light along the back wall to draw your eye in from the from door.

Here is a table we adopted after being in the house for a year. 

We eat all our meals here... 

We found this piece long before we bought the table.

I adore it.

Solid wood. 

We got it at an antique shop in town.

I do have plans for the blank wall, I just haven't acted on my vision yet....

Stay tuned for that...

And the wood rectangle on the server is a pie board...one of the coolest Christmas gifts I received this year!

I like to look at it and I have no where to store it, so it lives atop the server.

I would also like to take this time to share my "pantry".

It is the oddly narrowly shaped cabinet that I typically decorate with my kid's paintings...

I was appaled when we moved in and saw this cabinet. 

What in the hell am I going to do with it?

Well it perfecly stores my griddle and grill and skillet...

And NesQuick!

And pasta and breadcrumbs and cereals seem to fit just fine.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do that with my canned goods.

I tried and I went crazy.

And I had no where else to put them because of lack of cabinet space.

So Richard installed these super cool drawers for me.

They were just wide enough to slide in and out easily.

The track screwed into the shelf. 

And we adjusted the shelf size for short and tall canned items.

This change actually changed my life.

Can you tell we eat a lot of pasta?  I have a ton of tomatoes and ready-made sauces.

Gotta buy it when it is onsale!

I also store all of our aprons in here! 

Meredith's little cupcake apron makes me smile everytime I see it!

Thanks for stopping by! 

House Tour: Entryway!

I am so excited that you came to visit!

Come on inside!

Once you step inside, you will be enveloped in a calming green.

Olympic's Dancing Light.

I adore it.

I LOVE green and somehow this color acts as a neutral.

We have used it along the hallway upstairs and down.
Also, along the back wall of the house to connect the living room and kitchen(open floor plan).

I am not excited about the entryway.

I want something beautiful to pull you in.

I am planning to frame photos of the kiddos to put there....

But I stuck this here a long time ago, and just never thought about it again.

I doubt you can read it, but this print was purchased

10 years ago during Beach Week after HS graduation.

The bench was spontaneous clearance find...

I had no clue when I bought it, where it would go, but I couldn't leave it in Lowe's.
(Did you know Lowe's sold accessories like this?  Neither did I, but only in large stores!)

The pillows were a clearance find way before I ever even chose the paint color.

I originally purchased them for the Master Bedroom, but they didn't match.

After painting the green, I realized they fit perfectly! 

Family photos and a montage of Meredith around 8 months greet you in the hallway...

And please freshen up before you come in!

This was one of the rooms we did not paint. 

I can't quote the color name for you.

I despise it.  I think it is too dark for such a small room.

But, alas, it is not a priority for me at the moment...

What WAS a priority was covering up HUGE holes the previous owners left behind.

Since we didn't have the paint, we couldn't spackle them

(and they didn't have the decency to do so either!)

We measured and searched for a shelf that would mask the damage!

Target is where we found the white shelf.  

I know it looks awful high, but in leiu of painting, this was the best solution for us.

And I love this little basket! 

I (usually) store extra TP in there with the wipes.

And yes!  We do have extra TP.  

I am reminded of a little ditty I read a while ago...

Stop by tomorrow to continue our tour!

House Tour Postponed

I am so sorry!

I know I said I would continue with the house tour today, but blogger is giving me a fit!

Forgive me, and I will try again later!

Cheers!

Shed Stopper

Yesterday, I was determined to finish at least one of the three projects I am currently working on. 

I wrangled the kids out of the backyard to help me get some things out of our shed....
Which was stressful enough in itself. 

Little did I know, things would only get better.

I put the key into the lock of my shed and turned....

I had to encourage my littles to move out from their favorite spot, hanging onto each of my legs...so I could open the door.

Looking down, I ALMOST stepped into the entry way from the ramp, when I stopped dead in my tracks.

A small white and green head poked around the door.  I instantly screamed at the kids to get down.  I freaked out beyond necessary - which I forgot to NOT do.

I try to keep it low key for Lucas because I don't want him to be afraid of thing, but sometimes I forget.

Regardless of that, there was a freaking SNAKE in my shed.

I immediately call Richard - thinking he could solve my problem even though he would not be home for another several hours.

And he did exactly what I figured...he laughed.

"Are you sure it is a snake?"

No dummie.  You are right, it must be a worm, that I mistakenly thought was a snake.

"Yes Honey!  It was a freaking snake!"

"It WAS a snake?  Where is it now?" 

"I don't know, I came back from getting the phone and it was gone!"

"Well, he is probably gone.  He isn't going to hurt you!" 

"You mean he is hiding in the shed in the wood I wanted to pull out?!  I am not going in there!" 

"Okay, well just shut the door and I will look for him when I come home!" 

Why I needed to call him and let him tell me to not go in the shed - when I wasn't going in the shed anyways, is beyond me.

But it made me feel better, and I am sure it gave him something interesting to laugh about during his last class...not that the Regulation of Vice isn't interesting....

Regardless,  I cannot finish my projects because I am scared.

Scared of a little critter that is 1/64 my size.

And for all anyone knows, may have been a giant worm. 

House Tour: Front Porch!

 I told you that I would give you the insider's tour in my home...

But before you come inside, I want to show you around front...

The accessories are all gifts from family...

Between the snow and the deer, this is actually the best looking plant outside the house right now...

Sad isn't it?!

If the pollen wasn't so terrible, I would join you for a talk out front in our Adirondack Chairs.

Richard didn't believe me when I told him how comfy these wooden chairs were.

Once he said, he agreed that we had to have them!

Or stop by after dinner and we can swing in rhythm with the breeze...

This swing was a housewarming gift from Richard's parents...

It is quite amazing and we adore it, even in the coldest days of winter.

I hope you stop by tomorrow as we step inside!