3rd Floor Makeover

Phew. This weekend was a whirlwind. I am in 3rd floor makeover mode which ='s master bedroom and nursery.  My furniture shopping trip to the Austin / San Marcos this weekend wasn’t as lucky as we hoped either. Actually, we struck out pretty big, but we did plan out our master bedroom makeover. And buy a lot of things we weren't looking for, imagine that! We went to 3 outlet stores, a restored furniture store, and 2 garage sales. YET, This little drawing is pretty much the most important thing we got accomplished!  My sister plotted out the exact pieces we need, including size of all the items, and I’ve got my inspiration and budget hashed out. So groan, I mean yay for that! I also figured out exactly what I want for the nursery (squeal!) and we started the paint swatch debate. 

We did find out that Restoration Hardware Outlet in San Marcos is running 40% off til May 4. We'll be checking that place frantically via phone. Maybe other outlets across the nation are too, but I'm not sure so check your local outlet! 

We've got a new 'chandelier' project in the works. I'm gonna post the results this Friday for my first installment of furniture Friday! 

paint swatching awayyy..

That would be my niece and nephew burying a lizard. LOL. They are so darn funny at this age. 

I found a lamp that I am still not at all sure about. I think it's too modern for our house. 

and we bought a hutch off craigslist that we plan to start painting soon. 

and that was that! let the nesting begin! 

Home Progress: Living Room One year later

It's so crazy to me that we've been in the house for over a year. We've started our one year walk-through with our builder, to make sure everything stays in tip top shape - and I couldn't help but think of this time last year. We were closing on the house (obvi), and I was so anxious about how much furniture we needed. Then I ran into a few older pictures, and the disparity really struck me. I never really posted pictures of the inside (the thought gave me anxiety), but I finally think it's a good time to take a peek inside. I mean, I only promised pictures a gazillion times, and never came through. And while nothing about my house screams professional home decor blog, I'm pretty proud of how far we've come. 

I really wish I had a picture of the carpet swatches underneath the ugly, black leather couches we had, but here is our then brand new gray couch from Bassett. It was in the back of the store for 50% off, because another customer sent it back after Bassett sent the the wrong couch. That was the first rug we bought too. The rug was a fraction of the West Elm price, because it was missing four tassels and had two bald spots. I couldn't pass up the deal, and just like that we had a gray color scheme. Something I wasn't expecting AT ALL. What can I say I guess I'm just a sucker for a bargain :)

 

Somewhere along the way we added curtains, which we got for free with our West Elm points. We racked up points from our table and another rug not pictured here. But yaaaa, we were still using TV trays to hold things. LOL. 

Needless to say, our friends gave us a really hard time about the TV trays.

Then, enter the piece that took us so so long to buy. I bought it on a whim, for what I thought was a steal at HomeGoods. We still use throwback speakers lol. 

 

And here is where we are today; AKA our current living room (yes my frames are crooked, still need to finish my gallery wall): 

 

 

Our eating area is right behind the camera, and where our stripe wall is. Hopefully I'll blog about that space soon!

 

Oh and the weekend was great, I finally experimented with Annie Sloan Paint. And was overall really productive. I love the fall energy! Tata and happy Monday!   

-Tessy 

Converting a Buffet to a Media Unit

Hello and Happy Friday! I'm back from California and catching up on sleep. This post isn't related to my recent trip, but I've been wanting to share this for a couple weeks, so here it is! Our 6 month furniture search has come to an end!

Matthew and I are both bargain shoppers, so finding the perfect piece for under our TV was taking forever.  It was so hard to pull the trigger because we really wanted a buffet piece that we would to convert into a media unit. We also have a distinct theme going on in our open living/dining/kitchen space (Which is very navy and reclaimed wood-ish). Well I finally found something I loved at HomeGoods, and within 5 minutes of seeing it I was telling the salespeople to take it off the floor!

HomeGoods put it on a paid hold, so I had seven days to pick it up, and could return it just as easily. I told Matt if he hated it we could take it back, but we were buying this piece and testing it out no matter what! 

Now onto the conversion process, you need this huge drill bit specifically for drilling the perfect hole. Which we borrowed from our neighbors. 

Voila! We finally have the missing piece to our living room. 

Now, time to tackle the walls and add shelves around it.  Has anybody else used a buffet piece for a media unit? Have a good weekend everybody! 

A Curb Appeal Weekend

Hello my dearests! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Matthew and I finally got to spend a low-key weekend by the house, and we loved every minute of it. Well there was one snag, but that requires a whole new post. But onto my favorite moment of the weekend, right here my friends. I bring you Rocks!!! Yes rocks. Lemme splain'.

So basically, we have this ugly ditch in our front yard. For inner-city homes in Houston this is really common, you just gotta give them some love and pretty them up.  Since this curb appeal project has been on our to-do list since we moved in, we decided it was time to dig in. Literally.  So nine months later we get to check the box! Heck yes!

The details: We went to Yale Stone down the block, bought "pavers" as Spence would call them, and then one yard of this black/gray stone. 

 They came by to drop it off, which was our favorite part. Happy hubs right there! 

And then we (as in Matt and Spence) leveled the area and shoveled the rocks into place. 

I got to stand-by and play with little Miss Presley (our neighbor) as Spencer helped Matt. 

And here is the final result!

Now if only my vines would hurry up and grow! Anybody else into curb appeal lately? With summer it's always on my mind!

-Tessy