One month

Hey y'all!

I can't even believe it's been a month since we moved in. How did that even happen?! Time flies when you're turning a house into a home!

In honor of our first month in this home, I thought I'd give you guys a brief "where are we now" tour.

To start off the front room pretty much looks the same as last time you saw it...

This room has seen the biggest transformation this month. Every paintable surface has been painted. Popcorn has been scraped. Lighting has been updated. This room was a lot of work, but worth all the sweat.

Next we have Lukas' bedroom. We haven't done anything to this room other than move furniture in.

 We have to frame out a wall to create a hall and make this room a private bedroom, rather than a weird walk through room lacking major function. When we're done it will look like this...

Moving on...

The master bedroom has had a pretty major makeover this past month... 

It went from this:

To this:

 I scraped that hideous wallpaper off, spackled the ever-loving hell out of those (plaster) walls, painted the walls (Porpoise by Behr), changed out the lighting, and updated all the outlets, covers, switches. There is still a ton to be done in this room, but progress has been made.

The bathroom lost some friends... Specifically an octopus and a dolphin (mural). 

We painted the bathroom the same color as the bedroom, because I had it on hand, and I couldn't stand those stupid murals anymore. 

We also changed out the hardware on the sink, and that's been about it. This bathroom will get a gut job at some point. The previous homeowners thought laminate wood flooring was a good idea in a bathroom... We are going to be tiling... Specifically, basketweave tiling.. Kinda like this bit of amazing...

Swooning...

The living room has just been another case of moving our stuff in...

We need to paint... Scratch that. We need to take down paneling, then Sheetrock, then paint. I'm dreaming of a sexy, moody space for this room. Somewhere I can snuggle up with a latte, and read a book. These spaces are kind of where I think I'm heading...

I LOVE them... So much.

The kitchen looks pretty much the same except it's been cleaned to high heaven. Every square inch of that kitchen has been bleached. It was DISGUSTING. 

A few minor changes have been made. The cabinet that was above our broken hood was raised to make room for the microwave vent hood. I also took out this weird connector piece in the cabinets over the sink... It was blocking off sunlight and made no sense at all.

The dining room is also another case of "we just moved our stuff in."

I lied. We took out the ceiling fan, and put in a chandelier. Why people put fans over tables is beyond me? I don't want my food getting cold any faster... Thanks.

When we get the laundry moved out to the sunroom that table and chairs will go out with it. I'm heading towards a space similar to this one:

I got some china that has also served as inspiration for the new dining space... I'm super excited.

Well... That's pretty much all that's been done in our month here. It feels like a lot, and yet it doesn't... Probably because we still have so much more to do...

Until next time!

XOXO,

Victoria

Office romance

I'm in love. With the other half of the playroom.

The front room (still not really sure what to call it seeing as how it has multiple functions) has a whole other side you have yet to see.

It still started out as the same tragic, periwinkle travesty you saw before, so I'll spare you the reminder...

It's now a cozy space for my husband and I to work from, all while keeping an eye on our rambunctious toddler.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...

The office.

Obviously, the same work that was done to the playroom side was done to the office as well.

I love all the details in this room.

And I think every office needs a sexy navy blue velvet chair, with nailhead details, no?

Overall, I'm super happy with the way this space has come together. I plan on hanging boxwood wreaths with burlap ribbon in all four windows, but other than that I'm hanging up my design hat in this room, and calling it good until we decide to sheetrock, and put in board and batten, but there are so many more pressing projects before that happens and this space is comfortable right now.

I think Aspen would agree...

XOXO,

Victoria

Playroom shenanigans...

When we last spoke I believe the front room (I'm not sure what we're calling it yet) looked a little something like this...

Stunning, right?

"Let's put an armoir right in front of the front door... because that's totally logical."

...Well with a wave of my magic wand it now looks like this...

and by "wave of my magic wand" I mean hours upon back-breaking hours of work...

Let's break it down a bit. Shall we?

You see that ceiling? Do you see how there is no longer any popcorn on it? Do you see the (3) fresh coat(s) of paint? That is the worst job in the world. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I thought I was prepared to take down popcorn... I wasn't. It is terrible. It gets everywhere, and that is even with an insane amount of visqueen. I seriously visqueened so much it would make Dexter do a double take, and I still got popcorn everywhere. Not only that, I rocked a serious tyvek suit (with the hood- I'm bringing sexy back) safety glasses, and a respirator... And I used the scraper with the trashbag attached to "catch" it (a giant con if you ask me)... Still pulled popcorn out of my hair. Which is why all other ceilings in this house will either get a ceiling treatment (tin, beadboard, etc.) or I will bring in professionals for the ceilings, because I am not EVER doing that again. End of discussion.

We painted the trim white. I know it's a cardinal sin to paint wood trim, but this was in awful condition due to the SIX dogs living here prior to us. This room was originally the front porch that was enclosed, insulated, and tied in to central heat/air. The trim work in here was not original to the house, making the decision to paint it that much easier. 

We painted the walls Palisades Gray by Valspar. I really like the subtle gray. When we were painting my husband said it looked like "white on white on white" and he didn't understand why I needed to tape off for the same color. It wasn't until it dried that he could see the color variances. I was then rewarded with a big, fat "I should have never doubted your vision." Wiser words were never spoken...

We changed out the ceiling pendant too. The pendant before was reminiscant of an old Tiffany's lamp that looked better suited to a cigar lounge that serves expensive bourbon, rather than my two-year old's play area. I wanted something light and airy, and something that would look good with an Edison bulb, and lo and behold I saw this baby and fell in love. My brother came over and hooked it up for me, along with a chandelier in our bedroom. I love, love, love it! I'm a firm believer that lighting is the jewelry of a room... and every room needs a little jewelry...

This room is such a far cry from where it started. It is happy, and bright, and whimsical, and it's my favorite place to be...

I am in love, with every last detail!

I'm not sure if we'll be doing anything more in here for a while. Eventually we are going to try to match the original flooring throughout the home, and I would love to replace the painted paneling with sheetrock, and put in board and batten or shiplap, but that's a little ways down the line... Any ideas? I'd love to hear some input...

Also, I'm kind of stumped in the window treatment department... I love all the natural light, and don't want to cut it off... Maybe sheers? Nothing? Help!

Thanks for stopping by...

                                                           XOXO,

                                                                  Victoria

The good, the bad, and the really, really ugly.

So I guess a good place to start is at the beginning...

We bought a house.

I wish I could say that this is one of those amazing stories where the happy family walks up to their beautiful, clean house, keys in hand and it instantly feels like home, but we are not those people, and this is not that story. 

We bought a charming little 1926 Craftsman (originally) bungalow three blocks from the heart of downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas on June 27th, 2014. While loaded with character, it was A) filthy, and B) filled with questionable choices. (aesthetic and structural) Anytime we looked at the home the seller had to be there, and when we walked in the front door we were greeted by a terrible smell. (Think mildewy laundry meets wet dog) 

The house was on the market for around 6 months, which is unheard of in downtown Fayetteville. Homes here are selling in under a week. Easy. If you stick around, you'll find out why...

So this house has a SUPER awkward layout. It was marketed as a three bedroom home... it was glaringly obvious after walking through the front door that this home was NOT a three bedroom home. I'm not even sure I am comfortable calling it a two bedroom house at the moment. The second bedroom is a walk through bedroom right now. We have plans to build a wall and create a hallway leading to the second bedroom.

The "third bedroom" is actually the Foyer, which has become my husband's office/ our son's playroom. It is currently my favorite room in the house... Probably because it is the closest to being "done" for now; however, when we started, this room was terrible... 

The periwinkle walls really did it for me... Also, the design is incredible... where can I get that bedspread?! And the popcorn ceiling- so amazing! It came with complimentary cobwebs...

Okay, so obviously I'm not crazy about the previous homeowners hoarding decor... Moving on.

The second bedroom is really spectacular. 

I particularly like the fact that you have to walk through 2 "bedrooms" to get from the front door to the common areas. This room will be our son's bedroom. We plan on putting up a wall with a pocket door in the near future, as well as a bunch of built-ins for storage. Something like this...

The master was incredible! Truly a work of art...

I know it's hard to tell beneath all the CRAP in this house, but there are 9" baseboards in there, nearly 7' windows, and original hardwood.

Are you still here? Because I know this is a LOT to take in... I know you probably think I am insane, but there is a mountain of potential here... I promise.

On to the bathroom...

I know what you're thinking... why don't you have a sweet octupus and dolphin mural in your bathroom? It's a one of a kind piece. Sorry. Snooze you lose! 

Redeeming features include: clawfoot tub, skylight, pedestal sink... 

Moving on...

The kitchen:

"That's not so bad," you say... Well you would be WRONG. Those "stonelike" counters are fuschia formica, covered in a sticky counter treatment. The glass tile backsplash is crooked, completely wrong for the character of the home and they ran out so they used something completely different under the vent. The vent hood doesn't work, the cabinets are falling off the hinges... I could keep going on. Should I keep going?

Redeeming features: skylight, refrigerator conveyed.

The living room sold the house for us. (that statement is actually not dripping in sarcasm)

There was an exposed brick chimney, stained glass window, 9" baseboards, a vaulted ceiling... So much charm... also, once again, so much crappy taste.

I'm trying to think of nice things to say about this, but I am coming up blank...

The dining room is oh so good... it's also the laundry room... there are plans to move the washer and dryer ASAP.

Last, but certainly not least is the sunroom. The sunroom seems to be where they let their six dogs hang out on a regular basis. It reeks still and that is after two solid weeks of letting it air out. We are going to be hosing everything down with bleach and replacing the flooring with the ceramic tile that looks like hardwood. The washer and dryer will be going out here, along with built in bench seating for storage. 

Most of you are probably scratching your heads right now wondering what on earth we got ourselves into... I promise you, it's going to be okay. We're going to find the good in here sooner or later. Stick around, kick your feet up, and grab a glass of sweet tea- the fun's just startin' sugarplum!

                                             XOXO,

                                                      Victoria