Let there be MORE light!!! And groovy shadows...

This post is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just let the pictures do the talking....

Cool huh?  :)  For sure cooler than when it looked like this...

If you haven't already checked it out...see the rest of our first floor House Tour here...

Note:  I did have to grind down the steel plate that mounts to the ceiling a little bit as the diameter was JUST slightly too big for the white, plastic cover piece to fit completely around it.  No big deal.  

The Afterlife

I died over the weekend, went to heaven and I am back now to report on how sublime it is.  For those of you who imagined pearly gates, soft clouds to lounge on, a picturesque sky and enchanting angels, I am here to tell you it looks a little more like storage organizers, lounge chairs, picture frames and whimsical fabrics.  I finally made my first trip to IKEA!

Cue harps and singing angels.

Here we are about 30 minutes after arriving in Tampa, FL.

Evan's excited, but he's been here before.

It was GLORIOUS! There really are no words to describe how incredibly excited I was, so Evan has requested I simply share the video of our arrival.

 It speaks for itself or at least for myself.

And in related news: Figuring out how to import videos to our blog now makes things a whole lot more embarrassing around here.  :)

The Details

As we continue to work on a multitude of projects, we have also started to focus on some of the decor. This is my favorite part! Almost all the rooms still have finishing touches left to do, like crown molding, base shoe and some lighting fixtures...but in an effort to feel more at home and be able to relax and enjoy all of our hard work, we've begun pulling everything together and turning our house into a home! None of the rooms are complete...but they are beginning to come together and we wanted to share our progress!

Getting the furniture moved into the living room was one of the most exciting things! We started buying a few things for the house little by little and storing them away. The anticipation was killing me and so getting to pull them out and put them in place was super rewarding! I found a great pair of Pottery Barn tables on Craigslist (where else?) that I had been looking for for weeks! I got a great deal on them and after a quick cleaning and a couple coats of spray paint, they moved right into place and I think they look great!

One of my favorite things about the house was the shelving around the fireplace. It was one of the things I immediately gravitated towards and began to imagine how we could revamp. The shelves were adjustable and pretty flimsy and of course matched the original wood trim of the living room. I really envisioned them having a more built in look and a more substantial structure. It took a little convincing --- but in the end, Evan and his dad were able to perfectly capture what I was dreaming up and the shelves took on a whole new---and amazing---look.

 

And we should mention that you're seeing temporary shades on the windows.  They are basically post-it notes, but work pretty darn well for the time being!

BEFORE & AFTER #1

UPDATE: See a more up to date pic and our current painting dilemma HERE.

Oh IKEA---how we love thee!!!! I'm not sure how we got hooked, but we are. I think it was an unsolicited catalogue that arrived in the mail or landing on their webpage---but either way, we found them and we are in love. Our love affair began months ago with a little idea for a more modern kitchen and a little more convincing that it could actually work.

We've both come up with some pretty lofty ideas for cool things that we could do to the house (a slide from the third floor to the second floor?!), but this was one of the more reasonable ones that was super affordable and super cool---if we could just figure out how to make it work.

We wanted some open, modern shelving in the kitchen. Easy right?

This post is really an ode to two of my great loves: Inexpensive Decor and The Man Who Is Not Opposed to Shopping for/Checking Bags of Great Deals. You see, there are no IKEAs where we live, and in another heartless blow, only about 20% of items from IKEA can be purchased online. So once we zeroed in on a few things we wanted, we had to actually find an IKEA store that we could buy them from. When we realized the stainless steel shelves were a crowd pleasing $14.99---- we just had to get to a store!

We considered a weekend trip to Chicago for the three of us, but quickly realized it might be dangerous to unleash me in the store with a head full of decor dreams. So once we located a store in Tampa and Detroit, Evan offered up a stop during his travels and brought home the goods!

Sigh. Imaginary hearts swirl around my head.

And when the first batch of IKEA goodies arrived just a couple weeks after Christmas, it really was like Christmas all over again! But we had a lot of work in the kitchen to complete before we could put any finishing touches on, and so our goods have been patiently waiting for their kitchen debut. As we began taking down the old cabinets and reworking the kitchen layout, we came dangerously close to not being able to make it work, but with a little restructuring and a little creativity---- we got our open shelving and all the accessories we wanted and we are currently testing them out next to “Shagreen” walls.

A LITTLE TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE....THEN AND NOW...

 

YES! YES! YES!!

We still have quite a bit to do, but things are really coming together and we are really enjoying seeing it all. Stay tuned as we unveil the stair makeover!

UPDATE: This was some time ago!  To see a more up to date look at our kitchen and the entire first floor with before and after shots, click HERE!

Thinking about painting those old, outdated cabinets.  We did!  Check it out HERE!