Curtains make all the difference

I've been wanting to add curtains (and a pendant light) to the office for quite some time. I fell in love with these from West Elm as they're a great match for the limey green color I'm doing for spring and summer. I also got my bonus around the same time I found these (coincidence? I think not). So I used a little chunk of my bonus to move one step closer to a fully finished room.

The hubby just put them up today and I'm amazed at the difference they make in the room. It really does feel more ... finished. And I love them so much, I grabbed a quick snapshot via Instagram to share.

Now, onto getting the pendant light!

Before & After: Powder Room

It's Friday and I'm kicking off the weekend with a short before and after of our main floor powder room. If you check out our floor plans you can see that the powder room doesn't have any windows, which means no natural light. It made for some interesting photos, because in case you haven't noticed at this point, I'm not winning any awards with my photography skillz.

So please excuse my sub-par photos (at some point I'll figure out lighting and levels) and enjoy the reveal!

Powder Room Before

As you can see in the photo, the color was the same as the rest of the house ... beige. We also had a builder-grade mirror over our pedestal sink.

Powder Room After

We painted the walls and ceiling (although it's really hard to tell in this photo) the same color as the office, Benjamin Moore Cape Hatteras Sands AC 34.

We also switched out the mirror with a sweet Restoration Hardware Outlet find, which I think fits the pedestal sink much better. Eventually, I'd love to see use switch out the sink and toilet for something more square, but it's pretty low on our priority list for now. I'm also debating if I need to put any artwork/decor above the toilet as I don't want it to compete with the large painting on the main wall, but this picture does make it look a little bland.

Yep, I took a picture of my trash can because I love it that much. It's also a great shot of our floors.

Speaking of things I love, I also adore the art we put up in here. It's from Z Gallerie and I'd had my eye on it for a while, but didn't know where to put it. The colors went well with the paint and we had a wall that needed some artwork, so voila.

Like most powder rooms, ours is pretty small and doesn't have any built-in storage. I wanted something that followed the somewhat industrial look we had going on in the great room (our coffee table and bar stools), and found this gorgeous cabinet during the same Restoration Hardware Outlet trip for our mirror. It's the perfect size and gives us enough space to store necessities.

I'll finish up the reveal with a shot of the top of the cabinet. The metal 'D' (for our last name) was found during the same RH Outlet trip. I also display matches (cool, yet practical ... right?) from all of our trips/dinners around the world. It's a fun way to show where we've been. I'm also a HUGE hand towel gal, so I'm glad to have a place we can easily place those.

So the powder room isn't much, but there you have it. I have to confess that during my blog stalking, I'll see other powder rooms that are light and airy with white paint, and I wonder if we should have gone down that route instead of painting the walls a darker greige. I think given the lighter beige color of the rest of our house, the white would have looked a little washed out, but it doesn't mean I'm not envious of those lovely, airy powder rooms of my blog/design heroes. The indecision never ends ...

Before & After: Great Room

Our great room is my favorite room of our house. It's the room I spent the most time freaking out over designing, it's the room we spend the most time in and it's the first room that really made our house feel like home. It's also the room that's probably the most "done." Aside from some curtains, which will really complete the room, we probably won't be adding/changing much to the room and I'm so excited to show it off. And I shockingly have a pretty good before photo.

Great Room Before

This photo was taken on move-in day (apparently we needed a fire while moving in ... with the windows open). This was before any new accent paint. It's also photographic evidence of my husband's first attempt to show me that our old TV was too small and bulky for the new house. Sneaky.

Great Room After

Ta da! The colors are a little off -- I've taken the photos about three times and can't find a time of day where the lighting looks accurate. So the oranges are a little orange-er, but you get the picture. We painted the tall fireplace wall an accent color to help make it pop (Benjamin Moore Shenandoah Taupe AC 36, which is the same as the accent color in our entryway).

Photos from each side of the fireplace. We chose to not add the optional windows to both sides of the fireplace as we wanted a place to hang up some art. Given how close the houses are and how awesome the art looks, I think we made the right decision.

Our great room is two-stories. We had a couple options when it came to what we could have done with the stone and mantel around the fireplace (stone to ceiling, hearth vs. mantel). We've seen a couple options in our neighbors homes and they all look great. We're really happy with what we've chosen for our style. However, I think if we would have chosen stone to the ceiling, we would have gone with the hearth option.

Probably the best before and after photo.

These side tables were another atypical purchase for me and ended up being one of my most favorite things in the room. They don't take up a ton of space, but they're substantial -- most importantly they have a ton of character. Love them!

 

The table the started it all. Out of the room, in the room - I absolutely adore it. We receive a ton of compliments on it and truly is the statement piece we were looking for.

 Another look (and even a glimpse into the dining room and kitchen).

 

How about some detail photos. My plan is to rotate out the orange accents with some green ones for the spring and summer. 

 

Looking up the stairs and back toward the front door.

These are the bar stools that we chose. This was another really long debate as we wanted a stool that complimented the great room, but we weren't sure if we wanted something that swiveled or something with a back. In the end, we chose these tractor stools from Restoration Hardware. The seat is amazingly comfortable and while they do tend to get hidden behind the couch as you'll see in the photo below, look amazing when you can see them.

 Ending up the reveal with a peek into the kitchen, which is where I'll focus next post, but for now I'm excited to finally show off my favorite room.