Entryway Updates!

Hello All! It's been a while since I've posted, I've been super busy with my new job and trying to get some things done at the house! I finally have a couple of updates I can show, starting with my entryway.

I finally put up my  "hello" vinyl decal that I bought before we even moved in!

Isn't it just adorable!!! I got it from this Etsy shop, but I don't see if for sale anymore! There are plenty others available on Etsy though. I just liked this one in particular because it had the little heart, which I thought was a cute touch.

I also got a new door mat to replace the lovely carpet remnant we had prior, 

and put out my owl sculpture my sister got me for Christmas.

I  feel like the mat is too small, though. It's a standard size, but it just looks shrimpy to me. I saw some larger ones at Target, so it may be getting replaced soon.

My "To-Do" list for out here now consists of changing out the light fixture:

Womp womp... not very impressive!

And getting some furniture for out here. I really, really want some rocking chairs, maybe in a fun, bright color like red or teal, with a small table for drinks and snacks!

On to the inside!

I haven't really made much progress here, except for my new rug. I found this 4x6 rug at Aldi (a discount grocery store) for $20! Who would have guessed? I really helps me visualize where I want to go from here.

My "To-Do" list for here is much longer! I need to replace the light fixture with my thrifted chandelier(once I decide on a color!), and paint the walls.

I also am keeping my eyes peeled for a entryway table at a good price. I think I'm wanting to get something and paint it dark teal, a couple shades darker than my kitchen. I will spare you the picture of the coat closet, which also is in need of some organizing.

What lies beneath...

And yes, that is an extremely aesthetic over the door hat hanger. Which has been the extent of my closet organizing thus far, and I hate it.

I've done a few other small updates, but of course nothing is completed yet. I've been sick all week, and so some of the things I had planned to accomplish are on the back burner for now. But I will have more coming up! 

Living Room Updates- We Have a Couch!

We finally have a couch! We've been living here for 2 months now, and all we had to sit on were some random chairs and our bed! I fell in love with couch as soon as I saw it, and looked around for a while, but I couldn't find anything else that was exactly what I wanted and in my budget. So I bit the bullet!

This is from the Sofia Vergara collection at Rooms to Go. The price was very reasonable, and the it seems very well made. However I will say, that the delivery customer service left something to be desired. Long story short, they were supposed to call one hour ahead so my mom could come let them in(I was working), and they failed to do that. So it was a bit frustrating having to call them to come back and they were rather rude to me. BUT none of that matters now, because I have my awesome couch!

Time for picture overload!

Nailhead Trim along bottom

Super cute tufting!

The chevron pillows came with the couch, and I actually had my choice of about 40 different styles to receive! The center pillow was a $3 goodwill find.

Now, I just need to work on this bare wall. I'm picturing bookshelves on each sides of the TV, and maybe some art above the TV? Not to mention working on that paint swatch wall. One thing at a time!

50 (Thousand) Shades of Gray!

So I've FINALLY picked the main living area paint color. In the true spirit of DIY, I couldn't find what I wanted... So I made it myself!

I know I said back in this post that I had chosen Behr's Aqua Breeze, but the more and more I looked at it, the more I decided it wasn't what I wanted. Thinking about the accent colors I wanted in the room, and the fact that I really wanted the bold kitchen color to stand out, I decided I wanted something more neutral.

Right - Behr's "Aqua Breeze"

So I started pouring over dozens and dozens of paint swatches and bought nearly 2 dozen sample pots!!!

I wasn't kidding!

To be honest, I think at this point I'd lost track of which colors are which. I just knew none of the would work. The closest one that I like was Behr's "Pensive Sky" (2nd to the last on the bottom row), but it was a bit darker than what I wanted. So I tried the next one up, "Snow Leopard", which is the top left, but it came out weirdly blueish purple, and way too light.

Bottom Left "Snow Leopard", Right "Pensive Sky"

So I threw up my hands, and said "I give up!" and just decided to go with Pensive Sky, even though it was too dark. But I didn't love it. I can't bring myself to spend $150 on a 5 gallon bucket of paint that I don't love. And I wasn't spending another penny on samples! So what's a girl to do?

Get Mixin'!

I decided to try and mix up a custom color. I picked the two darker grays I liked the best.

Left, Glidden "Smooth Stone", middle Behr's  "Pensive Sky"

Smooth Stone was just a bit too brown, and Pensive Sky was a true gray, but in certain lighting looked a little blue. I mixed equal parts of those two. Then, I mixed two more samples, one with 1 part Behr's "Full Moon" (a very very light, almost white, gray) to 2 parts Smooth Stone and Pensive Sky, and one with equal parts of all three paints.

Here's what I got:

I didn't paint them in order(because that would have made too much sense!), but the middle one is the equal parts of the darker colors, the right is the one with 1 part of the light color, and the left is with equal parts of all three colors. I ended up liking the left color, the lightest one, the best! It's exactly what I had in my mind, but couldn't find in store.

Top color

Perfect light gray!

It's a touch lighter than what is coming across in the photos. I call it "Smooth Pensive Moon". I don't think Behr will be hiring me as a paint namer any time soon.

Next step, I am going to take in my custom mix, and have them paint match it, first to a sample to make sure it comes out how I want, then next stop 5 gallons and no more polka dot paint sample walls!

When Waiting Pays Off

I've been eyeing this rug on Target for a few week now. It's a beautiful sunny yellow indoor/outdoor rug. When I saw that in store they carry a smaller size, 3x5, I knew it would be perfect for my kitchen.

Threshold Yellow Indoor-Outdoor Rug

The price for the smaller size was $29.99. which is a reasonable price, but I've really been trying to hold back on my spending. Since we just bought a house funds are lower than normal, plus we don't have much in the way of furnishings right now, and there is a lot we need. So, I did what I usually do when I really want something and don't want to buy it yet - I stalked it!

Then one evening I strolled by that area, and happened to see one out of the package. I thought this would be a great time to see what it looks like on the ground, so I unrolled it out on the floor, and that's when I saw this glorious sticker:

Score!

That's right, $8.98 lower, just because someone opened the package! Possibly it was purchased and returned, but it looked flawless so I snatched it right up! Combined with my 5% off for using my Target debit card(Best thing ever!) I scored it for right under $20!

Now, decor wise, all I have left in the kitchen is to sew my curtains, finish painting, arrange my milk glass and maybe a few finishing touches!

Kitchen Paint Reveal!

One room down!

I finished the last coat of paint on the kitchen yesterday! I used Behr Gulf Winds, mixed in Behr Ultra paint in a satin finish, and although it covered really well, the brand new walls soaked up a lot of paint so I did two coats.

Behr Gulf Winds

 I cannot express how much I love this color! It's exactly what I had imagined in my head. It only took me about 8 sample pots to find it! And since I am painting the living room a lighter shade from the same color card, I'm sure to love it as well.

Behr Aqua Breeze, for living room.

Alright, without any more gabbing, here is are the rest of the photos!

I love how it looks next to my vintage coffee cups. 

Tea Towels from Target

Please don't mind the mess, or the card table set up(borrowed by my awesome sister!). I still have many things I want to do with the kitchen, but I can check the paint off my list!

Painting before Unpacking!

In my last post, I mentioned we were finally closed and moved into our new home! Before I had even finished unpacking the essentials, I found myself in line at home depot, buying paint samples. The colors I chose initially in the store were sooo promising, and I knew for sure they'd be the ones!



top to bottom, Glidden Tropical Surf, Sea Spray and Totally Teal

They appeared to be the perfect blue/green colors I was looking for! After brainstorming with my sister and a friend, I decided to go with the lighters color for the entire main living area, including the hallway and entry, the middle color for two accent walls in the kitchen, and the darkest color for my plant shelf that is in the wall above the kitchen.


Well thank god I bought samples. Because they looked NOTHING like this on my walls. This is the lightest shade on my living room wall(one on the far right):

L to R, Glidden Icy Teal, Gentle Tide and Tropical Surf

Yes, it really did look that baby blue in real life! and the darker shades didn't look any better... So back to home depot I went, and this time I got Icy Teal (far left) and Gentle Tide (middle), both Glidden again. I'd seen Gentle Tide all over the internet, and even though it is a discontinued color, they were able to look it up by name in the computer. It almost was "the one" until the sun went down and it became almost mossy green. Not was I was going for!\

The medium shade in the kitchen wasn't any more promising. I didn't even bother to paint a sample of Totally Teal.

Left color is Glidden Sea Spray, Right Behr Gulf Winds

One last trip to Home Depot, and this time I went with two lighter shades, and then two darker shades, all from the same color card except one.

This is the color cards for the ones I ended up choosing.

I picked one other color not on those cards, Behr Tide Pools, as a possible for the living room. These are those two colors:

Left- Behr Tide Pools, Right Behr Aqua Breeze

All the colors on my wall!

While Tide Pools is a really, really pretty color, it's not what I'm going for. I LOVED aqua breeze and the coordinating darker shade, Gulf Winds for the kitchen. I haven't yet painted a spot of Hallowed Hush, but it looks beautiful. It was really hard to photograph the Aqua Breeze, but here's some more shots.

That last photo is probably the truest representation of the color. I've finished painting the kitchen(coming soon), so I tried to take a corner shot of the two colors next to each each other.

I'll be posting the finished kitchen paint job soon!