Why Paint Neutral Walls? Because the Rug Will Be Everything!

Hello hello hello my friends!!!! 

So it's been a hot minute since we've shared anything substantial in the home decor department. After finishing our kitchen redesign earlier in the year, we took a beat, which was nice. But now the weather is getting warmer, school has officially ended, and we're looking at everything we could squeeze into the extra free time that comes with Summer vacation. 

One thing that's been on our mind (ok, mostly my mind) is our living room. Since the beginning, I've had this vision of a black fireplace surrounded by white built-ins. With the bolder look of our kitchen, and how it's one open room in combination with the living room I thought lighter might be better on the walls, and color would be amazing everywhere else. 

To confirm this thought, we of course created a MOOD BOARD! 

After feeling very confident that this was the direction to go, I began implementing pieces of the design bit by bit. I first painted the fireplace black, which immediately made it feel SUPER chic and was a massive improvement. 

The power of paint is real honey! 

What cracked me up the most about painting our fireplace was the number of comments I received on the blue wall. That wasn't even the thing that changed and everyone was "ooohing" and "aaahing" over it. 😑 It's a nice shade of blue, don't get me wrong, but every time I looked at it the only thing I could think about was what color to change it to. Eric couldn't understand this unrelenting urge to paint. Why do the work to paint something we're just going to repaint and build cabinets over??? 

Because I wanted it to be MINE! Gah! 

That's why at 3:00pm on a random Sunday, I got on my tiptoes, looked Eric in the eye, and said "I'm going to paint this wall black and white. We already have everything here, Harrison said he'd help, so stand back!" 

Once my little assistant and I got started it went pretty fast. The pace really picked up though when said helper got distracted by watching "Sing 2". Kids are the most okay-ist helpers ever. 😂

By the time we went to bed the whole project was complete, and this is what greeted me in the morning! 

With everything back in place, immediately I was blown away by how much LARGER the room looked by switching the blue for white! The perspective totally changed once that singular wall wasn't being pulled by the dark shade. Adding black behind the fireplace created a fabulous bold moment while also serving as a simple trick to camouflage the TV. 

The sunshine just bounces around, filling the whole room with light airy goodness. And don't get me started on those gold velvet macrame curtains. Obsessed. 

With the paint done, the next item I wanted to tackle was the rug. I had been on the hunt for the perfect rug for MOOOOONTHS. Months and months of scrolling, thinking, checking sizes, and swapping this for that in my mood board to see what would look the best. 

But by having the new color on the wall (or lack thereof), I was able to zone in for one more deep dive into the world of rugs. A few clicks later and this beauty stopped me in my tracks. 

She's big, she's bold, she's FUCHSIA, and I fell so hard. 💜 Because if I'm going to have white on my walls, you better believe the floors will be popping. 

So here we are gang! The end of our little living room journey and where she stands today! 

A semi-traditional but slightly bohemian purple rug may seem like an odd choice, but I've been gushing over the play of color and pattern since the moment we laid her down. Plus the 10'x14' size adds another layer to make the room appear larger compared to our old 8'x10'. Choosing the proper size rug for a space can make all the difference.

Thank you for coming with me on this journey. 😄Here is a fun little throwback to when we first moved in. 

My heart flutters a little every time we pull a room together. Eric and I have talked about taking on the built-ins over the summer, and I'd like to freshly paint the rest of the space while also replacing the trim...but we'll see. So even though it's not "complete", our living room now feels cozy, colorful, a little cooky, and well...us. 

Check out all of our home improvements, by visiting the OUR NEST page.

Eleanor's Tropical Bohemian Nursery

 Hello my beautiful friends! 

Can you believe it's already March? I personally can't wait for Spring, and on a whim bought 7 new  houseplants to bring a little more greenery into our home. Have you ever ordered live plants over the internet? I purchased mine from Lowes, and was pleasantly surprised with how they were delivered! This may or may not be a good discovery. #plantmom

Along with bringing in botanical life, we also recently brought home our newest family member! Eleanor Kay Wellman was born Tuesday, February 16th and she is practically perfect in every way. And even though she'll be sleeping in our room for the next month or so, we wanted her nursery to be the first room completed in the new house. 

So let me introduce you to Elle's tropical bohemian bedroom! 

You may recall in this post, I shared my inspiration for the nursery. I wanted bright colors to accent a soft pink, all tied together with wood textures, plants, and additional jewel tones. 

The final product ended up slightly different than the plan, but I am still overjoyed with the transformation of this little room! The pink is Mellow Coral by Sherwin Williams and it's perfect. Not too bright, not too "Pepto", just perfect. The accent wall was created with removable wallpaper from Target, and overall wasn't too difficult to install. For the price compared to actual wallpaper, I love the result. 

The dresser and crib were found on Facebook Marketplace, and the rocker was a Wayfair purchase. After the countless nights of awkwardly bouncing on a bed with Harrison, I wanted a legit rocking chair for baby #2. No questions asked. 

The rest of the decor was curated from items we already had. Picture shelves last used in our bedroom, frames and paintings from the gallery wall, the mirror from our small bathroom, and the rattan plant stand previously used in the dining room. There are a few new things sprinkled throughout, like that gorgeous hand-stitched embroidery hoop from CivilThreadsCo (be sure to check her shop out!), that macrame plant hanger which is giving me total 70's vibes, and Elle's baby book! Which I HIGHLY recommend to every mom, and Lucy Darling is my favorite since purchasing one for Harrison. They're beautifully designed and feature plenty of room for pictures and writing. 

I also DIY'd Eleanor's name sign from a bunch of random supplies on hand. An old poster frame, butcher paper, watercolors, and some faux flowers that were lying around. For a days' worth of work, I'm overjoyed with the result. 

The last major detail we changed was the baseboards and molding. Originally the plan was to remove the old, prime and paint it all white, then reinstall. But after Eric started analyzing how much work that would be...we pivoted. Especially since neither of us actually liked the builder-grade tim in the first place, it would be 100% worth tossing out the old and purchasing the thick beautiful style we wanted. So now our plan is to slowly update the trim in each room as we redecorate. 

Something else I wanted was craftsman molding on top of the doors. That was a detail I absolutely adored about our old house, and jumped at the chance to recreate it here. Eric nailed the install, and the look and feel of the space has now been elevated to a whole new level. We are still finalizing the style we want around the windows, but once that's ready we can dress those poor naked sills! 

I could keep gushing about Eleanor's nursery for a while, but I'll wrap things up. Jumping back into decorating and creating a fresh space alongside Eric has felt fantastic! I can't wait for our kids to run the halls and grow up in rooms we personally touched and transformed. Not to mention the satisfaction of a classic "before" and "after" will never get old, and I hope you agree! Especially after laying eyes on the journey this room took from boring beige to beautiful bohemian! 

Check out all of our home improvements, by visiting the OUR NEST page.

Saying Goodbye - Final House Tour

Hello friends! 

Thank you all for your wonderful support since announcing our decision to sell, and take on the wild beast that is today's housing market. I'm happy to announce that we DID indeed find a new house, and as of today I already have 13 Pinterest boards dedicated to its design. 

Don't judge. Focusing on the new space is helping me coup with the emotions of leaving this one. And there are PLENTY of emotions. I've been diving deep into the pics from when we first bought the place and comparing them to how our home currently looks all spick and span for the showings. Honestly, it's been insanely satisfying. We've done SO MUCH over the past seven years it really is impressive, even to me and I lived it! 

So to celebrate this next chapter of our lives, I'd like to present one final house tour (check out our first-ever tour here!). Stuffed full of links to past posts, products, and sources to all my favorite thingamabobs and whatnots. I've also been posting these transformational Before and After pics on Instagram, so if you haven't already been following our journey there, just keep scrolling for a photo explosion! Let's begin!

Starting outside, our biggest and most recent update was removing the large burning bushes planted in front of the porch. I always felt like they looked too bulky, so when they randomly all died this past Summer (no I had nothing to do with it) Eric ripped them out and we replaced them with low flowering plants and two small trees flanking the stairs. I immediately loved how open and inviting it made our house look. 

Other changes included updating the house numbers, painting our mailbox and hanging light black, as well as painting the front door a spunky orange. 

Moving inside to our foyer and stairs, one of my top five favorite moments of the whole house. I've gushed at length about our gallery wall, and looking back at how much it's grown is crazy fun. Our banister, along with the stair runner, is another reason this space took on such a transformation. I don't think the black and white look will ever go out of style. 

We used Bristlecone by Olympic on the walls and Simply White on all of the trim. One of my other favorite projects (you're going to hear me say that a lot in this post) although not pictured, is our yellow upcycled chandelier. What began as a basic thrift score, ended up being the perfect pop of color our entrance needed. 

To the left of the foyer is our living room. We used Gadget Grey by Dutch Boy on the walls and luckily didn't have to paint the window trim because it was already white. We did have to tackle the doorway trim and baseboards though. In the end, it was completely worth it to sit on the couch and see only white...instead of the three different trim finishes we had before. 

coffee table / rug / clock / vases (similar) / frames (similar) / floor lamp

Through the living room, you will find the dining room. We took the same Gadget Grey and used it on the top portion of this space, but painted the bottom Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore. The china cabinet was a Craigslist score, as was the mirrored table, and the chairs...which took about six years to actually complete.

This room has the best light in the house, which is why it's also been dubbed "the jungle" since my pathos vine seems to have completely taken over. That's one of the characteristics I think I'm going to miss the most, the tall gorgeous windows. I also adore how the green from the plants and blue from the walls look with this bold red rug (similar), as well as the contrast between the white chairs and deep wood from the table.

The last room on the first floor is the kitchen. We painted the cabinets, the walls (Kensington Green by BM), made curtains for the windows, and refinished the floors. We also replaced the appliances, covered the fan boob light with a shade, and more recently I swapped the fabric on the barstools for the 2nd time. Through the door to the left of the back door is the mini awkward bathroom...which until yesterday also held our makeshift pantry. 

We spend a LOT of time in the kitchen, so what I'm looking forward to most in the new house (besides a pantry that ISN'T also a shower) is counter space!!! It's going to be SO GOOD! 

OK! First floor done! Heading up the stairs to the second floor you'll find our master bedroom. I can't stand bedroom furniture suites, everything too matchy matchy drives me nuts, so the furniture is a mix of IKEA, random pillows and blankets, plus Craigslist finds. We also updated the ceiling fan, and one of my favorite projects (not pictured, unfortunately) is my jewelry organizer made from an old crib mattress spring frame.

Across from the bedroom is our office. For the longest time, it stood as our "catch-all" space, but we finally kicked it into gear and cleared it out to create an area we actually use. It was amazing during my time working from home while in quarantine, so an office in the new house will be a must. To keep your eye from focusing on the sloped ceiling, we painted everything white except for the full wall and also hung shelves. I broke down our process for making the desks in this post, that beauty of a rug is from Rugs USA, and the bookshelves (there are 2 matchings) came from IKEA. 

The last full room upstairs is Harrison's bedroom. I had a complete blast decorating his nursery, from the random thrift and antique store finds to the handmade sign above the bed, there are personal touches everywhere. Again, collecting pieces gradually like pillows and furniture from a variety of places beats a generic matching set every time.   

Our bathroom is at the end of the hallway, and I'm proud to say I did the majority of the painting myself in this room. The mirror came with the house so I just gave it a quick coat of purple, crafted a simple curtain from fabric and 2 tension rods, and more recently swapped the curvy dated light globes to a sleeker model. 

Phew. Inside COMPLETE! Let's head to the great outdoors! 

Biggest improvement? Um YES! Hands down yes. A million times YES. We had THE BEST time planning our outdoor oasis. Eric and his dad built the pergola themselves, we had the concrete poured and stamped, and then Eric built the flowerbeds. The hand-painted party table is still one of my obsessions, and you better believe it was put to use when we had the grand reveal.  

adirondack chairs (similar) / furniture (similar) / table chairs / tiki torches (similar) 

The building at the back of our yard is the recreational space, aka Man Cave. If you haven't noticed by now, we don't have a garage. So this became where we did a lot of the projects that involved extensive painting and drying, assembly, or anything that needed to be stored and didn't fit inside the house. It really was the selling factor when we originally walked through the house all those years ago. And although I hate the term "man cave"...it is super sweet. 

I can't even begin to link everything that's in this space. A lot of Craigslist, garage sales, and antique mall trips helped deck out this space. The lights we found at Open Box Outlet and they were an incredible deal, and the barstools came from Bargains and Buyouts. If you've never been to either of those places, do yourself a favor and head down there this weekend. Crazy fun. 

Everyone still with me? Good! Because we're finished! 

Congratulations! You made it through our final, and probably most detailed, house tour!!! I hope you enjoyed this little peek into our home as much as we enjoyed living in and making it our own. SO MUCH LOVE went into each and every room. As we were searching for our next house, finding something that wasn't too finished was important. We really wanted a space we could put our own unique stamp on. Lucky for us the new place is literally a blank canvas! It's currently so boring, which is awesome, and I am ITCHING to start designing each room and start sharing my ideas with you all. 

Until then, I'm going to leave you with a slew of oh-so-satisfying before and afters. Enjoy! 

Check out all of our home improvements, by visiting the OUR NEST page.