inspiration

most of the rooms in this house i've got some sort of vision for...usually that vision comes accompanied by the very vocal opinions of the hubby.

the master bedroom & bathroom, while not done in reality, are nearly finished in my head. the family room, we've been looking at furniture for a while & seem to agree (if what we want isn't gone by the time we get around to buying it).

my kitchen, however, is another story entirely.

i'll not be doing anything major with it until probably 2010, but i would like to have a plan. at least a sort of a plan.

the kitchen now is inoffensive...neutral...a bit on the dull side...
i would love to paint those cabinets...but what color?
i would love to update those countertops (if it's within the budget)...but to what?

i have had a love affair with all things spain, as you well know...so i would love to incorporate this
into the feel of the cocina without going overboard.

beyond, that, i haven't a clue.

so start thinking...we've got a little bit of time & i need your help!

rock-a-bye

in my efforts to get this house turned into not just a home, but our home, i have not forgotten that there is a countdown underway. t minus 5 weeks and counting until #3 makes his appearance, if all goes as planned.

needless to say, the timing of all of this has left me little choice as to what room comes next in my decorating plans...

the nursery...

if you want, i'll give you a guided tour...the crib/changer combo thingy is the same one that we used for the twins...nothing fancy, which is good, because they chewed that baby up once they started getting teeth. but you can't even tell from this angle, thankfully. mobile and bumper pad(s) (that's actually 2, one on the inside so the baby can see the pretty stuff, one on the outside so i can) are also hand-me-downs from thing 1 & thing 2. their room ended up mostly red in the long run, this one i'm shooting for brown, blue, & white, in case you couldn't tell. curtains were some extra brown fabric i had from a valance i made for the master bedroom in the old house plus some cute checked stuff & trim to make it all come together. don't know how well you can see, but wrapped around that lamp cord is some leftover checked material from the curtains. i call it a "cord cozy" and the hubs calls it an "eyesore." oh, well. it's better than extra cord all over the place & he hasn't found it so offensive that it's been removed yet. that rocker in the corner is as old as dirt, has been recovered a million times, and is still the comfiest thing i've ever sat in. star pillow on the floor...mr. w picked it up on a trip through babies r us & wouldn't put it down. it happened to match, so i bought it.

here's another angle. those bookshelves, much like the ones in the twins' room, are hand-me-downs from eons ago (except these are actually real wood). i think they belonged to my dad before he married my mom. a fresh coat of paint, and voila! perfect for the baby's room. all 3 lamps in the room were cheapies from wally world whose shades i added cute things to.

i still have some organization to do (the closet, for example, is nowhere near photo ready), but i think i'm getting there...

busy busy busy

trying to get this house put together takes a lot of our time & energy these days (well, i didn't have much energy to start with, so i don't really know where that leaves me). but we've managed to make some more progress...

the living room is where most of our furniture from the townhome now resides, so i have to admit there wasn't a TON of work to be done here, but we did have to purchase a few things to fill up the space & then figure out how it was going to be arranged. it feels pretty good to have it done & be ready to have some company over. what do you think? want to come have some coffee?

and a view from the top (i love the height of this room)
our family room...i guess that's what it's going to be called...is largely unfurnished at the moment. doubling our living space has left us a bit empty in some places. the vision is to have this be the room where the kids can romp around & make a mess (check...right now it's their empty run-around space) and we can sit comfortably on a sofa (sleeper, preferably, to host more out-of-towners) and watch tv or listen to music as a family. it will also house my desk & sewing machine (check, check) for all my crafty ideas. besides the sofa, we wanted an armoir to house the tv, vcr (yes, we still have one), dvd player, & b's stereo system (he's so proud of it). but we knew that it would be a long while before we could really afford to get one. until, that is, i found this...this baby is pure craigslist love...$20...AND they delivered it!
granted, our 14-inch tv looks a little ridiculous in there, but it'll do. b thinks his speaker stands flanking it "look like they were made for it, they match so well." men & their electronic equipment. sigh.