Updated Living Room Tour

Since we got the new couch last month, I figured it was time for some more updated living room photos. We stayed home yesterday and spent most of the day cleaning, doing laundry and washing dishes. While I tidied up the living room to take photos, Saleen just hung out on the rug and watched.

 So I had to take my photos with Saleen in the room. :)

Here's the new couch that we're still loving! It's so comfy and we love spending time in here and each having our own section of the couch when we watch TV.

And here's Saleen watching me take pictures. She thinks I'm a weirdo most of the time.

I did catch a couple of cute shots with her, though. Her hair has grown thicker over the winter so she looks extra furry this time of year!

Here's the TV side of the room, which I don't know that I've shared yet since getting the new couch. It looks pretty much the same as before. Not too much has changed in here, decor-wise, other than losing one of the end tables and the storage bench. We moved those upstairs since we don't really have the space in here anymore.

You can tell where my space on the couch is. It's a little sunken in and wrinkly. Haha. I guess I could have straightened that up before taking the photos, huh?

Overall we pretty much still love the new couch. I love the color and the fabric; it seems just so much softer. And there is plenty of room for all of my throw pillows. And that's important.

Saleen loves it, too. Even though she's not allowed on it. :)

So there's the updated living room tour, complete with our pup.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as we do!

A Week with the New Couch

Today marks exactly one week since our new couch was delivered. I shared what it looked like the night we got it, but I thought today I would share a few pictures of it during the day. It's been sunny here lately, so the pictures I have are a little sun-filled! But that just makes it more cheery, right? You have that glow effect going on, so it's all good.

We are still loving the couch a week later. It is pretty much perfect, and exactly what we were wanting. The best part is having the space to spread out, and we each have our own section to sit and watch TV.

We've been wanting a sectional sofa for SO long, and to finally have it is awesome. I hope to have this couch for a long time!

Oh, and I haven't talked about the pillows yet! The couch came with 5 pillows, and just like the fabric on the couch, we got to choose the fabric for the pillows, too. There was literally a wall of swatches and fabrics, and of all of the swatches, we chose the above two fabrics to accent the new couch. The blue is a kind of teal - turquoise color, and we've already had bits of that color in the room, so it wasn't a big transition. We didn't really change much at all in terms of the decor in here. I also threw on a few extra pillows on that I already had - the chevron patterned pillow, and the ruffly white ones.

Some furniture had to move upstairs, since the couch is a little bigger and takes up more space than the old one. We lost an end table and lamp since we only have room for one. And the storage bench is moving upstairs, too.

The space the couch takes up is worth it though, because it's not wasted, and will be great for when we have company, too.

So, all in all we LOVE the new couch, and are still just as excited about it as when it was delivered a week ago!

Our New Couch is Here!

The new couch arrived yesterday, and we are in love!! We've only been waiting since we bought it at the end of November! Here it is last night after I got all of the pillows on:

It's a similar color to our old couch, but a little lighter. The old couch was brown, and this one is more of a taupe. It also feels a little bit softer and more velvety. And the best part is that it's a sectional, so we each have plenty of room to lay down now, which is really nice!

Of course I will take some photos in the daytime when I have the chance! Since it is bigger than the old couch, it does take up a little more space. But, it's space that can be used, and will definitely be used a lot! We hope to have this couch for many years to come.

So what happened to the old couch? This was the scene when I got home from work on Monday, the day before the couch was scheduled to arrive:

Trent cleared the living room to make way for the new couch, and we gave the old couch to his sister. We thought about moving it upstairs in the spare bedroom, but there is no space at all up there right now, and we weren't even sure it would fit up the stairs. So the old couch is officially Chas's now! It had a good five-year run, but I'm already having fun redecorating with the new one!

More pictures during the daytime to come. For now, we're enjoying the comfy new couch!

Fitbit, Dave, and Other Random Stuff

I have been seriously slacking around here apparently! It's now February 10th and I have not posted yet this month. So here's a quick, random post just to pop in, until I can share another project that's in the making!

What have I been up to? Well, I'm in the process of experimenting with something that I hope to share about by the end of the week. It's been totally trial and error, and something I had been thinking about trying out for a while. So I am excited to finally share when it's done!

I've been focusing these past couple of weeks on not only healthy eating, but fitness as well. I may have mentioned that I finally got a FitBit for Christmas - well, the first month or so I wore it but wasn't really aware of it most of the time. The only thing that I became aware of with a little time was that I really need to be more active!

Working at a desk all day, it's hard to get those steps in, especially during the winter months. So I've developed a short little workout routine that helps me be a little bit more active throughout the week. I plan on upping my step goal as I go, especially by the summertime, when I know we'll do more things and I can be a little more active on a regular basis.

Something else that I'm super excited about is that our couch is on its way! Remember when we ordered it wayyyy back in November? Because of the customization involved, it had to be manufactured and then shipped to the store. They called us to tell us that it would be coming in soon, so we were able to set up a delivery date! It's supposed to be arriving on Tuesday. Trent is staying home to help the delivery men when they unload it. I couldn't be more excited to get it, and to do some redecorating around here.

We've also been making vacation plans for the summer. Normally our vacations revolve around the Dave Matthews Band tour, but this year, they are actually coming to our area! And of course, we've already bought our tickets!

I don't think we ever get tired of seeing Dave live. That picture is from the concert at Wrigley Field in 2010. Best concert ever.

I'll have a post up soon about where our vacation will probably be this summer. Hint: It's somewhere neither Trent nor I have ever really been before (I've only been to the airport - that doesn't really count, right?) :)

More posts coming soon.. I promise!

Sectional Shopping

We've been thinking about getting a sectional sofa for the living room for over a year now. We've had our current couch for 5 years now, and it's seen better days. We also find it a little small if you want to lay down and relax. Plus, it would be nice to actually have enough comfortable seating if we want other people over. Thanksgiving weekend a year ago, we shopped for one but didn't have any luck. I had decided then that we would wait until after the wedding was over to look again since we were so busy with planning.

Yesterday we decided to go shopping at Good's, a huge furniture store nearby, in search of a sectional. I had always wanted to go here, ever since I saw the commercials on TV when I was a kid. It's much more than just a furniture store. They seemed to have every piece of furniture imaginable, plus there is a gift shop there, a restaurant, and they have their own bed and breakfast. The store is a historic part of the area and has been around for over a century.

The furniture store itself was HUGE. Multiple levels and buildings, and you could definitely get lost in it. I know I did! After walking around through several of the rooms, I had know idea where we had first come in at.

The decor was pretty awesome. It was like a dream furniture store...I'm still surprised we had not gone here sooner.

We saw sofa after sofa, dining tables, chairs, desks, every piece of furniture you could think of. Many of the pieces could be customized with the fabric you choose and throw pillows you wanted, and let me tell you, there were hundreds beyond hundreds of fabric choices!

The best part though, is that we ended up finding the perfect sectional! We bought it right there. I'm really excited to see it in the living room. I know it will take up a lot more space than our current couch, but we really need the seating. If that means that I have to completely redecorate and sacrifice a few current pieces of furniture, then that's what we'll have to do. ;)

Below is the model that we got, but it will be a little different, since we've customized it. It's the Craftmaster F-Series. This sectional was perfect because it was completely customizable to whatever your needs may be. You can switch around the sides, add or subtract pieces, even choose from seemingly hundreds of fabric samples, in all kinds of textures and colors.

We ended up going with a soft, velvety fabric in a shade of light brown. A little lighter than our current couch I think. The side of the sofa will be flipped compared to the one in the store, and instead of the "cuddler" on the end (see how it goes off in an angle?), it will be a straight edge like the one on the other side. We took the measurements of our living room with us to make sure it would fit ok, and we think it will fit perfectly in the corner of the room.

We also got 5 throw pillows included, which could be made in whatever fabric we chose. That was another fun part for me - picking the fabric and pattern of the pillows. Can't wait to share what I chose!

We won't get the sofa for about 6 to 8 weeks, since it's custom and they have to build it to all of our specifications. But hopefully it will be worth the wait! I'm thinking it will probably be delivered in January.

Even though Trent was reallllllyyy wanting a recliner in the sofa, this one does not have one of those. I promised him that we will be able to make it work. We'll get a comfy ottoman or something!

After we bought the sectional, we went downstairs to the Wine Cellar Restaurant and ate dinner. It was such a cozy little place, and we were the last diners there for the night.

The food was good, but the best part was the pie we had for dessert. OMG. I had the peanut butter pie, and Trent had Banana cream. It may have been the best peanut butter pie I've ever had.

Next to the restaurant was a gift store that had clothing, jewelry, scarves, etc. There was even a little pond there that was all decorated for Christmas.

Before we left we made sure to take pictures with the stuffed moose out front. I just couldn't resist.

Dorks, I know. What an afternoon, though! We got to walk around the coolest furniture store in our area, and we bought a new sectional. I can't wait to see it in our room! A good way to spend a Saturday.

VERY long overdue update..my apologies.

Wellllll... I had forgotten about this blog, admittedly. Being so busy with school starting up again, work, and renovating the house has taken a toll I guess. No time for blog writing. However, some more news has prompted me to write again, because I just need to get it out into the world! But for now, I need to provide a teensy-weensy update of what has happened over the past...3 months, whew!

So I actually haven't moved in yet, because we have been waiting until the house is more livable, and a complete living room renovation put the entire moving thing on hold for a while. But this weekend, I think it is finally happening! *Crossing fingers.* We started roughly the first of September, ripping out the living room, down to the bare bones. Plaster and all..from the walls and the ceiling. See below picture for what it looked like in the process:

Ripping out the walls and ceiling! Fun fun!

Actually it wasn't too fun, but it had to be done! There was no insulation at all, the plaster walls were covered in wallpaper, panel board, paint, and wall paper borders. It was nearly impossible for the room to look nice unless we ripped everything out. We eventually installed insulation, got all new drywall up on the walls and ceiling, mudded, taped, and sanded, installed some small heating pipes, new electrical sockets and wires to the ceiling, and finally primed and painted! Here are more pictures of the process for your viewing pleasure:

Trent hard at work!

Drywall is up

This wall is officially...MUDDED.

Hooray for paint! Glidden's Water Chestnut from Home Depot. We love it!

We then refinished the floor by sanding it down with a huge sander we rented from Home Depot, (Trent did that part), cleaned and wiped it all down with mineral spirits, then applied sealer and two coats of poly. We decided against a stain because we liked the natural look of the wood. And the lighter floor just seemed to brighten up the room even more. Below are pictures of the floor while we sanded and then after it was done. Huggeee difference! We like it a wholee lot (Sorry some of the pictures are small):

The partly sanded floor - Can you see the major difference??

The sanded floor

Trent applying the sealer

Finished project!

Before the renovation, I purchased our washer and dryer set, a Samsung front loader set, from Craigslist for $900. It was less than a year old, came with a transferable warranty from Lowes, all the paperwork, only used for a few months. We have yet to hook these up, because we still need to make the laundry room/back porch decently livable. haha. Hopefully we will have laundry soon :) Anyway, then we purchased (well, my parents bought it for my early graduation present) a new couch from Sofa Mart. The Stonebrook model, seen here: http://www.furniturerow.com/SofaMart/Stonebrook-Sofa-Group/Stonebrook-Sofa/prod531202/. We got a great deal on it, because it was on sale. And we like it! It's very comfy if I do say so myself.

Since then I have picked up some more decorative items for the living room and other rooms in the house. And we were finally able to buy the trim for the LR, after Menards was out of the stock for roughly 2 weeks, due to a huge sale on trim. The baseboards and window trim are still sitting on the LR floor, but they should be up soon. In the meantime, here is a glimpse of our lovely room so far:

Our couch, rug, and coffee table, sitting pretty

Of course, this is only a few of the items that are now in the living room, but let me break it down on what we have so far: New walls and ceiling, refinished floors, our sofa with some lovely Dwell Studio for Target pillows, and some more pillows I got on sale at Kohl's, a throw from Target, a light-colored 5' x 7' area rug on sale at Kohl's for $26! And the coffee table was in the room previously. We're going to use it for now, even though it's not really matching our decor too much. On the opposite wall (not shown) is the TV table we got at Target, and our Samsung 40" TV that I bought from Best Buy a couple of months ago. The room is coming together, but it's the only room that really feels "homey" right now! (lots more to do...) We have some IKEA curtains and some curtain rods that I am dying to put up, but the trim needs to be up first! Trent will have to "get on that" soon. hehe :)

Along with the living room, we've been cleaning up other areas of the house, and we also made-over the front porch! It's looking more beautiful than ever, after we added a new porch railing that Trent made himself from boards that were lying around - so proud of him :). And we have been painting it white, with lots of coats of semigloss! We also painted the new posts Trent put in, and the porch ceiling & floor. It has a whole new, fresh look. I will post pictures soon hopefully! Unfortunately it's almost winter, and it's getting too cold to do much more work outside, but it's looking pretty great right now. I even picked up a new little doormat and it loves its new home on the porch.

Other updates include getting HD Satellite from Dish Network (long process, but well worth it!), getting a new, faster internet set up, and our current project - the bedroom. We're peeling layers of old paint off the walls..it's a pain in the butt, but has to be done so we can paint the plaster walls temporarily. Until we can renovate the entire room like we did the living room. The floors have also been sanded down and just need the sealer and poly coats applied. Then we can move in our new bed, which we've been looking for and will hopefully purchase on Monday when we pick up our new mattress :) We bought that baby today at Denver Mattress, and picked out a perfect bed, but it's a bit expensive... so I'm going to hold my breath and hope we can either afford to buy that bad boy, or look at some other options. Not sure what to do yet!

Nonetheless, we've definitely been busy working on the house for the last few months. I will be back to give another update soon. For now all I can say is that I am so very excited to move in finally!!!