Home Status As of Late

In case you've been living under a rock recently, you know Jeff and I are on a serious mission to finish decorating our house... I am so ready to finish what we have started and we've made some serious progress lately:

Living Room

mastered a lovely console table ensemble (with a FABULOUS mirror) + hung some fun new pieces of art + put up a picture ledge...

yes, we need actual pictures to put in them =)

now i'm experimenting with mantle pieces/decor and searching for side tables

Dining Room

table + covered parsons chairs + rustic bench + my candlescape and runner + 2 prints from a homespun Franklin store + colorful buffet wall clock= one happy girl

**to finish the room, we'll be installing a new chandelier and either a mirror or a wine rack/glass holder on the left side of the window

Kitchen

after we painted the kitchen a different color, we began to love this room
that we use everyday even more...  

now we're on the hunt for backsplash for the counters, new pendant lighting to go above the island and sink, and a fun pot rack for the island

Guest Rooms
#1: added a gorgeous upholstered chair and now looking for small decor bits and pieces as well as a TV to call this room done!

#2: just brought home an fun oversized lamp + mustard yellow coverlet + ready to hang an oversized mirror... now we need a dresser, curtains, TV, and prints for the walls and then this one will be complete as well

Office
the desk, rug, and hutch are all there, but loads more to go...

i need to add a bookcase/filing cabinet + boards and supply holders to the walls + and fun accessories + a sophisticated upholstered chair and then I can retreat to "my space" whenever I like 

Such a long way to go, then I remind myself that we have made tremendous headway given the fact that we have only lived in our house 1 full year as of February... at least this gives me excuses to scour my favorite design blogs and websites and renew my home magazine subscriptions for added styling to the abode =)

CMA Recap and House Updates

Alright, if any of you are followers of me on Twitter, sorry about last night--I got a little carried away, however I just couldn't contain myself... makes me so happy to be from this little small town of Nashville and can't help but show some pride.

Here's my recap of the 2010 CMAs:

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton racked up the awards {they are SO cute}, Lady Antebellum were on the stage quite a bit which was well deserved, Zac Brown Band took home Best New Artist, Kellie Pickler looked awful poor thing, Brad Paisley inched out the competition to take home the coveted Entertainer of the Year, Carrie Underwood looked {and sounded} incredible, Reba tried to re-do Beyonce which I was not a fan, and I am happy to report that Gwyneth Paltrow most certainly held her own--looks like her hubby isn't the only one with singing talent in that family!

Gwyneth looking gorgeous

Look at her--it should be illegal to look this gorgeous ALL the time

 P.S. I NEED this dress

Alright, here it is {for those of you who have been patiently waiting}--the kitchen/dining room finally painted with our new furniture... I cannot believe how much it changes the entire dynamic of our house and just how much bigger the space looks--I couldn't love it any more! Obviously, there is still lots to do--adding backsplash to the kitchen and accessorizing with art and details to make it "homey" and lived in, but the color is the perfect transition for us from the formal living room and it really brightens our space. What do you think??

 Yes, mucho wall decor needed pronto!

 The view of our kitchen cabinets--backsplash coming soon!

 The view from our front door entrance

 Color transition from formal living room to dining room/kitchen

Alright, so here is where I need your help... I need ideas on simple, yet classic decor for the walls... what are your favorite stores? Sure I love Z Gallerie, PB {obviously}, Homegoods, Target, etc, but I need to think outside the box here and come up with some fresh ideas--all are welcome please!! Hope you have a great rest of the day!

Ramblings on a Fall Thursday...

1. In all things home design and decor, we are picking up our buffet today and I couldn't be more anxious... our dining room table {seen above} was delivered Monday and I am absolutely in love with it--however, we are painting the kitchen and I am totally undecided on what color I want. Seeing that our formal living room and kitchen/dining room are all one open area, we need cohesive colors that blend well...looking at a light brown or a mustard gold so please wish us luck... I want this to be a one-time paint job =/

The current color of the kithchen, and to put it nicely, I am NOT a red person

2. I just bought a new shampoo... don't get me wrong, I am a loyal lover and usually switch between Aveeno and Paul Mitchell, however, with the transition to fall and it completely drying out my hair, I needed something fresh--I am trying out the Organix Pomegranate/Green Tea blend and am loving it--makes me smell like the holidays {I know, weird!} and my curls hold all.day.long!

3. I've been taking hair vitamins for a solid month now, and I am totally seeing a difference... my hair is most certainly growing faster and it's not breaking nearly as much. Come next June, I better have some Rapunzel-esque hair for the big day--haha!!

4. And in other beauty, so as you all know, I made the switch from my beloved tanning bed to the spray tan a few months back. Even though I don't get my weekly dose of vitamin D {does that mean I'll get depressed??}, I can visually see a difference in my skin and I know I am doing the right thing to prevent faster aging and more wrinkles... hail to the mystic tan and versa spa!!

5. If I had one hobby I wish I could master, it would totally to become a sewer--there is something so "Suzy Homemaker" about being able to craft masterpieces out of simple fabric and I am quite jealous I can't quite attain this--we all have our gifts, right?? If I could, I would so be making some of the lovely gifts featured over at Life in Grace for her "12 Days of Handmade Christmas" series

6. The other night, Jeff wanted me to cook dinner and I was at a loss for what I wanted... I perused through the pantry and stumbled upon a fresh container of Italian Breadcrumbs which led to Homemade Chicken Parmesan... oh so tasty and VERY easy {Shannon, feel free to "steal" this as well--haha!}

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

1/2 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
1 egg
3 pinches of italian seasoning

1 clove of garlic

1 cup marinara sauce

2 servings pasta noodles (optional if you want to make it a pasta dish)

Directions

Crack egg into bowl and add chicken, breadcrumbs, garlic, and italian seasoning--coat evenly

Cook chicken breasts in skillet at medium heat, approx. 4 to 5 minutes or until done, turning every minute

Add marinara sauce to skillet and simmer on low heat until done

Serve with (optional) pasta noodles or with a salad and bread like I did

That's it for me... I'll be back with more shenanigans tomorrow, including a post dedicated to all things Black Friday!!

The House...Where We're At

Last weekend while visiting with friends in Knoxville, a rather good acquaintance {that's you Bielen!} reminded me that I hadn't posted any house updates recently and she was wanting to see more progress on our little house. With that in mind, here is a little update on where we stand and what's coming next:

The Master Bedroom

All is complete--yes, you read that correctly--it's DONE! We finally found the perfect artwork via ZGallerie for the  one blank wall and hung the subway prints last week... I love how they incorporate the overall "style" we were wanting for our bedroom and I am so excited with how this room turned out... it's calming and relaxing and definitely fits both of our personalities, as I was trying to leave it a bit masculine so Jeff wasn't sleeping in flowers and damask ;)

The new subway prints on the right

The Living Room

My, my, my... we have made some headway here! We stumbled upon the most perfect armoire at our fav local furniture store, Nadeau, and brought it home immediately! We will be using this for a linen closet since we don't have one and I am so happyto have some extra storage on our main floor. My Mom was also kind enough to let me steal have my great-grandmothers tone-on-tone yellow damask arm chair--I am in love with it and it means even more that it is something that has been passed down in my family. In addition, we added a new coffee table via PB, a new zebra arm chair for a little dramatic flair via Pier 1, and an assortment of decorating accessories from all over the place. We need to add a few side tables, a sofa/console table, a floor lamp or additional lighting, and some prints/paintings/pictures on the walls and then our formal living room will be complete!

still deciding what to do for this little nook

The Main Floor Half Bath

More progress in this little space--a canvas on the back wall, a new floral arrangement for the storage shelf, and a new simple rug to blend the elements together. Now, all I need is a towel rack, a simple sawgrass basket to "hide" the toilet top, and this room will be knocked out as well. Not my favorite room in the house, but it's a guest bathroom and it gets the job done--haha.

The Upstairs Small Guest Room

Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the happiness of my heart right now. I have worked my butt off on this room and it is really coming together. Jeff and I reupholstered the headboard ourselves and transformed it from white wicker to gorgeus khaki dot print for $58, had the room painted a color called Ocean Air via Benjamin Moore, and dressed the bed in the Sienna Paisley Print duvet and shams via PB. We bought these 2 yet-to-be-hung prints at ZGallerie and touched up my childhood white wicker with a fresh coat of white glossy spray paint. Now, I am on the hunt for the perfect nightstand lamps, sitting chair for the corner of the room, and some decorating accents before calling this cottage bedroom complete.

Before the bed got upholstered

And now, complete with bedding!

The Upstairs Full Bath

Yes, we had the bathroom repainted again. After the horrid turquoise catastrophe--seriously, what was I thinking--we went back to basics and had it painted Chocolate Swirl via Behr from Home Depot. The color goes perfectly with the tile bath, the bathroom vanity mirrors, and then I used chocolate raw silk draperies as shower curtains since the tub is oversized and taller than a normal shower curtain would accommodate. I brought in some hydrangeas for heighth, a relaxing candlescape, and some new silver bath accessories and muted rugs to keep the "sereneness" flowing... all is left is to find some artwork to display on the walls and find 2 perfect tiebacks and we'll have another room checked off the list.

So there you have it... all our hard work thus far. Trust me, there are plenty of rooms that are still in dire need of some TLC, but we've made a good bit of progress since we moved in way back in March and Jeff and I are both really happy with the way our first little home is coming together... just takes time, patience, and money--none of which I have ample amounts of at this time! Hope you enjoyed my little house update!

Work in Progress...

I cannot imagine how I forgot to fill you in on a good little detail that just happened to be delivered to my house Sunday afternoon... ladies and gentlemen, I give you the couch:
{that I only had to wait 2.5 months for}

And yes, I know it's white... I can't imagine what drugs I was on when we ordered it, but I don't care ONE SINGLE BIT. It's what I have always wanted, and this is why we have a chocolate brown couch downstairs to use for TV time--haha! To each his own, right?? We still have a lot to do in this room... next on the list will be new pillows to bring in some color {harvest yellow, brown, khaki, and ivory}, a new coffee table and side table, an armoire to be used as a coat closet, 2 chairs {1 upholstered and 1 leather}, and accents here and there just to complete the room--can't wait to show more progress soon!! 

Oh, and I just happened to stumble across the neatest blog ever {thanks Jenn Wade!}--it's called How About Orange and it has everything you can imagine for personalizing your home, fun DIY projects, and anything and everything in between... check it out and then be sure to visit the Ethan Allen website to figure out 'What's Your Decorating Style?'

Apparently, I am all things Glamour--this is what they had to say: "The verdict is in—your style is Glamour. Glamour is the penthouse with a view, the Old Hollywood mansion, the home of the connoisseur. A knowing marriage of fashion with sumptuous comfort. A fearless blending of Art Déco, Chippendale, and Modern. Glamour is shamelessly smart, elegant, and timeless."
I like it =)