Chairs Update

So the chairs work in the room; the color is magnificent!  I don't need an 8 piece setting, so I will delete two chairs from the table. What do you think?

Shop Till You Drop!

I don't really have much to post about the house except, I have chosen my paint colors! The palette will be gray, green/blueish and beige. But the project is placed on semi-hold because the hardwoods still need to be replaced---ugghhh! The good news is my contractor is very understanding and is willing to do the job in stages. So, we'll start with our foyer, and upstairs and then move down to the rest of the house.

So, this post is just about pictures. Here are a few of my buys from my favorite places--HomeGoods, Costco, Target, Pier One,  Ross, TJ Maxx, Macy's, and  Marshalls.  I also bought a runner for our stairs!   Enjoy the photos and happy building and decorating!

Spruced up my lamps with this top. I found this at Pier One on clearance for $9.99. It adds the right pop of color for the room. 

Full view...

Nate Berkus metal artwork. I found this at Target on clearance for $7.98!

Here is a sample of what my stair runner will look like (this runner only has two colors cream and beige). Below is a picture of the print up close (our pattern will have 3 colors--gray, beige, and cream). Just like this picture, our walls will be painted gray. The color, by Sherwin Williams is Repose Gray. 

Milliken "modern flair" print, the color is nickel. This will go on our stairs as a runner.  I found this at Costco. Costco has a contract with a local carpet store. In our area the store is Smart Carpet.  They'll come to your house, measure and will show you samples of carpet, hardwood, laminate, tile, you name it.  I already knew what brand, color, and style I wanted because I did my research.  I was shopping around to see where I could get the best price.  And the Costco connection saved me $500 and will provide me with not only a runner for my stairs, but runner for my hallway.  Check your local Costco to see if they have the same program.   The carpet above is our standard carpet that we chose from Ryan. The color matches well.

Our family room is really starting to come together.  I have new window treatments  coming soon.  I will update once they arrive.  Leather furniture is from Macys, the Clyde collection. Small tables from HomeGoods, which were $49.99 a piece. Orange blankets also HomeGoods, $19.99 a piece. 

Artwork from HomeGoods... $29.99 each. 

This picture shows my dining room paint color, Sherwin Williams, Comfort Gray.  The color is really unique. In our dining room it appears to look blue/green next to my peacock pieces.  I can't wait to see it! 

I am debating on placing shutters on our sliding door in our morning room. If I get these, this will be another Costco connection.  I was quoted a price of $1600, which is about $130 cheaper than I was quoted from another vendor.  What do you think, do you like the look?

My buy for this week found at Marshalls.  These are Cynthia Rowley dining chairs at $99 a piece. The color is hard to see in the picture, but is teal. These chairs will compliment my peacock inspired dining room.  I have these chairs on a "paid hold" at the store.  I love this concept, I have a few days to think about it and if I see something different or think it will not work for my space, all I do is go back to the store and make an easy return. And in most cases, not hassle of lugging back cumbersome objects.   This really helps at stores like HomeGoods because you know if you see it, you better get it because nine times out of ten it won't be there when you go back.  Hopefully they will work in the room. The store had two chairs in this pattern. I think using these chairs as anchors at the end of the dining table would really transform the room. I will keep my four other  chairs that came with the set. Again, I hope it works…I will keep you posted.

Back of the chair, showing off the nail head pattern.

Office space storage benches.  These are faux leather, got them for $39.99 a piece from T J Maxx.  I placed them together and put a table runner (Tahari Home, HomeGoods $16.99) to make it look like one piece.  We store CDs and movies in the benches.  The tray on top is from HomeGoods, $18 on clearance, and the pedestal candles are from HomeGoods priced from $9.99-11.99. Finally, the silver candles are from Pottery Barn. 

Office art wall.  All these items were found at Ross.  NYC picture $29.99, @ sign $7.99 and family artwork $6.99.

Love these pillows!  Found them at HomeGoods for $16.99 a piece. The lamp is from Macy's, on clearance for $130.00.

Better picture of the lamps base. The lamps are solid wood, with a brushed nickel base.  I didn't plan to have two in the room, but Macy's decided to give me two for the price of one. Gotta love online shopping!

DWTimes2…We got a Kirklands!

This post is for my girl, DWTimes2 because she always writes about the deals at Kirklands. OMG…she was not kidding because we just got a Kirklands in Cherry Hill, NJ and let's just say I've been there so many times the sales people greet me when I walk into the store {blushing}.

I've bought some really great decor items, such as chalkboard containers like these.  I also found more amazing  accessories for my peacock inspired dining room for only $18 bucks! I racked up on Christmas decorations for next year as well. I went there the day after Christmas and everything was 75% off. So, if you have a Kirklands near you, go check them out or shop online too at www.kirklands.com.

Happy shopping!

First DIY Project

I know that many of you are DIY gurus, but for me and my husband we're neophytes in this area.  Here are a few pics of our first project--changing out the light fixture in the morning room. What a difference a light makes!  Oh, and I got the fixture for $79 at Costco!

Before pics

AFTER

New placemats from Homegoods and Hurricane candle holders from Pier One. 

Birds of a Feather...

I think peacocks are a beautiful bird. I had the pleasure of seeing a peacock in person while on vacation in Hawaii. The bird is so royal with their colors of green, blue and gold!

I've decided to use a peacock palette to decorate my dining room. I had so much fun finding items to go along with my room at my favorite store, HomeGoods. I also found a few items at Pier One too. Here are a few pics of my finds:

Peacock Feathers, Cynthia Rowley Gold Vase, blue/green glass sculpture, and Broyhill silver serving tray from HomeGoods.

Peacock inspired plate/patter made in Turkey from HomeGoods.

Abstract Peacock painting from HomeGoods.

Jasmine scented candles from Pier One.

Lamps, silver Domaine peacock statue, and peacock picture from HomeGoods. Feather lampshade decorations from Pier One.

Ottoman from HomeGoods.

Closeup of feather lamp shade decorations found at Pier One.

I'm most excited to have my talented friend, Alexis, upholster my chairs. I took a trip to South Philly (Philadelphia's version of NYC's fabric district) and came across a beautiful chenille fabric that I will use on the back of my chairs. I will accent  the back of the chair with silver nail heads as well.

Fabric for dining room chairs.

Here is a sample of what I plan to do with my dining room chair with the fabric and the nail heads.  The only differnce is my chair is not curved like this one, it has a square back.

 

 I can't wait to get this project going, it will transform my furniture and give a custom look to the room. I'm looking to do an accent wall with wallpaper. I have not found the wall paper yet, but I will keep you posted. I'm thinking of something silver and maybe with a light geometric print.  The painted walls will be a misty, silvery grey. We will also add crown molding and I'm playing around with having raised panels to this room as well. But as the project unfolds, I will keep you all updated.

Besides decor, we finally added some molding and trim to the house.

Crown Molding added to the two story foyer and boxed wall trim work added.

We also had the ceiling painted a bright white in the hallway.

Right now we're not able to paint because it was suggested to hold off on painting until we have our floors replaced.  So once our walls are not that ugly flat white, the trim on the wall will pop. My idea is to place mirroring art images in these spaces and to contrast the inside of the square with a darker paint color.  I think we'll be using some type of beige or neutral tan on the walls and maybe a darker darker grey inside the box. I'm also going to have a cornice made by my friend Alexis for the foyer window. My idea for the window treatment will look similar to this one:

 

Fabric swatch of what I'm thinking of using for the foyer window treatment.

We'er also getting a quote to get the basement finished too.  I think both the painting project and the basement may be culminated by the spring.

Here are some more pictures:

Zgallerie linear chandelier that I plan to purchase for the dining room.

Lamp I purchased at Pier One for our master bedroom.

Up close pic of  the lampshade decorations found at Pier One. This is the floor lamp in my daughter's room.

 



Example of Alexis' work making cornices

Floors Update

Thanks everyone for all your comments and suggestions too. I spoke to Advanced Flooring the sub-contractor Ryan works with and this is what they told me:

1. They will be replacing the carpet in my daughter's room.
2. They will be replacing all the hardwoods.
3. They are waiting on an outside contractor/inspector to examine the issue with the creaking.
4. As for the other floor issues, they're going to need to pull up the carpet again and investigate. They will also assess the carpet to see if that too will need to be replaced.
Finally,   they're not sure if its the material, the sub-floor or the installation as it relates to the hardwoods. I only wished that if it's not the material that we could save some of the hardwoods so that I could use that to finish my family room and not to kill anymore trees (yes, I'm such a humanitarian...lol).

So, either way, it looks like my creaking floors will greet all my guests for Thanksgiving next week. There is good and bad to that, as my SIL stated, now I don't have to worry about folks messing up my new floors.

Happy building and decorating!

Nursery Unveil!

Finally, here are pictures from my daughter's nursery.

Dresser and Changing Table.

I love Etsy!  Nothing like a personalized clock.

Am I setting myself up?  This sign was a great $3 find at Ross. This is on the front of her bedroom door.

HomeGoods door hanger. Every baby needs a robe, right?

Our reading corner.

Toy chest.

Another Ross find!

Target changing table, a closer view.

HomeGoods Poodle Nightlight.

This fun little storage box will hold more books!

Paris stand from Marshall's and pearls a gift from my sister to my daughter.  Mirror from HomeGoods!

Another Etsy item!

Gallery wall.

Target glider. It has a matching ottoman in the same color. It's extra comfy!

Ceramic Eiffel Tower piggy bank.