I'm baaaack!!!!

Wow!  How time flies...I started this blog to share with you all of our home renovations to our new house that we purchased almost a year ago.  I see that my last post was November 20!  I had good intentions of blogging at least weekly, and then around Thanksgiving, I started to not feel well.  I soon discovered that I was pregnant!  Our first child will be here in 5 weeks!  Now that summer is here, I have a little more time (at least for now) to continue with our home tour.  Next stop:  the dining room...

Here are a few before pictures:

This one is from the real estate listing:

Here is another one...yes the wall around the window was painted black.  Who knows why?  Maybe to go along with the beautiful cinnamon broom that was left behind!  It's hard to see, but it's propped in the corner by the window.

We replaced the carpet with wood laminate, painted, and hung a new chandelier before we moved in.  The week before Thanksgiving I purchased a table at World Market.  I had previously owned the same table and loved it.  It is the Sourav Dining Table.  You can't beat the quality and price! 

The zebra end chairs I spotted at Marshall's and nabbed them while another lady was walking around with her husband trying to decide if she wanted them!  I knew they would be perfect!  Everything else came from IKEA...the chairs, the buffet, the curtains.  Oh yes, you might remember from my facebook post that the blue lamps were purchased the day we found out we were having a boy!!!

Here are a couple of after pics!  Enjoy...

Gallery Wall

Hello all!  What a busy time of year!  I can't WAIT to start working on Christmas decorating!!!!  I refuse to start before Thanksgiving though.  I want to share with you my gallery wall in the entry.  This is a glimpse of what our entry looked like upon moving in.

Builder-grade tile, dark paint colors, skinny trim...not quite my style.  Before moving in, we replaced the tile with a dark wood laminate, replaced the trim with a 5 inch style, and repainted the walls.

While shopping for a kitchen table, I saw a cute white bench that I had to have!  It was calling my name...literally!  I hadn't even thought about the entry, but this purchase got my mind spinning.  This is where it sat all weekend...I've diagnosed myself with adult ADD, because I tend to start projects and not finish them!

Ha!  Being inside the front door and having to walk around it was my motivation to finish putting it together.  You can see the new floors, paint color, and trim. (smile) 

I had also been looking for something to put on the wall that would fit inside the niche.  Upon perusing Pinterest (my guilty addiction), I saw this gallery wall:

Instantly, I had to try one myself!  I already had some framed pictures (in a box somewhere) and found some mirrors at the dollar store. I've read that the key is to think of your creation as an overall shape, so I thought of mine as a giant square.  (Side note...If you haven't joined Pinterest and would like to, send me your e-mail and I will send you an invite.  It's an online 'pin'board where you can virtually add pictures of things you like on the internet.  It keeps them organized in one spot!  Addiction...like I said, so consider yourself warned!)

I hung the pictures, hot glued some black ribbon to the mirrors, threw some pillows on the bench, and here you have my gallery wall...

  Thanks for stopping by..and by the way, I finally got my dining room table!!!

Isn't it pretty???  More on that adventure soon!  Have a good week and stay "cents"ible!!!