I've been putting off sharing this but I've finally accepted that decorating a house is a never ending process. When Tim and I moved in together last fall, we had a hand-me-down dining room table and couches, and that's it! Our first purchase together was a new mattress, which is still sitting on top of the box spring on the floor. We wanted to focus on furnishing the main level before addressing that situation. You can watch our empty house tour here to see a tour of the whole house the day we moved in.
Lets just say that now every time I go to open the front door I have to knock or shake the door before opening all the way after a bird flew into our house last week. It made itself nice and cozy in our fall wreath and nearly hit me in the face flying into our house. Of course it's funny now...
The first thing I purchased before moving into our house was a white couch cover to cover up the brown "couch potato" as I called it. We eventually plan on upgrading our couch to something with deeper seating, but for now I've accepted my weekend routine of re-tucking the couch cover. The day I took these photos, I found these magnolia home pillows at HomeGoods for half the price (hence the tags still attached). I wasn't sure if they would stay here or go to our guest room, but I love how they tie in the counter stools and ottoman. I previously had some gray pillows on there which were more comfortable, but they looked too sterile to me. I have a feeling pillows are going to be a revolving door in our house!
I was lucky to find our counter stools at the Ballard Designs Outlet for 50% off. I was originally thinking we would get the farmhouse styled X crossed chairs for the space, but I decided against them because they weren't comfortable. I love the touch of color these chairs give our home, which match our kitchen aid and a frame in the back.
For the first month, our TV sat on top of the now gold bar table in the dining room. The tv cords were EVERYWHERE! My Mom and Dad gifted us a media center (similar), it just took me quite a while to find one. This media center was actually a piece I found at Home Goods a month before closing on the house but I didn't get it since I didn't know measurements for the room. I regretted passing it up because finding one that wasn't too chunky and dark was quite the task. Luckily I ran into the same piece at another Home Goods the next month after moving in! All of the decor inside of it is also from Home Goods or TJ Maxx. I linked some of the exact items that are available online at the bottom of the post. I also got our area rug at Home Goods, but found it online for y'all if you're in the market for one. I try to go to HomeGoods weekly, so it's where I get most of the pieces for our home!
The painting above our fireplace is a piece my grandmother, Ann Jackson, painted before she passed. She and my grandfather lived on Tybee Island (and for 12 years on a sailboat in the Bahamas!) so her artwork reflects the southern coastal area. The other coastal painting by the door in our dining room was painted by my aunt, Victoria Jackson, who still paints today. All of the artwork in our home comes from my family's art gallery in historic Roswell, Ann Jackson Gallery. I'm going to attempt to paint next month with my Aunt...I would love to learn and see what I can do!
The gray chest with the two lamps is a very old piece from a few generations in my family. There's a long story that goes along with it, but it once belonged to a family that went down in the Titanic. I remember as a little girl I dreamed of having this piece "from the Titanic" in my home one day, lol. I recovered the green top with marble contact paper. If I could find it on my phone I would link to a video of me being stubborn and doing it myself, but it was definitely a two person job. It took me an hour if not longer, required some near splits with my foot sliding on a book, and accepting the bubbles that I couldn't get out. The bubbles have now settled after using a blow dryer, and I'm happy with how it turned out! The lamps were a recent affordable find, and I'm waiting for the perfect tall vertical piece to fit between them. I'm torn on doing a mirror or an abstract, but I guess it will be whichever I fall in love with first.
The entry table was a really affordable piece from Hobby Lobby. I'm not done decorating it yet, but I don't mind the minimalistic look. The painting above the table is a Dr. Seuss from Ann Jackson Gallery. I think it sums up my personality really well, it says "I'd love to go to the party but I'm absolutely dead."
My most recent purchase for our living room is the ottoman, which I can't believe I scored at the Ballard outlet. I was the third person on the wait list (and not the last). I'm convinced they rang it up wrong over the phone because it was over 70% off the price tag and I couldn't find anything wrong with it! I purchased a new coffee table book for the bottom and I'm looking for a round tray to go on top. I'd love to find one with a herringbone print if y'all know of one! The sea colored blanket is also from the outlet. I wanted to carry over the mineral counter stools since the space is so open.
I'm looking for a large painting to go on the back wall of our dining room. I may eventually switch out the bar for a buffet table to help with storage, but for now our kitchen has more than enough storage for us. Our dining room table was actually my parents' first table when they got married, it's technically a card game table, lol! I found the chairs at HomeGoods when looking for seating for our sweetheart table at our wedding. I went to SIX HomeGoods to find 4 of them #brideonamission
Our old bar cart was in the dining room, but it was too small for the space so it now sits behind the couch for an extra place to sit a drink. I used this gold console table to fill out the back wall a little bit more, and I love how clean it looks! You can read how to style a bar cart to see all the items included on this table.
I plan to change this little corner to the garage entry soon, but for now, the painting is doing a good job at hiding awkward screws in the wall from the previous owner. I found this organizer at HomeGoods which fit perfectly in the small space, and it's a catch-all for our mail and magazines. I'm planning on adding a small mirror right here for quick touch ups before heading out the door.
Some of my pending plans for the main level of our home:
Maybe I'll cross them out when I get to them!
We still need some patio furniture and I think I found the set. I'm just waiting on a few other pieces for the inside or a really good sale to purchase it.
I want to get a small bench for the left of the front door and hang a few pictures above it
Print and add some of these pictures up our staircase
Re-paint and add character to our powder bathroom. I would love to shiplap it, but I'm concerned about the resale value / damage to the walls. Do you have any experience with it??
Add a large painting to go along the back dining room wall.
Add paneling to the kitchen island to give it some character.
As for the upstairs, it is still pretty much a hot mess, other than the dresser we recently obtained from a fellow blogger friend. We want to re-paint all of the rooms up there. I will definitely take some before and after photos and share updates as I go.
I linked what I could in the widget below!
