Finding joy: Home

Front yard, which is almost done! 

With so much time on the road, it feels good to settle back into my house.  I still get a little excited every time I say "my house," as if I still can't believe that it's mine... and not only mine, but mine for four whole years now!  And that means that I've finally fixed it up to the place where I love it almost as much as I possibly can... almost...

There have been a few projects that I've started or recently finished...

Office/craft room
The office has been two colors before -- light green (ugly) and tan (also ugly), so last year I decided it needed a revamp.  I wanted to make it both an office and a papercraft area, the one craft I (sort-of) do.  I wanted it to have a travel theme, so I started looking at paint colors that made me think of travel, and settled on a beautiful blue from Benjamin Moore.  Coast to Coast Painting has done all my house up like a rainbow (seriously -- downstairs I have orange, yellow, and red, and the rooms upstairs are light blue, dark blue, purple, two shades of tan, and this amazing purple/brown/grey hybrid called Creek Bed, my favorite paint color EVER) and I enjoy working with them because they are immaculate, something that is important if you are painting a huge room Tropical Orange.  I'm a woman who loves bold walls and neutral fabrics.

Office Color 1: Fail

Office Color 2: Also fail

But I wanted something cooler than just a blue wall, so I decided to get a magnetic wall.  This is more labor intensive than I thought, as it requires sanding, several coats of magnetic primer, and then the primary color.  You might have heard mixed feedback on magnetic walls, which I learned is because you have to mix the primer without stopping or else the magnetic particles settle to the bottom.  For me, it was worth the extra labor costs, and I ended up with a room that had three crisp white walls and one beautiful blue one.

I love love LOVE the blue.
And the magnetic wall, of course.

To finish off the room, I found a HUGE map at IKEA, as well as a super-cool table for crafting, also from IKEA.  I looked everywhere for a nice craft table but couldn't find one that worked well in my room.  This is actually a dining room table but I chose it because it folds up to half-size, giving my office a more spacious feel for most of the time, and it has drawers for storage.  I also got an over-the-door shoe organizer for additional closet storage for my supplies.  To finish the room off, I bought a fun vintage calendar, a map switchplate (FAVE!), a scratch-off travel map, and a few other "worldly" accessories.

Map switchplate! 

The last step was determining how to use my wall.  Initially I had thought I might use it for crafting ideas, but once the travel theme took off, I was too inspired!  I collect postcards when I travel (easy to transport, fit into smaller boxes, trigger memories), so I started pulling out my favorites, as well as photos and other travel quotes.  I've started collecting fun, quirky magnets, and the collection has blossomed.  The best part?  I can change it whenever I want!  It's a fun room and it's done enough for me now.  At some point I'd like a different desk, but the one I have serves its present purpose and I have other pending projects...

Entry hall
As soon as I walked into this house, I knew I loved the entryway.  It is tall (two-stories), open with lots of light, and I loved the shape of the stairs.

Naked entry hall.  I feel in love with the
wrought-iron and the hardwood.

But, as you can imagine, it's a semi-neglected space, or has been over the years.... but I ended up painting it bright yellow a few years ago, and then just last week finished getting some stuff for the console table area.  The console table was FREE from Pottery Barn -- well, by free I mean I bought enough furniture that my rewards covered the cost of a console table.  I really wanted a coat tree but found a simple coat-hook rack at IKEA, and I had a bunch of prints I framed of photos of Paris, so I picked a few to put up.  I had been slowly collecting cool accessories as I found them at my favorite value shopping places (I have a soft spot for Home Goods and World Market) -- my favorite is the large S (I have two -- you can see one in the photo).  The one thing the entryway lacks is a plug-in for a lamp, but that notwithstanding... It's nice to come into the house and feel really welcomed.

Loving my foyer now!

Dining room
In some ways, the dining room is "done" because it's been painted and furnished for awhile (did I mention my Pottery Barn addiction?), I have been struggling to find something for the wall behind the buffet.  I'm super picky when it comes to art -- I'll get a vision in my head and I'll wait until I find something.  You might have sensed a bit of a world-traveler theme in the house -- so when I found this wooden-plank like map (which is distressed!) I felt like it completed the scene.  It's very heavy so we had to get some special hangers.  I love the candelabra, but my favorite piece on the buffet is the small clock (on the left side) which my grandpa gave to me a few years ago before he passed away. So now when I am eating dinner, I can remind myself of all of the other places in the world where I've eaten and where I'll eat someday...

Happy to have found something I like!

Future projects
I'm not done -- is one ever really done as a homeowner?  But I do have a short-list of what is next...

1. Library/music room: The best part about having a four-bedroom house is that I get to have lots of fun rooms.  When I first bought my house, more than one person asked, "What will you do with all that space?"  The answer is certainly to indulge my passions, including reading and music.  The house came with what is labeled on the plan as a dining room, but why in the world do I need two dining areas?  I don't!  So it was a natural library/music room, as I have a large collection of books and a piano that needed a home.  And now with the new baby grand, I need to finish off the room with a wall of art and some better solution for all of my music! 
2. Side yard: I've done a lot of work on the side yard, plant-wise, but I'm really unhappy with the walkway -- or lack thereof.  I think I've finally found a yard service, which will help me get my butt into gear to pick out the materials I want to use for the path... 
3. Media room and master bedroom art: It's tough -- did I mention my obsessiveness with finding the right art?  The two rooms that are the most naked art-wise are my bedroom and the media room... so I need to come up with a better room theme and go from there! 

xo
Sarah