Busy Bee's

After living in our house a while I have come to the realization that we have a grown up house. I mean how did this happen and what are we doing in this wonderful house? We aren't grown ups are we? I say no but others (my parents) might beg to differ.  I guess the fact that we have been out of college for 6 years now (wow that's scary) and have had real jobs for 6 years - not just summer jobs. I just don't feel like an adult but I sure am loving the perks that come with it! Gorgeous homes, a little money to decorate with, waking up not hungover (sometimes), good wine, house parties where you don't have to mop the floor because of the stickiness of spilled beer all over it.  Life is good no matter how old!

Although this post is way out of date (we did this transformation as soon as we moved in) I thought I would still show a little before and after on the Kitchen.

Before: Notice the yellow walls with the caramel trim

And the accent color was red.  It went well with their stuff but not my style

And here is the after - Awhhh refreshing change!!

 

 I love the sink!

The built in storage in this house is unbelievable.  The builders (who are actually my neighbors) did an awesome job.  They really knew what was needed in a kitchen - storage that is still appealing on the eye.

The color is the same as the living room and hall way - Benjamin Moore Vapor Trails

Office Transformation

 Thanks to hand me downs the office is almost done. Still considering window treatments and a side table for the chairs but so far so good.   

We stripped the wall paper to find a dark red underneath.  My handyman primed and painted which made a big improvement.  I love the new color - Benjamin Moore Adagio.   

Mom and dad got us the Restoration Hardware Flat Iron Office table 

I love the iron and old door wood combination.

A little out of date, but thats ok - the world books are perfect for an office - Thanks to Deb and Bern.

The picture of Troupe goes perfectly with the color

I actually had the Wisteria's shelf in the townhouse but decided to get another one - one for each side.  

The collection of pictures were gathered over time - most of them I got at Scotts in Atlanta.  The others were mom's that she wasn't using any more.  All in all I'm happy with the transformation.

About Time

It's about time I showed yall some updated pictures of the house.  

I don't know if you remember what the living room looked like so here are a few before pictures:

 

(above pic is prior owners furniture)

We ordered new furniture once we got everything cleared on the house and it came in just in time - we only had to use patio furniture for a day or two.  We sold our old sofa and chair to the girl who bought the townhouse, so it was crucial to get it in ASAP so we would have something to sit on.  Thanks to my helpers, I picked out some great fabric that will be durable and I will like for a long time.  (I promise I did not purposely adjust the pictures to have a yellow tone - since the trim was brown/yellow and the walls were yellow everything took on that glow)

Sofa: background fabric

Big Pillow: Left

Club Chair: Right

Step 1: Paint the trim and bookshelf.  We had someone do all the trim in the house and then got the best professionals (aka Jeff and his dad) to paint the walls. 

Well Hello Jeff!

Big Improvement already

Step 2: Pick out a wall color.  It's harder than it looks.  Jeff has been eager to paint everything right away (which I am very happy about) but it just made me have to choose paint colors right away.  For those of you who don't know me I am a very indecisive person, so making a decision that I am going to have to live with for a long time is a big deal to me.  I would hate to pick a color, have them paint everything and then decide I don't like it. This color was going to go in the living room, all down the hall, entry way, and kitchen so it had to be perfect.  I got several samples and painted them on poster board, then picked my favorites and painted them on the wall just to make sure I would like it (anything I picked would have been better than what was there - no offense previous owners - just not my style).  We lived like this (below pic) for a couple of days before I finally picked a color. 

But needless to say I picked a color and I LOVE it!!!  

It's Vapor Trails from Benjamin Moore

Step 3: Put everything back where it was, order a rug, and change out the faceplate on the electrical outlets and light switches (did you notice the light switch - Ugh!)

 
 

I love built in bookshelves!!  

It's my favorite thing about this room - they are a work in progress but so far so good!!

So Bare

I love our back yard. It has a huge porch, tall trees, a fire pit, and lots of areas for potential wonderfullness ;)
Yep, I love it but boy is it bare!!

There is not one piece of grass, one flower (accept for the planted flowers via Aunt Anne), and barely any plants. It kinds a sad sight. With the weather being so warm I am starting to see my neighbors flowers pop out, trees start to bud, and grass grow greener. I am soo jealous.

I do not have a green thumb but am hoping for some help by my vary talented Aunt.

Here it is:

Ohh so bare :(
Much work to do

Bday Bash / 1st Party

We had a b-day get together for my brother in-law/ our first house party this weekend!! What a great way to break in our house!

After several long days and busy nights our house was ready for a party by Saturday (and so were we). Mom and Aunt Anne came up to Memphis this past week and were a HUGE help in unpacking/decorating/hanging/etc. I took a couple of half days off from work but it wasn't nearly enough time to get everything done. Poor Jeff did not have any time off and as soon as he got home we put him and Bern to work doing the heavy lifting and major mirror hanging.

It was a busy week - I went to the grocery store at least once every day, Lowe's about 6 times, and Sheffield antique store 3 times. I guess I'm not good at making one big list to avoid the several trips :)

This awesome green distressed table was a present from Mom and Dad- we found it at Sheffield's. Mom had a vision and knew exactly where we were going to put it in the house (more on that later). Aunt Anne also got two great Gothic shaped window panes. I am sad I didn't snap a pictures to show you - they were cool! The lady that worked there told us that they are opening up an upscale consignment store in December- it will be across from the Walmart in Collierville.
Soo Fun!

Jeff and Bern were put to work assembling these Adirondack chairs.
They still need to be stained and weather sealed - a project for this week.

Aunt Anne worked her magic on the deck and helped make it festive and inviting!
I can't wait for her to take on the bigger job of working her magic in both the back and front yard. It needs help in a major way.

We had a blast having everybody over.
It will be the first of many gatherings!