I've finally decided to share some of our rooms in our house. Not only to show, but I love having things here so that I can look back on them in the future and it helps me stay on track with what has been done and what we have left to do. I should have taken pictures of it empty before hand but luckily I found these images of the house on the MLS listing.

Here's before:

There is not much that really needs to be done, just paint to fit our taste. Corey and I decided to tackle this paint job by our selves and it only took 2 days and made a complete transformation. I love how paint is such an easy and inexpensive fix and adds such an impact.

Below are some pictures once we moved in (train wreck) but I am showing you every aspect of this before and after so bare with me. This was our original dining room table. We bought it from the seller of our last house who hand built it himself. I loved this table - it was black walnut but sadly, we misplaced the leafs somewhere along the way...I still have no idea where they ended up but that's beside the point. This table was wayyyy too small for this dining room so it had to go. 

The chairs were still great and my MIL's so they definitely were not going anywhere! We just needed to recover them. 

I scored this china cabinet at a consignment store in Augusta for $125! Another great piece that I doubt I'll ever part with. 

I only have 6 chairs with my last dining room set and knew I would need to add two more when I found a bigger table. I wanted to do find two upholstered wing backs or larger style chairs to recover. My Grammy gave me a set of martha washingtons she no longer needed. All they needed was some new fabric. 

My love for persians continue. I found this rug on eBay and linked the seller here. They were awesome to work with! AND..if you do not like the rug for any reason at all, they will pick it up for FREE and give you a full refund. 

I've been working with Caroline from Greenwood Decorating Center and she helped me pick out some color options for my dining room. I wanted a subtle light blue that would flow throughout the rooms since our house is somewhat open-concept. The colors were between this and my favorite, SW Comfort Gray. Full disclosure, I wanted to do comfort gray from the beginning, however, I thought I was being boring since it is the same color I painted in my dining room at our previous home. Soo, I tried something new and outside my box and what do you know...Corey and I hated it! Back to good ol' comfort gray it is. 

In the meantime, my rug came in and Caroline wanted to pull out this pretty blue and coral/salmon color out of the rug. This was perfect because I knew I wanted my dining room to be fun and make a statement but still be somewhat traditional. I told her the bolder the better and I absolutely loved the options we picked out.

I knew we were definitely going with the bold blue dots for the end chairs. I just could not decide between the other two options for our 6 other chairs. 

I ended up going with fabric on the left. It was brighter and not as drab and the texture won over the other option.  

Here's some after shots decorated for our friends giving we had the following week. 

Dining Room Checklist:

• Paint
• Rug
• Find bigger table
• Find wing back chairs
• Window Treatments
• Recover chairs
• Change out lights with one big chandelier

Entry Inspiration

I seriously have been on the hunt for "something" to go in my entry. Ever since we moved in I've had a vision in my head of what I want just have not been able to find it yet. Here are some of my favorites via Pinterest. 

Now here is where I'm at now...

I know, I know...a little sparse. I basically want some sort of table, whether it is a Sheraton style chest of drawers or a sleek console table. I already have a gold gilded style mirror from my grandmothers hanging. My Grammy is also lending me this fabulous bench until I find exactly what I'm looking for. As you can see, we both share a love for animal print. 

I just need to commit to a table, add a pair of stylish fun lamps and create a fun little chinoiserie vignette. Easier said than done right?

Weekend Whereabouts

Friday was spent with pizza and decorating -- two of my favorite things. I went to a friends house and we did a lot of furniture rearranging and trying to figure out what direction we wanted to go in with her dining and living room. I'm so glad she is as obsessed with all things chinoiserie as I am. Here is some inspiration I've pulled for her. 

Saturday was spent in Greenville for a surprise birthday party. When we got home, we were both exhausted and decided to rent, The Revenant and we were in bed by 8pm. 

Sunday we went to church, got some lunch with the in laws and then the hubs went to Greenville (again) to play golf with some friends. Chelsey and I went shopping, seriously went everywhere we could in Greenwood which isn't a lot but right before we were going to go home, I remembered Hancock Fabrics was closing and wanted to pop in there real quick, soo glad we did! The whole store was 90% off! That's basically free people!! I could not believe there was still some of this amazing fabric left on the bolt. I took everything they had which only ended up being a little over a yard but hey, I could recover something small, a chair cushion maybe or make some fun pillows! I love the raised fabric - gives it a luxe feel. I also scored this greek key trim. I got 18 yards for $7! I have no idea what I'm going to use it for but the possibilities are endless from pillows or adding trim to some plain curtains for an instant makeover. My grand total for fabric and trim was $14. 

I wasn't the only one who scored a great deal. I saw this gorgeous navy thick fabric. It looks velvet but not and is simply amazing. I can't believe I didn't take a pic of it. Anyways, I wanted to do touches of navy in Chelsey dining room and thought this would be the perfect fabric to recover her chairs. We will eventually get my MIL to add a really cool monogram. She got a total of 9 yards for $20! A steal -- and we will only use less than half of that for the chairs so still plenty of leftover to play around with. 

One place on our list to go to was Lowes where we scored a pair of lamps that were on clearance - even better! The below picture is from One Kings Lane...

And now here is Lowes..

Looks very similar and half the cost of the OKL. I really liked the idea of glass especially since we have not picked out fabric for pillows. These will go with practically everything and she can move these all around the house and still work. Win win. 

Once I got home...I caught up with my guilty reality tv shows on DVR and indulged in some sushi. Bored, around 9 pm I went into our spare guest bathroom and started eyeing the wallpaper. 

Next thing you know...

BAM. Around 9:40 Corey came home. I think his exact words were: "I leave you alone for a couple of hours..." 

In all honesty, I'm surprise this bathroom has made it this long with the safari themed wallpaper. I will hopefully finish this week and we will patch and mud some spots and then it's painting time! Don't ask me what color because I literally have no clue. I know it will be a lighter color since there is a shower in this bathroom. I hate when you use a darker color and the steam will add water lines after a shower. I'll keep y'all updated on what color I end up going with.

That's it for this weekend roundup! I hope everyone had a great weekend and please let me know if y'all have any color suggestions!

Patio Re-fresh

It's getting to be that time of year again (finally), where the temps are slowly rising and hopefully the rain has washed all the pollen away - yuck! With that being said, it is also that time of the year when I need to get my patio back in order...this includes dusting off the cob webs, finally getting a new umbrella because let's face it, my faded light green going on 3 years has seen better days. I also added some FUN pops of pink with cushions that I am very excited about! Check out my inspiration behind our new patio look...

I have been searching for the perfect patio umbrella and have finally found it! I scored this one from one of my favorite go to sites, Joss and Main. I also got my cushions from there as well. 

I've been researching about potted palm trees and their care. I would love to have some in some big black planters flanking our back doors. If the palms do not work out, I can always do ferns. 

You cannot go wrong with a garden seat. I somehow found mine at none other, Big Lots, for a whopping $40. You can a lot of times find them at Homegoods or TJ Maxx too. I have linked one to Ballard Designs here also. 

Candle lanterns give such a good ambiance and I think they are so pretty going down steps from your front porch or in our case to our patio. I've linked some options here, here and here. 

I knew I wanted to add more light to the backyard and I've always had a love for string lights. I found some backyard inspiration below but have yet to actually pull the trigger and purchase. I'm still doing my research (if you do not know by now, I RESEARCH everything, reviews - you name it) and it takes me a little bit longer to pull the trigger and buy but more times than not, I am very happy with the outcome - and plus, I despise having to return things. Check out these awesome backyards that incorporated string lights. All images were found via pinterest.

My umbrella and cushions came in this week..yay...but I'm going to wait until after the weekend to put up since it is supposed to be 20mph winds - no bueno. I'll post an update once they're up! 

Anywho... I'll be at market in ATL all day Saturday finishing up buying for Fall 2016 for the store while the hubs is at the Masters (no fair)! Hope everyone has a safe and fun-filled weekend!