Windows... and a bump update

Before we did all the work on the house, there was more separation between rooms, i.e. walls. So each room had it's own style... And I use that word loosely. My style consists of throwing together craigslist finds, clearance items, and hand-me-downs that look like they kinda-sorta go together, and then hoping for the best. Tony's style is whatever is cheapest and the wife likes, in that order.

Now that everything is opened up we've had to rethink the different styles and try to keep everything somewhat cohesive. In particular we've found this challenging with the windows. There were different blinds and curtains to suit the 'style' of each room.

Although I don't have any true "before" photos, here is an idea of what we had going on:


See that thing behind the 3 drunkards? That's our bay window in the main room. It's pretty indicative of what was going on throughout. Raw wood trim, yucky white horizontal vinyl blinds leftover from decades past, and whatever cheap curtains we found in the clearance bin.

Here it was yesterday:

Just painting the trim white was a huge improvement, which was done months ago. But we weren't sure what else to do. Instead of getting custom-sized (read: expensive) blinds for each window, we decided to go with a double curtain rod. Then we'd put a sheer curtain closest to the window for privacy, and a real curtain on the outside rod. Here's how it looks now:

We like it. In case you can't tell, the sheers are ivory and the curtains are chocolate brown with a checked-pattern texture to them.

A sidenote to all those shopping for 84" curtains... Apparenly, 84" sometimes really means 82". So the brown curtains ended up being 2 inches shorter than the sheers. Ugh. Luckily after a quick phone call to my mother, we let out the 2+" hem at the bottom and re-hemmed the bottom with some Stitch Witchery (great stuff). Thanks Mom!

Anyway... These brown curtains we bought recently are not only energy efficient, but they happen to be the exact same curtains we hang over our french doors in the fall/winter. Seen here in this blurry pic from Christmas last year:

So when it becomes cool enough to hang these again, the room will be balanced and warm (literally and figuratively).

For the rest of the standard-sized windows throughout the living room, bar area, and dining room, we wanted something easy, natural, and cute. So we went with my fave, bamboo blinds:

We could put some curtains up over these, but I think this look is nice enough to stand on its own. Also of note, these are cordless blinds, so no choking hazard! Gotta think of the bambino.

Speaking of the bambino, here are some pics of the ever-growing bump from the past couple of weeks:

21 weeks

22 weeks

In the last photo I am wearing my new maternity jeans, that I believe were stitched together by angels in heaven. You have been good to me, Bella Band, but it's on to bigger and better things.

And things are definitely bigger!

Photo follow up

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of these photos. Santa did not bring me the $900 DSLR camera that I wanted because Santa was strapped due to some major renovations at the North Pole. It's okay, Santa, I understand. And my birthday is in 2 months. ;-) Not that you do birthdays..


Here is our freshly painted red door, white trim, and the new window treatment (taupe Roman shade):

(Note to self: Replace all switchplates and outlet covers with stainless ones. Yeek.)

Here is the front entry way console table and mirror.

(Yes, the peachy-pink tile is on our list... Our long, ever-growing List-with-a-capital-L.)

The bar-room holds the Christmas tree. Coincidence? Ask Tony how much I drank this holiday season. Nevermind, don't:



Dining room:


Front room:



The curtains in the bar and front room were recently purchased (Sarah) and put up (Tony). They make me feel all warm and cozy.

It may not look that different to those who have seen it before, but we put a lot of sweat and paint and detail work into the common areas so far. I'm happy and proud of us.

Although Santa didn't get me a super duper expensive camera, he did get me a ton of cute and practical accessories for the kitchen to go along with our new appliances. Once I get enough energy to unpack everything and pick up the clutter, I'll be sure to post more pics.

From both of us, I hope everyone had a great holiday!

The Calm Before the Storm

The honeymoon stage with the new appliances is in full swing. We've already used the heck out of all of them, including the over the range microwave, which has liberated a TON of counter space. Who knew it was all hiding under the grubby old micro? Anyway, the appliances are so pretty and I talk to them sometimes. I hugged the fridge last night. It's possible this renovation project is making me a little nuts.

I purchased new curtains for the front room from Target. I'm bummed that they're not on the website so I can't post a photo. But I'm not totally convinced they'll work anyhow. They have to be better than what was up there previously... $12 goldish green sheers from Homegoods that had seen better days. Blech. And now with all the trim painted white up against our light taupe-gray walls, we needed something new. We'll see how it goes.

Hanging the curtains is on the list among a bunch of other things:
- touch up red door
- prime all remaining trim (kitchen, dining, bar)
- paint after priming
- hang new blinds in kitchen
- hang energy saving window panels over french doors
- SHOVEL, SHOVEL, SHOVEL

We're supposed to get snow tomorrow. The reports range from 4-6 inches, to EPIC OMG FREAK OUT kinda storm. Who knows.

Welcome to New England!