Thank You, Pinterest!!

Ahhhh, thanks to my Pinterest obsession, I was able to finally purchase a sunburst {sunburst, starburst...whichever term you prefer} mirror!  Woo-to-the-hoooo!!

These mirrors have been all the rage for quite some time now.  I know some people may say the trend is dying, but for me, it's still going strong.  It's like the chevron stripe, I just can't get sick of it!

Anywho, there are so many different sunburst mirrors out there, and a lot of them are quite pricey.  To combat this, I've seen many bloggers get crafty and DIY their own.  I was heavily considering that option, but my to-do list around the house is a mile long..and every item on it is wayyyy more important than crafting some decor to hang on the walls.  That left me with no other choice besides drooling over the ones I'd come across in blogland, and hoping/praying that Joss and Main or One Kings Lane would have a super inexpensive mirror that didn't sell out within minutes.

That is until my trusty Pinterest iPhone app came in handy.  You see, I am constantly perusing {or "exploring" if you want to get technical} "all" pins on my iPhone, and I happened to come across a sunburst mirror Saturday night.  I clicked on it and read that it was a popular pin flying around the site, probably because it revealed a pretty 30" x 30" mirror available at Home Depot for only $35!!!  H-E-L-L-O!  That is about 1/3 of the price that the inexpensive mirrors usually are!  I quickly clicked out of Pinterest, entered my Safari app and went to Home Depot's site.  I searched for the mirror, saw there were 2 in stock at my local store and placed a "Pick Up At Store" order for this purty little lady...

Including tax, my sunburst mirror cost me $37.42!  That low cost + zero minutes to make it = winning combo for me!  Now, I just have to decide where to hang it.  Living/dining room?  Bedroom?  Hmmm.

And on to more pressing matters...I realize that I am so far behind on posting the progress that we've made from my parent's visit.  This is because of several things: 

1)  They are still here and leave tomorrow morning.  So while they are here, I tend to spend every second I can with them, and therefore forget to take pictures of things we complete. 

2)  The things we finished can't be photographed without showing things that are not done...and I don't want to reveal stuff that isn't yet completed.  For example...

- The basement has been painted for about a week, but I haven't finished purging and cleaning it out yet. 
- Our Craigslisted furniture is finally painted {the last piece probably got it's final coat this morning...thanks Mom!!}, but none of it has any hardware installed.  I wasn't planning on re-using the old stuff, and I have not been able to find suitable replacements yet.  Apparently, the center-to-center spread on these pieces is uncommon, and it's making my search quite difficult! 
- All of the blinds have been hung in our living/dining room, but we can't show those until we get our curtains up.
- Our curtains are done, but the company who sent us the curtain rod supports, messed up and didn't send 2 sets.  They only sent one, and did not include the center support...which is crucial when you are trying to span a distance of over 120 inches.  We have some major sag going on in the middle of our picture window right now.  It is not cute, just like sagging in the 1990's wasn't cute either...

Hopefully my ridiculous babble gives you a little insight as to why I am so scatterbrained lately.  I keep putting off my "reveal" posts in hopes that I can show you things when they are 100% complete...but because these projects are done in real time, progress isn't lightening fast.  So please, bear with me.  Fingers crossed for some reveal posts by the end of the week! :)

Meet and Greet

I'd like to introduce you to some new things that now call our casa home.

First up, our Montego Fretwork rug for the dining room.  I ordered it from Joss and Main when I saw I could score the 6'7" x 9'6" rug for about $100.  I love the color and how it feels under foot.  You'll also notice we rotated our dining room table 90 degrees.  I love how the flow of the room feels since the switch-a-roo went down.  {Please disregard the curtain sewing mess on the table, and the blinds waiting to be installed on the floor.  Our house has been in disaster mode since we began working on a bunch of projects last weekend.}

And now for the guest of honor...meet Owen.  I found this lil' guy at Home Goods for $9.99 and he is by far one of my favorite decorations in the house.  I'm not sure which room he'll end up living in, but for now, he's had a front row seat to all the mayhem while hanging out on the dining room table.

This weekend I'm hopefully going to wrap up all the furniture painting we started last weekend...and my fingers are crossed we'll get our new curtains hung and hemmed.  Perhaps I'll get a closet or two organized?  My goals may be a bit lofty considering I'm driving to my sister's in CT on Saturday to see my adorable nephew celebrate his 2nd birthday party.

Oh, and I DO NOT know how I let this fantastic news go so long without sharing...my hubby and I were blessed with a second nephew when my sister-in-law gave birth to her bundle of joy on January 2nd.  {Remember the baby shower I helped to throw back in October??}  Here is my handsome hubby holding our too-cute-for-words nephew a couple weeks ago!

And here he is hanging out in his pack n play.  {Sorry the picture is so dark and fuzzy.  It was taken on my phone in a dark room...but I think his cuteness shines through anyway!!}

So what do you think?  Is the new rug and layout working for the dining room?  Does Owen warm your heart like he does mine?

Hope you all have a great weekend! :)

Busy Bees

Lucky me!  My uhhh-mazing parents arrived for a visit on Friday evening.  Part of their visit, okay most of it, meant lots of productivity in our casa.  With T-O-N-S of help from my parents {and two personal days off from work this week}, we were able to paint our basement walls, start operation purge, sand/prime/paint several pieces of furniture, re-arrange our washer and dryer set up, purchase blinds for our living/dining room and sew curtains for that same space.

I also had a couple purchases from Joss and Main and One Kings Lane arrive; and we played a small game of "let's re-arrange our furniture" in the dining room.

I can't wait to share all the deets with you guys! :)

Duck Duck Goose...

{That's right, Brandi.  I'm stealing your title. Hehe.}


So, as my bloggy friend Brandi at His Shabby Her Chic described, I've been tagged in a fun Internet game of "tag your it".


Here Are the Rules:

1. You must post the rules. (And link up who tagged you.)

2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.

4. Tag eleven people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you’ve tagged them!

11 "Fun Facts" About Myself:

{FYI...I really don't think there are even 3 "fun" facts about me.  So here is what I came up with after a lot of brainstorming haha.}

1) I have a couple small tattoos.  My favorite is a bow on my foot.

2) Up until a few years ago, my favorite color was purple.  Now...it's aqua/turquoise.  {Those of you who follow my blog probably could've guessed that by now.  :)  It's.all.over.my.house.}

3) I have naturally curly/wavy hair.  I don't like how it looks curly, so when it's long, I always have it back in a braid or some sort of messy bun.  When it's shorter or when I "go out", I always flat iron it.  I'm a pretty low maintenance kind of gal, so I d-e-s-p-i-s-e doing my hair.  That predicament led me to try out a Brazilian Blowout treatment at a salon a couple weeks ago, when I chopped 8 inches off of my hair.  Now I am hooked!!  I can do my hair in 1/3 of the time, and without a flat iron!!!  Say whaaaaat?!?!

4) Speaking of low maintenance, I didn't start wearing makeup until about a year or two into working at my "big girl" job.  I mean, I always wore mascara and chap stick/lip gloss, but that's about it.  And I'm still horrible at the whole makeup thing.  Grrrrrr.

5) Often, I'll bust out singing parts of whatever song I heard last.  I'm a horrible singer, but it's fun and I crack myself up.

6) I also LOVEEE to dance.  Whether I'm painting, cleaning, shopping or whatever...if there is music, I'm dancing!

7) Sometimes I really miss playing competitive sports.  I played basketball, field hockey and softball.

8) I love sparkly things...not tacky sparkly, but pretty sparkly.  My grandmother used to call me the Glitz and Glitter Girl.

9) I'm claustrophobic...which makes me hate flying.  Do.not.like.to.be.trapped.in.tiny.cabins.with.no.leg.room.

10) I can't stand commuting.  I "only" did it for 5 years, but it was 4 3/4 too many.  {PS-thank gosh we moved close to work since gas prices are predicted to climb towards $5/gallon.  AWFUL.}

11) I didn't believe in soul-mates until I met my husband.  I truly believe we were made for each other.

Answers to Brandi's Questions:

1. What are your weird habits?

-I am like a little kid, and sit all curled up 90% of the time.  I'm always in a little ball on the couch or on my chair.  It's the most comfy for me.

2. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

-Hawaii.  I love the beach and warm weather.  Plus, the pictures I have seen are PHENOMENAL!  I would just need to be drugged to fly there and back. ;)

3. How would you define your style (pictures are fine)?

-In terms of my home...eclectic, contemporary country.  I'm pretty sure I just made that style up, but I think it defines my taste pretty well.

4. What’s your favorite animal?

-My adorable fur baby, Perny!

5. Do you have any phobias? If so, what are they?

-I'm claustrophobic.  I HATE being in confined spaces.  And I hate all bugs, especially spiders, although I wouldn't consider it bad enough to be a phobia.

6. What would you do with 10 million dollars?

-Pay off our mortgage, our families' mortgages, landscape our yard, finish our basement, put a porch on the front of our home, make our screened in porch a lovely sun room and invest/save the rest for my kid's future and any family uncertainties.

7. What made you decide to start blogging?

-I wanted to document the transformation of our home and keep my parents involved in the process even though they are 12 hours away.

8. If you could offer one piece of advice, what would it be?

-Stop wishing for all the things you don't have, and appreciate what you do have!

9. If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for?

-Health and happiness for my family, life-long financial security and the ability to keep my loved ones around me for as long as I live.

10. Where do you live (like state or city)?

-New Jersey {And no, we are nothing like the Jersey Shore cast members!!!!!!!}

11. What’s your favorite hobby?

-Spending QT with my hubby. :)

Questions for My Tagged Bloggers:

1) Where do you live?

2) Where is the furthest place you have traveled to?

3) Warm weather or cold weather, and why?

4) What is your day job?

5) If you hit the lottery, would you quit your day job?

6) What is your favorite food?

7) What are the 3 most played songs on your iPod right now?

8) If you could meet any celebrity, who would it be?

9) What is your favorite TV show?  Or do you not watch TV at all?

10) If you could redo one area in your home, what would it be?

11) What is your go-to store for home decor?

Tag You're It:

Yes, yes...I'm aware this isn't 11 bloggers.  I'm just not that cool, and my other peeps were already tagged by Brandi. :) 

Amy @ Buffalo Roam

Ashley @ Attempts at Domestication {Don't feel like you have to post...I know you are B-U-S-Y!!}

Melissa @ Living Beautifully

Regan @ Renovating Rothenbergers

Kathryn @ Makin' It In Memphis

John @ Our Home from Scratch

Kristen @ Turning a House into a Home

Small Tweak

It's been a couple months since I made a small tweak to a pair of bar stools I picked up off Craigslist for $20.  They were in great shape, but the cushions were a boring shade of tan and the suede was slightly worn.  I decided to give them a little facelift by switching out the suede for some aqua velvet.  I love the combo of the espresso next to the soft blue.  And as much as I adored the new stools, I forgot to give them their 15 minutes of fame because I was so distracted by the holidays and company that were just a day away.  {Yup, I was watching TBS's marathon of A Christmas Story as I covered these babies.} 

So here is their long awaited time to shine.  Our drab stools went from this...{yup, totally forgot to take close-up before pictures, so bear with me and play Where's Waldo to find the stool in the pictures}...

To this!

Ahhhh, much better and way less expensive than buying something new!

PS - our rental dumpster was delivered!  Time to clear out the house!!!!!  Hope everyone has an awesome and productive weekend! :)

One Decision Down, A Bagillion To Go

Well cross another thing off my list...I have finally selected a fabric to make our living/dining room curtains.  And the funny part is, I have come full circle in doing so.

About a week before Christmas, my Mom and I went shopping at Calico Corners to check out some fabric for various things around the house.  I needed something to re-cover the dining room chairs, to re-cover the bar stools, to make a shade for the kitchen window and to make curtains for the living/dining room area.

While at the store, we found all the perfect fabrics, but they weren't the most affordable options.  One of the most expensive fabrics was the one we loved for the curtains, and after calculating how many yards we'd need times the cost per yard, I almost started crying.  I realized that it just wasn't financially responsible to buy the fabric to make the curtains, so I skipped that project, and purchased the rest.

Fast forward a couple weeks, and I started getting antsy for curtains.  I wanted touches that would make our space feel warm and cozy...aka rugs and curtains.  And while that perfect/affordable rug still seems to escape me, I have finally decided on a curtain fabric!  And it's the exact same one I wanted in the store, all those weeks ago.

I had been searching online for a fabric to go with my gray and aqua color scheme, but also with a punch of yellow or grellow.  I was sending my Mom some fabric options I'd come across, and finally she brought up that the fabric in CC was exactly what I had been searching for this whole time.  She was definitely right!

The only problem was, the price was still higher than I wanted to pay.  I'm talking more than double what I was hoping to pay.  So to offset the cost, I shopped around until I found the lowest price, plus I got a 15% off coupon code and free shipping!  Then I decided to cut the width of the fabric in half, giving me two panels from the same length of fabric.  FYI, we never plan on covering our windows with the curtains.  For that purpose, we'll get the same light and airy, off-the-shelf blinds we purchased from Home Depot for our bathrooms and bedrooms.  The curtains are strictly a decorative touch!

So here is the fabric...{I'm sure you've all seen it before on Target's slipper chair}...Thomas Paul's Dahlia in Aegean!

And it'll be hung by satin nickel curtain clips on Martha Stewart Living's Crystal Ball Drapery Rod.  I got two of these from Home Decorators with a 10% off coupon and free shipping!

I can't wait to see how this project turns out.  I am hoping that the curtains look as good as I am picturing in my head! :)

Rent-A-Dumpster

{How's that for a feel good day-after-Valentine's Day title?  Haha.}

If you couldn't guess by the headline of my post, I am shopping around for a dumpster.  I am on mission organization...and a huge part of that organization is going to start with purging the stuff that we do not need.  I am talking about clothing, paperwork, movies, furniture, boxes of stuff that I don't even know whats in it because we haven't opened it up since we moved, the first time.  {Seriously...we still have boxes that we haven't opened since we moved from the townhouse to my in-laws, and then from my in-laws into our new house.}  So my new motto...if we don't use it, we're gonna lose it!

I'm going to divide our stuff into keep, sell/donate and toss piles.  And it'll make our lives that much easier if we have a dumpster to catch everything that goes into the toss pile.

This sudden need to purge is happening for a couple reasons.  1) My parents are coming up this weekend and we plan to paint our basement.  That task will be SO much easier if we don't have mounds of boxes in the way.  2) I am a very neat and organized person.  I like things to have a place and to be in their place.  Right now, nothing has a place, and it's causing things to be so unorganized.  When we moved in, we just shoved things into drawers and closets so we could start to live in our house.  All of that mess has been causing me to slowly lose my mind haha.  3) If I do a spring cleaning of our house, maybeee I can will the Springtime to arrive that much sooner!!!  Okay, clearly that's just wishful thinking...but a girl can dream, can't she?!?

So after some Internet browsing I managed to check out about 7 different dumpster rental services.  I found the company with the lowest prices, and they shockingly had the best terms for our needs.  They'll drop it off the size dumpster we want, leave it for up to two weeks and haul it away...all while letting me order online using PayPal {yay for not having to call and talk to strangers...I hate doing that, and get all awkward}.  They can also deliver it same day you order in most situations.  A couple stipulations...if we are over on the weight limit, we get charged an extra fee per ton that we go over, and if we keep the dumpster for longer than two weeks, we get charged extra per day that it stays in our driveway. 

It all sounds pretty peachy to me!  Now I just need to figure out what day I want our giant garbage can to arrive.  Hmmmmmm.....

Sneak Peek! {Part Three}

Welp, here is the third and final sneak peek at our bedrooms {since we purged one to create our master en suite}.  I wish our master bedroom was more masterful, but like every other room in our house, we just haven’t gotten there yet.

A huge reason behind our blah bedroom has to do with my lack of effort to refinish the bedroom furniture I purchased off Craigslist.  Since we splurged and got a new king-sized bed, I was determined to save money on the rest of the furniture for our room.  I scored an awesome mid-century modern bedroom set {solid wood, dove-tailed drawers} for only $200!!!  Not too shabby if I do say so myself!  Included in that was an armoire, a long dresser and two nightstands.

And if there was any doubt as to how well this set was made, I surely found out while desperately trying to sand through all the layers and layers of protective varnish on it.  My goal was to sand everything off, get down to the bare wood and stain the pieces a darker, more modern color that suits our tastes.

Well it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R just to get through the two nightstands {did that back in October-ish??}…so I have totally put off working on the two much larger pieces.  Now I am thinking I may just paint the set {I know, I know…some people shudder at the thought of me painting real wood}, so I don’t need to spend days of my life sanding.

And because of the embarrassing laziness I just described, you can easily assume that we do not have any of that furniture in our room yet.  In it’s place, we have pieces from our old bedroom set so the room could be functional for us until I get my booty in gear.

That darn furniture aside, we have come a long way from where we started. 

Peeking into the room from the hallway...

Former master bath door...

Other side of the room...

View back towards the hallway and door to smaller closet #1 on the right...

We replaced all the doors and windows, closed off entrances and opened up others, installed pot lights and a fandelier, removed wallpaper and painted the walls, refinished the floors and got a new bed.

View in from the hallway...

And again...

One more time...

Our duvet cover was in the wash at this point...and our laundry basket is on the floor...keepin' it real haaa...

View towards the hallway and the master closets/bathroom...

Sorry...the lighting is messed up in this picture {I'm terrible with a camera...booo me}...

Still left on the to-do list for the master bedroom…refinish our craigslist furniture, put together my jewelry storage area {finally came up with a plan for that…can’t wait}, hang our mirror, get a rug, repaint our walls that were supposed to be grey-ish and instead look tan, possibly stencil our accent wall, and add lots of other decorative touches.

Happy Fridayyyyyy! :)

Sneak Peek! {Part Two}

Today's post is a peek at guest bedroom #2.  When you see this bedroom, you'll understand why I have kept it hidden {well, until now}.  It is quite underwhelming and literally has NOTHING going on in it.  On a daily basis, I hunt through Craigslist ads for the perfect nightstands to refinish for this room...but so far, I have had no luck.

So even though this may be the most boring reveal ever {are you on the edge of your seat}, I'm going through with it because I promised myself I'd show our progress in real time.

So here is what the room looked like when we moved in...

View of the little corner in the hallway...and into the bedroom...

Further into the room...

View from the other side of the room...

And here is how the space looks after the floors were refinished...the blinds were hung...the walls were painted...a ceiling fan/light was hung...doors and windows were replaced...and a new bed and bedding were put in place.

View from the hallway...

Further into the room...

Queen bed and bedding...

View from the other side...

And again...

View from the corner...

One day, this will be a serene little escape for our house guests...until then, at least they have a place to sleep, right?!?!?  :)

Sneak Peek! {Part One}

While I was cleaning our house over the weekend, I realized that I have not shared any of our bedrooms with you guys.  Well, that is going to change this week...I'm going to give you guys a little peek into each space.  Please keep in mind that the rooms are so very bare in all these pictures.  I just want to share some real time updates of all the spaces in our casa.

Today I'm starting with guest bedroom #1 {better known as my parent's bedroom when they come visit}.  I love the color combo of yellow and grey in this tiny 10 x 11 room.  Okay, okay...maybe it's not "tiny", but it feels that way since we put a queen bed in there.

Here are a couple before pictures to refresh your memory as to what the space used to look like...

Entering the room from the hallway...

The big windows that let so much light in this room...

The surprisingly large closet {there's lots of space in both directions in that closet that you can't see from this picture}...

And here is the room today, after painting the room and the inside of the closet...replacing the doors, door hardware and windows...refinishing the hardwood floors...hanging blinds...putting a queen bed with new bedding in place...refinishing Craiglisted end tables to serve as nightstands...and buying some new lamps.  Oh, and I wasn't sure I was going to keep the lamps, which is why the tags are still hanging on them.  Please disregard. :)

Walking into the room from the hallway...

 Stepping into the room {yup, our little fluff ball loves being the in pictures}...

 The pretty duvet that inspired the paint color for my bedside tables....

From straight on...yes, it's not centered on the wall because of the space needed to swing open the closest door...

Standing by the windows...

From the corner of the room...

So that's the progress on guest bedroom #1 so far.  I can't wait to add more finishing touches to this space over time!

Up tomorrow...guest bedroom #2!  {Isn't the suspense killing you?!?!?  Haaaaaaa.  Totally joking.}

Q & A Quickie...

A short while ago, I was lucky enough to be featured on Better After.  This little appearance got our newly-made-over-kitchen some attention, and it also gave rise to a couple reader questions.  I promised to answer them quickly…and I apologize for my slow response time.  My blogging has been very poor as of late, and I feel awful about it.  {Forgive me?!?!?!}

So back to the reason for this post…answers to the burning {yes, that was sarcasm} questions that my super amazing readers {I love each and every one of you} have!

Q) What is the aqua color on our kitchen walls?

A) Cool Jazz by Behr

I plan to paint a buffet that I scored on Craiglist {that will go in the dining room} Sweet Rhapsody, the color below Cool Jazz on the paint swatch.  Yes, it might be obnoxious, but I’m hoping it reads as fun and pops nicely off our gray walls.  I guess we’ll see! ;)

Q) What is the gray color on our living room/dining room/hallway walls?

A) Gentle Rain by Behr  {Btw, LOVE this color on our walls.}

Q) Where did I get the chandelier that hangs over our dining room table?

A) I bought it from Overstock.com, with a coupon.  It is the Linear 5-light 38” Bar Pendant Crystal Chandelier.  {Side note, it’s even prettier in person.}

Q) Where did I get the aqua pendants over our island?

A) I bought the Colored Seeded Glass Pendants from from Shades of Light.  They were a definite splurge {$159/each}, but I got 10% off initially and then I received another 5% off on top of that.  They also come in clear and a beautiful green color. 

FYI, they call for 60 watt bulbs, but we found they gave off the perfect light when we used 40 watt bulbs.  The seeded glass creates an amazing pattern above the pendants on the ceiling.  Definitely one of my favorite parts of our kitchen!!

Q) What type of hardwood floors do we have?

A) They are the original oak floors that were in the house when we bought it.  The hardwood floors were everywhere {including the closets}, except for the kitchen and bathrooms.  We decided to have unfinished oak laid in the kitchen {after we pulled up the old linoleum} while we were patching other areas of the floor.  Then we had all the floors sanded and stained using Minwax’s Jacobean, with a Satin finish.  I couldn’t love our floors anymore…they are just what I envisioned!

Q) Did I ever consider putting our cabinet pulls horizontally vs. vertically?

A) I did for a hot second, but then I realized I’m not the biggest fan of how it looks that way.  I like the lines created by placing them up and down on our ceiling height cabinets.  I’m a fan of anything that helps maintain the illusion of height in our house, since we only have 8 ft. ceilings.

Q) What process did we use to paint our kitchen cabinets?

A) Here is a quick recap…

                -Used TSP to clean them, inside and outside.

                -Primed the inside with an oil-based primer, then double coated the insides with two coats of latex

                paint

                -Removed the old knobs and filled in the holes with wood putty

                -Numbered each door and took pictures of them with their numbers shown, so we knew              

                which doors went where

                -Drilled holes for the new hardware {so this didn’t need to be done on newly painted doors but   

                I had to do it on a few doors anyway}

                -Removed the hinges and screws, keeping them safely secured in zip lock bags

                -Sanded the cabinet doors and used a liquid deglosser on the cabinet frames

                -Spray primed and spray painted all cabinet hinges and screws since we were re-using them

                -Primed the cabinet doors and frames {using Behr’s Enamel Undercoater Primer and Sealer} 
                -Painted two coats of white paint on the cabinet doors and frames

                -Waited for everything to cure and harden

                -Re-hung all doors

                -Installed new hardware

It definitely wasn’t an easy process, but the results are SO.VERY.WORTH.IT.  So be as patient as possible, and stick to it!!

Any other questions, comments etc?!?  Just let me know!  I'd love to fill you in! :)

Cross That Off The List!

When it comes to buying the one million things I need {okay, mayyybe the word I’m looking for is “want”} for our home, I often run into the same problems over and over again.  The first problem…a lack of money, and the second problem…the item never seems to be exactly what I had in mind.

This usually means that I spend a whole lot of time tracking down pieces for the house.  I'm definitely not one to lose patience and buy something just to get the hunt over with.  I love researching and dreaming up what to put into our home.  And more than that, I love finding amazing deals and awesome pieces to re-purpose for our casa.

This brings me to one of the pieces I have been on a mad search for.  I looked high and low and could NOT seem to find the right ottoman for our living room.  I had several requirements for this piece.  I wanted it to be:

-white, or white-ish

-leather {bonded or otherwise, so that I could easily wipe it off…this piece is going to double as a coffee table, so a drink or appetizer might drop/drip on it}

-round so people could easily move around it to the couch

-between 27” and 30” so it’d fit nicely in the nook our couch creates

-have storage capabilities

-within my budget

Yes, I had high expectations for this one piece of furniture.  I hunted and hunted and nothing seemed to fit the bill, until I came across an ottoman on Overstock.com that met 4 out of the 6 requirements.  I loved that it hit all the major items on my list, except for the storage.  But when I take a step back, I realize that storage shouldn't be that high on my criteria list because we have plenty of it in our home.  This little ottoman would not be making or breaking our storage solutions.  Plus, I had just received an O.co 10% off coupon earlier in the week.  I took it as a sign.  I had to compromise {with myself haha} and I went ahead and bought it.

This guy went into my virtual shopping cart, and before I knew it, it had arrived on our door step. 

I took it out of the box and saw that it had been neatly wrapped in a cloth bag that a more expensive purse might come in.  I had to attach the legs myself, but they provided a wrench to do so.  The legs were heavy and sturdy.  They had plastic pegs on the bottom of the wood legs, to maybe help protect the floors?  To me, they wouldn’t do.  I took out my trusty “Whole Home Felt Pad” kit and tried to put them on the legs.  I quickly saw that the thickness of the plastic pegs plus the thickness of the felt pads would make for an unstable ottoman.  I used a butter knife and popped all the plastic pegs off the legs.  Then I put the felt pads back on and they were perfect.  {I had pictures of this whole process, but I managed to delete them off my iPhone.  I totally thought I had copied them to a folder on my computer first, but I didn’t.  Oooops!  Here is the only picture I have of our newest addition to our living room.  Yes, the tag for the ottoman is still attached and dangling in the left-hand corner.  Please disregard hehe.} 

I know it’s still INCREDIBLY bare in there.  I’m working on it…as fast as I can while working a normal 8:30 – 5 job.  Believe me...it's driving me nutso to not have a homey, decorated home already!!

The ottoman definitely hasn't been the only thing I'm struggling with.  I am having a very tough time with rugs.  I have a few that I love, but they have been out-of-stock for forever, or they are out of my price range.

On my to-do list is also refinishing a bunch of pieces I have in our garage and basement, putting together some art for the walls, purchasing the fabric I finallyyyyy settled on for our curtains, sewing those curtains, spray painting frames from Home Goods, painting the barn door, oh and the list goes on and on....

And I'm not sure when all of this will get done and revealed to you guys.  Especially since I'm having some awesome friends over for dinner on Saturday and then on Sunday for the Super Bowl.  I hope you guys all have a fun-filled weekend!  GO GIANTS!!!!! :)