Blog Mentions

I am so tickled whenever I randomly come across an image from our wedding on other blogs. Here are some of the ones that I've found so far:

As seen on Santa Barbara Wedding Chic

I know it's small, but we're in the very bottom photo, as seen on Junebug Weddings

This one was the most flattering blog mention, because it was included among Junebug Weddings "Best from the Best" Fashion Report, the "most stunning images of 2008!" It is also currently used as our wedding photographer's blog heading.

Stay tuned for more finds. I know for a fact that there is a big one coming up, because we have been chosen as a featured wedding for the Junebug Weddings blog. Apparently, they love us.

Living room walls

I cannot decide how I want to paint the walls in the living room. I have gone back and forth on color ideas, from green to gray, back to green, to...purple? navy? No, I think I do want to stick with green, because it will look so nice with the brown walls of the adjacent dining room, but the bigger question is what green? Olive? Forest? Man, it is driving me crazy. I think I'm probably trying too hard to make the perfect choice (it is just paint, afterall), but it is the living room - the most used room - and the centerpiece of the house. It will be the first thing you see when you walk in the front door and you will see it when sitting down to eat. And more than anything else, I want to be comfortable when I sit down to watch t.v., and I happen to be someone who is just not comfortable in an imperfect space!

Here are some ideas I'm batting around:

First idea:

Image courtesy of Wall to Wall Stencils

This is a very library green; a green that you would see in a hunter's lodge in the English countryside or on a pool table in a classic old club. Even though it's a color on the cooler side of the color scale, there's a warmth that radiates from this kind of green.

Image courtesy of House Beautiful

Second idea:

Image courtesy of Wall to Wall Stencils

I see this as a more fashion-forward color; very Ralph Lauren safari chic. It also has military undertones, which can be sexy, if done right. I think olive could actually be a very ugly color, taken alone, but when surrounded by the right accessories, it would be beautiful.

Image courtesy of coco & kelley

I'm also considering something a little more unique, like wallpaper. Here is a sample that I love:

Image courtesy of Wallpapers to Go

With this in the living room, I would feel like I was always wearing an awesome nubby fall sweater or blazer (the kind with courdory elbow patches, you know?). However, it turns out that wallpaper is kinda expensive. Darn it! So here's another option:

Image courtesy of stencilease.com

It's actually a herringbone stencil! I would either do it in two shades of green (not too contrasting - I want it to be a subtle effect) or, even more subtly, one of those greens shown above with a high gloss urethane on top. I saw this done on HGTV once. Could be cool.

Closing Day

Yesterday, we closed on the house. Our first house. It was a very exciting moment.

I couldn't wait to start redecorating the entire place, so I began painting last night, even though I never paused to take "before" photographs for posterity. Because I know I am going to do a fabulous redo on this little house, I need you all to see where it started. Here are some pics from when it was listed for sale online. It's certainly far from awful, but a little too bland for us:

The kitchen:

Here are the problems with the kitchen: it's yellow, it's country, and the cabinets and countertops are cheap.

The dining room:

Problem: bland, boring, hospital-room mint green walls and vertical blinds on the sliding glass door to the backyard.

The living room:

Lots of problems: that couch (thankfully) was not left for us, but it is pretty indicative of the former owners' taste. Those plaid valances were left for us...all over the house. Now, I adore plaid, but not that one. And not against those beige walls. This room has a few more issues: it's kinda on the small side, there are no walls that don't have either a window or a doorway, so couch, t.v. and art placement will be challenging, and from the living room, you can see every other room on the first floor, so they are all going to have to coordinate.

The enclosed porch/bonus room:

The problems: I know that some people may see the wood paneling as a problem, but Mr. Marshall and I love that woodsy look! We're going to run with it and turn the room into a library/game room. The problems that we will have to address are the flooring (weird faux brick linoleum under a dirty beige carpet remnant) and the fact that there is very little wallspace (what with the windows and stairway rails).

The guest bedroom:

Problems: This was the former owners' master bedroom. How boring! But all it needs is paint...and I need to rip that emerald green wall-to-wall carpet the hell out!

The second bedroom:

Problems: not many. This room is sweet. It will eventually be our nursery, so we're going to hold off on decorating it, so that we don't have to do it twice.

The office:

Problems: they painted the walls to a neutral shade before they sold the house, so we don't have to deal with those stripes. The biggest problem is that this is a small room with no closet (so they shouldn't technically have been able to list it as a bedroom, which they did). Since it's gonna be Mr. Marshall's office, that's no real concern.

The attic:

Problems: the ratty, old carpet, the low ceiling (especially over the stairs), the lack of light in the stairway and the other unfinished half of the attic, with its mustiness and spiders and exposed insulation.

I'll show all these pics again once we're done redecorating. Luckily, redecorating is all we really need to do, since there are no major renovations needed.

Yay house!

All images courtesy of Zillow.com