Settling In: Living Room

We are finally getting around to decorating our new home.  We painted some rooms shortly after moving in, but that's about it.  I'm pretty sure exhaustion took over with all the unpacking and settling going on.

Here's a little reminder of what the room looks like....



We originally thought we'd buy six Ribba frames from Ikea so we did a mock up over the couch to see what it would look like.

Then we talked about what we'd put in the six frames, but we couldn't pinpoint something that we both liked.  I was leaning more towards something like this to focus on textures and patterns.  My husband, Casey, had the idea of breaking up a large portrait into a series (something like this).  We both agreed that we liked the overall size of hanging the six frames, but would be okay with one solid piece too.  We knew this wall needed a lot of impact as it was the main focus when people walked into our home.  We found this great mirror at Ikea ages ago, and I swore it would never go here, but in the end, I had to admit to the fact that it works.  (I worry that people will be caught off guard seeing their reflection first when walking into our home).  It works here though because of the thick frame and it makes this small living room appear so much larger.





Luckily when we moved into this home, I loved the window treatments and since they match very well with our style and color palette.  We are still working on the styling of the space, but here's a glimpse what else we've added to the room.



These are frames that we had on hand and felt they anchored the chair to the ground. We'll switch out the pictures eventually (we've had these same pictures in the frames for over 5 years so we're ready for a change).



I wouldn't say this space is completed by any means, but I think we're off to a good start.  If you need styling tips for bookshelves (I know I do!), Jenny with Little Green Notebook has some great inspiration and tips.

|Sources: Bench- Pier 1; Bookshelf- Crate & Barrel; Black Leather Chair- Slumberland; Lamps- Target; Mirror- Ikea; Picture above Bench- Home Goods|

Before & After: Kitchen Decluttering

I was busy the other day making over the top of our cabinets and countertops. It was started too look a little too cluttered. Here's the before:

And here's the after:

Little things like this can make such a difference!

We're Making Progress!

Last time you saw our bathroom, it looked something like this:

Well, we've been busy around here, and our bathroom now looks like this:

We have a few minor touches to finish (the baseboard trim and adding a little decor), but we are so, so close!

A couple things I learned on this project:

1. Hire a plumber and save yourself the headache.  We had a plumber come around when we first bought the house about 5 years ago to prep everything, and then brought him back to hook everything up.  It only took him about an hour and a half, and it probably would have taken us 4-6 hours to figure out what we were doing.


2. We bought the shower before finishing off the rest of the basement so we could buy a one piece shower instead of a three-piece.  It pretty much means that maintenance will be a piece of cake.

Now this is my son's favorite bathroom.  For a newly potty trained boy it doesn't take much for us to get excited around here!

Checking Things Off Our Rezi List

Remember our Rezi List?  We are working hard at crossing things off it as quickly as we can.  This weekend, we tackled the kitchen sink.  Here's what it looked like before we started.

See the tainted faucet?  I got a little over zealous in cleaning the faucet by using a harsh cleaner (that was after this cleaning).  It not only ruined the faucet, but it left our stainless steel sink looking streaky.  As if the sink weren't hard enough to keep looking clean!  So we decided to get a new sink that was bigger and better than what we had.

Then, before we even started looking, my parents redid their entire kitchen.  Top to bottom.  They had a great looking sink that was in mint condition that they wanted to get rid of.  We told them we could easily take it off their hands.  And that's just what we did.  All we had to do was switch out the drains and we were good to go.  {Side note: my parents are not fans of having a garbage disposal so we had to swap out one of their drains for our existing garbage disposal.}

So my husband and brother-in-law worked as hard as they could to loosen the existing drains.  After using about every special tool in their bucket, and a trip into town later, this is what we were left with.

It broke right in half.  Unfortunately the stubborn drain wouldn't come free.  We're not quite sure why as our stainless steel sink was a piece of cake to work on.  So, another "quick" trip into town to pick out a sink and this is the end result.

A beautiful deep sink with a nice new faucet.  Did you notice the matching soap dispenser too?  We love our new sink.... even if things didn't quite go as expected!

Before & After: Kid's Bedrooms

Elizabeth Meyerson from Gambi Design sent over two child bedroom transformations.

The first bedroom is a shared bedroom by two children. Does this storage system look familiar to any of you?  Toys stacked on top of each other, filling every nook and cranny possible.

The transformation is amazing!  Don't you agree?  The toy storage is neatly tucked away behind closed doors, and most of the exposed elements are in organized baskets.  I love the color choices too.



This second bedroom was designed for a young boy.  I love what an impact a change in window treatments made.  I also love the new desk and storage system.





What do you think of these transformations?  Is there anything you would add?

Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth!  If you have any before and afters you'd like to share, please send them to admin AT freshnestdesign DOT com.

DIY Tile Floor

Did your weekend zoom by as fast as mine did?  I'm happy Thanksgiving is this week... I'm looking forward to a long weekend and time with family.  And good food too.  And maybe a nap or two.

We spent our weekend finishing up our tile floor in the bathroom downstairs.  And by we I mean my husband and my brother-in-law, Corey.  All I did was keep the kids fed and happy.  {Which is no small chore these days!}

Here's what our floor looked like before the tile was laid.

Nothing fancy.  It's just a concrete floor.

And here's the start of the layout of tile.a

Now we're getting somewhere.

And here is the final picture of the floor, with grout and sealed.

{I apologize for the poor image quality.... as you can see we have little lighting down there right now - the dark patches on the side of the last picture are due to poor lighting- they really aren't there}.

You will notice in newer homes, many builders put a lighter grout color because the high contrast looks really nice.  But after they have an open house or two, you might start to see it picking up dirt, or traffic patterns.  That's why we went with a middle of the road grout color {mocha}.  It's so much easier to keep looking clean.

Next up in the bathroom: A final coat of paint and everything else.  This is what we call one of our nickel and dime projects.  We like to pay cold hard cash for our home projects and since finishing a bathroom isn't really a cheap project, we have to do a little bit here, a little bit there so we can pay as we go.  Luckily we are able to do most everything ourselves {we hired a plumber to get everything ready, but we can handle everything else} and that saves us a lot of dough.

Have you finished projects like this in your home?  Or are there things on your list that you have to work on?

Foyer Makeover

When I ran across this foyer from Jessica I knew I had to share it with you!  She's done an amazing job of renovating and decorating the foyer in her home.

Before:  It was dark, and the mantle didn't really stand out and demand to be noticed.



After: What a cozy entrance into her home!  Color has been added and that gorgeous wood mantle looks awesome!  I love that she wasn't afraid to paint the brick and I especially love the chalkboard in the fireplace with the fire drawn on it!

Before & After: Sunroom

Fresh Nest reader and fellow blogger at The Cape On The Corner sent over this gorgeous transformation of their sunroom.  In their own words:

What started with orange and brown shag carpeting, wood paneling, and zero outlets for lighting is now bright, airy, and filled with outlets for lighting or any other necessities!  It is my favorite place to be!

And we can see why!

Here is the before picture:

Here are some after pictures:

I absolutely love all the new windows, and the color scheme.

And a couple other reasons I love the transformation is because it was done on a budget.  The carpet is a remnant they received from a brother-in-law and the frame of the sofa was a dumpster dive find- they added cushions that their sister-in-law had.  They used paint that they had leftover, and the chairs were a steal of a deal at a garage sale.

You can find more details about the makeover on their blog, The Cape on the Corner.

Thanks for sharing and job well done!

Before & After: Master Bedroom

We love it when readers send in their redesigns.  Audra sent in her before and after pictures of her master bedroom and it doesn't disappoint.

Here is the before picture:

Audra transformed her master bedroom by adding some new curtains.

I love how she used a piece of ribbon to join the two fabrics together.  It adds a piece of contrast and masks the seam.  Genius!

Audra also dressed up the the space above her bed by using decorative pieces found in the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby.  All of which were less than $2!  They were a gold in color so she painted them a nice, refreshing blue.  Now that's what we like to hear!

Here's the after picture:

What a great transformation, at a great, great price!  Way to go, Audra!  To see more pictures of the room, head over to Audra's blog.

If you have something you'd like to share with us, shoot us an email at admin@freshnestdesign.com.

Before and After: Master Bedroom

This bedroom redesign from Jan is simply fabulous!  This is her room before:



It's coordinated and looks nice, but no longer reflected her style so she did a redeisgn.

Isn't it amazing?  She did most of it herself.  I'm in LOVE with the large tree graphic on the wall.  Be sure to visit her site for lots more after pictures.

Before & After: Laundry Room

Happy Monday everyone! Did you have a fun weekend?  I sure hope so.  My husband was back in town over the weekend and we hung all over each other all weekend.  It's like we were in college all over again.

I had a short list of honey-do's for him and it included helping me hang a couple things in our laundry room.  About a month ago, I mentioned how I was going to paint my laundry room.  And by golly, I did.

Here is the before picture.

The paint was an unwashable flat paint that wasn't tolerating my 2 year old and boxer dog very well.  {On a side note, did you know that Sherwin Williams makes a washable flat paint?  Genius, I tell you}.

In choosing a color, I knew I wanted something subtle and refreshing.  I started thinking some some blues would be nice, but in trying to keep a halfway consistent color palette throughout the house, I leaned towards a green color.

Here is the after picture:

You'll have to excuse my flashy pictures, but they were taken late last night.  The paint color I choose is Sherwin Williams Grassland {SW 6163}.  As I was painting, I feared that I had gone too minty, but luckly I stuck with it as I think it has a very calming character to it - which is the exact thing I wanted!

A couple of details on the wall hangings.  I found the mirror at a local thrift store for $10.  This is what it looked like when I bought it:

As much as I love a touch of gold these days, this was a little much so I spray painted it white.  As you know, I have a tendency to paint everything white.

And when we were shopping at Target this last week, I found this coat hanger on clearance for $9.

Only, when I checked out, it rang up at about $3.50.  Don't you just love it when that happens?  I knew the blue color wouldn't work, but I could easily spray paint it white, and save a few bucks.  {The competing coat hanger was $20 and it had a shelf above the hangers}.

A couple simple changes and my laundry room feels brand new!  All for a reasonable cost of about $40!