Home Improvements in Progress

I wanted to share a few quick pictures of what we have been doing around here. I wish I had taken before and after pictures, but of course I didn't. Many of you have been to our house so you know what it looked like before.

Here are a few shots of our den. We pulled all the carpet out and replaced it with hardwood. Gene painted our mantel and mounted our TV above it. We love it. The den looks so much larger with the hardwood and with the entertainment center gone. The candles on each side of the TV are from my bedroom. They aren't staying. I put them there to get an idea of what I might like on each side and forgot to remove them before the picture. We are leaning toward some tall pottery type vases on each side to add some color. We will see. Our next goal in the den is to hopefully build some white book shelves on each side of the mantel and have a custom mantel built into those shelves. We want it to be one flush wall unit, rather than looking like we stuck shelves on the side of a mantel. We have talked to Benny Burton, a talented builder from our church, to do the job. Gene also needs to add some shoe molding at the base of the mantel until a new unit is built.

We also need to update our throw pillows. I just have not had the time to go shopping for some of the finishing touches, like the pillows, accent rugs, and whatever we will put on each side of the TV.

Here is a shot looking into our foyer. We need an accent rug in front of the front door and we are updating the foyer table from my Dad's furniture line for Christmas. That new piece will really dress up the foyer. We are also updating the foyer light fixture and the den ceiling fan/light.... probably for our anniversary gift in Sept. We found a set we really like at Home Depot. Hopefully, they will still be there in Sept. I didn't take a picture of our dining room floor because it is full of junk that still has not found a home.

Here is Gene's little corner. He sits here every morning drinking his coffee and reading the Word. His chair needs a more colorful pillow as well.

This is a picture of the wall in our den. It is a terrible picture because of all the sun streaming in the windows, but I wanted to show the wall because this is the next project. Nicole Evans is coming to the house after we get back from the beach to look at all of our colors and then make some custom window treatments for all of the den windows, maybe the kitchen windows too. She does fabulous work and really should have been an interior designer. We are waiting on her before we buy the additional accent pieces and accessories. We may let her help with that as well. You can also see a very empty corner to the right of the windows. This is where our entertainment center used to be. We are looking for a comfy chair with some kind of cool print for this area. Nicole may can help us with that too. Then of course, we will need a little table over there, and hey, I may have a new quiet time spot.

Here is our bedroom. We love the way the floors turned out in here. We want a large area rug in here and a leather storage bench/seat at the foot of the bed. We would also love new bedroom furniture, but that's not going to happen....just saying.

I have a nice little reading spot in our bedroom I really enjoy it too.
Well, that is it for now. We will be doing a little bit each month, so I will keep you posted on the changes.

I am going to pack, then hair appointment at 1:00, home for more packing, swimming lessons for Reagan at 4:00, dinner at Gene's parent's house at 6:00, and then back home to finish packing. I am so ready to head to the beach. I can taste the seafood now. I should have lots of great pictures when I return.

Until next week...