Guest Bathroom

We had two bathrooms that used shower curtains at our last apartment, but only one here in our house. For our guest bathroom I definitely wanted to use the shower curtain we got as a wedding present, which is originally from Kohl's.

But first a before picture:

We painted the walls a light aqua shade (which we also used in the master bath).

I got this set of 4 connecting vases for under $5 from TJ Maxx. I filled the bottom with sand and used extra white flowers I had from another arrangement. I think it is so neat!

James added a hook to hang a hand towel on. I got this towel from TJ Maxx and was so excited since the colors matched the shower curtain really well!

The piece of artwork is from Kohl's.

We have two sinks so I added a soap pump at one and a toothbrush holder with a soap dish at the other. This bathroom won't get used all that much, but it looked way to bare without something at each sink!

I also put together this little set for guests to use.

This dark wood box is actually a napkin holder from Target! I used 2 washcloths and some travel toiletries we already had. The small vases are actually from the favors at my sisters bridal shower nearly 5 years ago! I just changed the ribbons and added q-tips to one and cotton balls to the other.

Still looking for:

A white garden stool to sit in the corner by the shower

More artwork for the walls

Light and airy curtain for the window above the toilet

Home Office Inspiration

Our third and smallest bedroom is designated as our home office space.

This is one of the only rooms that we didn't paint since we weren't really sure what all would end up in here. Currently we have a desk, file cabinet, old nightstand and dresser, and boxes full of our books. It is a completely boring mishmash.....BUT I have some plans in store for this space!!

1. COLOR

I'm thinking of painting just one accent wall to bring some color into the room!! Since it is small, with only 1 window I would like to keep the remaining walls the off-white builder color. I haven't decided on a color yet, but am thinking of a blue shade.

2. Bring in a daybed

The daybed I used for years growing up is currently in storage at my parents house. I'm planning to pull it out and give it a painting face lift. It is a white metal frame with gold accents. I'm hoping to spray the entire thing white and place it along the left wall with white and light blue bedding.

I found this pillow at Wal-mart and LOVED the colors and texture. Plus it only costs $10!

3. Book Shelves

Our desk right now is a black wood color and I would like to bring in 2 black book shelves for lots of storage. We both acquired lots of books throughout our graduate programs (plus I'm a librarian and LOVE to read) and we need amble storage and organization for all of them.

This simple/cheap book case will go next to the desk to store the bulk of our books.





While this cube organizer is actually intended for use in closets I think it would work perfectly along an accent wall with extra books and baskets.



Inspiration rooms:

This office by Centsational girl is lovely! I'm diggin the color scheme with blue, gray, and white. I also think the luxurious details like the chandelier, silver tray and satin pillows are nice touches to an office space.

I found this office designed by Vern Yip, on hgtv.com. I love the black furniture with white accents and small pops of color in the flowers.

I love the fun bright colors in this office. The space has a lot going on, but I love the built in bookshelves, overall color scheme and artwork on the wall!

The Loft

The space in our loft was pretty much instantly decorated. We simply painted the walls and then took all of our furniture from the living room in our apt. and just put it upstairs in the loft. Easy as pie!

Bur first, some before shots:

And the after:

We started out painting the walls a bright yellow color to keep things nice and sunny feeling in the room since there is no overhead light. The major piece of furniture in this room is our couch. James bought it from a wholesale furniture store 2 yrs. ago when he first moved to Indy and pretty much didn't have ANY furniture. He also got the set of 3 tables (coffee and 2 end) off of someone on craigslist for less than $50.

Last yr. when we moved into our apartment we added on the brown recliner from Value city for more comfy seating and purchased the area rug using target gift cards we got at our wedding.


The three pictures hanging on the wall above the couch are 'wanted' signs my sister put together for our western themed rehearsal dinner, which I framed in simple black frames from Michael's.

The TV stand is also something James got on the cheap from Target when he first moved here. The metal stand holding DVDs was purchased from bed, bath, and beyond using wedding gift cards once again!

There are still a few simple things I want to eventually spiff up in this room. I am interested in replacing the pillows that are on the couch. They were included in the purchase price and I hate how the patterned side is a scratchy material plus I would like something with a little more color and a bit more fun!

I also want to get a small basket to store things in on the coffee table. We have multiple remotes and game controllers that are always thrown on the coffee table. A basket is an easy place to just toss everything and helps things look tidier. It's all about convenience here!

Front 'Porch'

The small area by our front door I wouldn't really call a porch. It is more like a front stoop or something like that. I think there is just enough space for a small bistro table and 2 chairs, but I really don't think we would ever use them. Plus I simply didn't want to spend the money on that right now!!
This past weekend I thought it was looking a little bare and boring, so I set out to liven things up on the cheap!

We got this table from my parents last summer and who knows how long they had it for! It certainly has seen better days.

Nothing a sanding and some spray paint can't fix!

While that was drying I worked on planting some flowers I got from Lowe's into cheap-o planters using my $1 garden shovel from Target (I couldn't resist the pink handle!)

I definitely don't have a green thumb, so I tried to pay attention to the information on the planter cards and give them some space in their pots.

After:

It's nothing fancy, but it gives it some color!

I have a little something from my mom to hang up on the siding right above the table and would love to get a fun summery doormat. They have the cutest ones out at stores right now!

What a steal!

One thing that I have been spending a good deal of time looking for is an area rug for our great room. Because of the size of the room, I needed at least an 8x10 rug. Every single rug I found that I liked in that size was priced around $200 which was WAY more that I was hoping to spend.

On Saturday while James and I were at Lowe's buying materials for working on our yard, we decided to look at the rugs again since they have a HUGE selection. Well, lo and behold we found one we both liked on clearance for $150! We were planning on using a $10 off coupon plus the remaining money on a giftcard we got by cashing in our credit card reward points, so we thought this one was a great deal! But, when we went to actually get the rug they were sold out in the size we needed..NOOOOOOOOO!
The sales associate at Lowe's then checked other stores and said a store located about 25 mins. from our house had 3 in stock, but he couldn't guarantee that they were at the same price.....gah!

We ran home called them up and not only did they have 3 left, but they were $98!!!!!!! Uh, what?!! (I seriously thought the guy on the phone might have forgotten to say a 1 in front of those numbers) We printed off directions and trucked it to the other store. With our coupon and gift card we ended up only paying about $50 for this awesome rug:

I love that it has a print, but is still neutral. My first thought was that it would totally work when I wanted to change up the throw pillows and decor with the seasons and for holidays :)

Backyard

We spent a good portion of Saturday working on our backyard. Bright and early at 8AM we had a giant pile of dirt delivered.

The dirt in our backyard is full of small rocks and has a clay-like texture to it. We decided to put a layer of nice fresh dirt on top of the lawn to hopefully give the seed something to help it grow quickly!

Ready to work!

James did most of the work with the wheelbarrow, but I helped out raking the dirt smooth for a good amount of the almost 4hrs. it took to cover our whole back and side yard!

James then put new seed all over! We used a bluegrass/fescue mix. Not sure what exactly that means, but apparently it should make a nice lawn :)

The last step involved this:

We covered the whole lawn in hay which is said to help keep the dirt and seed in place when it rains.

Hopefully we will have plush green grass growing in the back before we know it. If only it can look as good as our front lawn, which James had to cut yesterday!

Powder Room

The powder room was one of the first places that I wanted to get mostly finished. Right after closing we tested a patch of green paint on the walls that we decided not to go with. It is our only bathroom downstairs and thus the main one anyone who is visiting would use. I was starting to get concerned that people were coming over and using this bathroom that had a random blob of green paint on the wall and not even a hand towel!
I don't have any good before pictures. I took this one mid-construction right after the sink had been installed (which is why it is so messy!)


This picture shows the powder rm. located directly off of the entry
Since it is a small space I wanted to keep the color bright. We went with a green shade:

In the corner I placed a vase that I picked up from TJ Maxx and filled with fake flowers from Joann Fabrics. You can also see a tiny bit of the light green bathroom rug I added. I looked around EVERYWHERE for the smallest rug in the right shade of green. I finally found this one at Kohls.

Above the toilet I had James hang a mini sized storage box for extra toilet paper and things. I wanted it to be small and have a glass door to keep the space feeling large.

It fits 2 rolls of toilet paper and a small storage box perfectly.

On top of the toilet I put some flowers from Michaels into a plain white vase I got from Target. And of course tissues!

And finally some hand towels from Meijer!

I'm still looking for some items to go on the walls. I'm thinking some prints in crisp white frames?