Sad news, my computer has crashed.  It lived many wonderful, useful years, and was loved dearly.  So it’ll be a few weeks until I get to post more often.  Until then, check out some of my favorite links, and happy holidays!  I’ll post as soon as I get a new computer, hopefully next month.   I AM a computer geek…so you know I can’t stay away too long!

In the previous post you got to see my new living room.  Well, the next project is the bedrooms!  I really want to try to put together a comfortable place to not only sleep, but chill as well. 

I remember in high school I loved my bedroom.  It had everything - from music, tv, my phone, pictures, decor, books, all I needed to get away and chill.  Now that I’m older, I’m forgetting how to make my bedroom a place to relax and unwind.  I want a soothing, comforting feel when you walk into it, maybe “zen-like“.  Any ideas?  I haven’t even unpacked the bedroom yet…so here’s what we’re dealing with:

I’m really  not a fan of the double mirrored closets.  But they’re there!  Since I’m renting I really can’t do too much, so I need ideas on how to make it work.  I know the picture doesn’t really give much to work with, but I’m posting it anyway.  The bedrooms overwhelm me, I can’t motivate because I just don’t know where to start!  Please forgive the mess and the fake curtains…I’m currently hunting for new window treatments! lol

Ok so I apologize for not posting as much lately, but you know how busy moving makes you!  Yes, yes it’s been quite hectic these past couple weeks, but we’re finally starting to get settled in.  Still tons of work to do, especially in the bedrooms and bathroom, but the living room and kitchen are coming along great!  Here are a few pictures, check out our new red wall!

While I love our red wall, I feel like I need to brighten it up in there somehow…I don’t want it to be too dark or too red.  It’s hard though, with the new couches and brown carpet. 

Our old townhome (see earlier post) had lighter porcelain tile floors in the living room and white trim, so I think that helped.  The new place has brown carpet and wood trim, I’m hoping it’s not looking too “rustic“.  Any ideas?  Here’s a pic of our old townhome…

The picture below is our new townhome.  It really doesn’t do it’s justice, I’ve got candles everywhere and when it’s all nice and lit up, especially with the glow from the candles in the evenings, I’m in love.  But one MUST lighten this up some!  The majority of the living room walls are a khaki color…as shown in picture below:

Please excuse the messy boxes, I’m not done unpacking yet!  While unpacking, I’m also organizing things and throwing things out, so it’s taking a bit longer than normal to get settled.  However, I think when it’s all done, it’ll look great.  Wish me luck!

Feng Shui: “Design that considers the energy within your home, your belongings and even within yourself. The goal is to create a space that feels safe and supportive, while also speaking to who you are and hope to become.” - www.hgtv.com      

For years my friend Stephanie would talk to me about Feng Shui and I’d just look at her like she was nuts.  But the older I get, the more intrigued by it I become, as I could use a little order and organization in my life!  So why not at least look into it?  So here I am.  After researching some fun “feng shui” tips, I decided to share with you a few I found that I might actually use! 

1. Entryway - Don’t walk into a wall or dead end. If necessary, add a mirror to help visually expand the space.

2. Kitchen -  Make sure you can see the entrance of the kitchen when you’re cooking,  by hanging a mirror on your backsplash to reflect the room.

3. Living Room - Marry objects and face furniture together so they’re in relationship to one another.

4. Office -  Don’t sit with your back toward the office door.  (Wow, I just realized how “feng shui” my husband is when we go out to eat…he’s always got to be facing the door…lol). 

5. Bedroom - Use warm colors, flesh tones or red and pink to spice up the room and your romance. (I guess that answers my bedroom paint question! lol)

6. Bathroom - Add earth and fire elements. Get a list of suggestions here.

Just one tip per room, but there are several!  If you’re interested in learning more about Feng Shui, check out www.hgtv.com! 

Gotta run, on my way to find some wood, fire, earth, metal and water elements!  lol Riiiiight….

 Maybe neautral isn’t so bad?

Since we’ve moved to our new townhome, I’m really excited to make it ours.  My goal is to make it an inviting, warm and cozy home.  I want to get organized, and get it looking good!  However, since we’re renting, the question remains, to paint or not to paint? 

I absolutely love color, but will I love it so much when it’s time to move again and I have to paint all the walls back?  So I don’t want to go overboard, but it is important to me to add some touch of color where needed. 

I’ve already tackled the living room.  We painted the one accent wall in the living room red…and the rest a khaki color.  But now I’m twiddling my thumbs over the bathroom, hallways, and 2 bedrooms.  A lot of work ahead of me, so I just want to make sure I make the right decisions.  

Maybe color is the answer?

Since we have a lovely quilt that my grandma made for us for our wedding, I’d love to decorate around that.  It’s got ivory and green shades in it, so perhaps I should paint our bedroom accordingly, to help make it pop? 

Or being that there’s already color in the quilt, do I stray away from color on the walls?  Maybe one accent wall would be good, like shown in this picture.  I can’t decide.  And do I really want a green wall?  I like this shade, but feel it might be too dark for what I’m going for.  Why can’t I make up my mind? lol

Don’t even get me started on the other rooms.  In our bathroom we’ll have a pewter colored shower curtain, but the bathroom is already (kinda ugly) a marroon-brown theme.  So now what?  We are allowed to put new floor/wall tile in there as long as it’s neautral, but that won’t happen for a while (one thing at a time here!).  So I’m completely lost on that.

As for the guest room, I think we’ll definitely stick to neautral colors.  But not the same khaki color as the living room.  Something lighter, maybe.  As we don’t know if we’re making it a guest room or an office, depending on whether or not my sister decides to use the guest room furniture for her new place since she’s moving too.  I’d love to start planning a baby’s room in there, but if you know me, you know I’ll probably keep saying 3 or 4 more years for the next 3 or 4 more years…lol.  It’s not funny, really, but time’s flying by so quickly, I’ll already be 29 years old in January!  Maybe I should think baby’s room.  Eh, let’s wait on that.

So that leaves us with the hallways.  What to do, what to do.  Stick with white?  Or make it flow with the living room and do the same khaki color?  Then there’s the entryway.  Part of the living room, but do I do another red accent wall or keep it khaki???  I’m not good at this stuff.  I need suggestions, so if anyone has any, it’d be greatly appreciated! lol  Thanks for listening to me hymn and hawww….have a lovely!

What’s that you say?  Did you mention Feng Shui?  Let’s save that chat for another day.