This past fall/winter/spring I have been working hard to get our living room completed.  Although i don't think we are FULLY done with this room (i am eyeing a spot in the corner for i nice painting and side chair), but I have enjoyed focusing on getting one room DONE.  

First how about a few before photos from when we bought this house two years ago:

Basically in this room, we raised the ceiling, dry walled the walls, took out wet bar and book case, tore out floors and added hard wood flooring (was carpet), and painted the fireplace.   All this was done in the 6 weeks before we moved into the home.

This is what it looked like when we moved in July of 2012:

And here we are today:

I am so thrilled with how this room has progressed and transformed.  My interior designer really helped me to find the pieces, colors, textures, and patterns that are SO me.  I think that is the hardest part when pulling an entire room together.

We kept the same couch we have had for a few years.  Our kids are still young and i don't want to spend money on another couch that will gain more water stains!    We added a mix of pillows from West Elm (patterns) and World Market (solid).   The two rugs are both from Pottery Barn.  I love the look of the two rugs and how it really anchors the room.   The turquoise cabinet is the newest addition to the room- it's from Ballard.

One of my favorite spots in our house-- this is an old Japanese desk that Todd's grandparents owned.  We have it behind the couch along with a West Elm deer head and a chair from Ballard.   The combo of antique and modern is so fun.

Eventually I would love a custom window seat pillow for the bay window, but for now I added these pillows from Ikea which I just love.    The window treatments are by Calico Corner in Indianapolis, and the shades are by Lowe's.

Looking towards the front door you will see this bookcase that I found at HomeGoods.  It's filled with my scrapbooks albums + items from HomeGoods (need to find a third orange paperweight).  The lamps are from West Elm (love).

Thank you for swinging by our living room today!! 

Project Life Week 19: Enlarged photos.

Today I am sharing Week 19 of my Project Life album: May 5-11.



I am loving enlarged photos right now and the huge impact it brings to a layout.  This particular photo is SO Jordan right now.  She is all about the chickens and loves to feed them, play with them, take care of them.   It's our everyday and this is just 100% HER.



I was able to use Elle's Studio's new collection Shine for this layout--- oh how I love the colors, the WOODGRAIN pattern, the wood veneers... everything.



My favorite source for 12x12 photo printing is Mpix.com.   They are pricey but the quality is incredible and they ship super fast!



Thanks for swinging by today!

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life are created by Becky and can be found here. You can read all of my Project Life posts here.

Project Life Week 17: Busy Season

Today I am sharing week 17 of Project Life which covers April 21-April 27.



This week easily came together as I used many pieces from Elle's Studio Everyday Moments.  It's so awesome when I spread comes together quickly (especially since the end of the school year seems to be SO busy for my family).   This is our busy season, and I REALLY need something quick and easy to help me put my spreads together.



I am slightly obsessed with that HELLO stamp in the Noteworthy Stamp set, can you tell?



You can still see the backside of the Easter Basket grass on this page (from last week).  Love having objects that show through to each side.



Oh and this is the week I burned my hand-- badly.   But that's another story for another time.  Let's just say that when you splash hot oil on your body, it hurts like you know what.

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life are created by Becky and can be found here. You can read all of my Project Life posts here.

Transformation.

Last weekend our private Christian school hosted an Auction on campus. I had the opportunity to serve on the decorating committee and this was our final product:

Seriously so proud of what our team pulled together.

The auction was held in the elementary gym last Saturday night.  Friday mid-day (32 hours pre event) it looked like this:

A typical gym!   (this was Jordan's Little 500 big wheel race:)

By Friday night, it had been transformed into the photo above.   And this is what I walked in to see on Saturday morning (below).

Transformed in such a short amount of time.

It really spoke to my heart about how God can change us.  He is in the business of molding us to look more like Him each and every day, once our hearts are willing.   If a gym can change to look like this in a few hours, there is no limits to what God can do in our hearts!

Saturday morning we added the floral centerpieces and place settings, set up the silent auction room (in cafeteria -- SO bummed i never took a photo!), and tied up loose ends around the buildings.   Then it was time to go home around around 3pm and get ready for the big night!!!!

Walking up to see this marquee was awesome!!!   Thanks to Sundown Gardens for donating the boxwood plants.

the awesome floral designs were created by whitni of betty blooms -- they were breathtaking!  (and almost a week later the centerpiece flowers still look perfect)

The chandelier piece was our key element in creating the atmosphere we were wanting.  Indy Event Rental made it all happen!

Thanks for letting me share this fun event with you!  I love volunteering/being at my kiddo's school!

Project Life Week 16: Easter week

Today's Project Life covers the week of April 14- April 20!

I've gotten behind in sharing my Project Life spreads (and blogging in general, ahem).  Life has been busy here!   This week I am sharing was Easter Week--- tons of great photos to share.   In addition to Easter activities we managed a trip to Illinois to visit family, and a trip to the zoo!  It's finally looking like spring in my Project Life album :)

As always, I used quite a bit of Elle's Studio goodies.  I used various items from the April 2014 kit, that AWESOME "hello stamp" (from the noteworthy stamp set), and tons of wood veneers (when in doubt add these as embellishments--- they are perfect and not overwhelming in the spread.)

A few extras I added was a portion of the map from our trip to the zoo, and the front of the church bulletin on Easter Sunday.   Can i just say how much I love the "He is Risen" card in Elle's April Kit?   Best card in the whole spread.  

Oh, and if you want to try the best deviled egg recipe ever, go here (it's GF too!)

Thanks for swinging by today!   Also linking up over at The Mom Creative Today (a great inspiration resource for Project Life). 

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life are created by Becky and can be found here. You can read all of my Project Life posts here.