My Christmas bins have all been pulled out this week and I’m busy decorating for the Holidays right now. Before we get all the way into Christmas, I thought y’all might like to see the main level of our new house and where we are now. I haven’t really shared all that much since we first moved in, but we’ve come a long way from where we were those first few weeks, especially with the changes in the dining room and living room.
These are all phone pics and later on I’ll do a real photoshoot with my big camera, but for now I wanted to share where we are in the house. And to make it really fun, I’m adding in some Before pics of when we first bought the house, so you can really appreciate the After shots!
Here’s the entry before.
Coming in the front door, I’ve added a few things to that area to make it a little interesting and Mark painted the front door the same color as our kitchen bar, Ben Moore Knoxville Gray, which we really love. That natural jute rug is from Target and it’s in my Shop my Home page if you’re interested. I recently added this to my top tab, so you can check out my home finds (and similar things to what I have and love) on there and I’ll be adding to it along the way.
Just a reminder of what this room looked like when we bought the house!
And After!
This cabinet was Mark’s and we finally got it in the living room space. We love this room and it’s so cozy in here with light coming in the windows and how open it is to the foyer and living room. Notice Mark’s antique lamps in the corners. Those are Art Deco style and he puts them together himself to make one of a kind lamps. I’ll share a few pics of them close up, but that’s one of his hobbies. He buys the parts off Ebay and then makes the lamps.
Loving those brown leather chairs that I dyed so much more in this deep brown color. And there’s a peek of the new light fixture from Lamps Plus. Looks so good in here!
It might be small, but it feels like a little jewel box when you’re in here. That’s my grandma’s old vintage table with a lamp on it that I’ve had for many years.
Still planning to get the sofa recovered soon. That glass table I’ve had awhile, from Pier One. Some thought it was too big in here too, but it’s really just fine. There’s no problem getting around the table and room to set things on it. And since it’s glass, it visually takes up less space. I may change some things out here later, but for now, we are quite happy with this space.
Here’s what I did with those black and white shells I found in Panama City while shopping down there. I found this brass bowl at Goodwill recently.
I had some comments on Facebook that the cabinet is too large for the room, but we don’t think so. It just adds a cozy feeling to the room and it’s the focal point now. I love the color against the navy walls and white trim. He’s had this piece for awhile and it came from Haverty’s several years ago. I can get into those lower cabinets just fine even though the sofa is partially in front of it. Mark is going to add lights to the cabinet and that will add even more ambience when we add things to it behind the glass.
This is the view from the sofa to the dining room and on into the kitchen.
Here’s a closer look at Mark’s lamps. He hunts down and find parts on Ebay and then puts them all together for a one of a kind Art Deco lamp, so they are all different. He’s got a special place he buys those glass shades too.
Each base is unique and he rewires them all too. He has a guy here locally who does the powder coated paint finish for him in a bronze color.
Aren’t they pretty?
I think he could get into the lamp making business and start selling these, although they wouldn’t be really inexpensive with all the time he puts into them.
They really are original works of art though and I think they look great in the corners of the living room.
Another view to the dining room and on into the family room beyond. We do love how open it all feels on the main level of our house.
Dining room view next door. We didn’t leave a pathway open from the living room to the dining room, because it’s so easy just to walk around the little wall into the dining room.
Here’s the way it looks from the dining room side looking to the living room. It all flows together and we really like how it all came together. You can see how tall the cabinet is in the living room, but it really anchors the room since the ceilings are tall.
View when we moved in!
And now! Another view to see how it works together. Notice that Mark added all that chunky molding around the door opening. It wasn’t there originally and it adds SO much to both spaces.
Dining room before
And after. You’ve see the dining room all finished and decorated for Thanksgiving. I linked those lamps on my Shop my Home page if you’re interested. But note, I got them at Homegoods for $60 each, not knowing that they are designer lamps and cost much more than that from other sources. I linked the best price I found! That was one of my great shopping moments when I found those. I seem to stumble on great deals when I least expect it!
Stairs before.
A look at the stairs and foyer After.
And here’s a good shot of the new foyer lantern fixture and top of the stairs lighting (by Quoizel) from Lamps Plus. We just love the new fixtures and how much they change the house! Lighting changes everything, in my opinion!
This Larkin foyer fixture from Lamps Plus is huge at 4′ tall! When we got it out of the box and put it together it looked SO huge, but once installed it looks fantastic hanging up there. We did have to hire an eletrician to hang this big boy!
Lamps Plus sponsored several fixtures in our house and I’ll share them as I take pics along the way.
Nice long hallway to the family room with the living and dining rooms off to the right.
I wanted a long and skinny console table and found this one from Joss and Main from Hooker. I really love it here and I brought in one of my Queen Anne chairs that I had in my old living room to anchor this wall.
I found this glass and brass lamp for $5 at a designer sale a few weeks ago. It was a warehouse sale that I got in on here in my area. I added in my blue and white that I’ve been collecting for awhile, along with a few other things for a pretty vignette. This will change out with the seasons, I’m sure.
Family room before.
Looking into the family room. We switched rugs and added the teal zebra rug in here. This one is from Shaw rugs and not available anymore (darn it!). This space is still evolving, but I don’t think we will do much more in here as far as furniture goes. I do want to get a nice ottoman for in front of the sofa and still trying to decide shape and color on that. I don’t think we will add any sort of coffee table, as we like the openness of the room. I’ll change out the mantel seasonally too. And I’ve got bamboo blinds going on these windows soon as well.
It’s a cozy space and we enjoy how open it is to the kitchen.
Kitchen before.
I added a small garden stool in between the chairs for our party we had.
View of the windows. I brought all my plants in for the winter and put them behind the sofa for light.
And the TV cabinet on this wall along with Mark’s original watercolors he’s been collecting that we hung on the wall gallery style. We both love these water colors and the softness they bring to the room.
They are all winter scenes and we added these 3 on the opposite wall next to the bar.
Here’s a reminder of the kitchen Before! We just love the changes in the kitchen.
I did make this a little sitting area, as you can see. It just made sense to leave this comfy chair in here and I added a small side table that I got from the same designer sale. That cute table is a Hekman piece and was $100. You can see I ordered barstools too. These are from World Market and I ordered them when they had their furniture for 40% off. I’ll add them to my shop page. I had to put them together, but really like them.
Chair is from Birch Lane, I worked with them a couple of years ago and this is the Shephard chair from them. They have decent furniture for the price. I’m happy with this space and glad I just went with a chair and side table in here with my antique French buffet. With the addition of the bar stools, it would have been way too cluttered to try to put a table and chairs in here, which we wouldn’t use anyway.
I got a 5′ rug to go under the chair and I love how it anchors everything. Rug is from Rugs USA.
Looking back to the family room.
Kitchen before.
And into the kitchen through the dining room to living room.
Gray and white zebra fabric on the barstools. These are all wood and look really good.
Hallway from entry before.
And after, looking back down the hallway towards the front door.
Peeking down the stairs at the living room and dining room. We love this view every time we walk down the stairs.
You can see how it all flows together now and we are really loving how our home is turning out. We have lots more plans for updating things during the next year, so you’ll see lots more changes, big and small. We’ve done nothing in the bathrooms yet. I only have plastic shower curtains up in the 2 other bathrooms until I get a plan together to make them pretty.
Lots of changes, right? And all that in 3 months! We really love how much we’ve accomplished in such a short time. So far, we are really loving our new house, very happy with our decision and we are enjoying living in Acworth too!
Marcy Steele says
Beautiful!
Calypso in the Country says
Wow – you really transformed an already great space into a beautiful home! I love your colors and the new look in the kitchen – and now I couldn’t even imagine the living room/dining room without that gorgeous grasscloth wallpaper!
Cheers!
Shelley
Rhoda says
Thank you, we are so happy with it so far and I’m so glad I went for the grasscloth!
Daryl Kolator says
Thank you. I’ve been so curious to see how it all came together. So happy for you both. It is beautiful. I’ve been following your blog for a long time and love to read every post.
Rhoda says
Thank you, Daryl, I appreciate that!
Carol Calliari says
Beautifully done. Enjoy!
Judy says
Comfortable, welcoming, and beautiful.
Kay says
Everything is beautiful! Love the kitchen transformation! I really like your new light fixtures Ky(and Mark’s lamps) too!!
Patty says
I absolutely LOVE that cabinet. It is not too big, not too small but perfect for that space. The lamps are truly works of art. I’m so glad he uses old things and doesn’t just get rid of them. Beautiful Home
Rhoda says
Thank you, Patty, Mark’s lamps really are so unique and pretty and I’m very proud of his talents. We love that cabinet too!
Lisa says
I love the contrast in color with your painted front door. I was thinking about doing that with my white back door and also the door to the garage, but I was hesitant to do so because I couldn’t visualize it. But seeing yours spurs me on to get it done! Thanks for the inspiration! Everything is coming together beautifully in your home. I know y’all are having fun with it.
Rhoda says
Thank you, Lisa, we love how that door turned out too. In fact, I have plans to paint all our interior doors a darker color and not white. I just love the contrast of painted doors, just have to find the right color and that will happen next year.
Diane Cadenhead says
Oh Rhoda, It all looks so beautiful. You two are a perfect pair. And I don’t understand the comments about the scale of the furniture in your living room. I love the large piece Mark had and think it really anchors the room. Plus I always love a decent size coffee table because I like to be able to have my guests use it to set an appetizer upon or a glass in addition to the little side chairs. I think it is all lovely and looks so collected and eclectic.
Congratulations to you.
Rhoda says
Thank you, Diane, so appreciate that! When I posted a sneak peek on Facebook, a few people said they thought it was too big, but I think the majority agreed that it really makes the room. We think it totally makes the room feel cozy and like a little jewel box. Same thing on the coffee table, several didn’t like it or thought it was too big. But as I mentioned, we are trying to use what we have and so that room is not getting a huge makeover and I’m really happy with how it came out with what we already have.
Francis Moore says
It is beautiful. Love all your colors. Enjoy.
Martha says
You and Mark have done a wonderful job creating a beautiful and inviting home. I love your use of color and texture. If only the decorators of the huge designer homes could take some advice from you on how to decorate tastefully, but still have fun and color.
Rhoda says
Thank you, Martha, that is really sweet of you to say, although I don’t claim to be a real designer. I just do what I love and I think I’ve learned a lot just since I’ve been blogging.
Nita says
You and Mark together have done a fabulous job with your new home!!
Winnie says
Just beautiful and very cozy! The glass shades on Mark’s lamps are *gorgeous*! Wish I could find shades like that. I love your color choices. Well done!
Melanie says
Everything looks wonderful. I love Mark’s lamps and also his handiwork adding the moldings.
Rhonda says
Just beautiful! So happy for you and your life ahead. I have followed you for several years and you really shine! From one Marietta GA gal to another!
Rhoda says
Thank you, Rhonda, I really appreciate that!
Terry says
Love your home, Rhoda! You and Mark have done a beautiful job creating an inviting, liveable space. I’ve loved that teal zebra rug from afar; alas, it is not to be in my home. #sadface Looking forward to seeing your home in it’s Christmas splendor!
Rhoda says
Hi, Terry, yes that one is no longer available but I found a similar one on Wayfair:
http://rstyle.me/n/cu3h6hbme3f
KittyLuvr says
I love how your new home is a reflection of both your talents! Mark’s lamps are amazing…and what a great piece the large cabinet is! I can see why he wanted to incorporate that into your home. I think the colors are soft and pretty….a very different approach from your former home….but perfect for your new life! I always enjoying seeing the touches you add over time!
Rhoda says
THank you! It has been fun to incorporate both our tastes into this house and see how our things can mesh. I have more furniture than he did and so I’m very glad that this cabinet was such a good fit in our living room so we could use it.
Stacey says
Rhoda, it all looks amazing! You and Mark are a great match when it comes to making the house beautiful.
Cher Arment says
Rhoda, Everything is lovely! I cannot keep from going back to the living room and admiring Mark’s cabinet that is in there. It really brings warmth and coziness to the room and I absolutely love what you have done in there. The lamps are so unique and lovely. Thank you so much for inviting us in to see all that you and Mark have done. I do pray that you get over those nasty shingles quickly. A few years back I had then for 3 months. Needless to say, I got the shot!
Nanette says
Can you please share the dimensions of your entry way? I have a long and narrow entry way and I haven’t found anything that I like for the space. I ordered a Ballard’s narrow buffet cabinet but I think it was too heavy. I’m like how you added the chair it seems to help ground the space. I’m happy you are enjoying your new home!
Rhoda says
HI, Nanette, sure, from the front door to where the family room begins is 20′ and it’s 5′ wide.