Home Tour {living room}

From some time I have really wanted to write posts about the updates we have done in our house. {Hence the button up above that says "my house" and when you click on it you get nothing!} What has really been keeping me from showcasing any rooms is that little last detail or small project that I haven't had time to complete yet... which seems to be the case for every single room.  Add to the incompleteness that the perfectionist inside of me says to not post anything about the room until it's all done and put together and resembles a page out of Better Homes & Gardens... I dream big. :)  So, that's why there is nothingness behind that button up there! **Update: By now I've got it all together & all the home tours can be found by clicking the "my house" button :)** But... nothing will make you actually finish little piddly projects & style your rooms more than putting your house up for sale! Since we have been prepping to do that, I can say we have actually completed a lot of those little projects around here, and, as a whole, the house has been cleaner than probably it's ever been! Plus we are going to try and sell the house by owner first, so I was the one responsible for taking the pictures of the house anyway.  Now I have pictures and cleanliness! No time like right before you move out to showcase it all anyway, right?!

First, here's the outside of our house...

 We haven't changed anything except landscaping on the outside of our home.

I'm going to start in order of what you see when you walk in the house, which would be the living room.  Our house is a side-to-side split or possibly a California split... I'm not sure on the exact details of what makes a house each of these but I've heard it referred to as both.
Here is the before picture of what it was like pretty much right after we bought it... {lots of tan, tan, & more tan!}

What we changed: We changed the tile on the fireplace surround {did ourselves with help from qualified family members}, added hardwood floors and stained them dark walnut {professionally done}, changed out the stair railings {professionally done}, put high traffic carpet on the stairs {professionally done}, and redecorated {done all by Caleb... haha, maybe in an alternative universe}.

Some details...

I put together the gallery wall within the last couple of months.  I actually decided to do it when I was trying to fill nail holes along this wall.  It might sound strange that I decided to hang a bunch of stuff after filling nail holes, but this is where my new favorite home product comes in... 3M picture hanging strips! I'll never use nails to hang regular pictures ever again! What a lifesaver that when I move I'll be taking all these pictures down with no holes to fill or touch up with paint!  I first heard about these picture hanging strips on the blog House Tweaking... she talks about them here.

The "Be still.." painting is one that I used a frame I already had, some pretty paper from Paper Source {the background is gold waves...which is why it makes sense}, white paint, a tiny paintbrush, and lots of hours to complete. :)  It is a line, actually the first line, from one of my favorite Chris Tomlin songs, I Lift My Hands.
The bright floral painting is one that I did. It is probably one of the very few things I've painted that I actually like enough to hang on my wall. Paint and I don't always get along well. It is inspired by paintings by Lulie Wallace.
The rest is collection of different photos, including one I took in Colorado last summer, the Statue of Liberty, a picture of Caleb and I, an old picture of my dad dunking a basketball, an ampersand that I covered with printed paper and mod-podge, a printable I made for Easter {found here},  a small oval mirror from an antique store, an empty frame from Hobby Lobby, a small frame with scrap paper, and a small collage of old family photos I put together.

Here are some other items from around the room...

1. Rug from Pottery Barn {It was a floor sample so I got it cheap!}
2. Throw from West Elm {On clearance!}
3. Paint by numbers picture from antique store
4. Fake flowers from Target
5. Thrifted lamp that I spray painted, the shade is from Lowes
6. Ikea sheepskin rug
7. Old pillow from West Elm, bought on clearance when they had a store in Leawood... those were the days. :(  Cream colored rectangle pillow from Ikea
8. Some books, including Design Sponge at Home - love! The corner of my antique plaster frame & and jar filled with split peas.
9. Brass lamp from Urban Outfitters... gift from my mom this last Christmas!
10. Mr. Owl... I think I got him from the store Tuesday Morning.
11. Our fireplace tile surround, it's tumbled marble - each square is 1x1 inch of varying heights, they come in 12x12 inch sheets for easy installation
12. My birds... Bert & Ernie... just kidding. :) Although not a bad name, I might stick with that! I drew them not long after we moved in and had them framed at JoAnn's.

Any questions? Post them below!
Next room on the tour will probably be the kitchen.

P.S. - Anyone want to buy our house?!?



*All pictures taken by me unless stated otherwise