top ten decorating tips | neutral and natural living room

in the process of showing you our new house, i wanted to share some of the behind the scenes inspiration that went into decorating our new living room.  first, you need to know that our living room has been the hardest room for me to decorate.  since our new house has two living areas - woo hoo TWO! - it has been a blank slate since we moved in.  i love decorating, but looking at an empty and sort of awkward room was very intimidating for me.  that feeling of "where do i even begin?" can be stressful, and if you've ever felt that way, than you know what i've been going through over the past three months.  and it's still a process.  i'm not done with it yet, but i am trying to enjoy the curation of this new room and not get frustrated and want to just be done with it.  because if i'm honest with myself, my home will never be finished.  time will pass, my tastes will change, and there will always be a new treasure to add to the home.  and that is what is so exciting about interior design!   

some tips i have for you fellow blank slate decorators out there ::

no 1. start with one thing that you love or that inspires you. it could be a pillow, a picture, a bowl, whatever.  jot down some words about that thing.  write down adjectives that describe the object's color, tone, texture, style, feel and use that list to focus you.

no 2. use pinterest. no longer do you have to buy home magazines and cut them up for your home idea book. (confession, i still have mine that i started years ago and slowly add to to it because i am a paper lover - anyone else still clip???) pinterest, however, is so easy to use and you can even create private boards to collect inspiration.

no 3. take photos of everything. my phone is constantly overflowing with photos, but i try to make space before going shopping.  i also screen shot a lot from online so that i can easily access images while i'm in the stores.  

no 4. shop around. don't be afraid to shop around at a variety of stores.  lot's of places have unique and unexpected home decor in a variety of price points.  if you don't have a lot of time for errands, amazon and etsy are great online resources that don't require driving :) there are also really cool websites that you can sign up for free like joss and main and they will send you emails daily with different home sales. yard sales are also a good place to venture - you never know what you are going to find!  i also love scott's antique market. never been before??? i will gladly go with you!  

no. 5 stay organized. whether you are using your iphone notes or an actual notepad, always be prepared to jot something down.  this is also key if you are on a budget, and you like to compare prices like i do.  i am always asking myself and my husband - "is that the best option?" i will hunt for a long time until i know that what i am investing in is the best bang for my buck.  also, make sure you record all your necessary measurements so you know what will work in your space.

no 6. not everything has to be expensive to look good.  just like a good outfit, if you have a few nice pieces to anchor the room, you can shop at inexpensive stores for other things and still have a chic looking room.  for example, our lamps are from homegoods and then i swapped out the shades for some nicer ones that i got at scott's antique market.  

no 7. stay focused. while you must like each individual piece that you purchase for the room, you have to always think about the overall design for the room.  when i'm shopping i always ask myself if the item fits in with my overall theme.  yes, unique and quirky pieces add to a room, but something has to connect back to the overall feel - whether it be color, texture, tone, or style.

no 8. find connections. within those pieces that you buy, try to make connections with other things in the room.  when i bring something new into the environment that connects to something else already in the room i call this "talking".  i don't know where i came up with this, but it's pretty funny when i explain furniture to my husband.  i say things like "see that new pillow? it has that rusty brown thread color which talks to the rusty brown hardware on the tv console. they're having a little conversation". weird, i know, but you should give it a try.  you should also know that i tend to personify everything from my car to my camera because i think its just really funny, so naturally i do this to my furniture.  but in all seriousness, visual balance and connection are key for a cohesive room.

no 9. express yourself. just like the outfits that you wear, your home is an expression of yourself.  find inspiration from others, but don't feel like you have to recreate what another person has done, because that's them, not you.  

no 10. enjoy the process. remember it won't happen over night and it won't ever be perfect.  those photos that you see on pinterest are from photo shoots of carefully designed spaces with a team of stylists, photographers, lighting experts, interior designers, and assistants behind every photo.  so unless you have that by your side, you can't compare your room to the one in the photo.

hope those tips help! below are some photos of our current living room.  you will notice that there are still some things we need to buy and work on, but i'm pretty happy with the progress of our neutral and natural living room.

paint color | couch | chairs | sideboard | twigs | frames | art | rug | drapes | side table | mirror | urns

sunroom living

yesterday we kicked off the weekend relaxing in our new sunroom.  our living room couch finally arrived thursday, which means the sunroom finally has some seating!  i am loving how the sunroom is starting to come together.  it gets gorgeous light in the afternoon and since we are on a hill you can actually see it setting between the beautiful old magnolia trees.  sitting in there before dinner was so peaceful and relaxing, it was almost like a vacation. hope you enjoy your weekend!

currently enjoying :: house edition

hello blog world! i am back from my dc trip {which you may have already seen some of it via instagram // @kathrynmccrary} and i am trying to make our new house feel more like a home.  the painters came and worked their magic while i was gone, so i came home to a painted, yet very messy house.  as i put everything away and try to finally get things on the walls, i am really enjoying our house.  i feel like now that the walls are painted, it really is our new home.  we still have lots to do and purchase, but i am currently enjoying the beautiful ivy in our backyard and our navy walls in the sunroom.  the light is so pretty in there and i am really liking how it is starting to come together. now if i can just get a clearer vision for the living room :) lots more to come, and pictures from my trip to dc with sister!    

paint color inspiration

happy end of may everyone! we are all moved into our new little house (pictures, soon!) and we are getting ready for the painters to arrive.  i am so picky when it comes to color and it has been such a tough process of choosing.  i am getting inspiration from a photo i took at the beach last summer.  i framed it a while back, and as i have been unpacking and organizing our life, i have been staring at it and looking forward to relaxing there again this summer.  i want our home to be a relaxing, yet sophisticated environment, and i think these colors can provide the perfect backdrop for our home style.  the coastal living house color scheme by urban grace interiors is also guiding me in my color search.

source

looking forward to summer!!!

my new personalized date pillow!

check out my new personalized date pillow from my friend chané at what the hart likes! i love her fun etsy shop and i am so excited about these new pillows.  i chose our wedding date for my pillow, and it goes perfectly in our living room chair.  these will make such fun engagement gifts/wedding gifts/baby gifts!

her days are numbered.

well, it's my first post in the new year, and i am still talking about christmas.

and yes, i'm talking about my tree again.

i realized that i never really shared the finished product.

so here she is, all done up, in my "rustic chic" theme.

i had never really done a themed tree before,

but i was so bored with just the strands of lights and colorful ornaments.

so, i went to hobby lobby and walmart

and found a few goodies.

i used some burlap for the skirt,

and trimmed with lace {from the fabric section}

strands of gold beads,

twigs, gold ball ornaments,

these white sprig things {looks almost like baby's breath}

and topped it with a big, cream bow.

besides the gold accents, i pretty much avoided all of the crazy christmas sections...they can be a little over kill at hobby lobby and walmart!

i also only chose to use my ornaments that had some white, gold, cream, or silver in them.

too bad she is going to the chipper this weekend.

at least i have my new winter wreath that i found at that estate sale!

thankfully

i finally don't have to hit next on my iphone

when a Christmas song comes on!

thanksgiving is great

{especially with cobbler}

but now on to the Christmas Season!

we snuck in a little tree into the condo

shhh don't tell

and started decorating it this weekend.

it still has a long way to go, but she sure is a beauty!

the kitchen and the master

here are some photos, like i promised!

first up, the kitchen.

she is cute and sweet

{aka tiny}

but organized!

a lot of what you will see were gifts,

so shout out to you if you gave them to us!

now, onto the master.

and boy is she a master!

we have never had room for side tables

or runners!

missing a few candles,

but other than that

she is FINISHED!!!

{i promise there are no clothes in boxes that i cropped out. everything is unpacked!!!}

still to come: guest bedroom, dining room, and living room

yesterday was my birthday

{photo credit to al}

and it was a very special one.

filled with card opening, dining with friends, phone calls,

and even a little surprise party!

thank you sweet husband and friends for a fun birthday evening!

oh, and the couch arrived!

and she is perfect. thank you pottery barn outlet for this steal!

new treasures

no, i am not ready to show you pictures of our new place.

i have two pieces of furniture being delivered this week.

{one being a couch!}

maybe by the weekend i will be ready to show you.

but i'm not making any promises.

i did want to show you these new friends.

we ventured out to scott's this weekend.

and found these sweet treasures for our new home.

bedside tables

lamps

a little cupboard

and a desk.

we are growing up!

move in day

hello from atlanta! this first post from the peach state is a bit delayed due to lack of internet and free time. move in day was 10 days ago and i am still hard at work getting our new home just right. comical story from move in day: our couch would not fit in the condo's elevator {old building and extremely small elevator} so our movers walked it up 10 flights of stairs. i was waiting at the top with water and cookies praying that everyone would survive {including the couch}. unfortunately the couch was not able to turn the corner to our unit. wait, what?! after all that, it still didn't fit? yes. so, back down they went with our couch as i stood there without my cookies and now without a couch. thankfully we found a home for the couch quickly. i guess it was just the Lord telling me it was okay to update my college couch and get a more grown up look :)

the rest of the day went pretty smoothly and we ended the move in day with pizza for good luck, as dad says, from our new neighborhood spot, fellinis.

more on recent life later. i'm off to recreate this for the third time:
more pictures of our new place soon, i promise!

project #2: the doors

oh the doors. so, i bought two huge cabinet doors from this wood warehouse in athens a few years ago, and used them as a headboard when i was in college. well, since i don't sleep in a twin bed anymore, they have been collecting dust ever since i graduated. so, when we moved into our apartment, i knew i had to do something with them to justify moving them again. after we settled all of our furniture into the rooms, i realized that we had this awkward corner in our living room that was in need of some decorating. so, i decided i would place the doors there and create a little "nook". since our walls our "hospital white", i decided to paint the white doors and bring a little color into the space. i decided to paint them the same blue color that we had in our old house. i got a little crazy and decided to try crackle paint. it was a fun and long process, mainly because of the off-and-on rain storms we experienced all weekend. here are some pictures of the process:

first coat: a stone color {the same color that i used on the bar stools}

adding the crackle paint {valspar's weathered crackle glaze. tip#1: more glaze = more crackle}

the last coat of paint {tip #2: the paint will crack as you apply it, so apply the paint thick enough, because if you keep brushing over the same spot, the paint will peel and get clumpy.}

the finished product!

i just had to zoom in on these pictures...tyler and me both at age 3. not much has changed.

the bar stools, finally.

welp, i am a little behind on posting these pictures, but hopefully you will be able to let it slide. see, life has significantly picked up over the past few weeks {educating middle schoolers is quite time consuming}. however, i hope to maintain my level of blogging throughout the school year.

okay, so about those bar stools. our new deluxe apartment in the sky did not have any room for our huge dining room table, so we decided to get bar stools and store the table. but, who knew those things could be so expensive? i looked into everything from walmart to the pottery barn outlet, but nothing for less than$70 a pop. so, i decided to go to goodwill. for $40, i was able to get 3 of these:

they reminded me of the ones my grandparents had in the early 90s. a classic barstool shape, they just needed a little tlc. so i decided to sand them down {thanks to chane's sander}:
prime them, and then paint them a stone color. a nice neutral that went well with the granite in our kitchen. here they are in action:

the paint is walmart's colorplace brand and the color is sycamore grove. i also sealed them after they finished drying with some satin polyurethane. a special shout out to my sweet husband who helped me speed up this process by painting a few coats while i was at work. one project finished, a few more to go...

now, is that really necessary?

when i got home from work today, there was an unfamiliar friend in my usual spot. hopefully he is just a visitor...

you better hit the road, big boy. this isn't monster truck rally, ya know. just a parking lot.

after gawking at this jumbo truck, tyler and i worked more on our bar stools. we are almost finished with them. all we have to do is seal them. i will post more about them later and include before and after pics {hopefully tomorrow}. here is a picture of one of them mid-process:

then we made some turkey burgers and sweet potatoes fries. i of course had to make some fried green tomatoes for mine. we went bunless this time and used boston lettuce instead {my fav}. such a yummy dinner. for more on this dinner, check out my previous post.

hope you had a wonderful evening! off to bed.

trying to make it a home

yesterday i moved back "home" to auburn. while driving around running errands, i stopped by our old blue house to get some mail and saw this:

love what you have done with the place, boys. the authentic "dixieland" sign really adds charm to the front porch. green plastic chairs also encourages the fratastic theme. i am not sure what the deflated tiger stripe thing is, nor do i really want to know. not pictured in the photo is their two trucks with their pi kappa alpha stickers on them. dad, your "brothers" are in need of some help.

meanwhile, i am doing some decorating myself, trying to turn this apartment into a home. the apartment looks like a tornado just whipped through it, but the walls are starting to look good. i finished the photo collage record fast and without butchering the walls. happy wedding pictures definitely warm up the hospital white walls!

that's about all i can show you right now. i am in the process of sanding/painting 3 barstools. hgtv makes sanding look way too easy. i will post those pictures {hopefully} soon. i will leave you with our view.

beautiful auburn sunset.

buh bye little blue house

i am so thankful that i survived the last week! after packing, the yard sale, more packing, and the end of the school year, i am exhausted! it feels so good to be on vacation and relaxing with family. however, it is weird that we won't ever live in our little blue house again. i will always love that house simply because it was were we lived during our first year of marriage. i am excited about our next place though...we will have working heat and air conditioning. yahoo!!! {haha} thanks for a great year little blue. it seems like yesterday we just moved in!

on our way to auburn!

move in day

before: lots of brown

after!