Anna's room and Nursery Help

Hey look! Im posting here! :)

Here is anna's new big girl room. Not decorated, but ya know, Im trying to have a baby here. :)

I sewed ruffle curtains and I really like them. Love the purple. The quilt is from blanchet- matches the color/feel I'm hoping to go for perfectly. The toddler bed is from our friends. It desperately needs to be sanded down and painted. I plan on repainting it white.

The corner just down from the bed we want to do a canopy reading nook like chelsea's.

Now onto the nursery. Little stuck here.

-The pink square. What on earth to do with that spot? Don't have any more green paint and don't remember the color.....

Niche decorating

Okay, here's the blank slate. (The bookshelf has been relocated upstairs, to make room for a canvas photo gallery wall...)

Dan decided, one Saturday morning, to go to Hobby Lobby and "get these niches decorated!"

 I said sure. Go ahead! It's not as easy as you think! Good luck! (as I snickered under my breath...)

30 minutes later....THIRTY. Not THREE hours, but 30 minutes....he comes back, runs around the house for a few things and does this:

 What?! How'd he do that?! 

So much better, but it still seems off. 

For one, we have two completely different color schemes going on. 

On the right, we have the beautiful red/maroon family. I like this color, but not sure I want so much of it. I also like the idea of the lamp, but not this lamp in particular.

Now this picture, I LOVE. I love the shape and size. I think it's perfect. I love the colors of blue and green, as it compliments what we have going on in the front room and the kitchen. 

(the shoe box is just to show you how it would look hanging up...without putting holes in the wall, just in case this is not the final solution. 

So, LONG story short, I went back to the store and got it's matching picture. 

But, is it too much matchy matchy? 

What else could I do? 

Is it both pictures or neither picture? 

What if I did two floating shelves, not, staggered, with items on it, to create a square feel?

Also, any furniture ideas would be appreciated. 

I like the idea of two of these swivel chairs, that could be spun around when watching TV or playing the wii, or back towards the couch for company. 

Thanks for your feedback!

Projects

Okay guys . . .here are your requested pictures!
Of course the coloring is off in all of these . . .

Here's the art niche.  It isn't finished.  We want to add more trim to the columns and it needs baseboard and another coat of paint . . . but the appraiser was coming today so I hurried and accessorized it and snapped a picture for you :) Don't worry, I don't love the accessories.  It was what I could see to grab in the two minutes I had before he arrived:)

 Here are two of the chairs we recovered. I meant to take a picture of the striped fabric and floral.  But somehow got all the way to this point without realizing both of these chairs are the same . . . dope!

 Here are four of the kitchen chairs.  I have one more in the yellow and blue. Again, the colors in this picture are off. They aren't this bright--much more pastel.  But they match the coloring in the fabric and we all love them! The look so much better than it did before. More intentional and less garage sale :) I sanded, TSP, primed them, painted them and then sprayed a high gloss clear coat.  It took forever but worth it.

And there you have it!

mirror mirror on the wall....

Okay, I had issues uploading these, so I'm not sure how they will show up on the blogger. 

Ugh. 

SO. Parade of Homes. My most favorite time of year! 

I love the ideas I get! I've been wanting to do something for the niches by the TV since we moved in. I plopped some picture frames just because and haven't touched it since. 

Here's the clean slate

And some inspiration pictures...

(Loved the mini cupboard)

And some inspiration pictures...

(Loved the mini cupboard)

And here's what I did:

um...it doesn't look good. why?! Is it the dark wood contrasts with the oak? should I paint the frames cream? Should I paint the cupboards? (YES PLEASE. and that's Dan laughing in the background)

These are two different styles to try out. Are they too big? should I go square or rectangle?

I think I'm leaning towards this one...

So I tried accesorizing with what I have. (not much. The candle sticks are too wimpy, but I like the greenery....probably in a lighter pot. 

I could put something like this by it too...

Okay, and some other favorites, so I can "pin" them on pinterest. :) 

Love the hanging shear by the bathtub. 

They just painted the wall, so it looks seamless and part of the furniture. 

LOVED this entry way with the built-ins on the side. 

The built-in

More built-ins in the bedrooms upstairs. LOVE THEM!

I want to make something like this for here:

(This is the front entry way. I would like something to put on top or in the square canister thingy. I was hoping to find a cone form to stuff artificial stems in to create a topiary, but they aren't large enough. So, then I thought about a tomato cage thing. I haven't found one the right side, but it might work! :) Any ideas?

And finally....

Gorgeous fireplace and decorating.

A few more parade homes to go to this weekend!

Piano room update

Here's the to-date progress of the front room/piano room

before move-in

the first furnishings...

A new piano...

removed bookcase and added reclining chair and console for piano music.

same time, just angled to get couch in...

painting! A little on the minty side...but not worth painting over...yet.

After 20+ curtains bought and returned, a decision was made and curtains hung!

New family picture above piano.

New clock Dan picked out for my birthday.

Sconces I love from Hobby Lobby, picture raised, potential topiaries and piano lamp. 

(what do you think about the topiaries? the idea would be to have three the same height (the shorter ones), but I think they get lost behind the lamp. Other suggestions?)

probably going to paint the wall on the right a deeper brown like the opposite wall. Looking for a prettier lamp and art work to go on green wall by curtains.

In this corner there will be a tree with a light shining up from the bottom. Also, a round end table for the opposite side of the couch, with a possible lamp? 

And here it is all together.

 You can barely tell we painted this wall, and this is AFTER we painted it the second time. We didn't want to go too dark, as to have two accent walls. 

Any suggestions? things you don't like? Honestly, when looking at these pictures, I don't really like it! I like it better in person. I don't know if I can't take pictures correctly, or if I'm so used to it that looking through pictures make it seem like a totally different room. 

Things I don't like from the pictures:

1) The curtain height? Too high from the window?

2)  The blinds. Not liking the mesh of oak and dark wood.

3) It looks so bare still! I don't want it to look busy or cluttered, so hopefully with the tree and some throw pillows it will look better.

NEW couch!

 I found something to make my old, worn-out couches look so much better! It had so many scratches it just looked terrible. A friend told me to try shoe-polish, but that didn't really work.

Before                                                                                                               After

Then somehow I came accross a wood-stain marker! Wood STAIN! So I bought one in Dark Walnut and it worked like a charm!!

These pictures don't really do it justice,  but to me they look a million times better!

New shower curtain/finished bathroom

So here's a bajillion pictures.  Just got this shower curtain today--should it stay or should it go? I was going to go with something all white and more sophisticated/clean . . . but saw this and thought maybe more kid like would be fun.  thoughts?  Concerned that it is too busy and that the blues don't work together . . . what do you think?