A Work in Progress

Our master bedroom is a work in progress, but it is coming along.  Over labor day weekend we got a new KING SIZE bed!!! Now there is enough room for both of us, plus the dog (he LOVES that).  Then the search began for the perfect comforter.  It was not an easy process! If you remember for this post waaaaay back in May, I found a great comforter set I thought would be perfect for our new house, before we even moved in.

I had second thoughts about it, so I searched ALL over the internet to try to find something better. I found a couple things, but never ordered anything.  I finally bought one at Kohl's, got it home and HATED it, took it back, and ordered the same one I picked out waaaaaay back in May, before we even moved in!! Oh well, at least after all that, it looks beautiful in our room.  It really helps to brighten it up.  Can't wait to start decorating.

Not the best picture, its still wrinkled and we don't have any of the shams or accent pillows on yet, but I wanted to see how it looked all put together before I washed it and snapped this picture.  We need a couple king pillows for those shams.

It also come with these Euro Sham covers which I love, but can't use yet because I don't have any pillows to put in them, but you get the idea...

The Great Bathroom Debate continued...

If you remember, DJ and I have different opinions about the half bath that is right off our kitchen/living room.  I love it, he hates it.  I have come to the realization that it may be gone one day, but while it's still in my house I was going to do a little updating- wallpaper coming down and new art going up. The wallpaper removal was really fast and easy, it's a tiny space so it couldn't have taken that long!

Here I am obviously thrilled to be saying goodbye to yet another room of wallpaper.  8 rooms down, 1 to go!

In the process

Coming down nice and easy...

and DONE!!!

The next step was to clean up and start thinking about decorating.  The yellow tile is staying, so I have to work around it.   The walls are going to be white, and I wanted to add some color through a couple pieces of art.  I had originally wanted to get some shelving or wire baskets to hang on one side and 2 frames with matted scrapbook paper to add color.  I played around with a bunch of ideas, and still haven't decided exactly what I want to do.  I couldn't find baskets like I had in mind to hang, so I had the idea of having DJ build me a little stand with two shelves, something like this....

 but white instead of blue.  I would still have the wire baskets, just not hanging on the walls. 

I used newspapers to see where pictures might look the best.  I haven't decided yet...

I was browsing pinterest and saw this really cool DIY art and thought I might try it for the bathroom. 

I went to Hobby Lobby and got all the supplies to try, canvases, letters, and paint!

I grabbed these colors because I thought they would go with the scrapbook paper I had picked out for the frames (see below)

Here's the paper, and a few of the paint samples...

Then I found this paper I liked a lot better. It is much brighter and I can incorporate more colors into the artwork.  So I think I will go with this paper, so now it's another trip to Hobby Lobby to pick out some more paint...

Not sure if I like the stark contrast of the bright blue on the white canvas, but I guess we will see once it's done.  If I don't like it, I can just spray paint it all white and use it somewhere else in the house!

More to come soon!

Pool Closing Day 2011

The time had come for us to put an official end to the first summer in our new home.  We knew it was time to close the pool for two reasons: 1. It was getting cold and we hadn't been in it for a month and 2. See picture below....

This is what the filter looked like....

and the pool didn't look much better.  Too many leaves and little helicopter things were clogging the filter, collecting in the bottom of the pool, and floating on top...

It was an easier process than we though, thank goodness.  Made a trip to Illini Pools and $120 later we were all set!  Took DJ most of the day by the time he got the cover out, cleaned it, drained some water, added A LOT of chemicals, and got the cover on.  Here are some pictures I snapped of the process!!

Cleaning it one last time...

Draining some water

Brrr.... he is putting on a brave face for the camera

One last time in the pool for the year, a little cold for me!

Our helpers showed up and it was time for the cover

Bye, Bye Pool!! See ya next year!

Tightening the cover down, and bro playing with Wrigley in the background!

The backyard looks so sad, can't wait til next year!!

We're Still Alive...

It's sad to say our last post was almost 3 months ago!! A lot has changed at the Holmes' residence in 3 months!! Some of the highlights: We closed the pool, got a new bed, decorated for fall, and I'm now working on updating the half bath.  We are also getting ready to rip out our concrete patio/sidewalk and re-do it to prevent water from getting in our basement, but MUCH more to come on that later!

For now, here are some new picutres of our house decorated for fall!!

Thank You Pinterest for all the wonderful decorating ideas!!! My new favorite obsession for everything from fashion to recipes!