IN THE BEGINNING
Once upon a time boy meets girl. Boy builds girl a beautiful cozy home. Girl loves the home! Boys mom decorates her beautiful home in a primitive style, with strong country influences in brick red, greens and blues. Girls thinks this is cozy but not sure if it is for her.
Girls mom decorates her home elegantly with burgundy and lots of gold, glass and shinny things. Girl thinks to her self "hmmm is this the style for me?"
Girl decides to meet in the middle and decorates her new home somewhere in between the country and elegance with lots of rich floral, and vintage influences in burgundy and green.
WHOSE HOME IS THIS
A few weeks ago I dedicated a week home, no plans, free schedule. The whole week was dedicated to focusing on helping Dylan get a good start on potty training. Well, as you may have read in previous post, that did not really go as planned. But one thing I did realize that week was that once I was able to sit with a clear mind I realized how my house does not really feel like my own. Once I reflected on this I realized all the comments and hints that I have dropped to my husband about changing it.
I love my home. I love the comfort and warmth of it, and especially the love that is shared between the special persons who dwell in it. BUT it's not really a reflection of me. It is a reminder of the person I use to be. A person that was not really sure what she wanted of life, nor had an understanding of what family would look like to her. I took a piece of the old me that I was trying to leave behind, and a piece of the only other example I had and tried to make myself fit in the middle somewhere. YES, much of this is a metaphor, maybe an artistic souls or two can maybe to what I am trying to say.
A BLANK CANVAS AND FRESH START
I am forever grateful for the lovely home my husband gifted me. He and his dad built it themselves! There was lots of hard work and love put into it. I don't see myself able to walk away from it any time soon. I would just like to make it a little more lively.

(Above inspiring photos from Better Homes and Gardens Special 100 Ideas Flea Market Style)
The week I was home I realized how much I was "dealing with it" instead of "living in it". Since I started to find myself, and my style I have been drawn to bright white and cream decorated homes with flea market and French accents. I look at the photos and it just feels like a refreshing breath of clean sweet air. I know it sounds silly, but it almost transports me to a different frame of mind and makes me feel lighter in the chest.

(Above photo inspiration from Romantic Homes May 2011 issue)
SO after much thought I approached my husband. GULP. After much discussion and explaining he was very understanding of why I needed the change. So with out delay I jumped right in. I went through lots of magazines bookmarking all the inspiring ideas.

(Another inspiring photo from Better Homes and Gardens Special 100 Ideas Flea Market Style)
PIECES OF A PUZZLE
Here's the plan. For a fresh new start on the house as cheaply as possible. I like a challenge, and frankly I am sure my husband will enjoy it much more and go along with my crazy ideas if he does not feel the need to ask "what is that costing us" every time he turns a corner.
(Pinterest Home Makeover Inspiration)
I want the house to be a blank canvas! My goal is to paint and refurnish as much as I can from the things we already have. I already have whipped out the white paint! I want it all white and distressed. EVERY ROOM! White slip covers, white furniture, WHITE! I think that by doing this it will really help brighten the house up. OUR HOUSE IS A CAVE. It really is! Ok well not really, I don't LIVE in a CAVE, but our home is really dark. We have a good amount of windows, but they are covered with dark wood blinds and the burgundy furniture and dark colors just make it dark.
Of course my husband said some things are off limits. So I will have to use my creative juices to try to work around those things, but that's ok. Once everything is whiter I want to decorate with vintage flea market inspired things. With VERY LITTLE blue and/or green.
I ACTUALLY DID IT

A couple days after talking to my husband I started working on my first piece of furniture. I started with a little bakers cabinet (not positive that is the correct name). I painted it, and bought some glass knobs and accents for it. The photo above is mid way through distressing. I still need to put on the new hardware, but so far I am loving it! I will be sure to get updated photos once it is done. My husband did put a limit on how much distressing is ok.
I also painted the table! I LOVE IT! I want to put some ruffle white cushions on the chairs not I'm not there yet.
The lighting in the house is still really dark and it makes it hard to get good photos, but once I can get a good photo of the whole table I will share it with you. Below is a picture of what it use to look like. Dylan was about 18 months in this photo.
One of the things off limits according to the hubby is the blinds and wood framing around the window. My husband built wood frames around our windows, with a shelf over each window. I want to put some sort of lighter white or sheer curtains up, maybe paint the rods a lighter color and I think that will help lighten them up. Also I had a bunch of bottles up over the shelves in the dinning room.
I took them down (EEeekk yeah they are pretty dusty). I painted some of them with white gloss spray paint, and some I used acrylics inside the bottles to color them. I added a few little floral touches, and added some blue mason jars. The result is a lighter fresh feel over the windows. I love how the light hits the blue mason jars! Once I do the curtains I think the results will be much brighter.
Even with the few things I started, the table, the bakers cabinet, and the bottles the dinning room is so much better. The last few mornings I will open the blinds a little to let the light in and it is just so rejuvenating to wake up to!
Another thing I like about the white is that you can easily change it around to go with anything for the holidays. I have always wanted a BLUE CHRISTMAS lol
It is going to take some time to get everything just how I want. I plan on doing a lot of it myself, and then enjoy shopping the flea markets and Craig's list for fun pieces and things to use or alter. I told my husband in the end though all the pieces of the puzzle will come together!
LOOKING ABOVE
Another fun part of the puzzle is that my husband and I had plans of building on an addition as my craft room. It was going to be a LONG project and probably a year before we could get to it. WELL, one day I saw an attic craft room that I adored and mentioned it to my husband. HE LOVED THE IDEA! So now I am busy busy clearing out the attic so that he can start on my craft room while he is so eager lol.
(Pinterest craft room inspiration)
I will be taking photos as much as possible so that I can share my DIY projects with you. I am excited about our little project to lighten up and refresh our home, and I have already started to feel so much better, comfortable, and more at home.
