Thursday, December 19, 2013

Holidays Around Here

Ok, so we skipped Thanksgiving in the holiday recaps - mainly because Bill and I were terrible at taking photos. Ok, Meg was terrible at taking photos, but lets not go into details...

Last year was the first year I got to decorate my own place with Xmas gear but this year we have our own home... with two mantles... and a space for a ginormous tree...

Here's last year's set up --->




This year, things got bigger... 


I definitely didn't need this chair last year...



But we have had to keep the presents from under the tree because of our newest addition... 


Yeah, he would totally open all our presents for us. And I can assure you he wouldn't wait for Christmas morning to do it... 

But on to the new rooms... 


(Ok, its a little sad down here, but I didn't buy a lot of new stuff this year. That money goes into house projects!)



And some exterior fun too!



We also have gotten a lot of this exterior fun.. 


Which has been pretty stunning. Not to mention Bill gets to play with his new toy... 


In fact, that's how we spend most of our nights now, shoveling, salting and scooping up snow. But we seem to have fun doing it, and Oxford doesn't mind it like he does the rain, so its all in good fun. 


This year we've been a little too busy to take on the 12 Dates of Christmas again, but we hope to get in a few holiday festivities this weekend. Then comes Christmas! Then Bill and I are getting some extra-special holiday guests, my friend Nissa and her partner, Sterling, for a full-packed 24 hour celebration. So I think we'll have a lot to share coming up!


Sunday, November 10, 2013

A Belated Halloween

Everything on this blog is belated. I should stop announcing it. Maybe I should rename this blog "After the Fact" or "886 Days Later".

In any case, most people have already been to or seen pictures from our Halloween party, but I just wanted to recap here all the same because, well, I said I would...

We've been carrying the Halloween party torch for a few years in a row now, so we were a little nervous/excited to host it in our new place. Pros) More space and some creepy wallpaper. Cons) Farther from the city and thus possibly fewer attendees. Luckily, people actually came and got to enjoy the last of the creepy wallpaper.

Here's a few shots on how it turned out...


The Set-Up... 









The Characters... 


(The hosts - I'll give you a hint - its a movie - from the 90s - with Kevin Spacey - and a lot of symbolism...) 


The Price is Right!!!!


Bob is sweet-talking that lovely Plinko girl... 



They got these t-shirts spot-on! 



Redneck Zombie Hunter (of course!) and his prey


The most adorable couples costume ever: PB and J! 


They make a sandwich when they hug!!! 


Retirees!!! They visited all the way from Florida. So nice of them. 




Urkel's Hottie Girlfriend (aka April's excuse to look hot in glasses and suspenders) and the Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, aka April's excuse to show off her tat skils and Steve's excuse to show off the guns! 


She likes it! 


And that was it - overall awesomeness at the new place. Scary wallpaper and all! 

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Two New Spaces

That sounds like a HGTV show. And in a lot of ways, that's what happened over the last couple weeks here at the MegEwan residence. Bill and I have been working like an HGTV crew to put together not one, but TWO newly finished spaces in the house!

As I noted last week, I stripped the wallpaper and went to painting pretty quickly in our dining room.

A month ago, our "dining room" looked like this...





It was dirty coral and dust all over. And the wallpaper was this linear, Greek-motif that was dirty and spotted... 


Good stuff. 

But a month later and several weekends of wallpaper removal, painting, cleaning, electrical work and buying a few extras (like beautiful new curtains!), we are at this... 






Oh. My. Is that better. 

New gray paint (Behr's Grant Gray) with white chair rail (Behr's Whisper White - which is what we use for the trim throughout the house)

A newly-stained table from the McEwan Garage

Lights from Ikea (Bill rerouted the main electrical box to two separate boxes yesterday!) 

And new curtains from West Elm (ones that I was swooning over back in July)



Its amazing how little can do so much. Not that it was a little amount of work, but we basically transformed our dining room for under $400. 

Its also the only room we have that I would consider 90% done. I have a few accessories that I need to add to finish off the space, and there are a few paint touchups that need to be done, but there's very little left to do overall. Its pretty great to get to peak in there... 


But it also worked out that we got to do more than peak in there this weekend. We had family and friends over for a Halloween party (all of that coming shortly), and we had a chance to feed them all prior to the shindig. And guess what? We didn't have to all huddle around the coffee table... 


Very exciting stuff. 

But onto the next exciting thing... 

By now we all probably know about the sewage disaster downstairs in our den. Well, after installing floor number 2, we are back in action - and looking better than ever...




Its still far from being done down there (still needs quarter round, paint, I need to upholster the table, and there are a million accents, lighting and furniture choices that need to be added). However, its pretty exciting to have another space that is usable and not disgusting! 

And, to be fair, I've started playing down there a little bit, like adding some furniture jewelry to our freebie couches... 


It also means we get to have our laundry room/basement back as all of this furniture was stuffed in there while we were redoing... then redoing.... the floor. 

Its really coming along and its exciting to see our hard work paying off! 

As we get closer to the holidays, I don't think we'll be tackling any new spaces for the rest of the year (Sorry, Foyer), but we still have plenty of time to put the finishing touches on things around here like painting some trim, working on some furniture projects, and installing quarter round. 

Stay tuned for the costume parade that was our Halloween party! 

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

In Need of a Little Guidance

Two posts in a row, I know, terrifyingly on top of things. But I could use everyone's help with a little dilemma.That sounds dramatic, like I want weigh in on a career change or whether or not I should have kids, but its really very simple: I am torn on what light to put in our front hall. I know, really important shit we are dealing with here.

All the same, if you like pretty things, home decor, or just giving your opinion whenever asked (or not asked), here's your chance.

So right now, our hallway looks like this...





But eventually, the plan is to remove that awful printed grandma-paper (yea for the last of the horrifying paper!) and do something much more sleek. I've been  thinking wainscoting the walls (which is this for those who aren't decor-porn voyeurs or woodsworking geniuses....)


It shouldn't be a difficult project, especially in comparison to making a table! But that might not happen right away. Not sure what color would be painted on top, something neutral like this?


Or some great, brave contrast like this?


I would tend to lean towards the later, especially as I would want the wainscoting to go about 3/4 the way up. 

But anyway, on to the lighting.... 

With that more neutral space in mind (and a mid-century credenza which will either be a dark wood finish or painted some amazing color like green or red), here's my options... 

#1. School House



This is both elegant and retro, which would fit the space well. But it doesn't WOW me the way I would have anticipated, but then again its not installed, so....  $70 from Home Depot, btw. 

Inspiration... 



#2. Natural fibers

      

Its earthy and unique and will probably make a cool pattern on the wall. Its not my immediate favorite of the bunch, but I have a feeling it would be gorgeous and a real eye-catcher when installed. 
$90 from Light in the Box

Inspiration... 



#3. Retro Orb

(should be plain white all around - not sure what happened to this pic) 


Pretty popular right now, these are both modern and retro at the same time. Great, simple design with a wow factor and lots of light. $76 from Lowes. Similar option at Ikea for $40. 

Inspiration... 

(Ok, so its not an orb, but its close enough) 



#4. Architectural and Traditional 

A traditional lantern is not lost on me. I like the square, architectural interest with  this one as well as the stunning, glossy black. 


$84 from Lowes

Inspiration...


#5. Colorful Industrial 





I love the idea of the bright color up above. I think its a very playful spin on industrial chic. But its very industrial. It would probably be very cute up there, and an eye-catcher, but I'm not convinced yet its the best option. Maybe you, or this inspiration, will convince me further... 

$72 and $40, respectively, both from The Lamp Factory

Inspiration...






#6. Capiz Orb Pendant


To be honest, this may be my favorite. You know the saying about when you should leave your favorite.... (last, its save your favorite for last). 

I like the orb shape - something I'm more drawn to. I like the natural component of the capiz and how it will probably diffuse the light. And I love the architectural detail of the black lines. But does three rights make a another right? Not sure... 

$77 from Lowes. 

Inspiration... 






So there they are, the contenders. Please weigh in! Send me a comment for some sanity that I might be choosing the right one! (White people problems, I know....)