Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Snapshots of life...

We have been making progress on the new house but not enough to post any real before/after pictures. We've painted the living room, kitchen, hall and foyer thus far, with the dining room, library/office and master bath not too far on the horizon. We've painted almost all of the trim on the main floor, changed out all of the light switches, upgraded most of the lighting, replaced all of the bathroom fixtures, added window treatments to all bedroom windows and numerous other small projects. It's starting to feel more like home as we continue to add our own personal touches.

One of my favorite ways to personalize our space is adding photos. Mike gave me a wonderful photo-collage frame set for Mother's Day last year and I finally had an opportunity to use it! I decided to add photos that depicted many of the places that we have traveled to as a family in the past 3-4 years. I'm very happy with how it turned out!

How many different U.S. States are on display here?

I also have been admiring the picture ledges that I have been seeing in many catalogs and online. I figured that instead of spending the money that I could make them myself. With Mike's help, we made 2 - 4ft wooden picture ledges, painted them to match the trim and installed them above our piano. Love seeing our friends and family from virtually every spot on the main floor!

Are you on our wall? Still space for more photos!

I've always wanted to hang a collage of frames down the wall of our stairs. I was a little intimidated by the process but I found some great frames for a great price at IKEA and my idea started to take shape. I wanted to use some of my favorite photos that I've snapped during our travels and them get them printed to size. Here is the result....

Palm trees, sunsets and the bluest waters...

We have high ceilings in the new house and when we installed our bookcases in the office, the area above it just seemed so empty. I decided to use some old maps that we had laying around, cut them up and put them in frames. I used 5 different maps: a US map of Michigan to Florida (a favorite route), a aeronautical chart of Grand Rapids, MI, a collection of Caribbean islands, a road map of Eastern Iowa and a map of Barbados.


Everything has been coming together and the more we accomplish, the better I feel about the house and the space. The pictures and artwork really help! Just one more shot of the front foyer and hall so you can see how it's all coming together...

Ta-Da!