Kick up your feet and stay awhile...

Have I mentioned how much I'm loving our new space?!

For a long time I have wanted a sectional and big ol' ottoman. Our little upstairs living room could no way accomodate the sectional, and we had picked a different coffee table for that space made of glass to help it seem more spacious.

But now that I have my new family room....

I ordered this ottoman off of Walmart.com for just $79. It's nice and big at 4' by 2'. It had 108 reviews all at 5 stars, so I knew I couldn't go wrong! The top is nice and firm so you could set a plate or drink on it without it falling over. But just cushy enough to put your feet up on : )

We figure it will be nice whenever Baby Free starts toddling around, so there isn't a hard edge to hurt themselves on.

Plus I like the way it looks!

So, are you a cushy ottoman or a sturdy coffee table person?

Basement Decorating!

One thing I was really looking forward to in finishing the basement was decorating it!

Our small home was pretty much all decorated, so I was stoked to have another room to decorate!

And since the rest of the house is pretty much beige, we decided to go with a slate pallate downstairs.

We had already moved the furniture in, so I did a little shopping to pick up some accessories to make it a bit more homey.

Target happened to have perfect slate colored pillows to coordinate with the walls. They were $20 for a 2 pack.

The end table, also from Target was $69. I liked the clean lines. I also picked up at Target the glossy white lamp and the white tray. I really like the neutrals and slate with pops of white. Also, picked up the vintage looking wire basket at HomeGoods for just $7.99 to hold our current magazines. But the tray was pretty necessary, so I could easily remove the items on top of the table..

Flip the top over and make it into an ottoman! How cool is that?! Thought for big game nights, it'd be great for extra seating!

I also dressed up the bookcase corner a bit. I found the white boxes on sale at Michaels for $1.99. They will soon hold baby items, like a few extra diapers and wipes for quick changes downstairs. I also nabbed the cute basket in the middle at HomeGoods for $12.99 to hold some of our favorite books. The bookcase is also holding some games for game nights and a nice big basket we already had to hold the soon-to-be overwhelming amount of toys.
I also threw a throw blanket we already had and a pillow to help dress up the hand-me-down recliner.

Love the details of the basket and the pop of white in the boxes!
We definitely needed a back door mat for wiping feet/paws. I loved this mat at Target ($25) since it had the browns and grays in it.

I had seen lots of 'Family Rules' signs on Pinterest and loved the idea. I was browsing Hobby Lobby and stumbled upon this one in the clearance section. It is very sturdy and made of solid wood. Mr. Free said the "Obey Your Parents" should've been the biggest one : )


Also at Target I picked up this Starburst mirror to help break up the long wall. I like the little bit of shimmer it adds.


We also picked up at Costco a pet bed for our pooches. They are NOT allowed on the furniture downstairs so figured they needed a comfy spot to lounge too.


Mr. Free also got the surround sound all rigged up this weekend and it is AWESOME!




Since our lives are going to change in approximately 8 weeks, and we will become much more of homebodies then we ever have been, I am so thankful for this space to be able to watch movies and play with Baby Free and not feel so crammed.

Our home is 900 square feet but the addition of the family room makes our home now 1400 square feet of living space. We keep commenting on how huge our home feels now! : )

Thanks for looking around. We absolutely love the space and plan to just veg down there for the month of January while we wait for Little One!

It is finished!

Yesterday the carpet fairies came and finished the last step in our basement project!

Mr. Free and I were so excited ALL DAY and couldn't WAIT to get home and see how it looked!

Here was Mr. Free's first reaction...

Needless to say, we've both missed having carpet.

Hardwood is beautiful and easy to wipe up messes, but nothing is as comfy as some plush carpet underfoot.

We wasted no time once we got home and saw the finished product, and started moving in furniture.

Mr. Free's parents delivered our brand new sectional.

It had rained all day, but let up just in time to bring it over.

Mr. Free immediatly put together the new TV stand so he could get his prize up and running.

The TV stand is actually pretty great quality considering it was $85 at Target!

And fits the TV size perfectly!

I put together the bookcase (which matches the TV stand) and we brought out a hand-me-down recliner to put in the corner.

The bookshelves will be full of DVDs, board games and toys for baby.

We also brought down Baby Free's bouncy seat. Figure this side of the room will become Baby Central.

Santa also delivered our new curtains a little early.

I love the way they look!

(Ignore the laminate that needs cleaning after the carpet installers...I was too excited to snap some pics first!)

This is the TV sitting area.

The couch on the left is a full-size couch that Mr. Free's parents had given us a few years ago (it's a sleeper too!)

So with that and the sectional we will be able to comfortably seat 8-9 for movie nights!

Mr. Free ordered his new 7.1 surround sound and let me order the ottomoan for the seating area.

I think it'll look great and will offer a cushy place to put up our feet and if baby is tottering around they won't hurt themselves if they fall against it.

I have lots of decorating to do now, but am TOTALLY up for the "challenge"!

And for those wondering, to finish our approx. 511 square feet of living space came in at $4,007 for all materials. This includes every tool, screw, and piece of wood we had to buy. We saved THOUSANDS in labor and are thrilled with the results!

Basement

We are thisclose to being done with the basement!
Mr. Free has worked his booty off for the past 3 months! And he has done a FABULOUS job!

Tomorrow our carpet is being installed and then we can move in furniture and start decorating!

I will do another post with the step-by-step of the transformation, but here is the Mood Board for the final product.

This space is approx. 511 square feet with the primary purpose of a family room.

Here's the break down:

1. Swiftlock Curly Walnut Laminate flooring- Our basement is a walkout so we wanted a landing that went between that door and the door to the laundry room. The dogs and cat have their food and bed in the laundry room so frequently walk the path of the back door and to the laundry room. When it's muddy we thought this would be much easier to clean than carpeting.

2. Berber carpet from Lowe's- This is one of their in-stock options. We chose this because it will hide lots of dirt and be easier to keep clean with 2 dogs, a cat and a baby.

3. Tufted ottoman- Walmart. This is on order, should be in in a couple weeks. I definitely like the look, the reviews and the price. Think it's a stylish option with a little one on the way.

4. Sectional- Nebraska Furniture Mart. We loved the look of this sectional and it was a bargain for the price. It appears it will hold up well with being used often.

5. Bookcase- Target. Simple, nothing elaborate. Will hold some board games, DVDs and a basket of toys for the tot.

6. Family Rules sign- I saw this on clearance at Hobby Lobby and am really considering getting it. Think it'd be cute and a good reminder for us all...

7. Cream throw- Target. Pretty sure Santa is bringing this for me. It's super soft and will be so nice to snuggle with!

8. Cream furry throw pillow- Pier One. I've hinted at this to Santa as well. It is sooo soft.

9. Espresso baskets- Will use this to contain magazines, dog toys and baby toys.

10. Arc lamp- I bought this YEARS ago at Target and it's still been in the box! Think I will finally bust it out for this space!

11. Chocolate curtains- Target. We have a large window next to the walk out door and loved the quality and print of these curtains.

12. TV and TV stand- TV Walmart, TV stand Target. For Mr. Free's super hard work, he got the TV of his choice. The TV stand matches the bookcase. Not the best quality, but we will have to save up a bit for a solid wood TV stand that will hold Mr. Free's new TV.

We are SO excited for this new space! It will so wonderful to be able to have more people over at our house and a wonderful new room for baby to play in!

The Nursery

The nursery is 90% done!

With our first shower last weekend, I knew I wanted it mostly put together so that any gifts we received could be organized and put away.

Mr. Free and I decided early on that we wanted the nursery to be neutral, cheery and modern. We wanted to be able to use it with multiple kiddos, regardless of their gender.

We also aren't "theme" people, so we decided to stick with a color palatte and mix and match fabrics and textures.

Here was the idea board I had come up with a few months ago

First, we chose a paint color. I can't even tell you the *exact* color, because it wound up being a custom color.

Mr. Free and I were in a huge hurry when we picked it out and ended up telling them the wrong color.

Luckily, Lowe's is awesome and did what they could to fix it.

This paint does photograph different in different lights. It's an aqua color, but in bright light it looks brighter and with soft light it looks more seafoam.

The nursery walls were covered in 2 coats of wallpaper and paint. I spent several evenings steaming and peeling off the wallpaper. Fun times.

Over Thanksgiving I came down with the stomach flu, which put me way behind on the nursery progess. Mr. Free was awesome and busted his hiney to paint the nursery and keep on his schedule with the basement. Love that man.
We had bought the Zig Zag rug a few months prior, and my mom and I redid the glider a month or two ago as well.

Once the paint dried I was antsy to get the crib set up, so Mr. Free pulled a late nighter and set it all up for me. I was so thrilled to see furnitue in the room!

A few nights later I pulled together the rest of the accessories we had for the nursery.

I put the crib bedding on, pulled in the nighstand for next to the glider, and stocked the bookcase.

The crib will have a changing tray that sits on top for changing the baby. This room is TINY so there just wasn't the space for a changing table. Come January, and the basement is finished and the holidays are over...this will be Grandpa and Daddy's new project. But it will look something like this, with the changing pad tucked inside it.

By the way, I love love the crib.

It's the ParkLane Baby Mod crib from Walmart.

It was a little more than I wanted to spend ($300), but it was the only big purchase we needed for the room. The rest of the furnishings were either repurposed from around the house or free.

Plus, it had the clean lines I wanted and the extra storage drawer on the bottom.

The construction of it is great too and it got fantastic reviews.

After the shower I got busy organizing the bookcase. Baby Free will be cloth diapered, so I have all the supplies handy on the shelf, which is right by the crib for changes. Baby Free also has a good start on their book collection, their own Scentsy and an impressive stash of stuffed animals.

The glider is perfect for the space. I snagged that little blanket on clearance at Target a few months ago and loved the geometric print. Mr. Free's aunt got us the Basset Hound stuffed animal years ago, which will be *perfect* for our little one...as they will instantly have a Basset Hound brother and sister upon arrival. : )

I like that the glider has the pockets on the side too...I've already loaded it with breastfeeding accessories which will handy.

I love the way the dresser turned out. I knew I wanted a yellow dresser and luckily a friend on Facebook had one to give away! It took about 4-5 coats of this lemon yellow paint, but I love the way it turned out! And it fits perfectly in the closet! Baby has the start of their wardrobe, which I know will double in size when Baby is here and we know whether to fill it with pink or blue!

So that's what we have so far!

We still need to hang things on the walls (a couple of DIY projects I've saved for January). And need a few more storage baskets for the closet shelves up high to hold blankets and such.

Then we are done!

I feel so much better that if Baby Free were to come early, we are nearly set!

Maybe this is that whole "nesting" thing I've heard about?!

1st Nursery Purchase

One thing I've been looking forward to for a long time is decorating a nursery.

Mr. Free and I have always known 2 things regarding our nursery:

1. It needed to be gender neutral

2. We didn't want a "theme" (i.e. No Winnie the Pooh or painted flowers on the wall...etc.)

So ever since our first pregnancy I've been looking for ideas on the internet.

I quickly fell in love with the idea of light turqoise walls with accents of sunny yellow and red.

And also during our first pregnancy I fell in love with this bedding at Target:

When it went on clearance for $35, I snatched it up.

So these are my basis.

A couple of weeks ago, I began looking at nurseries again and found this beautiful image:

I fell in love with that rug!

Those that have read my blog for awhile know how much I've dreamed of a chevron rug, but they are so pricey!

I wrote off that dream rug figuring it was too expensive.

But I was wrong.

As I read about this nursery, the article mentioned that the rug came from Urban Outfitters for $69.

I quickly showed it to Mr. Free with enthusiasm and he ordered it online.

When it came in the mail I saw it was perfect.

Our baby is getting the coveted chevron rug.

And I couldn't be happier.

So this is the foundation of what will become our nursery.

The room we will use is very small.

We anticipate only purchasing a crib and rocker for the space.

We already have a white bookshelf that will serve as storage in the room.

It is so exciting to have another room to decorate, and for such a worthy person makes it even more fun!

I will sure to update you along the way!

Sugar and Cream

While shopping at Crate and Barrel the other day, I noticed this set for sugar and cream.

Really cute right?

I love anything white and ceramic.

The price tag was $16.95 for the set. Not bad, but not great.

I don't even drink hot coffee....

So I walked away.

So today at Michaels, I bumped into these twins.

See the resemblence?

Wanna know their price?

$.50 each.

Yup.

$1 for the set.

They came home with me.

And we lived happily ever after.

: )

Sleepin' in the dark

In marriage, you learn a lot about your spouse.

This past year, I've learned my husband loves our room to be pitch-black to sleep.

How did I learn this?

I came home one day to see our thrown blankets acting as draperies in our bedroom.

As functional as they were, I knew I needed something a little more...pretty.

Voila.

These were $12.99/ panel at Target. Pretty reasonable for lined drapes.

They aren't perfect "black out shades" as they do let in a bit of light, however, at night time our room is pitch black. You cant see a darn thing.

I can sleep anytime, anywhere.

A completely darkened room is not necessary.

But Mr. Free needs it black.

What about you?

Do you have blackout shades in your bedroom?

Or can you sleep in full light?

Dilemna Update

Well, we spoke with our friends from 'across the pond' and as it turns out, they are coming HERE for most of the summer!

With that in mind, we have (I think...) settled on making a domestic trip to see them and finishing the basement!

I am uber excited to get started on this project!

Although decorating is last on the LONG list of to-do's when finishing a basement, I can't help but look...

Here are a few of my current favorites:

eclectic media room design by philadelphia home staging Busybee Design

eclectic family room design by new york interior designer Tara Seawright

eclectic family room design by portland interior designer Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc.

I love the coziness of these rooms and the splashes of color!

The space will be 500 sq. feet, and here is on my list:
- An actual laundry space
- A storage room
- Canned lighting
- Carpet (as much as I love our hardwoods, I'm excited for some soft, fluffy carpet!)
- Big comfy entertaining area
- Comfy sectional with our existing couch
- New TV and entertainment center
- Bookshelves to create a mini-library

I'm excited to get my hands dirty with my hubby and make a beautiful space to share with our family and friends!

So...have any of you finished off your basement yourselves?

If you were to finish your basement...what would be on your list of 'must haves'?

Framed.

Last summer I shared a little piece of history of our home.

I finally got around to framing it and finding it a home!

I knew when we received this paper, that I wanted to put it here...

...to the right of the back door in the dining room.

That area was blank and looked imbalanced with the hutch on the other side of the door.

Tada!!!

It's funny how the color of the paper is like the same exact color of our walls....

I snagged the frame at Michaels...it was the last one in the size I needed and 40% off.

Score!

(Look how tiny our shoebox home looks in relation to the size of our yard!

I sometimes forget what a large backyard we have...

though I'm sure Mr. Free doesn't, since he mows it!)

I love the originality of this,

and how it is a reminder of how this home has always been in our family.

What do you think??

A Little Flava' in the Dining Room

Nothing like a ton of snow days to make you want to change a lot in your home!

After clearing the Christmas decor, I hadn't put a thing on our dining table.

It was nice to have a clean, blank slate for a fresh new year.

But....I got over that.

And I needed color.

With all of Mr. Free's art work in our home, I've noticed I need to splash those colors around our furnishings and decor a little more.

Help make it cohesive.

I looked through all our table linens and nothing was bright enough for me.

So I got creative....

I knew I wanted yellow, blues and reds.

So, for the table runner, I used my favorite yellow scarf.

Kinda weird, but its cloth, its washable, its yellow.

For the centerpiece, I put some tangerines in our crisp white serving bowl and next to it put my favorite Thomas O'Brien salt and pepper shakers on our white platter.

Over the yellow scarf I put my pale aqua placemats, Christmas red chargers, our bright white plates, with a punchy yellow ramekin on top holding our chocolate brown cloth napkins.

Whew.

Over in the nook, I put my cookbook collection in, added the wire basket, bird and decorative thingy on top. I have no idea what its called.

Yes, I still have a wreath up. But its just the greenery.

And its a subtle reminder that its still winter.

(If the foot of snow outside didn't give it away previously...)

So there ya have it!

A quick little $0 makeover!

Kinda bright and out there, but I love it!

Totally cheers me up!

What do you think?

Do you ever use items in your home where they aren't meant for? Like my scarf on the dining room table?

Happy Friday!

I'm going retro in the kitchen.

I got a bread box!

I had been eyeing her since last year at Target.

I've been wanting to incorporate more turquoise and yellow to the kitchen and thought she would be perfect!

But I waited to long....she was gone...

But this year, she came back at $14.99.

And I never pay full price.

So I waited, and she was on sale for $10 this weekend.

Not the greatest, but she was the last one left.

Using Christmas gift cards I snatched her up!

I love how bright and cheery she is!

Did I mention she's practical too?

With making all of our own bread, I didn't have a great place to store it.

I would usually wrap it in saran wrap, then place it in a bowl on the counter.

It looked cluttery.

Now, I have a great place to put it!

I think she looks super cute next to my gunmetal Kitchenaid and our cheery yellow towels!

It gives hint to the upcoming Spring!

So friends, how do you store your bread?

Do you have a bread box?

Keep it on the counter?

In a drawer?

In the fridge?

Do share!