Entry Way Makeover & Reveal

Okay are you folks ready for an extremely long winded post that has not one, not two, but three amazing things in it? I'm so excited about this post that i'm almost peeing my pants while typing it out. Yeah That Excited! Like a shaking Chihuahua excited.

I've been decorating my house one room at a time, for the past year. Once a room has been singled out and been picked for a makeover, i'm like a Tasmanian devil and I don't stop till it's finished. It can get kinda terrifying. The next room on my list was my entry way, I'm a firm believer that your home should reflect your personality, and ours doesn't....not yet at least.

I had no plan for the entry way, but I knew how I wanted people to feel when they walked in. I wanted "HI we're the Koenig's, we're a bit different, but you're going to love us anyway." feeling. So the first thing that needed to happen was to remove the Neutral wall colors. Loud and Proud over here!!  I sat down to broke the news to Jason that I'll be decorating the entry way so he'll be eating hot dogs & ramen noodles for dinner until its done. 

I only have one before picture of the entry way. Ignore the dog cages and my elliptical. The dog cages are getting a makeover in May for pet appreciation month.

YAWN!

WAKE UP! Yeah I know its boring but you have to stay awake for this one...it will so be worth it. I pinky promise. Those promises are legit yo!

First I started with the walls. I was more than willing to get rid of all the GREY in my house. Because how much grey can one have in their home till its just to much? I understand its a safe color but people lets get funky with our homes, heck you have to live there why not love your walls? I chose a few different colors of paint from my favorite brand BEHR. 

Tape off everything & paint your base coat. Once dried tape out your design, and get to painting some more. We're on a schedule people & if you want to finish this before you're husband gets home and FREAKS OUT at your color choices! 

Next task for this hallway was an upcycle. Go big or go home right? I purchased this Credenza after one day of searching every Goodwill and thrift store near the 32244 zip code. We upcycled a credenza about a year ago and use it as a dresser for our guest bedroom now. I never knew that's what they were called till now. After a day of searching I found this Diamond in the Ruff right here. 

I some how managed to get it's bulky behind into my Honda Civic with the help of a Goodwill employee and some amazing Tetris skills. I had something planned for this thing the moment I saw it. You wont believe its the same piece of furniture once done, or that I paid $12 for it.

I sketched out what I wanted this baby to look like and set to work figuring out what process I needed to take to make this happen (By this I mean I asked Jason). First off she definitely needed some legs...whats a credenza with out amazing legs? She also needed some new wood stain because the stain now was a hot mess and covered in Lighting Mcqueen stickers. TLC was needed for this piece and I was up for the challenge.

 Now I really hate sanding down furniture. I would give up a lifetime of sweets if every upcycle I do was pre-sanded for me. I decided to do a two tone color stain. Lighter color for the outside and a dark black for the inside of the front display. Once those dried I attached my legs and stained those to.

Okay time for the third piece of the puzzle. DECOR!

Folks I tried really hard trying to figure out something to pull this whole hallway together. I've been in a plywood kick lately, so I knew I wanted to go that route. For this project I made it quick, easy and creative. I simply took a piece of plywood that was an inch bigger than the wall cut out on all four sides. Sanded and set to work sketching and painting. This project was cheap because I used all the leftover paint from my previous projects.

Add a few touches to the area: a Large basket here that I got from a thrift shop, few Better Home & Gardens magazines, and a terrarium to finish off the entry. and time for pictures!!! This was such a quick and easy makeover, now when I walk into my house I feel a sudden burst of energy and suddenly feel like all my worries from the day are left outside.

You know whats funny about the black design? It wasn't what I had planned. Jason and I joked around and say it looks like tire marks. I loved it! Jason works at a tire company so I guess you could say it fits our home and life to a T.

Some more eye candy for you folks

I cannot pick my favorite part of this project. I mean I really love the credenza, but the wall piece had me so excited when we put that sucker up finally. I felt like Sheldon Cooper on a train ride.

If you really liked this makeover you could do me a huge favor and head over to Creating with the Stars and vote for me. Just click HERE, scroll to #248, and click on it. When it opens up, it's a vote for me. I only have a few more days left. Thanks Peeps! ‪#‎CWTS2014‬

Dining Room Reveal

Whoo Hoo Finally the Dining Room Reveal. This makeover has taken me forever but it is DONE.

When I started designing this room the first thing I envision is how I want to FEEL when I look into it.  When I come into my Dining Room I want to feel Calm. I want our house to be calm, interesting  and inspiring.  So that is what I started with.  Calm and inspiring. So as you are looking at this new room I hope these are what come to mind.

For those that are new Jason and I bought our house 2.5 years ago.  It was a standard sale the previous owners were getting a divorce and put the house up.  Here are the pictures of it completely empty.

Doesn’t that peach paint remind you of something out of your grandmothers house?  EWW. I still LOVED this house though.

I found this picture of the room after we painted it for the first time, about a year after moving in.(We painted the wall 2 times after this)

Tons of work & blood went into this project. I mean that literally I sheaded blood for this room.

This is what it looks like now:

Seriously not the same room

It started out with the White China Cabinet. I knew I needed something Grand and eye catching, but also different.  All the dishware are thrifted or from Dollar Tree.

I found the mix matching chairs at thrift stores for $5-$10 each. One however is the original for this dinning set.

I went crazy with the Dillard Shelves but without them the room would be plain. The pictures are thrifted. (I have a serious infatuation with Owls)

And of course the base for the entire thing is the paint.  It brings just the right amount of color in & calms down the white furniture.

The lovely table was a upcycle from my grandmothers dinning set. I actually had to chizel this piece.

One of my favorite pieces in this room is my grandmothers chair.  I painted it to match the current color of the furniture. And added a fluffly pillow to give it some texture.

I am in love with the entire thing so much the only way to describe it is with a big southern sigh.

I love that it feels calm.

I love that it feels like family.

I love that there will never be another room like this on this world because almost everything was family heirlooms and not just purchased.

Here are all of the tutorials for this room makeover:

An InLinkz Link-up

New Couches & Living Room Reveal

When Jason and I were first thinking of moving in together, we were basically combining two different styles into something that fits both our personalities. While I'm more fond of neutrals and whites, Jason leans more toward the metals and darker browns to blacks. While I like more of a country theme, he likes modern. Total opposites right?

He's a total Manly man

&

I'm a total Girly Girl

With that being said there was a few things we had come to an agreement on when furnishing our house. One thing in particular was the Couch! There were things we agreed not to get.

- Nothing Suede

- Nothing White

- Nothing Cloth

***If you're a dog owner I don't need to explain why these three are listed***

The reasons we can't have nice things.

There was also things one of us cared about, but the other didn't. His was color and fabric, he wanted something darker. Where I was more about the style, If we're going to get a sectional or separate couch and love seat.

Some things we looked at when picking our couch, beside our personal preferences. 

  

- The couch or sectional you pick should have durable fabric. Don't pick something that will rip apart after a few years of use. 

- Test the springs! Make sure you like the way it sits. 

- Make sure it the right dimensions for your room. Nothing stands out more than a couch that doesn't flow with a room. 

- Get a couch that's easily maintable.

- With a low ceiling get a low backed sofa. It makes your wall seem taller than they are.

- Vise Vera with a high ceiling, chose a high back sofa.

- Make sure your couch is sturdy: You need something with a well built frame. 

- If you like throw pillows get a solid color couch. That way you can decorate it how you want.

What we ended up was this Durablend matching couch and love seat in the style CAFE.

Here's the online photo set up:

 The road to getting our living room furniture was HELL, but I was extreamly happy in the end.


We bought the couch when we first moved into our home for a little over $600. Skip to two years later I wanted the matching love seat for my Christmas present. The week before we went to buy the loveseat I did all my rescearch for prices. Online sites had it for $376-$381 price range. So I figured Ashley's would advertise it for around that price also. Imagine my supprise when we call up there and they tell us $645.00 WHAT A TOTAL RIP OFF. How in two years does the matching loveseat increase in price that extravigant amount?

Thinking that the woman we spoke with was incorrect I decided to call other stores in the Jacksonville area and their corporate office. A different store in Jacksonville told me $552 for the loveseat so did corporate. I asked why a different location would have it for $645.00 and I was told he had no idea why. I also ask if they price matched because there's online sites that have it for $376.00 and even with shipping I would still have a better deal than buying with them. I guess He (Jeff the corporate guy) could tell I was a little upset with their company, for one store trying to rip its customers off, so he informed me to print out the listing and he will price match it. Now that's good customer service. I decided to visit the store that quoted me $645 and let them know in a suddle way I knew they were trying to rip me off. That I also spoke with their corporate and informed them of their scams. That charching an extra $93 than other stores is just plain wrong. I asked if they would price match my print out, and if they couldnt that a different store could and their corporate promised me this would be solved. One hour lunch break later they priced matched my $376 and in total it came to $403.00.

 I opted out of their warranty because to be honest Ashley's warranty sucks. Our couches zipper came undone and they wouldnt fix it. Also from the reviews for their warrantys alot is not covered. So the extra 100 warranty isnt worth it. I fixed the zipper myself and learned a lesson. We also didnt get the delivery to our home. Jason and I are both capable of picking up this loveseat and putting it together ouselves. This was a total learning experience for us. Tips for others looking to buy furniture...SHOP THE HECK AROUND and get the best price for your piece.

While our experience at one store was horrible that doesnt mean that the others are the same. I want to thank "Jeff" for everything he did for us. Waiting two years for this loveseat only to be heartbroken about the price. In the end Ashleys did make it right, I just wish I didnt have to go through all the problems to begin with.

Skip two weeks later we now have our living room set, and the room is complete.

 

I still have some things I want to do for our living room, and Jason's rolling his eyes about my ideas. I'll be sharing those as we get them done. I'm am hinting around to a extra large area rug FYI. Fingers crossed I get it before two years pass by. Anyone know if its okay to order rugs online? 

Couche & Loveseat- Durablend Cafe
Ottoman- DIY HERE
Love Pallet Sign- DIY From Shanty2Chic
White Pillows- Kmart
Aztec Pillow - Yardsale
Brown Faux Leather Pillows- Better Home & Gardens
Throw- Better Homes and Gardens
Wall Clock- Walmart
Side Table- Antique Type Writer Desk
Wax Warmer- Better Home & Gardens
Wall Frames: upcycled frames from Goodwill