Living Room & Furniture Makeover

Hey Guys!  It’s been a while and I’ve teased you with a Living Room reveal for a LONG time.  It’s not 100% finished but that’s only because I can’t accessorize as well as I’d like with a 9 month old who is interested in everything!  So, here goes with the final results, at the very least you will appreciate a good furniture make over. 

Our living room sits at the front of our house and in general tends to be low on natural light until the afternoon light pours in.  My goal was to brighten the space with more neutral color choices.  I would love to paint the walls a white or pale grey but then I’d have to paint the kitchen and dining room too, and that task just seems too big.  The push in changing things up was that our couch was in need of a replacement or facelift and we needed more seating…a cute baby draws big company. 

Here is a before picture of our space.  I had tired of the pink and green but the space was well put together and cozy. 

Before

We took away the big green chair, recovered the sofa and added three chairs.  It took me a month to figure out the arrangement.  Which was not that different now that I see that before photo, ha!

After

I could not find a sofa that I liked as much as the one we had, the pillows and cushions needed to be plumped but the overall size was perfect for us.  Recovering with new fabric was also the less expensive route, not by much but I knew I’d love the couch.  I am so impressed with the sofa, it looks brand NEW.  I had the skirt removed which helped make it feel lighter and the color coordinates better with the rest of the house.  Everything is just a bit more neutral even though it is a blue now.

Before

After

The new pair of chairs were a set I found at a thrift store years ago and I snagged them because I liked the size and it is so hard to find a pair in a thrift store, they were $27  a piece.  They look amazing now! Can you believe it?!?

Before

After

Since taking these pictures I did get a fiddle leaf fig tree as a birthday gift and I added it to the back corner of the room, it fills this space nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other chair we added was the splurge for the room, a leather recliner from Pottery Barn, it is the Irvin chair.  I love the chair, it does not look like a recliner (this was a must for me), and it is smaller but still comfy.  Leather was not the best choice for us, our cat has already done a number on this with scratching, UGH!  Lesson learned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the little tour and that you are having a fabulous weekend!  I made it out of the house for the day yesterday to attend an antique sale in Liberty NC, it was so much fun! It had been a while since I’d had time to antique shop and I found too many little goodies. 

**If you live in the Wilson/Rocky Mount/Raleigh Area I’d be happy to share the Upholsters name it you are in the market.  The sofa fabric came from the Cloth Barn in Goldsboro and the chair fabric came from Premier Fabrics in Raleigh.

Have a good week my friends!

April

20 Things

I thought it would be fun to do another 20 things post since it has been a while since I have posted on the blog.  I have been a little busy, being a new Mom and going back to work full time is pretty hard I’m not gonna lie! Whew!  I am pretty sure it is like boot camp!   It’s nice to be back at work, I am just learning to handle the chaos on a whole new level. 

I miss blogging but it has been on back burner and I am pretty sure it will stay that way for some time.  I miss you guys and I am eager to post from time to time.  In fact I hope to post on our living room soon, we have new furniture! 

For now here is a fun look at where my current thoughts are…..

1) I love Aquaphor!  How did I not know about this stuff before, It is great for baby skin and all my skin ailments!  My feet are becoming softer by the day. 

2) I have house fever, I am itching to build our dream home…It is creeping in my mind, like EVERYDAY.  We have no land and don’t have a house plan, but I am dreaming!

3) I am SO TIRED.  7 months into motherhood and I am regularly getting only 6 hours of interrupted sleep. I’ve read 3 bestseller baby sleep books and followed the Pediatrician's advice, it’s not working.  Still, I can’t believe it’s only been 7 months, even through sleep deprived eyes my baby girl is growing like a weed! (more like kudzu)

4) I have a terrible sugar addiction, I want to quit but I love  need Dr. Pepper and that just make me crave more sugar.  I have a goal for 2016 to do better. 

5) In home décor I am really loving acrylic and gold. Together. Separate. I love it!
I am currently crushing on these Acrylic boxes at Ballard Designs.


6) I am thinking a No Spend Month would be good.  I don’t want to buy anything we don’t need for a solid month.  We are quickly running out of space in our house and I just want to feel like things are being simplified. Saving money is never a bad thing. March sounds like a good month!

7) Breastfeeding went awesome.  I stuck to my 6 month goal and  actually went 6 months and 3 weeks.  I feel so blessed that I was able to provide nutrients needed and that it went well.  I am so glad I stuck to it!  I did however learn more about boobs than I ever really needed to know.  Thanks Google.

8) I wish I’d known about Mamas Milk Box before now. It is a nursing apparel service for breastfeeding Mamas.  I never had luck finding good nursing tops and this would have been nice.  I only learned about it a few weeks ago.  

9) I love Inkwell Planner, I ordered my 2016 planner from their imperfect planner sale and I really like this one.  It is everything I dream of in a planner and I do day dream about good planners!!


10) Over night oats, my new breakfast go to.  These are easy to make ahead for the week and yummy.  I am trying this recipe for this week, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough.


11) I tried Stich Fix, wasn’t my jam.  I received 4 boxes, kept 4 pieces total and 2 boxes were a complete bust.

I2) I’ve been watching the Good Wife past seasons, it’s great.  My new binge watch.

13) The only other show I watch is Fixer Upper, love it.  Chip is hilarious. Joanna amazes me!

14) Valentines Day is not my favorite but this year my heart is FULL of LOVE, I am completely in love with our daughter, Lainey

15)  I continue to love Home Chef. It is so good, so easy and perfect for now.  You can read about my post of it HERE. 

16)  I love being a Mother, it is so rewarding and I love watching her learn!

17) I’m on the road a lot for work and I love podcasts, my favorite is Dave Ramsey but lately I’ve enjoyed Serial.    

18) Jelly Cats stuffed animals are so soft! They make good gifts, I hope Lainey loves her Valentines Love Bug.

19)  My hubby’s Birthday is on the 15th!  Happy Birthday Baby!

20) It’s really too late, I should already be asleep.  (It’s only 9:55 pm)
Follow along on Facebook and Instagram for the latest.  Happy Love Day!

April

What’s For Dinner?

When I started this blog I had full intention of blogging about cooking, I love to cook, especially baking but taking pictures of food is not easy and it doesn't thrill me to write about cooking.  However, in my new season of life as a busy Mom I have found that a meal subscription service rocks my world!  In a really good way!! I just have to share with you.  It makes my life easier and thought you may want to know about it.

We have been using Home Chef for a few months now and we love it!  Home Chef is a weekly subscription where you sign up, pick how many meals you want each week and fresh ingredients are delivered to your door with recipes.  It is so easy!  We get 3 meals a week, which fits perfect for our schedule.

I previously used another provider, Blue Apron, I highly recommended that service as well but Home Chef has exceeded my expectations so I wanted to share.

Here are a couple of my favorite Home Chef features are:

Home Chef offers an add on of a fruit basket, smoothie, and breakfast meal.  I love to occasionally add the fruit or smoothie. 

Each week you are sent an email for the week ahead to see the new menu and pick your meals.  If you miss the email the meals are preselected, but I love changing them to exactly what I’d like.  I try and pick one that I would like, one that I feel Will would like and one that I’d never cook on my own.  This is also the time when  you can add the fruit, smoothie, breakfast, or an additional meal if you like.  You can also change your delivery date if needed during this time, this is helpful if you are traveling or have dinner plans. 

The ingredients are all packaged in one bag and labeled so there is no sorting ingredients.

The meals usually take 30-35 minutes to prep and cook.

The customer service is superb!  We have a little FedEx issue with our address and I have had two boxes show up late due to them but the Home Chef team reached out and let me know ahead of time and I was able to prepare for another dinner alternative that night. 

I know you are thinking…It is expensive, it’s a splurge.  I thought so to at first but I am going to the grocery store less so it is a true time saver and time is money these days.  Not only that,  compared to grocery shopping I believe it to be less because I have no wasted ingredients as everything is premeasured and shipped per meal.  Less trips to the grocery store mean less impulse purchasing as well, you know what I mean….Ice Cream. 

Another cost saving benefit is I don’t want to eat out or pick up take out as often.  Knowing I have a healthy GOOD dinner at home to cook that takes less than it would to pack up and wait at a restaurant makes it easy to cook at home. 

This Healthy Take Out Cashew Pork was delish!

This is not a sponsored post, I just love Home Chef and wanted to share with you.  I encourage you to check it out at www.homechef.com .  You can sign up for two free meals, try the service and cancel anytime if you decide it’s not for you. 

I’d love it if you used my referral link to sign up! 

Referral link Here

https://www.homechef.com/invite/pVzaxS78MR1d

If you have trouble shoot me an email at heartsdesireathome@gmail.com and send me your email and I will send you the referral link from my personal email. 

I hope you will give it a try!

I’d love to know if you use this or another service already that you love?

Have a good evening and happy cooking!

 

 

April

Design Boards

Lately I have been sucked in to designing some rooms on Polyvore again.  It is a good distraction.  I certainly could put my time to better use but we all need an outlet right?!?

Lots of friends are re-designing spaces and so I’ve had fun thinking about what would I do.  Confession, I do that a lot, I go to other peoples houses and secretly I am re-designing in my head.  Not that anything is wrong with their current space but I just see the possibilities.  Ahhh…probably why I love TV shows like Fixer Upper.

Space number one is a living room space.  I have a friend in search for new furniture so l came up with a plan for a brighter space using cheerful accessories and neutral furniture.  She  likes earth tone colors and is drawn to bigger scale furniture to accommodate her sweet dogs.  I love the idea of the Ikea Ektorp sofa in grey with the chaise on the end.  That is a good piece for lounging and the smaller chairs are good for company.  My first idea was a bright rug that would really pop on her new wood floors. 

I wanted to see it with a neutral rug, which I like much better.  I think this makes it look more relaxed.  I love the pops of color with orange, yellow, and blue. 

On to the next space, a teen lounge, another friend is turning her dining space into a teen lounge for her daughter and son and I think this is such a fun idea.  The use of a daybed makes a great seating area.  I included a desk for homework and shelves for storage of gadgets and books.  Red, yellow, and blue are perfect for a gender neutral and this family loves the lake and beach so I include pillows and art that tie into a theme. 

What do you think?

Now…off to plan my living room….it’s coming people!!  I bought 20 yards of fabric to have my couch re-upholstered.  Maybe by Christmas I will have it finished!  I just need to decide how much I really want to splurge on a leather chair…eek!

Have a great week!

 

April

Game Day Attire

I’m not sure about you guys but we really love college football!  We love spending Fall Saturday’s at the game and tailgating.  We are missing it a lot this year, we decided to skip most games since we have a newborn but typically we regularly attend NC State games where my husband went to college, GO Wolfpack!  I am a Pirate at heart and we try to get East Carolina when possible to catch a game….Arggg!. 

We love to tailgate which includes a lot of eating, drinking, and socializing and of course Fashion!

A friend asked me to put together a post on game day fashion and I thought it would be fun since I love putting together boards on Polyvore and it would be a bit different for me.  Also, we are headed to a game this weekend so it is neat to think about what to wear. 

I know lots of ladies love to wear dresses to football games but I don’t get it….It’s a football game!  I more of a jeans or shorts and t-shirt girl and at most games that’s what you will find me wearing, usually it’s blazing hot at the games we attend since Fall is like Summer around here. I love putting outfits together, here are a few ideas for casual and comfortable while still stylish game day attire.

I’ll start with Purple and Gold since I love it most.  I am a big fan of knee boots with skinny jeans and I love the bright contrast of colors here with the 3/4 sleeve tee and the bright vest.  I’d keep this simple and pair it with a long necklace.                                

On to the Red Black & White…This look is a bit dresser but still comfy and classic.  Love the J.Crew vest, this is one you can dress up or down. I love the idea of a big red bag to carry food and drinks if you are visiting multiple tailgates. I would add a bright pop of color with a necklace or scarf in cooler weather.    

Since we are headed to the game this weekend and it is supposed to RAIN RAIN RAIN I put together a fun casual outfit with red rain boots. I love the bright pop with the boots and a causal t-shirt paired with a scarf to brighten it up.  I should have added a rain jacket!  I’ll need it this weekend!

I basically created this outfit around that watch!  I am currently obsessed, I think I may have to buy myself a little gift!!

If you are headed out to a game this weekend I hope you are enjoying a lovely Fall day in early October and not hiding from Hurricane Joaquin like we will be!

How do you like a fashion post from me?  Be sure to check out my Personal Style Board on Pinterest, I save my Polyvore ideas there and pin other fashion wants. 

p.s. excuse any typos and grammatical errors…I’ve read this three times, our little love bug hates naps and is crying through one as I try and blog.  I am also sleep deprived but you knew that!

 

April