living room done (well, at least the paint is!)

Well, the living room is done...at least for now. The walls are very bare, so we'll have to work on that, but we're glad to have the paint done. Other than accessories, we'll have to get the floors re-finished at some point, but for now, the rug is a nice cover-up!
Boone decided to pop his head into the picture.
And looking back towards the screen porch. The two dresses won't stay there, it was just the easiest spot for now.
A bit more done in the kitchen---recessed lighting turned on, a new pendant light and some new lamps---got 'em at Target---wood grain on the base...
A more up close shot of the pendant light---it's from Pottery Barn, but got it for a steal on ebay!

Time to paint the living room...

Brooke begins to put primer on the paneling. Gorgeous paneling, but it's EVERYWHERE in the house. We had to brighten things up a bit. The ceiling will remain untouched, and of course the hardwood floors will be re-finished at some point.
More primer... The contrast of the dark paneling to the bright white.
And today we began putting color on the walls. It's one of my favorite colors---Peanut Shell. It's a special mix from a paint store in Macon. We had them call the "sister" paint store in Chattanooga to mix a batch. It's just the right blend of beige and gold.
First coat is on and begins to dry. We'll probably have to do two coats, but we hope to finish it this week!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We had a great weekend. Mom and Grandmother came up for the day on Saturday and we had lunch at a cute restaurant downtown overlooking the river, then did a bit of shopping. Grandmother bought us the beautiful wreath for our front door. If you'll notice our roof has a bit of snow! We woke up to flurries this morning. Being from Macon, I'm sure we were a bit over excited about the tiny bit of accumulation!
The "Welcome to Signal Mountain" sign has snow on its roof!
This is a train display that a family on the mountain puts up every year. It's at the entrance to our street, right at the top of the mountain. It's lit at night with a Christmas tree in the train depot. I've seen lots of kids climbing on the train. I'm sure there will be some Christmas card pictures taken in front of this.

Christmas arrives!

Finally! We found some time to put up the Christmas decorations. I took a picture of our ornaments. I'm a little ornament crazy, and the only requirement---they can't be usual or normal. Of course, there are a few traditional pieces and some sentimental ones, but on the whole---they must be a bit interesting!
Tree decorated---at night, in the dark. This isn't the best picture, but you get the idea!
Here's the piece in our living room with the nativity.
And, a more up close shot of the nativity. My wonderful friends (Leslie, Keri, and Rachel) gave me the creche and Holy family as a wedding gift. Since, Grandmother and Mom have helped to add the wisemen, shepherds, and quite a few animals.

The nature outside

It's very difficult to tell, but this pile ended up being almost 5 feet tall and it ran the length of our front yard. Talk about a dream when I was a kid---jumping in a pile this big! We have a truck that comes by about once a week and sucks up all of the leaves in people's yards. You just have to get them to the street. Nice service. Brooke spent the ENTIRE day doing this!
I came home from work last week and this big bird was perched on a tree in our backyard. I believe it's a hawk. He was huge.

Accessories

Most people that know me know if I could be anything in the world, I would be a decorator/party planner/entertaining specialist. But, for now, I need a salaried job! So, because I'm obsessed with accesories, I thought I'd show some of my latest finds on the blog. Above is a clock that I bought months ago before we dreamed up the idea for the kitchen. Got it at my new favorite Chattanooga shop, Sophie's. Sophie's hasn't yet replaced Isabel's, but it's a Chattanooga version of Isabel's and definitely has some great items. Now I must say that I'm pretty proud of the find because it matches the kitchen perfectly---warm with the wood tone background, cool with the stainless frame and hands. I think we'll find a place in the kitchen that it'll fit perfectly.
LOVE this! Feathered placemats/chargers. I actually did find this at Isabel's (my favortite Macon shop) last year. But, I haven't had the chance to use them, so they're still "new" to me. Great colors, great look. Will be perfect each fall, Thanksgiving, and even into winter.
I found this at the Galleries at Southside in Chattanooga. Modern, yet traditional. It'll probably end up in our dining room with the black and white theme. It was only $20. I think that's a find!
This table runner came from the Signal Mountain Nursery. For those that have never been---when you come visit Brooke and I---we must go. The nursery has amazing plants, but also a fabulous gifts and accessories section. The trim on this is actually tree bark and then the inner section is dried leaves. Again, I love mixing the "natural" look in with the upscale and formal look. This will be great wherever it decides to land.

Crown moulding and Grout!

Brooke worked hard yesterday to get the baseboards and crown moulding down.
Just needs to be painted now. But, I think it looks pretty darn good!
Finally---the framed out doorway between the kitchen and living room. Love Boone's addition to the picture! You can see we still have to put up wall on the left side to finish off that "nook." Kitchen is getting VERY close to completetion...minus the accessories...I've got some work to do on that.
Here's an up close pic of the finished grout. The tiles turned out like we'd hoped!
Brooke bought some unfinished oak board to do the transition between the living room and kitchen. It fits perfectly and I think it'll be hard to tell there was ever a big wall between the two rooms once we're done!

Time to Tile...

Brooke fits the first few pieces of tile...
And moving along...
Over the sink. It's white subway tile (if you couldn't see by the pictures!). We debated about the grout color. But, in the end, I think we're going to grout it in white. Brooke says the un-grouted version (or probably what it would like like if we grouted it in grey) looks like it might if we lived in an asylum. Of course, he quickly followed that up by saying he sometimes feels like we do! :)
We bought under-counter lighting. Brooke found a way to somehow get this up through the cabinets.
Here's a pic with all of the undercounter lighting on. The cords still have to be tacked up, but otherwise you get the picture. Starting to look a bit more together!

New Fabric choices...

Alright, here are some new fabric choices. I'm thinking of doing the striped on a cornice on the window over the sink, then doing some scalloping in one of the floral prints below that and the checked fabric as the edging. I'll also probably do our monogram in red and chocolate brown on the cornice to tie in with my red accessories (since everything I own in kitchen accessories is red!). Something similar on the window in the breakfast nook, but with longer drapes in there in one of the florals. We'll see when and if those ideas come to fruition!

Better Blue

A view with the oven now in and knobs and pulls on the cabinets. I can cook!!
Larger view---the dishwasher isn't yet hooked up---waiting for the cabinet guy to install the clips, otherwise, all major appliances are working! I have a few necessities out on the countertops, but not near all. Coffee maker being necessity #1! We still have to tile the blacksplash. We'll probably get going on that this weekend. We're going to do white subway tile.
And, another view---the flash was a bit too bright to show the new blue walls, but they are much better than the green. I'll have to post the new fabrics I'm thinking of...
Palladian blue. I like it!

Countertops go in!

The countertop guys from Pinnacle Granite place the largest piece into place...
Making sure it's even...
Finished product! Yea! We have countertops!
Another view...
The faucet. It caused me much anxiety. A lot of time spent searching on the internet for exactly the right thing, then I decided just to pick it up at Home Depot one night and be done. Very traditional---the nozzle comes out to be used as a sprayer. Soap on the left, hot/cold water on the right. I think it'll work!

We all make mistakes!

Well, I should have stuck with my gut feeling and gone with what I really wanted, but I listened to the designer at Benjamin Moore. Maybe for some the Medieval Green might have worked, but I think it's a bit much for us. Here are the new paint choices: Palladian Blue, Castleton Mist, and Dill Pickle...hard to decide. I've always wanted to do a blue in the kitchen, but most would say I should stay away from that since the rest of my house is done in warm colors. But, this time we need to pick what we really like! I'll keep this updated to let you know what we choose!

Paint!

Brooke begins taping off around the trim to start the paint job...
First coat of paint...Benjamin Moore Medieval Green...do we like it? Actually, still trying to decide. I think it might be more saturated than we originally thought (like all paint, it's always darker than you think it's going to be). But, it is a nice contrast to the floor and the white trim.
Wider view...
And, looking back from the breakfast room into the main kitchen...
Into the breakfast room. There is quite a glare on this because the paint wasn't dry.

Cabinets go in!

FINALLY! Mr. Petty and his son arrive with the new cabinets...ready to install! We found Mr. Petty through our real estate agent, Jean Smith. He was certainly the most reasonable quote we received for ALL hardwood cabinets---even the boxes are solid wood. Amazing!
And now for the bases...
The finished (somewhat) product! Mr. Petty is done, Brooke installed the microwave and now we wait to have the granite installed. They should be by tomorrow to measure. Maybe by next Friday I'll be cooking in our new kitchen!
We're beyond pleased with the way everything's coming together. We decided to have Mr. Petty do the glass front doors and I think they look really great. Of course, Brooke says I'm already being obsessive about how I "display" everything in those glass cabinets, but it must look nice, right?! We love the apron front sink and are glad we went for the one with some detail on the front.
Brooke hooks up the fridge. I'm excited about the bottom freezer.