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!