Serious case of Decorating-itis!

So I guess after being homebound for 2 weeks while recovering from surgery, I realized that my walls and home need some attention. Once you stare at something everyday for 2 solid weeks, you just want to change everything up! Since we moved into the house in March, I've been trying to do a little at a time and think things through carefully before making any radical decisions. The first room I chose to be my victim on this round of decorating.....the kitchen. Oh, and the family room!

Here's a picture I found on Pinterest of a kitchen that I'm trying to "copy." I know that's lazy but I really like the style and feel. It's clean, cozy, and semi-eclectic.

The wall color is Sage Gray (not sure why they picked 'sage' because it's looks more blue-gray to me).

My painting in progress. I know the lines are swiggly (not sure that's a word but I like it) I'm not done with the finishing touches. And yes, I'm also trying to paint the family room. I wanted to go very light so that our wall decor and art along with our dark chocolate colored furniture would pop. And yes, I hate how white the back door looks against the cream trim, not sure why the builder did that? I would love to paint the backdoor a nice strong black or espresso color!

As you can see we also tried a lighter color but it looked horrible and reminded Matt and I of a baby boy's nursery! No offense...not really what we wanted for our kitchen!

Well more to come later! I've got lots to do. Need to finish painting the family room, gonna try to refinish the kitchen chairs, and also repaint the bookshelf ivory. Trying to create our beautiful home. Off to bed for now, the Darb's starts back to school tomorrow and she's not a morning person so I need to get my beauty sleep to handle her!

Welcome to the New Year!

I cannot believe that 2012 is already here! We've already started the year with a bang. I have repainted the kitchen and now started repainting the livingroom. I want to make our new house a home. I want the warm, cozy, mature look that is classic. We are choosing colors carefully and trying to keep with in the same palette. Our first painting adventure was the bedroom which I copied from an awesome blog lizmarieblog.com. She used the most beautiful gray called Woodsmoke made by Glidden.

It's a gray with a slight brown undertone which makes it really warm.
Our bedding is from Pottery Barn and I will post a picture later, but here's the picture from the PB catalog!

We are loving how the room turned out. Will post pictures soon.
So there's some of the things I've done in the house in the past year, and I've done a lot more but haven't loaded all the pictures to the computer yet! Hope everyone has enjoyed a great New Year's and is looking forward to what's in store for 2012!

Day 10...a childhood memory...

Well there are so many things that I could photograph for this one, but I settled on two things that really stand out from my adolescent years. One, cheering and football games! Oh, my how those were some fun times! Friday night football games, pep rallies, competitions,....you name it, we did it!

The crown is from winning Homecoming Queen! I have to say, that was pretty awesome being a teenage girl!

The thing that really reminds of my childhood is dance. I have taken dance classes since I was 2 years old. I took for 15 years and then taught for 8 years until little Darby came along! Now I get to be the mommy of a dancer and that is a whole new kind of fun! Kimberly (my little sis) and I would dance everywhere...I think we drove my mom crazy bouncing all over the store! Dance is still a big part of my life...now I'm the mom peeking in the window to catch a glimpse at my little girl dancing!

Happy photographing to all! I'm having fun with this challenge. Practicing my shots and editing! Until tomorrow...not sure what the challenge is, so I better be checking on that!

Day 9...someone you love!

I love so many! My heart, soul, and everything belong to these two!

My goal today was to shoot a picture of Matt with the kids but his work schedule did not allow that to happen. I love my family more than anything in this world. I have truly been blessed!

I've been playing around with some editing tricks on these last few photos...just trying to better myself! Tomorrow is day 10, take a picture of a childhood memory...stay tuned for that!

Day 8...a bad habit...

I'm sure I have plenty of bad habits like shopping, pinterest, shopping, shopping for crafts....oh, you get the point! However, it's not fun to display my own bad habits, so here's my hubby's bad habit. I hate it and I wish he would quit (period)! I'm throwing these cans away every minute and if I get my hand on the spit bottle, it's in the trash, too!

We love you honey and want you to be healthy and with us forever!

Day 7...a day late, sorry! Take a picture of fruit!

So here are my fruit shots. Again, I was rushed. We had a field trip with Darby's school which completely wore me out!!!! And I'm a day late posting this day. Photography class field trip today, so should be interesting and fun! Will post my learnings later!

Day 6...shoot from a low angle...

Today I was to shoot a picture from a low angle. This is as good as it gets today! It was a full and busy day so I didn't really have enough time to get a really good one. I shot this picture of Bodie while lying down on our sidewalk waiting on the bus to run this morning. Multitasking!!!!!! He kept crying..."I don't want picture mommy!" I won this battle!

Tomorrow is a big day...Darby is going on her first official field trip and we are going to the zoo! I'm so excited to be going along for this!