decorating details and odds and ends...

I have approached decorating our new house completely different this time around.  In our first house, I threw things up on walls with out really thinking about it because I wanted it done and I didn't want bare walls and spaces. I have learned two things:

1. When we wait, I love what we end up with so much more because more thought has gone into it.

2. I can save so much money when I wait for what I really want, rather than spend money on things I'm not thrilled about and that doesn't have any special meaning to me, that I end up replacing anyway.

So here are some little spaces and projects around our house where we have finally put things up or checked things off the list and the more we do, the more this place feels like OUR house.
(Can I tell you that some of these projects are so tiny, but since our move, and managing my two little people, it has been so hard to check things off my list and get things done, so I have to celebrate the little accomplishments these days♥.)
But I wouldn't want it any other way...

Ok, so here we go:
Our bedroom:

The main wall that you see when you walk into our room:

Before:

After:
These have been sitting on my dresser for weeks and I am so happy to finally see them up!

(The hooks were birthday presents from Anthropologie from Kit and my mom, and the ampersand was from our 5 year wedding anniversary party decorations from the craft store that I painted brown.) 

We put them right under our wedding picture and vows.

Our fireplace:

Before:

After:

 Those crystals were from the fan that was in our kitchen and when we took it down, I wanted to use them somewhere because they reminded me of vintage jewelry, so I tied them around the necks of the bottles.

(These were bottles and vases that I have been collecting over the course of our marriage.  Some have been gifts, some have been thrifted or found in antique shops.)

Our Entryway:
The previous owner had stapled up a plastic/rubber weather stripping piece.  It looked horrible, and the other night, Kit decided to just pull it off:
Kit's face says it all:

Because Kit took that initiative, that meant that my OCD needed to paint that door and finally install our new front door knob:

 

A quick difference in the new white and the old white...

I always have my helper: 

 

The finished product:
(We are working on a project for above the door that I am so excited about...♥)

In the midst of that project, we realized that the walls on each side of our front door needed a little bit of love too: 

Before:

After:
(The left of the door)

These are crosses from Ethiopia in honor of my niece, Ruby.
The yellow 'r' was from a birthday party for Ryder a few years back that I sprayed yellow.
(The right of the door)

(The yellow hook was from Anthropologie that we got on our birthday weekend in Palm Springs.)
The 'R' was from my first thrifting experience in Tustin:

from this: 

 to this:

Eden's room:

When we first moved into our house, Eden's door had a lock on it and was pretty destroyed from one of the previous owner's teenagers.

 Kit used wood filler to fix the broken portion of the door:

I am so thankful that the Little Miss no longer has a way to lock herself in her room...

The finished product:

 All the door knobs match now!

In the office:

I finally painted and hung this little wooden hello sign:

 My favorite spray paint:

I also made a fabric garland for my special message/prayer "wall" out of an old tablecloth:

Before:

 After:

I love looking at this board that the garland just felt like it finished it off...

Our Patio:

Outside on our back patio, we had this funky open space underneath our kitchen window.

So last week, when our sweet new neighbors gave us this little kids table, we knew exactly where it would go.  It just needed a little spruce.

Before:

I chose a color that would match the pillows I had made for our outdoor furniture:

After:

It's coming together.  Little by little.  

I can't believe we've already been here 4 months!