27/52 + house updates.

I would love to say that Sean and I have been busy making house changes but really it's all him. I take credit for the "vision" but he makes it happen. The past month we've made some small improvements and have started decorating. Yes, for seven months we lived without frames or pictures or decorations. I would like to blame this on Sean but really it's because I couldn't commit to anything. After seeing how much work goes into repairing walls that have holes and whatnot I just couldn't imagine willingly and knowingly putting holes into our freshly painted living room walls. But, it finally had to be done. The house started feeling really cold and not lived in. I didn't like it. So, off to pinterest I went. 

I really love gallery walls -- LOVE them. Sometimes I look at them and think they are crowded or cluttered but for the most part I admire them. A while back I told Sean that I wanted to hang one in the living room and he wasn't all about the idea. He thought it was too cluttered looking. I assured him that it was necessary and that he would love it. For weeks, we lived with the "draft version" flat out on the ground near the said wall. That was annoying. I couldn't really get the placement right. Once I thought I got it and the cats ran full force into the frames and knocked my measurements off. I kept switching things and changing things and taking away things and adding new things. It was a mess. Finally, this past weekend Sean walked in with the level and a hammer and told me I had to commit. And that was that. 

We've been changing up the first floor bathroom since December. It's been a long time in the making and I'm loving how it's coming along. The amount of time and work it has taken makes me feel like we should have started with the second floor bathroom, since that is the one that we use daily. Live and learn, I guess. If you don't remember the horrendous wallpaper in the bathroom you can check back here. After we did the floors, the wainscoting, the walls, and the toilet, we struggled to find a sink. I wanted a pedestal sink. It was my first choice. Once it was put into the bathroom though, because of the sight lines from the hallway into the bathroom -- the pedestal sink looked stupid.  You could see all the pipes. I know some people like this but I hated it. So, back in the box it went and it was sadly returned to Lowes. We dealt with a sinkless bathroom for quite some time until we finally made it to Ikea. We ended up with this sink and, after a return and a second trip to Ikea, this faucet. The shelf still has not made it's way under the sink and can be seen to the left… 

While we're on the topic of bathrooms, we decided to switch out the faucet in the upstairs bathroom. I really dislike the second floor bathroom. I won't even post pictures of it until we make changes or I may get discouraged. But the new faucet made a major improvement. The orange countertop is a little sore on the eyes, though. 

For seven months we watched TV while it lived on one of our end tables. We got anxious every time the cats jumped up on the end table and it shook and threatened to fail on our 50 inch TV, and on us. During one of our "so what do you think we should buy now?" conversations, Sean said he didn't care about anything other than a TV stand. So, I searched and searched. I really wanted a brightly colored one -- like teal or red or yellow or something. I was vetoed pretty quickly and I decided to hold my ground on the gallery wall rather than the TV stand. So we compromised for this stand. Target is the best.

Lastly, I fell down the stairs again bringing the total number of falls to three. Sean couldn't take it anymore and ripped up the carpet. It was too cushy and puffy and actually really ugly. It was going to go anyway, but the falling bumped up his urgency. I'm hoping I don't fall again or the hardwood floor is really going to hurt. Eventually they'll get painted, re-stained and probably get a new runner.