In case you've been wondering where we've been (maybe you haven't, who knows, probably flattering myself a bit here!) the radio silence in this space has been because WE MOVED! Bought a house in fact, the cutest one you ever did see in Webster Groves. If you're not familiar with the St Louis area, Webster is nicely located slightly south of Clayton, which is a bit of a metro hub and has lots to do. It's ALSO located right off a typically easy to navigate interstate that leads right into downtown St Louis. Location wise, it was the DREAM! We never dreamed we'd find the right house, in our budget, at the right time.....but thanks to some poorly taken photos of the house on the listing, and our great realtor , it became ours last week! I had lot of furniture in storage ready to move in once we closed, and we already knew which rooms needed painting & new light fixtures, so the space came along pretty quickly! Here are some photos I took of our new space as it is right now, and I tried to include some notes of what we changed about the room and how we plan to do even more in the future! Something I really want to highlight before we get started is how much of this furniture came from a local store called "Renee's Vintage Obsessions" in Mt. Vernon, IL
I know a lot of you that read this blog are local to St Louis or Mt. Vernon, and I have to insist that you check them out! I feel like I'm giving away a big secret here, but she stocks the most amazing vintage pieces and at seriously good prices. Our house looks this put together only because we were able to get so many pieces there all at once, affordably. If you go in, please tell her I say hi! Okay, on to a thousand pictures!
This is the house! Doesn't it have great curb appeal? We were definitely drawn to it because of that. Things we've changed are:
-changing the front door from bright yellow to military red
-adding the wreath
-adding the flag
Things we would still like to change:
- freshening the landscaping and weeding it out a bit
repainting the black shutters
-Replacing the porch posts, which look fine from a distance but are quite shabby up close
-powerwashing the entirety of the house - which Darrell and I plan to do this weekend!
-eventually, swap out the siding (this is pretty much the only siding on the house) for shaker shingles
This is our living room, and the entryway is shared by this open room! We faced the back of the couch to the entryway to divide the two spaces, and placed a couple of mirrors conveniently so that a) you can check your appearance on your way out the door and b) to make the room look bigger and reflect light. The walls were already this color, and we haven't really changed this room at all other than hanging blinds - the previous owners had curtains that dwarfed the room - and moving our furniture in.
Here are the piece details: sideboard/Renee's, mirror over sideboard & wreath holder/Renee's, sofa table/Home Goods, edison lamp/Target, couch/Bryght, ottoman/Home Goods, armchair/Pottery Barn, tv console/West Elm, hanging headboard/Renee's, piece above television/Hobby Lobby, pineapple decor items/Hobby Lobby, tray & side table to the armchair/Home Goods, mint chair/Renee's.
grey produce cart/Ikea
window pillows/Target, seat fabric/Hobby Lobby
tablecloth/Target, red hutch/Renee's
Onto the eat-in kitchen! (If it has not become clear yet, this house is bigger on cozy and charm than grand and large. We don't have a formal dining room, and we like it that way!)
Things we've done in here:
-Recovered the window seat cushions
- Painted the walls pale, pale grey from a VERY blue grey
-Repainted that chalkboard, which is mounted to the wall
Things we plan to do:
-Change out the light fixture above the dining table, and move it so that it can be centered over the table
-Change out the light fixture over the sink to a pendant light
-Replace the aluminum sink with a farmhouse sink
-Eventually get a new dining room table, probably something circular and extendable
-Possibly stain the cabinets espresso, but I have to admit that the color of them has actually grown on me quite a bit!
hall rug/Target
Our happy little hallway, which needs no more changes and didn't have many either - other than our plan to install a Nest thermostat sometime soon!
bedding/Target, curtains/Overstock
pineapple candle & lamp/Target
All the furniture in our guest room is actually mine from when I was a child all through high school! It has really stood the test of time (aside from a few spots where teenage me left my straightening iron on on the desk...grrrrrrr.) This room was actually red and cream and we painted it bright white and aqua - the exact shade of aqua in the bedding! The bedding, by the way, is from Target and was only $25. THE WHOLE SET.
Things we've done in this room:
-Painted it aqua and white
Things we plan to do in this room:
-Change out the dated ceiling fixture to a nicer light and fan.
side table/Hobby Lobby, wicker chair/Target (but I found it at Goodwill?!)
curtains/wal-mart, curtain rod/Target
crib/Pottery Barn, rug/Target - couldn't find online, cloud mobile/Baby Jives
white chest/The Nest
Claire's room is the smallest, and thus can't really be photographed at a wide angle with the lens we've got, hence these tall photos!
Her room is much the same as at our apartment - we purposely did that, to not overwhelm her with change - but with a few "big girl" updates. Her old "sweet and simple" rug is now in our kitchen, and we replaced it with some bold pattern! We also got a bit more storage for her, and are eventually going to re add the gold dots on her wall (the new decals just haven't arrived yet.) She'll have a decal above her crib as well, also not here yet but it'll be in a more modern, updated font. Last but not least of course we painted the walls from sky blue with cloud murals to blush pink, and changed out her light fixture to something more glam.
Things we still want to change in here: NONE!
bed & bedding/West Elm, rug/Target, side tables/Renee's
vanity & deco cabinet/Renee's, heart ottoman/Target
Our bedroom is actually the only room upstairs! It's basically in an attic, but it has windows and is plenty large enough - plus we have separate closets, and mine is very large and "walk in."
Things we've done in here:
-Nothing yet! Just adding furniture and our own art. We don't LOVE the wall color but don't hate it either.
Things we plan to do in here:
-Change out the light fixture to something that emits more light
-Paint the lower walls and potentially mount beadboard to the ceiling
-Completely change our master bathroom, which you'll notice isn't even pictured. It needs a new vanity, and honestly the shower/tub combo they have in there is WAY too big for the room. I'd love to rip it out and replace it with a glass walled shower, but that's a very far off project! Because these spaces are seen the least by guests, we plan to leave them for last.
patio furniture: large couch & chair set/Big Lots (in store only,) small bistro set & rug/Target
potting table > outdoor bar/Renee's, bar stools/Hobby Lobby (on sale for $34!!!)
Probably my favorite part of the house is the gorgeous backyard! Since we moved in in spring, we were surprised with some gorgeous foliage that we didn't know was even here. Still, besides adding patio furniture, we haven't done much and are getting started out here right away since summer is coming! We have landscapers coming to rip out an overgrown and unattractive garden that's to the right of the patio, surrounded by ugly and decidedly not child friendly barbed wire fencing. After that's done, we are fencing in the entire thing! I am so excited about this, because the house is on a busy street and once that's done I'll be able to truly relax while Claire plays outside. Right now it's a situation of constant vigilance!
I hope you enjoyed this mini tour of our house, we feel very lucky to live here and cannot wait to spend our first summer in Webster Groves!
Happy weekend!
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