Home Updates: Our Blank Slate Hallway and Elsewhere
We are coming up on our second summer in the house and I feel like this time at home has created an urgency to get things done. Loose ends need tying up! We’ve mostly completed design of the dining room, the wallpaper was finally installed, and though we could probably use a buffet or another china cabinet on the wall, I feel good about the progress. I finally added some cute photos to the landing of our stairs.
Updates that need to be made:
Bodie’s Room: well, he finally decided to hop out of his crib. At 3.5 I know this is super lucky and I should just be happy he lasted as long as he did in there… contained! But it’s time. The good news is, we have a queen bed in our guest room (future nursery). I’m thinking about getting Georgia a fun new boho-inspired headboard and giving Bodie her bed/headboard. It’s full in size, which I feel is more appropriate for a first “big boy” bed anyway and her current headboard is pretty gender neutral. The rest of his room needs completed as well. I want to switch out his knobs on the Ikea dresser, add a mirror above the dresser, choose a great light fixture and add to the walls. I hadn’t really hung anything up in there from the old house and nursery because I didn’t know what I wanted to do or when he’d need a new bed! The irregular dot wall stays, either way, as does the teepee. Here is what has been inspiring me for his bedroom, and I did pick up this duvet cover and shams, currently on clearance.
Nursery: full plan coming here, but I am excited to go bright on this one. The baby’s name is super loud and happy, so this direction makes sense to me. Trying to decide if I keep Bodie’s glider (which was Georgia’s glider) in his room or move it here. We do have a really great rattan chair in our office that serves no purpose – I wonder if I could toss a few (washable) blankets on it and get a great ottoman to make it comfortable? Full blog post coming soon and I hope to share design inspiration for both a gender neutral nursery and boy’s nursery as well.
Upstairs Hallway and our Bedroom: the upstairs hallway is currently empty, aside from a rug, and still echoing! I’d love to add a fun console or some framed photos we have in storage from the old house. Or, I have a bunch of photos of pretty window boxes from Charleston, I’d love to do (another?) uniform gallery wall using the big picture frames I used here. I’ve also thought about adding the Gleaming Primrose Mirror they frequently have at our Anthro Home Outlet and adding it to the hallway. I figure it would be a welcome change to the mirror I use for LiketoKnow.it pics, and would be a pretty sight out there – that said… I also want this mirror in our bedroom!
Speaking of our bedroom, Jeff has been working upstairs a lot given he needs quiet and the office doesn’t provide that, while the kids are around constantly, anyway. He’s been using Georgia’s desk (surprisingly large, haha) and one of our dining room table chairs. Obviously this isn’t ideal, but I think working from home is going to become more and more prevalent, so we need a desk that isn’t for a child in there. There’s a pop-out in our room where I have a reading chair, so I guess we would add right next to that! This takes me to the desk in our office potentially working in there, but it’s a silverish metal and the rest of the room has a lot of gold in terms of lighting and furniture. While I’m cool with mixed metals, I don’t think this will quite jive. I’d also love to keep this budget friendly so hoping to find something great online or at the Home Outlet. The rug we have in here is from our old Master Bedroom, and while I adore it – it’s way too small for the space. I’d love to move it to my closet or elsewhere and replace with something a little different.
Office/Playroom: This is about as low on the priority list as it can get despite being right next to our kitchen and visible from the main floor. I love the rug we have in there, but can’t decide which direction to go with this room. I’d love to add a little wet bar in here with cabinets for alcohol and glassware storage given it’s proximity to our office, or do built ins for a proper office. Or both. The flooring is carpeting so maybe we could put a cool tile in here vs. continuing our hardwood. I don’t know. Hence the low priority. One thing’s clear, it’s days as a playroom are numbered. I want to get everything into the basement. We finished the basement for a reason and I’m tired of cleaning up every floor each night with toys on each level!
I’m not including outdoor plans because there’s just too much text in this post already, but Jeff has been working so hard on our landscaping and we have a play set being delivered soon. Thrilled for the kids to have something to play on and hopefully stay in our yard with the increased landscaping kind of confirming what is and isn’t our property. The two other easy things that need done? I’d like to add is a chandelier lighting option above our kitchen table. Forever haunting me that I was dumb enough to not add one during our build. It’s as simple as calling an electrician, I know! Also, we need a fifth kitchen chair for the 5th member of our family, even if she won’t be sitting in there for a while! I’m not totally satisfied on the rug under our kitchen table and feel like some musical chairs needs to happen but we’ll get there eventually!
