Home Updates
July 1, 2018
Well, it’s almost been a month since we moved in to our new house and it’s starting to feel like home. I don’t know if it’s because we bought vs. rented, but our neighbors have been stopping by to welcome us to the block. One brought a peach pie, another a bottle of rose, and another simply walked across the street with her two children and said hello. It’s so sweet!
Now, when we moved into our first home in Philadelphia, there was so much work to be done. Jeff is a task master. As much as I like checking items off my list, he is 10 times more determined than me. It’s great that he keeps pushing things forward, but I’m also trying to take my time and be deliberate with our choices. I want all the personal touches that it make it feel like a home but also want to be purposeful on what goes where.
I posted last month right when we moved in on the 10 things I purchased for the new house. As an update, we loved everything we ordered but decided to return the Crate & Barrel sconces. When we looked at them next to the mirrors we chose the for master bathroom, the shades of brass were off. Since we liked the mirrors more and the room gets lots of natural light, we’re shelving the extra lighting for now.
Matching Light Fixtures: West Elm | Living Room | Dining Room
Speaking of shelving, my focus these days has been on book shelf styling. We have lots of great bookshelves {and many, many, old, old books from the Philly house}, but I wanted a clean aesthetic to this house and didn’t want rows and rows packed with books. After many searches on Pinterest, I found some inspiration of grouping books by color. Also, I created shelf with the books turned around so the pages face out. I tried to select books with special meaning or ones I really enjoyed to face their titles forward. It’s nice to highlight only a few at a time.
Another addition is plants and succulents. Now, I do not have a great history of keeping plants alive, but I am going to try! One of my earliest home inspirations was Tory Burch’s lush NYC apartment. The rooms were filled with rich greens and blues {check it out here}. It’s the reason we reupholstered Jeff’s grandmother’s couch with green velvet. So green is a color I like having in the house. I’m trying to bring this color palette here but more against a white, clean backdrop. My next step is adding as many ginger jars I possibly can. And while I giggled when I added it to the living room bookshelf, Sam’s painting of his research project – the blue poison dart frog – is really the center piece of the room!
It’s coming along and can’t wait to see the finished look. Stay tuned for more updates!
xo,
Kellie
[…] living floor. This is probably the area that has made the most progress. You’ve seen the updates to the bookshelves and the first things we purchased in previous posts, but I’m excited to reveal some more […]
[…] The chandelier in our dining room has a sister one in the living room, since the two rooms flow into each other. These pretty lighting fixtures have that mid-century modern feel with large bulb lights, and are truly statement pieces. As with our last place, they are adding a nice contrast to the more traditional design and furniture we have. You can check them out in this post. […]