Living Room Updates

As most of you know, I got married about four months ago. And slowly but surely, I've been updating R.B.'s bachelor pad. I started on the living room before we were even engaged, and I thought I'd let y'all in on some of the updates we've made in the last year or so. And, I need your help too, so read to the end!

*Please forgive me for the quality of some of these older photos. We had to scour our iPhones for old pictures, and they're not great. But, you'll get the idea...

The above picture is actually after a few preliminary changes. R.B. used to have a really large dark wood coffee table. It took up most of the floor space and made the room so dark. We got the glass top table at Scott's in Atlanta. The legs are bamboo, but we painted them gold to lighten it up. 

Those side tables (from Target) are also changed - R.B. had dark wood tables on either side of the couch (he seemed to love the color brown before I got involved).

This is from Christmas of last year. R.B.'s dad and stepmom gave him a cowhide rug for Christmas (on my recommendation). I love the texture and depth it adds, but it's still way too dark in there for me. 

Can you spot Zelda, the Frenchton?

There are several changes in this photo. First and foremost, the lighter couch. It makes such a huge difference. We also added a lighter chair on the left side of the photo. If you look at the previous pictures, you'll see a black leather recliner that used to be there. 

The pressed flowers/ferns on the back wall are from Scott's, and the frames are from Hobby Lobby. 

Oh hey, Olivia and Elliott. This is what the mantle and fireplace looked like before we painted the mantle. And, here's the preliminary after...

Isn't she lovely? This beauty is attached to the wall, and we can't really move it because the wall isn't painted behind it and there isn't any floor trim back there either! R.B. had this completely filled with books, and this picture was taken after we had taken the doors off the bottom sections to start painting. A coat of paint went a LONG way on this little booger.

See what I mean?? Paint works wonders!

Now on to what the room looks like today...

Zelda made another cameo in this pic. 

Doesn't it look so much brighter?? Let's go little by little...

I got a great deal on this antique sideboard at an Skyland Antiques in Tuscaloosa. We left four of the pressed flower pictures here and added the pressed ferns to our bedroom. The wicker chairs are from World Market and were in my old apartment. 

This is the newest addition to the room. We picked up this adorable little desk at the Trussville Antique Mall yesterday. That little chair and the mirror are from estate sales in Montgomery. They've both been sitting in our sunroom because we haven't had anywhere to put them, but they fit perfectly here. I should probably lower the mirror a little, but it's super heavy and a pain to hang. So, it'll have to work for awhile.

Whew! Doesn't that look better?? That mirror on the right is from an estate sale. The painting was my wedding gift to R.B. It's by Birmingham artist Dirk Walker. The little copper pitcher on top of the bookcase is from Cottage Collections in Montgomery, but most everything else is stuff we've had for awhile. 

These prints used to be where the pressed flowers are now. The bar cart is from Target, and the wreath was a wedding gift from Williams-Sonoma.

And, here's the mantle today. I want to change out those vases and that side table that the cable box is on at some point. The TV wires also drive me crazy; I need to get a cord cover for those. 

This is where I need your help! This little table is just not cutting it in this corner. Our Christmas tree will go here in a few weeks (!!!), but I need something permanent after the holidays. I feel like I need a plant/tree of some sort to fill out the space, and it needs to be tall. Give me some suggestions!! We love that vase - a wedding gift from Williams-Sonoma - but, it's just not working here. 

So, there you have it. It's still a work in progress, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of where we started. Do you have any suggestions for our space? What's your favorite part? 

Master Bedroom Makeover Updates

I'm on a mission to update our master bedroom, and we made a lot of progress last weekend. 

You can see here where I started with updating the bedding. That made a huge difference. But, it definitely needed a lot more work. 

Here are a few before pics...

  

See those lovely drips on the wall above the bed? That's where the plastic on the back of the frame MELTED. So attractive.

Obviously, we didn't get the room picture-ready, so the after pictures will be even MORE dramatic (I hope). 

The best part about this makeover is that I used a lot of stuff we already had. Those pressed ferns are from Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta, and I got them framed at Hobby Lobby. We also have four pressed flowers hanging the den. We've had them for several months. 

We did buy the mirror at Pier One over the weekend. It was a silver color, but I used Rub 'n Buff to make it gold, and I love the way it turned out.

That Lake Martin print on the left wall was a marital compromise. R.B. loves it, and since he's been so great with me taking over the house, I wanted to give him a little something to make him happy. 

This corner was empty beforehand. I had the chair, table, and lamp in my old apartment. The basket is a wedding gift from Williams-Sonoma. That little quirky vase is from an estate sale in Montgomery. And, we bought the pillow over the weekend from World Market.

This is my favorite little part of the room. Those are watercolors of prominent buildings in Tuscaloosa. I got them at an antique mall there last year. I got the gate-leg table from Eastbrook Flea Market & Antique Mall a couple of years ago for a steal. 

We used a Behr color match of Sherwin Williams Rice Grain paint-and-primer-in-one for the walls. It only took two coats, and we finished in a couple of hours. 

So, there you have it. We still have the whole back wall to figure out. 

  

Aren't the tv and dresser really sad looking by themselves?

And, we have this little gem to deal with. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but those blades are seafoam green. When was that ever popular? 

What do you think? Help me fill that back wall; I need your ideas! And, we'd love to see your home makeovers!

Mantel Decor

The DIY Picasso art and the DIY gold corner picture frames made their home above our mantel late last week!

I purchased the federal mirror last year from the same place I got our rug a few months ago.  The mirror might be my favorite piece in the whole house.  Clearly, I have a thing for gold.  And aren't these little Staffordshire dogs adorable with their spots?!

I picked up the Staffordshire dogs from a local antique hotspot called Eastbrook Flea Market.  If you're in the area, you need to check it out.

 

This is our mantel for now, but I'm sure I'll switch things up with the items sitting on the mantel.  If I do, I'll let y'all know!

Master Bedroom Inspiration

So, remember how I updated our master bedroom bedding while R.B. was out of town? Well, the makeover bug has bitten, and I'm ready to completely redo the bedroom!

Here are a few inspiration photos...

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I love the bedside table in this pic...

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"That's a bathroom," you say. Yes, yes it is. I just love that grasscloth wallpaper. It almost has a metallic sheen, and I'd love to have it in the bedroom. 

As you can see, I love the neutrals with a little blue/green pop. I want our room to be light and airy and comfortable. It also can't be too girly, per R.B.'s request. 

What do you think of these inspiration photos? Which is your fave? 

Master Bedroom Bedding Makeover

Ever since R.B. and I have gotten married (a month ago today!), I've wanted to update the master bedroom. It is definitely a bachelor's bedroom. 

Sooo...while R.B. is out of town, I decided to start on the bedding. Surprise, R.B.!

I started looking online for bedding last week and couldn't really find anything I loved. So, this weekend while I was in Birmingham, I decided to run by Pottery Barn and check out what they had in the store. And bonus, they were having a bedding sale!

So last night, I stripped the boring gray bedding off the bed and replaced it with the beautiful linen Pottery Barn bedding!

The duvet, matching pillow shams, and three euro shams are from Pottery Barn. I need to get bigger pillows to fill out the blue shams, but they'll have to do for now. The two white/gold pillows are from Pier One, and the gold bow pillow is an old one I've had for awhile (I think it's from Kirkland's). I'm thinking I'll need to add some pillows or add a blanket/throw to the foot of the bed, but I'm much happier with it now. 

Now that I've gotten the bedding figured out, I'm ready to jump right in to a complete overhaul of the room! I'm going to get Kelley to come over and help me figure out what else needs to be done, and we'll document the makeover on Z+M!

What do you think? How could I enhance the bedding even more? 

DIY Picasso Animal Art

We moved into our new rental house in November, but it all happened so quickly that it's been hard to get organized and decorate and all that jazz.  I've had six of these Ikea Nyttja frames for quite some time now, but couldn't figure out what or where I wanted to hang in them until I realized (duh) that I should try and recreate my favorite living room look!

So, I started with the art and picked up some mixed media paper, printed out a few of my favorite Picasso animal images (you may need to adjust the size of the images when printing) and got to work.

I started by taking my images and centering them on top of my art paper.  I traced over the lines with a thick ball point pen.  Doing so, left an imprint of the traced item on my art paper...

Since I didn't want the background of my art paper to be stark white, I used a small foam paint brush and some light gray watercolor to age the paper a bit and make it stand out against the white mat.

Side note: Those aren't really mats!  After finding out that the most basic of mats for these six frames would be more than $130, I decided to use thick cardstock and an exacto knife to create the illusion of mats.  Bada-bing. Bada-BOOM.

I used a thin black sharpie to go over the imprint leaving me with this...

I finished up the remaining animals and placed them in the frames (DIY on the frames soon!)...

I'm already loving how they look!  We'll be posting the DIY on the frames next week and showing you where their new spot in the house is.

Have a great weekend!

Currently Crushing :: The Parsons Bookcase

Happy Monday!  How was everyone's 4th of July?  We spent ours in Zach's hometown of Guntersville, Alabama.  We saw wonderful friends and watched the fireworks on the lake.  After this weekend, I plan to restyle our bookcase in our living room, and although it isn't a Parsons bookcase I completely wish it was.

One of my favorite looks and pieces is that of a Parsons bookcase.  The lines are so simple and a bit of a modern touch, but are still a traditional look.  I love seeing them in all sorts of different colors - from white to blue, red to yellow, purple to green.  What's even better is how people display their books, collections and keepsakes on them.

Here are a few of my favorites...

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Hope everyone's Monday is off to a great start!

Emily's Guest Room :: Before

My friend Emily reached out to me when Maeci and I first started our blog saying that she had a really great blog post idea - for us to redo her guest room!  We totally jumped at the chance - getting to see an awesome friend + decorating = WIN WIN!

Emily's house is this adorable historic home in Birmingham in the Crestwood neighborhood that was built in the 1920s.  It has a cozy front porch, little scalloped wood detail in the kitchen, hardwood floors throughout, the original stove (it's amazing) and all the quintessential details of a home built during that time.  

So let's get down to the nitty gritty details of the before photos!

 

I hear that bad before pictures (photographers fault, not home owners fault) make for reallyyyy great after photos.  That's just what I've heard.  We're really excited to get started and have this room guest-ready.  We'll be posting updates on the room as we go, and I'm in the midst of putting together a mood board and sending a few items to Emily to choose from!