Personalizing our home: the great room.

After being inspired by this post and this post last April I set a goal to "personalize" our home. Pretty much I decided that people probably felt a little like they were walking into a compressed wedding reception when they entered our small apartment (since I got to keep quite a bit of the reception decor and used them liberally in our home). Don't get me wrong, our wedding reception was beautiful! It was just all the same two colors, as most wedding receptions are. And a lot of those two colors in one small place can be a bit overwhelming. So as much as I could I parted ways with the purple and orange and set out in search of new and "personal" color pallets. (Yes I realize that orange and purple sound a bit odd together but trust me, it was pretty!)

My journey in personalizing our home didn't actually start last April... it really started when I found out I was pregnant with an energetic little boy almost two years ago. Of course at that time I didn't know he would be this energetic haha but hey, what boys aren't, right? Anyway, as soon as I found out I had to tell everyone because I was having a shower a week later and my mom just had to get started on a quilt that she wanted to make for the baby. So right then and there I picked out some blues and greens that would be the running color throughout Peter's nursery. I also found baby whales to be extremely cute at the time so everything turned out to be sort of "under the sea" themed. Kinda. Anyway, this post isn't about Peter's room haha this post is about the "great room." Sounds fancy huh? Like Downton Abbey fancy. (:

So... the great room (also known as the living room/dining area for those of you--like myself--that don't have a large vernacular like Todd does) actually got to keep some purple and orange. Just a little here and there to tie everything together in a little tiny matchy matchy way. Since I didn't want to completely re-do everything in this room I played around with different arrangements on the many (2) surfaces that Peter can't reach yet.

Currently the on-top-of-the-entertainment-center-space is sporting a runner from our reception, my wedding bouquet, an awesome bird cage also from the reception, all of Todd's classic books, and two little birdies that I find quite humorous because the real looking one is all like "What the heck is this purple statue bird thing??" So silly... cause like, they're both statues! Bahaha. I crack myself up. No really I do, every time I walk past those birds I laugh.

On our lovely Target book shelf we have another birdie, more not-so-classic books, and candlesticks from the reception. I was hesitant to put those up there because Peter sometimes likes to shake the entire bookshelf and those things already bounce around and make all sorts of insecure noises when I'm getting my sweaty p90x self on. So far so good though... not that it would take a falling candle to cut his head open, he was able to do that last night one a door hinge. My child is the next Mahem. Anyway, on the shelves, besides books, we have a few souvenir like things and two little mice that deserve an entire post of their own... so I guess stayed tuned for that. (:

Above the entertainment center I have a little collage-like set up of pictures and such. On this little shelf that I got from my awesome aunt Marci we have Todd's boutonniere from our wedding as well as another bird, of course. It's almost like they got out of the cage and trapped the books inside instead... so many hidden themes, such imagination, I know haha.

Most of the purple and orange in this room however comes from this too-pretty-to-use quilt that my mom gave us as a wedding gift. It has done a great job of keep the couch's back warm for about 2.5 years now and until I find a different way to display it it gets to stay there. (:

As for the wall that has been to our back this whole time... it has my keyboard, Todd's trombone...

... and our little mail spot. 

Notice that the record is indeed a Beatles record, major points for this anniversary present last year. (:

So there you have it! The living part of the great room! Todd and I take pride in the fact that the bookshelf was the only thing that we bought new. Craigslist gave us our couches, garage sales gave us the tables and lamps, some Hilton hotel in Linden, UT gave us the TV, and the entertainment center was free-ish re-do project. Everything else probably came from the reception or wedding gift money.

The other side of the great room is the dining area. I didn't want this area to clash too horribly with the living room but I also wanted it to draw some stuff in from the kitchen through the breakfast bar. So of course I went with mustard yellow and red. Haha don't ask how that works but it does.

I seriously scored big time with all of the mustard yellow stuff... this vase came from the thrift store... oh how I love thee St. Vinny's. I am going to miss the non-picked over thrift stores in Wisconsin.

This set up is actually a few months old, I don't actually have two huge fake bird cages haha. But right now it looks about the same. The tricycle came from a garage sale. Another moment where I was like... just act cool, act like $1 is a bit much (FOR SUCH AN AWESOME ROD IRON MINI TRICYCLE!!). 

check out this post to learn about our table re-do

Our kitchen is pretty small so to keep things looking clean I didn't do to much with decorating it. Luckily, we already have red pots'n'pans, a red microwave, and lots of other red cooking things that bring in the color.

And there's this little number that Todd kind of hates haha. But I told him that all I wanted for our anniversary last year was free reign to decorate how I wanted with zero mumbling. So after he got his emotions out about the grandma pears he kept his mouth shut haha. I'll agree, they're kinda sorta tacky just a little little bit. But like, in a cool spirit of Elijah way. Haha ya know... like connecting with my grandparents via wall decorations! Anyway...

So far I have really enjoyed this whole "personalizing" our home thing. I feel like everything is really starting to come together, especially as Todd and I work on different projects side by side. He's just so great, guys. 

Come back again soon to see Peter's room (aka the storage room), the bathroom, and my favorite... our bedroom. See ya laterzz.

UPDATE: Peter's room is all done! See it here!