{ a simple life part 1 }

Be sure to come back tomorrow for more inspiring photos of our day at Nana & Poppy's

* peace & love *

Carrie

{ collections }

{ that was then }

{ after first }

I decided today to start out with the after photos this time,

just because the before photos are so bad quality wise.

Besides, I want my little thumbnail pic to be pretty if it's on your blog.

So below is my bedroom today, it's come a long way since we first moved in.

Of course the bedroom is always the last to be decorated,  and ours was really no different.

After six years my bedroom is the only room without window treatments.

 I am in the process of looking for some right now though.

As someone who generally learns from her past decorating mistakes,

I really want to find some inexpensive, but nice ready mades.

Like I've said before, I change my mind a lot. 

Pottery Barn has some panels that I really love in cotton/linen,

but when I priced it out, it added up to over $700.00 just for eight curtain panels { ouch }.

I have to say that's just a little more than my budget can handle right now, 

so I'm exploring other options, I found something very similar at Target.

One thing I am sure of is that I want bronze rods, with very simple finials,

and I do want a cotton or linen fabric in an off white or ivory color 

to match my matelassé, and keep the room airy and bright.

I've thought about custom curtains, and a new bedskirt,

but again, I change my mind so often it's just not prudent.

{ today }

Recognize the sofa and my corner reading chair?

They were the original living room furniture we picked out.

They fit perfectly in this room, and the color ended up going quite nicely

with the bedding and rugs, for a nice, neutral, soothing escape.

I love my bed, it is by far the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in.

The sofa isn't too shabby either when it comes to those long afternoon naps.

My bed makes me feel like a princess, and when I'm away I always look forward to

coming home and sleeping in my warm, cozy, cushy bed.

Another thing I especially love about my bedroom is my  fireplace,

it is definitely one of the things that sold me on my house. 

{ even though there wasn't one mature tree anywhere on the property }

Funny the things you will sacrifice when you are looking for the perfect home.

Actually, the fact that there are four fireplaces sold me,  I love to snuggle in front of a warm fire, 

and honestly, that's just not something you generally find in new construction today.

There were supposed to be built ins on either side of the fireplace,

however, for some reason the builder decided he didn't need to add them,

and we didn't find out until too late...some day we will have them added,

but for now, there is a little nook for our Lucy to sleep in, and I've just added this

little table and lamp to fill up the other nook.  When we do have the built ins done,

each one will have a little chicken wire cabinet underneath for each of our yorkies to sleep in at night.

because If they aren't in a kennel, they wake Papa up in the middle of the night to go out,

I think it will be so nice to give them each their own little nest....someday.

{ bedroom in 2005 ]

Thanks so much for visiting me, and for all of the sweet comments you leave me.

I look so forward to what you have to say, and I have received some great advice through this blog.

It's so nice to get to share my home with you,  and  I'm especially happy that you think it looks comfy and

inviting, because that is exactly what I want,  a nice place for friends and family to visit.

Just a little clarification for my dear sweet friends here at home, 

A move to Wilmington is still a few years away for us,  I think we will be waiting until our oldest

graduates from high school, and goes off to college before we make any major changes.

It's still kinda fun to think about,  change can definitely be a good thing sometimes.

Sorry for the false alarm,  Papa really did have me thinking he was ready to get out of dodge though,

and of course being the amazingly wonderful wife that I am, I always jump on board. { * wink * }

* peace & love*

Carrie

{ more change }

Happy Friday dear friends, woo hoo, we made it to another weekend.

I'm sitting in this room right now, this the second most unused room in my home.

This room has proven very difficult for me to decorate, and has changed several times

over the past 6 years.  First there are 20 foot ceilings, secondly it's kind of an awkward 

rectangular shape and it has to be passed through to get to the keeping room, and a back door.

I've arrange, rearranged again all to try and get a pleasing room that we will use.

This is how the room looked in 2005, 

It's very sparse, because we came from a much smaller home, 

all of the furniture we did have went into the basement and upstairs to the kids loft.

I suggest thinking about the furniture needed to fill a large home before moving,

something we never really gave much thought...it can be a very expensive endeavor. 

The rug was picked out by a designer that we hired briefly, and I'm still happy with it.

The furniture hmmm, well, that was one of the first purchases we made when we moved in.

 It's very neutral, and rather blah because I made the mistake of covering a sofa 

in my old house in a plaid fabric....what was I thinking?  Don't do that, don't cover the largest

piece of furniture in the room in a plaid, even if you like said plaid  { I call it the big plaid albatross }

We still have it by the way, and it's in the kids loft, and it's still an albatross.

Here's the living room today, with a lot more going on.

My friend teases me about the feng shui of this room being so bad.

She hates how it's closed off when you walk in from the front door.

In my defense for this arrangement,  I wanted this room to be more than just a pass through

to the keeping room and kitchen.  I used to have the sofa's facing each other in front of the fireplace,

and that arrangement was okay too, but I wanted more seating.  The room is very rectangular, and I 

couldn't add chairs by the fireplace or at the end of the sofa's without blocking the traffic pattern,

so this is the arrangement I came up with.  I actually like it because it makes the room feel 

more intimate, and now I can have more people in here at one time.

Before there was no view out of the window, now I can look out from the sofa's,

and I have a nice sunny area by the windows to read and have my coffee.

My sister, my good friend and I added the bookcase a couple of weeks ago, 

I really like it in here because I feel like it gives the room a purpose....

it's our new library.  I took over the old library and made it my studio.

Finally, my family is using this room, papa will sit here in the mornings and play his guitar

{ the sound in this room is great },  my son likes to sit in the chair by the window and read,

I sit in the corner of the sofa and look out the window at the robins building their nests,

we are  finally using this room on a daily basis, so....mission accomplished.

I promise that the color looks much nicer in person, 

the paint color is reading really gold in these photos.

The actual color is " Toasty ", and  I like the name.

This is the view from the keeping room.

Things I would like to do in this room include:

1. recovering the red chairs

2.  re-paint...again 

{ shh don't tell papa, we just had it done }

3.  add more architectural details

4.  change the fireplace surround

5. new curtains

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the room, but of course my taste changes daily,

and the more I look around in magazines, books, and blogs,  I want to change it all again.

Hindsight is so 20/20, and if I could do it all over again, I would have taken much more

time picking out furniture and thinking about what I really wanted.

Alas, I'm not much of a planner, and I have absolutely no patience,

I want things done, and done right now, so that approach is very hard for me.

I admire you ladies who know exactly what you want and have the patience to wait for it.

Papa came home yesterday and asked me what I thought about moving to Wilmington, N.C.,

so change may be on the horizon for me after all.  

I'm seeing a smaller historical home, maybe in the downtown area....Oh so lovely.  

I could get excited about this...a chance for a do over, and much needed change.

A beach cottage, that would be a big change.  I think maybe I could get on board.

If you know of any lovely old homes for sale in the area, please let me know.  

I'll keep you posted.  Have a lovely weekend, I hope you have lots of sunshine...

I think we have rain in our forecast for the entire weekend....

glad I got all of my planting done yesterday, now if it will only hold off long enough

for me to get my raised beds going today.

* peace & love *

Carrie

{ ch-ch-changes }

I was going through my old pictures this morning looking for some of Italy to share with you,

when I came across some older photos taken of my home.

I thought it might be fun to share some "that was then and this is now" pics.

this was my kitchen in 2005

This is my kitchen today.

let's see if you can spy things that have changed,

Let's see,  curtains,  change in artwork by doors,

different kitchen table & rug,  different lamps on the buffet, and accessories.

Wow, my kitchen table really fills up the space.  When we first got it papa and I kinda freaked out,

it was so much bigger than our little table before.  I guess it's o.k., I like more cozy settings anyway,

and these chairs are uber comfy,  great for long conversations over coffee with friends.

Okay, so I know most of you white lovers are cringing right now at that bold red paint color on the wall.  

Well,  I guess red was one of my favorite colors, because I seem have been quite attracted to it in 2005.

I guess I just like color in general, because there are so many different ones around my house.

The color on the kitchen and keeping room walls is "roasted pepper".

My painter chose this one for me, because he knew it turned out well.

After more than 5 years, I've grown tired of the red, 

and am needing something a little more subdued the problem is...

papa has not...he says these rooms are his favorite because of the red.

Now.... If I were so inclined I would just go out and purchase paint and redo 

the room while papa was at work....problem....these walls are much to difficult

for me to paint on my own, there's a stairwell, and it's just something I have to hire out.

That means money.  Money I don't have to spend on painters right now, even though

I'm dying to lighten up throughout my house.  I guess I've kinda caught the neutral bug.

Of course, by the time I change my house again, the trend will be back to color.

It's all such a vicious cycle, change always leads to more change.

Then of course if you are me you get tired of it all so quickly that you need more...

change.  I know i'm not alone in this, because I see lots of you constantly rearranging

and moving things just like I do.  It must be a fickle girl thing.

Guys never get tired of anything, and that can be a problem for us girls.

I was trying to change the paint in photoshop to a cream color, but my PS crashed

because my scratch disk is full.  No wonder, I only have like 5 million photos and documents on here.

Time for an extra hard drive...hmmm...maybe that's what I'll spend my garage sale loot on.

Not that I really want to, lord knows I would totally rather use it for decorating.

This is the view of my keeping room in 2005 or thereabout.

One thing has for sure changed, and that's the quality of my photos.  Go Nigel.

Chairs have changed, rug has changed, kiddie table is gone...replaced by a bistro table for the now big kids.

Artwork has moved again, different lamp, different accessories { they change almost daily }.

I'm not sure, but I'm kinda digging the less is more look of the before pics.

I really have started to have way too much stuff.  What do you think, too much stuff?

Just the right amount of stuff, or just plain ugly stuff, just kidding....

like you would be honest and tell me if it was.

Well, maybe that ratty old green ladder.

Hey, every room needs that one thing that just doesn't belong.

I know you have got to be so bored already, this post has become incredibly long.

I want to share more before and afters with you, but for now I have to go do my 

weekly mowing { to the beach },   Don't you think I should be able to hire a cleaning lady,

since I do the mowing for papa?  I think I've almost convinced him that that would be a good trade.

I can't believe this week is almost over already. Come back tomorrow for more before and afters.

Ta! Ta!

* peace & love *

Carrie