When in doubt, add some circles!

The new coffee table arrived for the living room and I can't wait to show it to you! First though, the reason why I went with this particular table. 

Because I love adding wall treatments around our house, we have a lot of "hard" lines. A lot of squares and rectangles if you will. Plus you add in furniture, which for the most part is the same shape -- and you get a long of corners and not a lot of softness. 

Adding in some circles is the perfect cure for too many lines. :) I try to soften specific spaces that have a lot of horizontal or vertical lines with round items. Sometimes just a wreath will do the trick:

Glass pantry door in kitchen

Planked fireplace with marble surround

And round light fixtures go a long way to breaking up all the lines in a space: 

DIY bookcases in library

Sometimes something as simple as a round knob does the trick: 

Navy blue dresser

And one of my favorites is a round mirror!: 

Foyer mirror and console

DIY wood planked wall

Black dresser with brass hardware

So when we got the new sofa in the living room a couple weeks ago I knew I wanted to go round for the coffee table. We have round wood table that used to be in that room, but I love it so much we moved it to the family room. :) That's why the rectangle coffee table was out in the living room last time I shared it with you. 

I wanted something round to break up all the lines in this room, but couldn't find anything affordable. At first I wanted a solid round wood table, but the one I feel in love with was about $1300. Uhh, no. :) 

So I kept searching and wouldn't you know -- I found one I loved on Amazon. It's a Sauder glass and metal table: 

It's got a gold finish and I LOVE IT in this room. It only took a few minutes to put together: 

They also have a black metal version that's $20 cheaper too! 

I think it's lovely in here. The glass and metal keeps things light and bright: 

It also gives it a more grown up feel too. The table is also a little bigger than what we had before -- 36 inches across. This room can take the bigger size just fine. 

As you can see, I've added circles in other ways in this room as well: 

And of course, if all else fails, you can add some in softer shapes with accessories too. Something as simple as a round lampshade or planter helps to break things up: 

I've been sharing this room a lot so far this year -- it's such a light and bright space, and I'm just so thrilled with how it's come together over the past month. I have been working on another project so I'll show you that this week too! No more living room for awhile. ;)

As you can see, I decided to stick with the blue pillows in here for now -- they feel right for the spring and summer (a long way off I know). I think the other ones will work well for the second part of the year. 

I'll leave you with a shot from above with the new table. And a hello from Colby: 

Do you use round items to break up your decor? They go a long way to soften a room and give it a little more interest!

Affiliate links included for your convenience!

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Our new sofa in the living room!

Well hello! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Ours was mostly very low key, other than some basketball. JUST the way I like it. :)

I'm SO excited to share our latest furniture purchase with you! We don't buy many larger pieces anymore -- what we have I love (for the most part) and have right where it works. Our floor plan doesn't allow for moving stuff around much so when I find a good spot for something it stays. Foreverrrrrr.

It was fun to add a little something new again! You may remember the slipcovered sofa we picked up a couple years ago for our living room:

I took a chance and moved things around in here back then and LOVED how it came together. It completely transformed the room.

You won't even believe where that sofa is from either. I'll give you a second to go look at the transformation of that room and the resources here. I'll wait. ;) 

OK so we really do like that sofa a lot. It was really inexpensive but plenty comfy. Many ask if it's the Ektorp from IKEA and it does look similar -- but I find it to be way comfier. (I think I'm the only person on Earth who doesn't care for the IKEA sofas.) 😬

But two things happened. I have to say, I'm not a "fancy room" kind of person. I want every room to be used and I don't want to worry about any of our furniture getting use. But I did find myself wanting something just a little bit fancier in here. Just a bit. 

AND our plan for the completed loft called for a sofa. That was the one thing missing when I finished it up last August. Since then we've found we really want to have a spot to sit and relax up there other than on the window seat or at the desk. 

SOOOO. I've been looking for the past few months at various places. Mostly online and HomeGoods. Although we did buy the slipcovered sofa online, I usually shy away from that. I need to sit on it in real life to see how it feels. One evening in December we were running around and I saw a new store called Urban Underpriced. I think they're just local (for you Indy folks, they are in the old Pier 1 store at Castleton). 

Anyway, I saw a sofa I loved and decided when the budget allowed I would go back to see if it was still there. I had to wait a little over a month and it was still there...but I found another one I liked even better. :) The original price was $799 but they were having a sale and I got it for $550! Considering our slipcovered sofa was only $50 cheaper, that's pretty incredible for the quality: 

There's a close up of the fabric. I LOVE it. It's very soft and I love the color so so much. As you know, we have many animals in this house and the dog has already found his new perch on the back of this one. They told me I can clean it myself with a mild soap if needed. 

(I will share the brand name of the sofa at the very bottom of the post with some other details, so check that out if you are interested!)

We don't use this sofa EVERY day so it doesn't get nearly as much use as our family room one. But man...it is SO comfy. I love it!! It's way deeper than the other one: 

(Coffee table makeover)

It actually measures just a couple inches shorter in length...but it looks so much bigger because of the depth. This size works so much better in here with the tall ceilings. 

I swear it's the size of a twin bed: 

(Free botanical prints)

We like our naps in this family (well, at least the adults) so comfy couches are very important around here. The first day we had it my husband took one and when he woke up he said "I LOVE the new couch." 

Nap approved. :) 

I am in love with the more modern feel -- I've determined over the years that I don't like big arms on sofas or chairs. I'm all about using as much space in a room as possible and they take up too much of it. I regret getting one with such big arms for our family room. But these are perfect: 

(DIY craftsman window trim)

And I like the more modern feel mixed with our traditional pieces. I am switching out the coffee table and when I do I'll show you (and explain why). Maybe even this week if all goes well. 

The old sofa is upstairs in the loft now and it's awesome to have one up there! This coffee table will go up too. We've lived in our home for almost 13 years and just in the past year I'm starting to feel like the rooms are filled just right. It takes time my friends! 

Now...the important question. It's all about the pillows -- I actually quite love the ones they sent with the sofa, which is very rare. Usually I don't use whatever comes with the couch. But when I put my old blue ones on there I think they look lovely on it too: 

(Blue dresser paint color)

Here's a rare aerial shot for you -- I love this angle! Here are the original pillows: 

And the new ones:  

I like them both for different reasons. As much as I love the new ones I'm leaning towards the original ones. The new pillows look really good up in our loft on the old sofa too! I'll let you know what I decide. Because these are the deep things that matter in life. ;)

I hope to share the coffee table change up soon!

P.S. The brand name of this sofa is Fusion and again, our store is called Urban Underpriced. (VERY cool store with great accessories, but they are expensive in relation to the furniture.) I found Fusion online and it looks like they have reps you can contact to find out a local store. Our sofa color is called Grassroots if that is what you are interested in and they had a loveseat that matched. It is 83 inches long by 41 deep. :)

OH and we've had the new rug since last year and I got it at HomeGoods. Our dog ruined the old one. :(

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Changing up our gallery wall art (for free!)

Well hello and welcome back to our regularly scheduled programming! Time to get into the swing of things again! 

I LOVE our house after all the Christmas decor is taken down -- I'm always sad to see it go but I'm obsessed with how bright and big the house feels. It's just right for this time of year!

I always have this itch to move furniture around in the new year too, but our house is set up in such a way that it's really not possible in most rooms. It's a very open floor plan so most of our furniture only works in certain configurations. 

So instead, I usually look into smaller changes -- and those can make a big impact too! I've had these frames in our living room for years:

And since I hung them I've wanted to fill them with some kind of botanical print. I let them sit empty for a long time and finally just ended up sticking some scrapbook paper inside. It was a good (and cheap!) placeholder but not what I wanted. 

This ended up being a quick project, but it took me a long time (obviously) to find the prints I wanted. It was hard to find enough -- I wanted either at least five (that I could use twice) or ten. And they all had to have a similar feel. I wanted a little bit of color but not a ton. I found some fern printables that I plan to use elsewhere but they were a little too plain for this spot. 

After looking for some time I found these Audubon scans over at Bless'er House: 

And they were perfect! (You'll have to enter an email to download these.)

I talk about free printables a lot during the holidays but they area also such a great, cheap way to add some art around the house. I shared how to use one of the greatest databases for free art here. (I used some for art in our family room.) AND I gathered a list of (pretty much) free art sources and ideas too. 

Saving them to your computer is different for each site, but once you get them downloaded they are easy to print out. I took some screen shots of my computer to show you how I do this. I use Word and open a new file: 

Then go to the upper right (see above) and click "picture from file" -- grab your image: 

Then it will appear in your document:

Make sure to center it using the position option:

And then you can make it as big as you'd like. You need to keep in mind the file size of your art -- if you make it too big it will get blurry. But most are fine for an 8x10 size: 

I use our home printer (I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this HP printer I shared in November -- it is a tiny little printer but prints better than any of the bigger ones we've had!). I print them off on white linen-look card stock from the craft store. You can get the paper at Hobby Lobby for half off so even for ten I think I paid less than $3. 

You can also just use regular printer paper -- I've definitely done that. The paper I like to use is just a slightly nicer look when you get close. I'm sure there's an easier way to print these out but this is how I do it. I have simple printer downloads that I use for photos, but I like that this gives me more control over the size of the image. 

As soon as I finished them up I was thrilled: 

They are so much brighter and prettier in these frames! It was such a little thing but it felt like a big change in here: 

I'm all about making rooms feel more open and lighter this time of year and these do just that. The scrapbook paper worked fine too -- these are just the look I've always wanted in here. 

There were six available so I used five and printed out two of each. These combine the botanical look with the birds...I'm really happy with them:

If you have a large space to fill with a lot of prints you can find Audubon and botanical books online for just this purpose. This one looks like a great option for botanical prints and has great reviews (look in the comments for photos).  And this one has more of the look I have with birds and branches. But if you have a smaller grouping like me you can just do a Google search or look on Pinterest like I did. You'll have access to a TON of free options!

While I was making that small change I went ahead with another one I'd been considering. We've had this rectangle frame in the foyer for a long time: 

I've wanted to change it out to a round mirror to soften up this space. There are a lot of hard angles between this, the console and the large art I have near the stairs next to it. It's always felt to clunky but I've been waiting to find the right piece. 

So I was thinking...I've had two of these large IKEA mirrors for a bathroom redo I'd like to start this year (although I doubt it will happen) but wanted to see how one would look here -- and I loved it: 

I LOVE the wood tone with the color of the console table! And the simple design works beautifully with the busier design on the table too. 

SO. much. better: 

Only thing is, when we tackle the bathroom reno I may have to go get another mirror. ;) Oh well. For now it felt like a free upgrade! It definitely satisfied my urge to change things up and I love how it looks. 

I mentioned in my last post that I'm going through some ideas in my head to address the walls in this room because they go up so high. It's something I hope to get to this year but I have to get my final vision settled first. :) AND that tile is the one I mentioned in that post as well...it's going this year if it's the only thing I do! Ha!

Have you used these free options for art in your home? It takes a few minutes and a decent printer (or you can send them out) and it's so worth it! 

Affiliate links included for your convenience! 

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How to give a new house tons of character

Thirteen years ago at nearly this exact time of year we were starting the process of buying a house. We had been in an apartment for four years and I had lived either in dorms or apartments for seven years before that. The idea of owning a home had always been a dream of mine and I was so thrilled that we were going to make it happen. 

The funny thing is, we knew immediately we wanted to build a house. We just knew we wanted something brand new, even though I do love an old house. There was something so exciting about picking out each and every detail and personalizing it to how we wanted. And as much as I love old stuff, I loved that everything would be sparkly and new. 

We soon decided on a builder and ended up with Beazer Homes. We were so thrilled with the process from start to finish (and still are 12 years later!), so I was honored when the folks at Beazer asked me to partner with them to share how we've updated our Beazer home over the years. You know this one involves before and after photos so I was totally on board. ;) 

Our superintendent in charge of our build and our design studio contact were both so helpful during our build. When we couldn't decide on a kitchen cabinet finish they allowed us extra time and visits to figure everything out. When I couldn't decide on tile colors our rep pulled out our carpet and paint color and helped me find something that worked with both of them. During the build process our superintendent would make small tweaks along the way and was so accommodating the entire time. It was a little sad when we were done because we knew we wouldn't see all of those friendly faces again.  

Even though we live in a suburban neighborhood, even years ago (before I started changing our home), I still felt like ours was unique. Beyond the fact that we had options that made our house different --  our office could have been a bedroom, our two-story living room could have had another bedroom above, we added a beautiful bay window in the kitchen for extra space and we could have opted for an additional bedroom instead of our open loft. All of the little choices we made created a home like no one else's. 

I've always said I had good bones to build on and that was SO true when it came to our stair makeover. I remember when we were building and I saw the wood stairs -- I was so close to asking them to just leave them without carpet (because I knew they would have). I chickened out though!

For years I thought about the pretty wood stairs under this carpet: 

And about six years ago I finally got the courage up to rip that carpet off the stairs. This was one of my best decisions ever! The pretty white risers and dark stained treads are so classic and make such a difference: 

I added trim below the handrail and painted that wall black later on but the star of this show is the contrast of all that wood. 

Another spot that had quality finishes to start was our kitchen. The cabinets were maple and solid wood:

The island didn't always look like contemporary art. ;) That was the marks from the glue I used to add trim over the years. 

The finish wore like any would over the years and eventually I wanted a new look for the kitchen. I LOVED the design of the cabinets (I think they are timeless) so they got a makeover (well, the whole room did!):

Those quality wood cabinets, a good paint job and some patience on my part allowed for a beautiful, factory finish when I was done. I also used our old kitchen island and built on to it to create a much larger and custom one.

There are little details in our home that I've always loved. One is a half wall in our foyer that gives a little bit of definition between the foyer and living room: 

I knew that was a great opportunity to add even more character so I built a bookcase along that half wall that finishes it off beautifully: 

This is why I laugh about building a new house -- I love old homes and all of their character, but we chose a shiny new one and I'm always trying to make it feel older. And I'd do it again that way! That's part of the reason I blog, because it is most definitely possible to add character where there wasn't much before.

It doesn't always have to be a big build or project that adds personality to your home. I made a tufted headboard for our bedroom years ago but still felt like that wall needed something: 

I grabbed some mdf from the hardware store and spent an evening adding it to the wall. I painted the trim and wall in a dark gray for a dramatic backdrop in our room for very little money: 

The three biggest projects we've done in the house are finishing our basement, the kitchen makeover and a big one that involved taking down a wall between our family room and the office: 

This was one of those "real life" photos that I snapped when we were contemplating this idea.

This is thing about building a house -- my biggest piece of advice? Do your research beforehand! Thank goodness you all have Pinterest, back in my day I tore pages out of magazines. ;) I loved the idea of a corner fireplace and the Beazer folks were all, let's do it! And then I lived with it and wasn't so thrilled with my decision. 

Perhaps it is my odd need for symmetry, but it drove me crazy. One day a reader said, "Why don't you take down that wall?" and the skies opened up and birds sang. 

That we did:  

I got my beloved symmetry but we also got a larger family room that is twice as bright. (I have to mention that we have a ton of windows on our house -- another bonus about the Beazer options.) AND a beautiful new fireplace with a marble surround and tons of built in storage. This is the coziest room in our house and I think this change has to be the best change we've made to date. 

We have never regretted going with Beazer to build our home. Our experience was top notch from the start in the model home to years later as I make this house more ours with every day. This is a well-built house with good bones and I just keep adding good stuff to it. :) 

Be sure to tune into Instagram this Wednesday (the 21st) as I take over the Beazer Homes account and share more before and after photos of our home that I didn't include here. (You can follow me on IG as well and I'll remind you there.) Looking back at our beloved home is one of my favorite things! 

Have you ever built a house or are you considering it? Did you enjoy it? Was it fun for you or super stressful? If you have questions about the process I'd love help however I can!

P.S. I've updated the "Our Home" tab at the top of the page with some new photos of the house and recent projects. Be sure to check it out if you are new around here! :) 

I have been compensated by Beazer Homes to share this post about our home but all thoughts and experience are my own. 

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That one room

Hello all! I hope you had a lovely Mother’s Day! Mine was just wonderful, I am a lucky woman. So thankful!.

So there are times when I feel like decorating-wise this house is doing OK and over time I feel like it’s coming along nicely. And then there are “those” rooms that harass and taunt me for YEARS.

Our living room, or “front” room, is one of them. We have a very open floor plan, which you think you want and then you get it and realize you have, like, ZERO walls to work with. (And by the way, “you” means “me.”)

So this room is one of those, with only one wall to do anything with. We put a sofa on that big wall when we moved in and it’s stayed just because it fills the space and it’s comfy, even though I (now) really dislike the color.

Years ago (in my everything red and black phase) the room looked like this:

Nothing wrong with it, just not my style anymore. And I had always wanted to kind of pull things in more to make it more cozy.

I didn’t really accomplish that in the next phase, but I did start lightening things up:

See the pink walls? Yeah. Eight years I lived with those! I deserve a gold star. I’ll take a cookie!

The dresser didn’t last too long there – I found a small bookcase at HomeGoods that put in that spot instead, and I really liked how it fit right between the windows:

But I noticed something when I moved that bookcase at Christmas last year – I really liked it in the new spot (I scooched it over by the sofa). And then I put it back and every time I looked at it just felt really busy in that spot:

I’ve been planning to tone down the accessories on there for awhile, but it’s more than that. The drapes have a lot going on and combined with the shelves and all the stuff on them, it was just bugging me. So for months now I’ve been thinking I need to try scooching it again – and I got a wild hair this weekend and finally did it.

All I did was move the bookcase back to the “Christmas” spot and then put the chair over there:

The mirror was another HomeGoods find I’ve had for months – it was one of those rare finds I didn’t really have a spot for but knew I couldn’t pass up. I love it between the windows!

It just feels like that room can breath better now, you know? That silly spot between those two windows has been one of the hardest spot for me all these years! Such a goofy thing, but it’s driven me batty!

I can’t even decide if I want the chair turned in towards the sofa (like above) or facing out to the room:

First world problems here people.

There are still plenty of things that bug me about the room – it’s got two story windows and I love all the light (we need it in there) but it makes for a hard space to decorate. And with the one lone wall (without windows) and two honkin’ pillars in there, there are not many furniture layout options.

But I do love this small change! It just feels less busy and simpler to me. Here’s a different view of that spot last year with the pink(ish) walls and the bookcase:

And here it is with grayish walls and a simpler look now:

It didn’t cost any money, which is a bonus (most of my changes to that spot haven’t, thank goodness), and after staring at it for months it took all of ten minutes to move the bookcase and hang the mirror.

For now…I love it! ;) For. NOW.

Do you have a room/spot/wall between two windows that drives you fruit loopy? Do you change it with the wind like me? Or have you found a solution that finally works?

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