Cozying Up

This weekend Josh and I started working on our 'master' bedroom.  There isn't really anything masterful about it other than the master of the household sleeps there.  It's pretty small and we realized finding furniture that fits and that we both like inside our budget is going to be hard.  So needless to say we didn't find any furniture this weekend.  


While we were away in Michigan the bedding we had ordered online arrived.  Since furniture was a no go we decided to paint and choose curtains.  This room was, so far, the hardest one to choose paint for.  We were thinking of doing one bold colored wall (green because I am pretty against a blue room) and the rest a good neutral.  The neutral was hard to choose because grey is so dominant in the bedding and we didn't want grey walls.

What colors would you choose?

We wandered around Lowes for a while searching out rugs and curtains and still going back and forth about colors when it occurred to us we could do all four walls the bold color.  Nothing was stopping us.  So that's just what we did!  We chose a great green that matches quite well with the green dots on the bedding.  

I apologize for quality - we didn't finish til after dark.

This was the first room of the house we actually painted together.  It was nice to be able to feel like we were doing it together rather than him working hard while I'm away all week.

We weren't able to decide on curtains, although we did pick two options to hang and decide.  I'll have pictures of that process next week! 

Here's a before and after (or rather the before and progress since it isn't finished):

Before

After

PS - Yes only one sham, because apparently they don't come in a set.

Taking a Break

This past weekend we took a break from house things and made the journey back to the big woods - Michigan!  It had been a year and a half since Josh had last visited so it was nice to have him back in my homeland.


The trip was to show Josh where we'd be getting married, deal with some wedding stuff and then relax!  We flew in Thursday early afternoon and by Friday night we had picked up my dress - no Josh still hasn't seen it, met with the caterer, had a hair and make up run through, spoken with the planner, and had a bridal shower!


Saturday we made a drive to Scottville to visit a cool shop called the Wolf's Den.  It's a huge log cabin full of home decor and knick knacks that you'd find in, yes, a log cabin.  We spent some cash there for a wooded duck, a wooden squirrel, and 2 reclaimed barn wood picture frames.  Of course I didn't get photos of those and left it all in MI since we flew.  After visiting this store we made it our mission to visit 'overpriced home good stores' during the rest of our visit.

Radical steel door wall/fence on the way to Scottville.

Sunday we went to Traverse City.  My parents wanted to take us para-sailing.  We arrived before noon and booked our tour but had some time to spare.  We grabbed a quick lunch and then rented some jet skis.  Josh had never ever been on one and I'd only been once before so it was pretty new to both of us.  We only had them for an hour which wasn't long enough!  Our next big purchase, we've decided, will be jet skis (well, in a perfect world)!  Next we swam in the bay and sunbathed until our para sail tour.  It was so beautiful and peaceful up there!  If you are ever in the area I highly recommend going!  Check these guys out!  To make a great day even better I was able to see one of my best friends, her husband, and their baby!  I hadn't seen them since their wedding and the baby didn't even exist then! 

Way up there!

Monday we had to head home and as we all know, going back always feels good but sucks at the same time.  I tried to convince Josh to let us stay a few more days and he wouldn't have it.  Something about having just bought a house and needed to keep his job to pay for it...




PS - I apologize for the lack of photos.  I was waiting for some from my mom but she's been too busy and I didn't want to get behind on posts.

The backyard where I spent many many hours hiding out.

Sunset beyond a stand of Quaking Aspen.

Michigan Lilly

Rookie Mistake

Although our living room is coming together (pics below) our house is far from feeling totally homey and inviting.  So, Saturday Josh and I decided to head to Lowes, Menards, and Target for some more homey touches.  We both walked out the door and when we got to the car I asked Josh if he had the keys.  He did not.  I didn't either.  The front door was locked, the back door was dead bolted and we don't even have a key to that anyway.  All the windows are painted shut.  We were officially locked out.

Being a small town there is only one locksmith and Josh has had a bad run in with him in the past (very patronizing).  We of course had to call him and then wait.  In case you don't know Kansas is HOT in the summer.  And we were locked out.  Needless to say we were hot and sweaty by the time the guy got there.

He tried the front door but it's so old and probably original from the '40s when the house was built so he quickly gave up and moved to the back door.  The back door was dead bolted but the guy was confident he could get it.  He had it picked shortly but couldn't get it to turn because...it's also a pretty old door.  He insisted all he needed was some WD 40 but we didn't have any and the neighbors weren't home to ask.  And by the way, dude, you're the locksmith why don't you have any?!  Anyway, he eventually realized we were serious that we didn't have any and drove back to his shop to get some.  After being lubed the barrel of the lock turned first try.  Of course, our luck, it didn't unlock. A mystery indeed.

In my attempt to stay in the shade while the locksmith worked I noticed that the attic window was open.  Josh decided this guy was useless and found his ladder and broke into the house.  It was pretty amusing for him to open the door for the locksmith.

The locksmith was able to make us keys for our backdoor, so we now have a spare for that.  It would be great if we could get a spare for the front door but because it's so old no one has the right blank.  So for now what we have is it!  Any suggestions on where to get a key would be terrific!

And now photos of the living rooms evolution.  Remember how it looked before?

Our fabulous brown walls.  Color name: Oregon Trail

The rug is from Lowes.

Curtain rod and curtain also from Lowes.