more house stuff...

Today we rolled out the carpet in our dressing room/closet. It's a berber and in excellent shape (thank you to the previous homeowner who just left it here, brand new, still in plastic!). We are very excited to put it down! The room is coming together nicely - walls are almost done being painted, the ceiling is done, light fixture is in and gorgeous (see night/day photos), and the roman shades for the windows arrived this week. So far only one has been installed "temporarily" because I'm still trying to choose fabrics for the overlaying panels as well as window seat cushions and decorative pillows. Lots to do...but we're getting there! I'll post some of the fabrics I'm choosing from...I need help deciding!

Decorating - Master Bedroom

As you know, we've been working very hard on turning our house into a home. Little by little we are completing projects, and things are really starting to come together. This weekend I've focused my attention on sewing projects (since my sweet mother-in-law is soon to be wintering in Florida and I will not have access to her amazing talents for a while!). Here are the fabrics I've chosen for our bedroom window treatments. I'm so excited - they're beautiful and I can't wait to see the room come together. The wall color is "Northern Sky" from the Pottery Barn collection and it couldn't match more perfectly with the blue in my fabric choice. The pattern we'll be using is the top right corner...the accent valance will be the paisley pattern and the shade will be the stripes with cream ribbon ties. I'll post some photos when the finished product is here!

Dressed to Impress

Today Phoebe got her first article of clothing...a sporty pink hoodie!! She's definitely going to need it now that the cold weather is setting in. She looks adorable and I don't think we're going to be able to get it off of her...she really likes it!

Here are some photos of recent house work. We've got the hardware on the cabinets, freshly painted stairway and the much-needed rehupolstered chairs! These chairs have been in the family much too long without a facelift, so I decided it was time. They look (and feel) so much more clean and crisp! I've found that I've had lots of "extra" time on my hands with Ryan in Houston. He commented to me before he left that he should go away more often as it seems to motivate me to work on our projects!

Construction Update

The work continues...this past weekend we focused on getting some of the door trim replaced because the people who lived here before us had apparently never heard of a level. Everything is off by just the slightest bit, but it's enough to drive you crazy! Ryan worked very hard on his projects and I'm so thankful that he's handy!

Fall Decorating

This past Tuesday, Ryan and I took the day off to spend some quality time together before he leaves for Houston. We ended up working on the house most of the day, but did make it out to Tim's Pumpkin Patch to pick up some pumpkins, corn stalks and mums to decorate the outside of the house with! It was lots of fun. Even Phoebe went and had a great time! I'm hoping that the decorations will distract people from focusing on the paint job that our house desperately requires!

Habitat for Humanity

Each year, The Hartford allows their employees to take a free day for volunteer work. This year, I participated in the Habitat for Humanity build here in Syracuse. There are so many new HFH homes going up in the "bad" sections of the city and it seems to be a real success. I was very happy to participate and hopefully my hard work will have made a difference in someone's life. My only gripe...next year I'm volunteering in the summer so it's not 50 and rainy and muddy!! I suppose, however, it isn't fair of me to complain since I had a nice hot shower and warm home to return to at the end of the day! I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to do a build with this great Christian organization.