Home Improvements

Maintaining a blog is a lot harder than I expected!  This last week was pretty busy with the kick off of boot camp and a week of national training, so in the evenings I came home and stayed away from the computer.  The weekend was great, it included a trip to my parents home in Burleson, and today we finished hanging up wall decor that has been sitting around the house for weeks.  I attached some pictures below:

Entry Way (First Level)

After walking by our neighboring townhomes I noticed a few with decorated entry ways and loved the look from outside at night.  We have a glass front door, so it is easy to see in when passing.  Adding the lamps and console table helped to give the entry way a warmer feel at night when walking into the house.  Even better we set the lamps on a timer so now when I come home to a dark house (which is very normal during the work week) I don't walk into a dark entry.  Additionally we decided to hang the mirrors vertically to lengthen the wall.  I am pretty happy with the way the look and feel turned out on the first level.  Our townhome has a modern build out, so it is a challenge mixing traditional into modern.

Stairwell Wall (First Level)

Right around from the corner of the entry way is the base of the stairwell to the second level.  For Christmas Stephanie (Matt's Mom) gave me these cute coat/key/purse hangers from Pier One.  We decided to hang them on the wall downstairs by the base of the stairs to add a little color and provide a good location for coats, which will be awhile considering we are entering Spring in Texas.  I am debating adding something above them such as a small picture or floating shelf to help build out the wall.  The ceiling is pretty tall given that it is the stairwell.

Living Room (Second Level)

Finally we have a picture on the wall in the living room!  It looks small, however it is one of the largest ones I could find.  The ceilings and walls are so large on the second floor because of the "loft" concept that it makes it difficult to build them out with pictures.  The art is a softer modern feel, and what I loved about it is grey tones are incorporated into it.  I plan to find some grey accent pillows to add to the couches and replace the red/orange/yellow toned pillows.  Additionally pictured above is my favorite find from shopping a few weeks ago.  I have seen a lot of mercury glass in catalogues, however the prices have been a little steep.  I found this candle holder at Garden Ridge for $9.99 and absolutely love it.  The glow it emits with a tealight is so pretty!

Stairwell Wall (Second Level)

Lastly is a picture we hung at the bottom of the second story stairwell to break up the wall.  Stephanie took a picture Matt had taken in London a few years ago, had it made into a customized picture, and framed it as a Christmas gift.  I like it because you can kind of see it from the second floor, and it decorates the plain stairwell.

The last two rooms in the house are the upstairs bedroom/bath -- after some painting and textile buying they will be complete!  Also we are going to start buying flowers/plants to decorate the second story balcony and roof top.  Summer time is just around the corner so we have to get the rooftop patio ready.  We are ready for summer nights on the roof with a good cold beverage in hand...