operation house to home: a yellow mantle

first off,

thanks for the prayers

for my friend lin. 

she is home with her sweet

baby boy and doing much better.

it's amazing how quickly she recovered

and we only give the glory to god.

so, thanks for the prayers and the love.

in the midst of all that,

like i said,

we got the house.

it has definitely been surreal.

i am super excited but definitely keeping

it into perspective.

here's a shot of our new house.

there will definitely be a little bit

of work to the landscaping

but it's precious.

so this past weekend we started

painting and painting

and um....

painting.

i thought i would have 

such a clear vision for the house. 

i thought i did

 have a clear vision

for the house.

now, i am realizing otherwise.

i definitely am feeling

overwhelmed and questioning my style

and all of my decisions. 

the only room that i am pretty sure about

as far as colors and stuff

is the formal living room. 

here's what it looked like before we did a thing.

no offense to anyone who has

this green color in their house

but i hate it.

it is all over the house 

and it's just too much. 

there was also this

weird black slash brown

slash who knows tile 

under the mantle

that i could not stand.

i have always wanted a yellow mantle.

i don't know why.

just wanted a yellow mantle.

and i know grey is big now

and i know it looks great with yellow.

therefore, i decided to go with grey on the walls.

before painting the mantle,

i wanted to add a decorative

piece that looked like it was a part

of the original mantle. 

here's a shot of the work in between.

we added the primed wood piece

and screwed it to the mantle

before painting the whole thing.

i was excited about the grey because there

will be lots of white in the house

and i was excited to see a non-white room.

so....

here's what it looks like now

that we are all done.

we were going to tile over the ugly tile

and my dad suggested just painting

it white to save time and money.

he figured it would be 

fine since there will be little/no

foot traffic on those tiles

and it was simply for the look of it.

the white tile makes such a difference.

so simple and cheap.

i found this chandelier at a flea market

in january.

i have spotted some similar

ones in some home decor books and fell in love.

when i saw this one,

there was no question

 it was coming home 

with me. 

i decided it would work great in this room

and since this is the room right at the front door, 

i figured it would be a great

statement piece for 

right when you walk in.

it took my dad about 30 mins to 

add a few things to have the light

working perfectly and install it.

i'm obsessed.

i love it so much.

and the yellow mantle is perfect.

it's exactly what i envisioned it to look like.

the wood piece is the perfect accent to add

just a touch of character.

we plan on just putting seating in this room

with no tv.

i'm hoping to read lots of books here

and just have a room where we can

visit with those that matter most.

i have no clue how i will decorate in here

or what furniture i will use

(minus a couple wall ideas)

but i am excited to spend time in this room.

shane has already said that he was

hesitant about the lighting

and mantle but he loves it

and said that he even wants

to put our bed in there because

it's his favorite room.

that makes me smile

because he doesn't always

love my crazy ideas.

i am hoping my visions all come together

and i am able to put together a

creative, unique space that is true to our style

and that makes us very happy.

i look forward to seeing it all play out

and i plan on keeping you guys updated

through my little corner in cyber space.

so get ready for lots of befores and afters.

thanks for reading...

ash.