house resolutions.

When I was making my list of resolutions last week, a lot of them had to do with the house. So I thought I'd list what I hope to accomplish at home this year.

 I want my patio to feel like this.

Our front and backyard gardens are small, but they need a lot of work. Out front, I want to fill the bed with rosemary, lavender, mint, and other herbs. Out back, I hope to have built a patio by the spring and to surround it with lush, tropical plants.

via

I want to paint the front porch ceiling haint blue.

via

I want to incorporate more fun textiles into the decor, from homemade pillows to rugs to roman shades.

via

Our bedroom is boring. With a wash of grey paint, some art, and better closet organization to decrease clutter, I hope to make it feel more like a hotel room.

Speaking of art, I want a lot more of it. I've been trolling Etsy for affordable prints to use for a gallery wall.

 

I'd love to find something like this for extra storage in the kitchen.

Or this for the dining room.

We've bought mostly new furniture in the past year, mostly out of necessity — we had a lot to replace after the fire. From now on I'd rather keep my eye on Craigslist, yard sales, and thrift stores for unique, quality pieces that can be customized for our home.

the evolution of a backyard.

My backyard needs some help. You see, it's ugly. It's small. And a big tree growing right in the middle of it splays its roots all over the yard, making it difficult to plant anything. And its shade means that grass won't grow. (Thanks a lot, tree).

Yet we have this vision of a backyard haven full of lush plants and twinkling lights where we can sit for hours eating dinner or entertaining friends. We're slowly working toward that vision, though its been harder than we expected. First we made a little garden in the corner. Most of the plants died. Then Todd strung up some lights overhead. That made a big difference. And now we've made the big step of buying some patio stones from Lowe's (you can see a few of them in the last picture) and all we have to do is install them correctly, which might be difficult because we have no idea what we're doing. But we'll get there.

kitchen nightmares.

I ran across some pictures of our house pre-renovations. It made me so, so happy it was all done when we moved in and we didn't have any work to do. Here's the kitchen now (a bit tight and cluttered but clean and nice):

Aaand here it is a year ago:

Thank you, contractors, for saving me from the ugliness.

porch.

Remember when I asked you guys what color we should paint our patio set? Well we went to Lowe's and my decided-upon color went out the window when we spotted this minty shade of green. Todd did all the work, and I can't wait until it cools off enough to actually use them. I think I'll pick up a few cushions for them at Ikea this weekend.