February 3, 2009

say hello to my new diggs

At last! I finally got around to posting photos of my new abode.

A long time ago, I mentioned that John gave me a portion of the pool-table money to fill the void upon its passing. Since I could not find a craft table, I used the money redecorate instead.

Ellie suggested repainting the walls, buying some new curtains and rearranging the furniture. "Yah, right", I thought to myself. "It's gonna take a lot more than that." But, she was right! The whole project was waaaay cheaper and required a lot less items than I thought. On the flip side, it required a lot more time than I imagined, because I stink at picking out paint. Really stink. But my paint allergies/sinus issues flared up and so we quickly settled on a gray that I am happy with.



During the whole painting marathon, I was also busy searching for new curtain fabric(remember the blue stuff that I ended up hating?). I searched high and low for fabric that would add some sizzle to my boring great room. I had to be careful though, because I needed 7 panels(goodness me-oh-my) and anything too wild would make me dizzy.

I really wanted fabric that was solid on top and had a pattern creeping up the bottom, to the middle of the panel. I miraculously stumbled across the exact curtains I was looking for at Urban Outfitters.com. And they were on clearance too! I could barely have made them for a cheaper price($18/panel).

In essence, it all started with the curtains...


and a chair...

AKA the merry-go-round. It swivels and rocks, so the boys love to spin round and round and round.

Everything else took off from there. The only other major purchase I made was this vinyl bird decal from etsy. ($15)

Since the dawning of time, this wall cut-out has plagued me. Nothing seemed to fit it properly and I have been tempted many times to just fill it in with dry wall. I was ecstatic when I discovered that this wee little warbler finally found the perfect home in my wall.


Speaking of birds, here is my warbler pillow, made from grey velvet($5/yard) and mustard pom-poms($2/yard)...

This pillow was my first attempt at a zipper. I have always been askeered of zippers. My friend Natasha was kind enough to teach me the secret ways of the zipper. I now am obsessed with zippers.

And this other pillow almost inspired a post entitled "When Bad Things Happen to Good Owls". (Trim also $2/yard).

Within 24 hours of its inaugural appearance on my couch, someone spilled pen ink all over it while grading papers. He tried desperately to get the stain out before his missus got home, but to no avail. When she arrived home, she quickly called her super-sister Jessica, who rescued the pillow from certain demise. The trick? Aerosol hair-spray. Lots of it. Rinse and Repeat. Thanks Jessica! Your quick wit saved a certain sister's marriage:)

The owl perches happily-ever-after amongst its new habitat. And thanks Lorie, for the idea to embroider the inner eyes of the owl in orange. Good call!

The frame that once was blue and now is lovely putrid green.

And I purchased the huge orange candle + tray for just $3 at an antique store.

And who needs pricey Anthropologie knobs when you can make your own?

I found these vintage metal knobs at my antique store for a mere 50 cents each--compare to the $6-$12 Anthro ones. Seriously I think I got a high when she said $2 for all 4 knobs:)




And I cannot forget my chandelier. It used to hang over the pool table. It looked ridiculous hanging over the drums. So we moved it. Why, oh why, did it take me so long to figure that one out?

Meet the drum area.


Everything on the above shelf was old stuff I just rearranged.

We(John) painted the kitchen back-splash in a shade of mustard yellow.



This is where we eat.

Thanks so much for popping by.

Come again, you hear?

31 comments:

  1. GREAT job Dee! I love it! Very modern and yet still so cozy. I can't wait to see it in person!

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  2. I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT!!!!! Can we come over to play soon so I can see it in person?!

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  3. Davoir- what about the kitchen cabinet knobs? I love the vintage ones you made. Are there any around for the kitchen?

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  4. WOWSERS!!!! I am so jealous. It screams you and looks ridiculously great! I'm going to invite myself over for an upclose look soon! Don't worry, I'll bring you a goodie.

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  5. omg!! so lovely & warm! i looooove the grey & mustard together! just perfect :)

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  6. WOAHHHHH!!!!! SOMEbody needs to be featured on design on a dime! Seriously! Not only do you have an eye, you pulled it all together inexpensively, and it looks like a magazine! I am IMPRESSED.

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  7. AHHH! I have been so patiently WAITING for this one! :) I love love LOVE your house! Thanks for the millions of photos and, um, I think I'm going to throw away all my pillows and just have you make me more when I'm rich and famous and can pay you what those are worth! Davi, I'm so happy for you to be done with decorating and so content with it! It looks wonderful and I can't wait to see it in person :)

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  8. it is BEAUTIFUL and I LOVE how it turned out. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the gray on the walls... I love how clean and spacious it looks as well!

    The cut out with the birdie is PERFECT! Great job!!!

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  9. Wow! You are very talented at what you do. It looks great. Everything goes together so well.

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  10. It's beautiful. Those curtains are fabulous, what a steal!

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  11. Umm, hi... Can I move in?

    Just kidding.

    But oh my gosh that is sooo cute!

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  12. Your house is beautiful!! But I would not expect anything less from you. :) Oh and can you come over and do my house next? It needs it desperately. And I am just so unmotivated to do it these days...LOL

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  13. Beautiful beautiful beautiful! Can you come decorate my house. I lack the decorating gene. :)

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  14. Oh Davi, it's awsome! I love the bird details and am so glad to see the silver birds I gave you for your birthday long ago. I often wondered if you liked them as much as I thought you might. My only question is...don't you need more chairs for a family of six around a table?

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  15. oh I can't wait to come over and SEE IT! what a great idea to hang the chandelier in your living room instead of over the drums! SO FUN! love it friend!

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  16. It looks amazing D! I wish I had your eye for this stuff. Just lovely! *sigh* I am so gonna need to call ya for advice when it comes to decorating a certain house in Saugus.
    Anyhow-- looks great and I am lookin' forward to seeing your place in person!

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  17. Its official. You need to come over and decorate my home. Yep. I'll just kidnap you the next time I'm in town and force you to re-do our living room/entry/dining room/kitchen (aka... our entire downstairs). And if you aren't threatening to call the police yet, I'll even have to decorate our master bedroom. Mmmm kay? Sounds like a plan.

    I LOVE the little niche you did. We have one that I hate. Its in our entry and gets covered up when you open the front door. Its painted a darker brown than the rest of the walls, but you just inspired me to paint it a more fun, funky color... and DEFINITELY love the decal you put in there. You are giving me so many ideas!

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  18. It looks awesome! I definitely don't have the eye that you do. I love it!

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  19. Ditto on all the love its! I do. It looks great!

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  20. Your place is darling! Can you come do my house??? Seriously, I need some help here...

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  21. Um, can I hire you? 'Nuff said.

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  22. WOW! Total transformation. I love it! But of course I loved your old stuff too. The big question...where does the candy machine fit in all of this?

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  23. WOW WOW WOW!! I am LOVING absolutely EVERYTHING you did and am blown away by how gorgeous and wonderful it all looks together. And you managed all this while pregnant?? You just officially put me to shame. hehe.

    I love that you hardly spent anything either... that is my kind of decorating. This post is a perfect example of Design on a Dime, just like Megan said.

    love love love love it, thank you so much for sharing your nest with us. I am quite inspired by you! Now I want to come see the rest of your house sometime. :)

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  24. WOW!! Absolutely gorgeous! It all flows so well together. I love the birds and the curtains! Now Davi, how on earth do you keep your light couches clean with 3 boys?? My kids aren't allowed to eat on the couch but they still manage to get stuff on it!

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  25. omg, can i move in with you?? :D Your house is GORGEOUS!! you did such a fantastic job, amazing! and what you did with that cutout area is GENIUS!!
    when we buy a house (whenever that is) can i kidnap you and make you come decorate please? ;D

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  26. yer all so sweet:)

    Becca and Jenn-please do come soon!

    Mom-yes, i am looking into some more old knobs!

    knkseals-yes i love the birds you got me:) and i guess i should look into another chair, eh? thankfully babies don't need to eat at the table for a few months or i would be in big trouble. i do have a leaf to the make the table bigger, at least!

    See Sherm-ha, you kill me. but seriously, with all your new found craftiness and decorating lately, i'm pretty sure you can do something amazing!

    Thompson fam-candy machine is still here, though it does not look as good as it used to:( can't seem to part with it though!

    Sunny-my light couches do fine here since each cushion is slip-covered--they come off and are machine washable. i spilled a whole plate of spaghetti on them once and it came right out!

    Talia-the rest of my house is a bit of a hodge-podge mess at present! but i'm ok with that:)

    and welcome jimaie.marie! i love you already, you are so sweet:)

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  27. It looks Great! I have also recenlty been inspired to recreate my home..if only I can figure out how! :)

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  28. Oh my goodness that is SOOOO CUTE!!! I looooove your curtains! I've been thinking of re-decorating my front room lately... you've totally inspired me. And that you did it within a budget... even better!!!! I love it!!!!!

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  29. Davi! WOWZERS!!! It's all sooooo adorable! I adore that decal...I keep scouring my house to try to figure out a place that I can put an uber cute decal like that! And can you please post a tutorial on how to make super duper cute pillows?!? PLEASE! I've seriously been wanting to make some pillows and those are way beyond anything I could ever accomplish, but maybe you could point me in the right direction! :) Great work dear...I love every square inch of your room!

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