2022 Home Make Over

I have a lot of interior design ideas that I would like to do in my house. A lot of them include adding wallpaper or tile to different rooms and I have always been too scared to fully commit. My 10 years of moving apartments every 3-9 months gave me serious interior design commitment issues. I always have a feeling I won't be staying in one place too long and shouldn't invest too much money in changing things. You would think actually buying a house would change that, but nope!

In 2021 I finally set my fears aside and contacted an interior designer to help make my dreams a reality. I chose an out of state designer who had designed one of my friends homes and it looked like a magazine. Even though she is based in Arizona, she flys all over the country for projects. I contacted her in August, I sent over my Pinterest board of ideas, took measurements of each room, sent in current photos of each room and explained my vision. My designer said she would visit at the beginning of our project and at the very end to finish all the decorative details. She created a vision board for each room and we met over zoom to go over the details, since she never ended up making it out to see the space in person. I loved a lot of what she had come up with but had a few things  I wanted to tweak. We emailed back and forth and eventually got to a place where we were actually ordering items! It was exciting! 

Then it came time to find a contractor, we had made plans to completely redo my entire master bathroom as well as refloor the carpeted area on the main floor and add wall paper in two rooms and paint the office. Not a ton of construction work, but still a fairly long list. I had interviewed three contractors when I got an email from my designer saying she no longer wanted to work on the project. She said I had a pretty specific idea of what I wanted and that I could take it from here. What?! I have never worked with a contractor before and I surely didn't want to without the help of a professional designer. I was super bummed and frustrated. So, I decided to put all the construction type updates on hold and just move forward with updating some of my furniture. While my designer did help me reign in all my design ideas, I was the one who actually found most of the furniture and wallpapers. Maybe my eclectic whimsical yet elegant style was too hard for her to understand? We'll never know. She helped me order some of the things, while other things she told me just to order on my own, which also felt weird to me but I just went with it.

I am THRILLED with how everything turned out. It is amazing how switching out some furniture and adding some rugs can really change a space and make it feel like a whole new house. It took 13 months from beginning to end, it was a little bit of a journey, but I love the destination.

Living Room

Here are the before photos of the living room. This couch had served me well for 10 years, but it was from IKEA and I wast starting to feel the frame through the cushions. Getting a super comfortable couch was the main purpose for the whole update. I figured if I was going to get a new couch, then I should redo the floors, and if I was going to redo the floors then I should wallpaper while I had a contractor .... it was a whole, "if you give a mouse a cookie" situation. Getting the comfortable couch of my dreams turned out to be a process....

I got rid of my old couch to make way for the couch my designer picked out. I told her several times, the main purpose of this entire project was to get a super comfortable, deep, squishy couch....

The couch she ordered was absolutely gorgeous! I was ecstatic when it got delivered. I waited for the delivery people to leave so I could have a huge sink into the couch and reveal in it's perfectness moment...

That moment didn't go as planned. I fell back onto the couch for my first sit and was severely disappointed. The couch was SO uncomfortable. The seat wasn't any deeper than my previous couch even though it was supposed to be "extra deep", the fabric felt like sunbrella fabric for patio furniture, and the bench cushions, while looking so beautiful at first, wrinkled unevenly and totally told the world where your favorite spot to sit was.

I went to read the reviews on the company website of where the couch had been ordered from, and there were tons of reviews talking about how uncomfortable this couch is. I was so frustrated, I thought my designer had vetted this couch before suggesting it to me but it seemed as if she didn't. That will be the last time I order any furniture without sitting on it first. Luckily, the company offers full refunds, even on custom pieces, I was so relieved. The very next day I contacted them to start the refund process.

I got to keep the couch for about a month before they were able to come and pick it up. I was sad it didn't work out because it was so gorgeous and it fit the space so perfectly. But every time I sat on it, I felt sad and angry and that's no way to live.

I had gone to Ethan Allen to  pick out a new couch and had one on the way when the old couch was picked up. We had about two months were we didn't have a couch at all so I set up a little bohemian, floor sitting area to try and fill the space.

My experience at Ethan Allen was outstanding. The designer that met me at the door showed me several models after I explained what I was looking for. Then she left me to sit and ponder on each model and sent me home with info sheets on all of them. Then she actually came to my home to see the space. I still had the pretty but uncomfortable couch so she got to understand my issues with it first hand. She helped me pick the model that would look the best in my space and then helped me customize it so it would be perfect.

We choose the extra deep seats, the extra soft cushions, light wood feet to match my new table, and an indoor/outdoor material that is velvety soft and won't fade from the sunlight from my large windows. It is a little  shorter on one side than the other couch so it doesn't fit the space as well. However, when I sat on this couch for the first time, I got to have that moment of pure happiness at how comfortable it is. This couch brings me so much joy every single time I sit on it. I practically live on this couch now, it is literally everything I have ever wanted in a couch. So even though it doesn't quite fit the space and it was a journey to get it, it was all worth it.

We also added a rug in this room and it adds so much character and color, I love it.

Dining Room

This space has always felt a little unbalanced and like it wasn't living up to it's potential. The main thing I wanted to change out was the table. This table had been wonderful but to be honest wasn't ever my true style, I was trying to be like someone else when I bought it. Also, I didn't think about this when I got it but it has grooves on the top, which look pretty but attracted crumbs like crazy, and there was no way of getting them out. When I had toured through this house before buying it, the previous owners had a light wood table and I have wanted one ever since.

I sold this table to a young family with lots of kids, so it will be well loved and I'm happy about that.

I got  the table from West Elm and she is so pretty! She totally lightens up this entire corner. My designer  ordered dining room chairs from another company and it would take us months to get them.

The table looked small without the chairs, so when the dining room rug and painting got delivered it helped fill in the space. I loved how it was all coming together.

The dining room chairs were one of the last things to be delivered. When I saw the delivery guys unboxing them in my driveway I got super nervous because I forgot they were made of a darker wood and started to panic that they would clash with the table. I was overjoyed when they actually looked amazing with the table! This little nook is now one of my favorite places in the whole house, I just find it so pleasing and peaceful to look at.

I also updated my sofa back from a desk I used in collage to this gorgeous piece I found at Anthropology. I am also ecstatic that it also creates more storage! I love storage.

Office

As mentioned earlier, I had bigger plans for the office. I  wanted to paint it a deep teal since I love a dark and moody moment, and I love teal. But it ended up just getting a rug and new  chair instead. I love both of them so much.

How perfect is that burnt orange, velvet office chair??

Bedroom

Not wallpapering my bedroom is probably the thing I am saddest about, that was totally going to elevate the space to another level. I had found the most gorgeous mural type wallpaper of clouds. I'm still holding on to that idea and want to make it happen in the future. For now I am loving the new rug and the new dresser that adds some nice color (it was picked out to match the cloud wallpaper) and fits the space to much better than my pervious dresser.

Deck

As a spontaneous bonus, I also updated my deck furniture. These chairs were interesting, I got them because they were rockers, but they rocked in kind of an unsettling way and it was impossible to just sit in them normally. My guests never liked them and my cats wouldn't go anywhere near them. I also was trying to be practical and got a dark colored fabric even though what I really wanted was light colored fabric. So this past October, when all the outdoor furniture was on sale, I finally switched them out for this lovely love seat from Walmart. It's bigger than it appears in the photos. Now my kitties will sit outside with me!

Also, side note, how crazy it is that my area has completely changed since I moved in 5 years ago? In the above photos there wasn't a single house behind me, now there's an entire neighborhood!

September Moments

September was a super fun month this year! Here are some of the little, and big, moments that happened this month to make it such a wonderful month.

As mentioned in my last post, the Halloween season started September 1st at my house. I got all decorated for halloween and fall!

I absolutely LOVED how all my new furniture looked all dressed up for fall. It felt so warm and cozy with all the new lighter woods of the table and chairs and my new big painting.

I had to create new decor to fill the empty spot where the cart used to be. It was fun to go "shopping" in my own house and find things that fit the space perfectly. I did actually buy the feather things, so those are new this year. They make such a statement and I love it.

I stumbled upon this candle one day while shopping at Smiths and it was too fun not to bring home with me. It's scent was surprisingly summery so I mixed it with other fall scented candles.

I also stumbled upon a super great deal for battery powered candles at Costco. I thought I could be easy breezy and have them scattered throughout my shelves. But when I tried to enjoy them with the lights off, I felt unbalanced and eventually got enough to have at least one candle on every shelf...

....As well as some on the table and in all my lanterns. I regret nothing.

The first weekend in September, Laura and I went to see my favorite musical artist of all time, KIP MOORE!! I love him with all my heart and soul. We got special VIP tickets where we got to have seats and a cocktail table. Having seats at a concert is essential now that I am in my mid thirties. The VIP section was  off to the side but we were still pretty close and we weren't smooshed up against a bunch of sweaty strangers, so that alone was worth it. We danced and sang at the top of our lungs and had the best time. Kip said we were the best crowd he had had the entire year, and he promised us he hadn't ever said that to any other crowd. He also kept playing songs even though he said his time was up and the venue might fine him, he was just having too much fun and we could tell, he was giddy and we all loved it. I took mostly videos, these are the only two stills I took.

I spent some time down in Arizona with Karin and her family. It is becoming tradition that when I visit in September, Karin, James, Thomas and I go to Trader Joes and get ALL their pumpkin things to try. This year we did it in two waves since Trader Joes staggered their fall goodies this year. Yes, we are that in the know.

Our first haul of pumpkin spice goodness.

These were delectable, definitely in the top three of our favorites.

Karin made a fall treat charcuterie board for us to sample some of the goodies.

Our second haul, we basically bought half of the entire store.

These were the pumpkin spice sticky toffee puddings and they won the top spot of our favorite treat this year. They were soooooo good.

The treat that lost and got the lowest spot, the pumpkin ice cream. We all tried it and none of us could pin point what it actually tasted like. It was a little fruity and floral and kind of tasted like potpourri yet also tasted like cinnamon and spices. It was weird, we won't be getting it next year. The maple ice cream was delicious though, so lets not get those mixed up.

For our caramel apple experience this year, we tried out the nacho serving style. It was so much easier to eat and less mess and hassle, I was a big fan.

One afternoon Karin, the littles and I went out to lunch at a fun place called First Watch. They had a whole chalkboard full of fall flavored specials. We tried the Pomegranate Pear Punch, it was unique, very tart and unlike anything I have ever drank before.

We also tried the Caramel Crunch Cinnamon roll.

One night we did an escape room, it was steampunk themed. I was so glad we had so many smart mathematicians on our team because there was some major math-ing that had to happen in order to get us out on time. We succeeded and won the room!

Karin, James, Thomas and I did a painting project over the course of a few days. Karin had gotten us all a Dia de los Metros ceramics to paint! They had picked out the kitty one just for me, she was so cute. 

It felt so good to be creative and crafty! I haven't painted ceramics in years and I loved every second of this project. I was thrilled with how my cute kitty turned out!

Thomas and James did such an amazing job, their attention to detail was astounding.

From left to right:

James, me, Karin, Thomas.

I'm really proud of her so one more round of close ups

I let the Burtons keep her since they celebrate Dia de los Muertos every year and she would get more use with them. I love the process of crafting and being creative but I never know what to do with the finish product, so this was perfect.

Back at home, I loved relaxing with the kitties, the sky would often put on a show for us

The full moon seemed extra bright this month.

It even caught Dinah's attention, she stared at it for quite a while.

A little rainbow!

One of my favorite yoga studios started offering sound baths so I tried it out one night. It was a lovely and relaxing experience.

I have been trying out lots of fun new wellness things this summer and one of the things on my list was getting a hair analysis at Provo Health. It was super fascinating. Whenever I'm in Provo, I like to enjoy a few minutes in a beautiful spot up the canyon. I miss being so close to this beautiful canyon, American Fork canyon doesn't have an awesome trail or as many peaceful places to sit as Provo Canyon does.

I tried a new heatless way of curling my hair that I had been wanting to try for a long time and I accidentally gave myself a perm.

September was the month that my home update was finally and officially complete. The last few items were finally delivered. The chairs for my dining room table (I love them so much! I was so nervous they wouldn't match the table because I got them from different places but they look so good together), my gorgeous, carved sofa back and the dusty blue chest of drawers for my bedroom.

All of us are in love with the new pieces.

It looks so good!! Now I get to design a painting collection hung in a salon style above my drawers!

I found a halloween train when I was shopping at Walmart one day and thought it would be the perfect gift for monty, two of his favorite things in one toy! As predicted, he loved it.

He wore it out in one night. Between the none stop playing of the halloween song, and spilling some water when filling up the steam compartment, the train stopped working. Gaga spent a lot of time taking it apart and putting it back together again to try and find the problem. Apparently, it just needed to dry out and rest because Beth reported that it started working again the next morning.

Speaking of Gaga, his garden was looking amazing this month.

One night as I was driving home from Mom and Dad's house around 1 am, my tire blew out as I was exiting the freeway.  When I was at the stop light, a guy was motioning for me to roll down my window, he was trying to tell me my tire was smoking. When I rolled my window down I smelled the smoke and didn't know what to do! I was hoping I would be able to make it home, but I didn't make it far up Timpanogos Highway before I knew there was no way I was making it home. I pulled over and the guy from the stop light pulled up behind me. He must of flipped a U turn because he was turning the opposite way at the light.

His name was Terry and he was just getting off work from the airport, he was still in his Delta uniform. He was one of the nicest humans I have ever met, he was so nice to me the entire time we were changing my tire. After the spare tire was in place, I gave him a big hug as a thank you and we said our goodbyes. As I was driving away I watched him in my rearview mirror to make sure he was able to go on his way. He wasn't driving away and his lights were doing a weird flashy thing, so I flipped a U turn to make sure he was ok. Turns out his battery was dead from keeping his lights on to give us light to change my tire. So I got to repay the favor and helped him jump start his car. Luckily he had all the supplies we needed. Whew! What an adventure, I am so grateful for Terry and will never forget his kindness.

September ended with two fun events, Fan X and the Gem Expo!

I went to Fan X one out of the three days. I went with Jenny and our day started at a Psych panel with Juliet O'hara (Maggie Lawson) and Carolton Lassiter (Tim Omundson) I am a huge Psych fan so it was so fun to hear them chat about what it was like filming the show. These two were so adorable together, you can tell they are best friends. They talked a lot about their podcast that I didn't know existed! I will definitely have to start listening to it.

Next up was our photo op with one of our biggest childhood crushes, Cary Elwes aka Wesley from Princess Bride!!!!!!!!! Beth met up with us in line, we were all so excited!

Squee!!!!!  Photo ops at Fan X are fast, like literally 3 seconds long, so I didn't expect to be able to interact with Cary at all. But he is such a gentlemen, he asked all three of us our names and gave each of us a fist bump. There was a plexiglass divider thus the awkward spacing, I don't blame him for requesting one when meeting hundreds of strangers. Jenny and I dressed in all black as a nod to the Dread Pirate Roberts and Beth wore a red dress as a nod to Buttercup.

Then we got to hear Cary at his panel!! (in order to get good seats, we went to the panel before Cary's, we had no idea who the guy was giving the panel and he was... uhm... a colorful character.)

Cary is handsome, classy and caring. He melted our hearts all over again, such an amazing person, we loved every second of his panel.

Then it was time to explore the vendor floor! I always love exploring this maze.

This booth was awesome. I would have gone home with a Neverending Story book if it wasn't so expensive.

The book from the Mummy

I LOVED this fancy fan art booth. Especially, the pieces that referenced famous paintings.

We grabbed some açaí bowls for lunch, this was my first time ever having an açaí bowl. It was yummy, especially the peanut butter drizzle.

The next day Jenny and her family headed back to Fan X while Beth and I took Vienne and Monty to the Gem Show. V had told us that she wanted to start a gem collection, and we knew this was just the place to take her.

V found quite a few rocks she loved with which to start off her collection.

While I wanted everything there, these were the beauties I went home with.

Whew! What a fun filled month!