nightstands.

d and i have a lot of mix-matched furniture - which is fine. i'm totally okay with that... in fact i rather prefer it. just like i love a bunch of chairs that don't match sitting around the dining room table. but a few of the things we have discussed lately that we wouldn't mind matching are our nightstands. ours do not look anything alike and they are not functional. not for what we need them for, anyway. i do lots of reading propped up against the headboard (a completely different post for another time). occasionally we eat up there. i work on my laptop, and d plays his psp/ds/itouch. we watch tv and play with the dogs. i also craft, and maybe someday, i will also crochet while watching tv.

what is our current situation? combined, we have 1 drawer and 2 shelves. there's so much potential for storage here, i feel we really need to take advantage of it. I'm hoping to get 2 drawers and 1 shelf out of each nighstand. and guess what? we get to design our own. d's dad loves making stuff out of wood, and has been persistent about getting another project out of us.

here is an image i pulled from a sneak peek on design*sponge last year. i immediately fell in love with her nightstands (there's also a matching credenza). and while i still love it now... it's one of those things that i wonder if i will still love it 15 years from now? i truly feel like you should buy (or in this case, build) furniture to last a lifetime.... which has me on the search for a perfect bedside table...

but we have other things to consider as well. i have a dresser that i would like to keep a part of our bedroom, so it will need to go with it (not match, but not clash) as well as a cedar chest that will remain.

d and i have both kind of narrowed it down to two other designs we really love and feel would go well with our other pieces.

bossa 2 drawer nightstand at josephwinans

octave nightstand from crate & barrel

so, now we just need to decide what we really like from each and sketch out a design. and i honestly don't care for the legs on either of these, so that will probably change as well as finding some hardware we love.

we have some other major plans for the bedroom, but probably won't get around to that until we move into a different house. we need to paint our dresser, build a headboard (really love the one in the photo up top, from decorpad), and we'd also like a different color for the room... but we really don't want to move furniture around right now. maybe when we replace our carpet... otherwise we're just going to live with it for a few more years...

spring?

could it really be here? my daffodils seem to think so... almost all 50 of them have bloomed! this has been an especially hard winter, it seems. from snowy, dangerous roads... to family i wish i could spend every extra minute with... i feel like spring will hopefully bring with it good tidings.

and speaking of change... d and i have changed our minds (again) over a few things about our home. while we love our little house, it truly is a starter home! we are ready for something larger soon, as our dreams and plans for the future continue to change and grow. we realize we need more space and have altered our plans of renovation.

downstairs bathroom | nope, it's still not finished! we have decided to just forget about the wallpaper and just texture and paint. it won't be as awesome - but i don't want the wallpaper to be a potential turn-off to renters or buyers. and i figure 2 rolls should be enough to do a bathroom or accent wall wherever we live next... if not, it didn't cost that much and i can always just sell them on ebay!

kitchen | i really need to repaint the cabinets. they look great from far off, but paint is starting to chip off, and it will have to have a fresh coat sooner or later.

sunroom | i really thought we would love this room when we bought the house, but it's turned into kind of a pain. the floor will definitely need to be repainted in here as well.

outdoors | the front yard is looking much, much better, although it still needs lots of work. the backyard is the nightmare... which is sad because it looks much better than it did when we moved in. but, i planted my seeds in my biodome this last weekend, so i'll have to get some raised beds started soon...

rest of the house | i know we'll end up painting the living room and probably all of the bedrooms before we leave. who wants an orange living room besides me? not many people i don't think. i also want to add crown molding in the rest of the house. it makes a room look so much more polished for not much $$$.

those are the plans for now... i'm sure they will change again before this is all said and done!

doggies!

i've been playing around with the various settings on my camera... and finally got some decent photos of the dogs. the white pup (lillie) is a new addition and got her first haircut this weekend. we have since removed the bandana... she didn't quite like it that much, but it sure was cute! i couldn't help but post this photo of scottie. i just love his ears. we call them the satellite dishes...