A Facelift & Some House Updates

My blog finally got a little makeover this weekend 

thanks to the sweet and lovely Brooke from Bright Wishes. 

I kinda gave her free reign as far as the design goes,

except that I wanted something clean and simple
And I think she delivered.

I'll be updating the about me & our family sections sometime this week :)

In other news, we've been checking things off of our
"to do before baby" list pretty regularly these days.

We had a bunch of small house and decorating projects
that we've been wanting to do for months

and there's nothing like a baby on the way to light a little fire under your butt.
It's hard to believe almost a year has gone by since we moved in to our first place.
My, how things have changed!

First up, our dining room.
If you remember months and months ago,
I gathered some inspiration for a plate wall.
It took a little while to form my collection
but I think it was worth the wait.

A close up of the plate wall
And the view of the dining room from the breakfast nook.
We would like to eventually add a buffet under the large wall mirror.

We added a couple end chairs to the dining room table.

The chairs are from Pier One and I love how the compliment the colors
in our Pottery Barn rug.
I'm thinking of possibly continuing the plate wall theme
in that empty space on the wall on the right.
What do you think?

Tomorrow I'll share some living room updates.
It took us almost a year, but we finally have some furniture in there!

Treasure Hunting

When I met my husband, about five and a half years ago, I knew he would teach me so many things. He grew up in a small town in Rhode Island, ironically, only a few miles from where we currently reside. His dad co- owned a small antique shop on the Main Street in his little town and their house was filled with treasures, old and new.

One thing that has certainly rubbed off on me in our years together is his love for the old, and the joy in finding a perfect treasure. He loves antiquing, consignment shops, auctions, you name it. And over the years, I've grown to appreciate them too. There is something so special about finding the perfect piece...whether it be furniture, jewelery, or artwork. And there is also something to be said about the time and effort it took to craft something so beautiful, especially given the machine made, fast paced world we live in now.

Some of our most recent treasures:

Our entry way table. Solid mahogany for under $100. Can't beat that.

I'm aware that the table need some styling help. I'm getting there! We have a rather large sailboat painting that will go above it, and I'm also thinking a more fun lamp deserves a spot there along with some books/accessories.

I've actually been wanting a globe on a wooden stand like this for a while, so it was an exciting find. And at under $50, I'll take it.

Some pretty paintings

This vase is not antique, but it was $1...and will be perfect for our guest room when filled with some home grown hydrangea.

The beginning of my plate collection.  I'm still trying to decide whether to do a more neutral look, or go all out eclectic. Either way, the combined total for these plates was under $10. So no biggie if I decide not to use some of them.

Here is a view of our dining room currently. I'm thinking of doing the plates scattered on the two walls that flank the doorway into our breakfast nook, or possibly only on one of the walls.

The view from the other doorway, and a close up  of the rug.

 What do you think? Colorful, all neutral? I need opinions :)

I'm hoping our house will be a good mix of old and new things. Some antique, some more modern. I think we're off to an alright start!