FRIDAY HUMBLE ABODE...SPRING AROUND THE HOUSE

HELLO AGAIN!

Ahh it's Friday--this week blew by for me and though it felt like spring here on AF it didn't feel or look like it outside-brrr. I painted the windows up with colorful birds and bunnies and trees-oh my! If you look really close you can see the neighbor snow blowing the driveway across the street! I know-it's just not right! So here's a look at the spring windows...

Another project that got underway this week was the stairway project! yay! I can't believe what a difference it made already! For those of you not aware of the project click here and catch up!

I chickened out on my color choice-no I shouldn't say that! I decided to bring a neutral tan-Lenox Tan from BM, down the stairs and into the lower hall. I already have that going on in the upper hall and since they are connecting spaces I wanted the color to be cohesive with other areas of the house--Am I totally full of it or what? :) I have lots of art planned for pops of color and something fun on the stairs themselves though I'm not exactly sure what yet-don't worry!

Doing this project makes me look around the house and realize how much more work there is to be done!! I look forward to the challenge!

 Here's the progress report...

BEFORE:


before-featuring roo-dog



before-dark and dreary

 NEXT PHASE...

yay-looking better already!

look at all my crazy colors! I'm going to use the most muted blue, grey, green one for an accent color-it's actually very soft and pretty-it's called BM Quiet Moment.
I know it's still looking rough-whew the stairs are in bad shape...wish me luck


STAY TUNED FOR MORE STAIRWAY PROJECT UPDATES...

Bird watching around the house...
Well since it's still impossibly cold outside, I decided to do some spotting of birds around the house. I do love a little bird decor here and there, When I started to look I realized I have quite a few actually-let's go on safari...

my chalkboard wall birds...

golden birds photo-op for Etsy...

S & P shakers from Pier One...

bird duvet from Pottery Barn...

Bird Adirondack chair...I know it's a little country-I painted this chair @ 7 years ago and it sat outside in the garden-I cleaned it up last year and brought it in for a cozy reading nook-what can I say-it's comfortable!

white bird inside the china cabinet-found 2 of these at a Salvation Army thrift shop a while back...

gift shop bird...

bookcase in the bedroom...

a little closer...

Having a few hints of birds around the house helps me think of spring, even when it's 22' outside....

Well I wanted to do a DIY craft this week but I totally ran out of time! I was inspired by some of those wreathes that I found-check them out here-I'll get to it over the weekend and make something fun to post with some more Easter related things in the coming weeks!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK FOR SOME MONDAY INSPIRATIONS....

FRIDAY: THE HUMBLE ABODE UPDATE AND PRETTY INSPIRING ROOMS...

Hello again. Sorry I've been posting so late everyday! Jeez, you can't even read my blog on company time-ha just kidding. My ideal life would be having my posts all done on Monday and I could come in with my steaming coffee and hit a button-poof-then surf the blogs I love for like 3 hours....oh I have children-never mind-one is actually crying right now as a matter of fact..Anyways, better make this quick! I think this is my color scheme I've mocked up here, but you know me- I do like to change my mind! Just ask my husband -he loves it!!! :) So excuse my crude stairway drawing--and I call myself an artist--it does the job--plus some rooms I like that have similar color palettes...hope you like




MY STAIRWAY PROJECT THOUGHTS AND IDEAS...



via apartment therapy



via live creating yourself blog...

via apartment therapy



via decor pad



via decor pad

coco and kelley

via apartment therapy

via beautiful living

from LONNY magazine

SEE YOU MONDAY FOR SOME SPRING INSPIRATIONS....

FRIDAY FEATURE: The Humble Abode

So this is my first Humble Abode feature. For those who didn't read Tuesday's post-I am featuring real home improvement projects I'm doing around our house. Like I said before-now that we are home I'm feeling really inspired to work on the house again-and it needs alot of work! hahaha....no really it does...

My first project is the uninspired and slightly dilapidated staircase (and the trim).They are wood but not a high grade wood that I would want to refinish. The steps currently have an awful Home Depot off the rack runner that I have left for the anti-slip properties it possesses (kids-ya know). You can see how beat-up the wood is in the pics and the stuff that looks like dust is actually like glue or permadirt or both-lol like it does not clean up--old houses--you gotta grind it or paint over it or both! All the trims and railings in this area and the whole house for that matter, are going to be painted in a fresh gloss white-I'm thinking Atrium white from Benjamin Moore.

I've been thinking alot about wall color here. The staircase connects the upper bedroom hall with the lower hall where the bathroom office and living room converge-but it is separate-you can close off the living room door to that hall. So I'm not worried about seamlessness but maybe complimentary colors to those living spaces. hmmmm

Also the downstairs hall and staircase are lacking in natural light and the staircase goes way up--lots of wall. I love the  thought of a kelly green wall or something but I think it would be a big shamrock nightmare! hmmm

I don't want it to be totally boring either--I mean I love grey but Northern Michigan gives me plenty of that and like I said the light in there is terrible. OK--so I'm posting a pic of the hall and some pretty staircases I just love. I'll keep you updated with the colors I've chosen and my design plan so I can get this thing started!

Have an idea? Let me know at areafarehome@yahoo.com  Love to hear it!

the horrible hall in question


lower hall area + one really handsome boy!




upper hall going down-look how beat up the wood is...nice right



going down-no railing right now til I paint

going up-this is as bright as it gets on the stairs-no overhead light--hmm that sounds like a hub project!

NOW SOME PRETTY LITTLE STAIRCASES THAT I SUPER LOVE AND ARE SO FUN....

PINK STAIRCASE VIA ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL THINGS (BLOG)

damask wallpaper via Stories of A to Z



black and white is a delight! Domino via Grayson



via Apartment Therapy



via Arte Styling




orange mod flowers via Design*Sponge




via Apartment Therapy




via Design*Sponge-Scott Engler home




via Design*Sponge-Karen Barlow home

 SEE YOU NEXT WEEK FOR MONDAY INSPIRATIONS--YAY!