January 30, 2011

Goals for 2011

If you haven't noticed, home improvements have pretty much come to a complete halt at the Barker house.  There are a few reasons for that.  Money and time.  But I am determined to change all of that once my wedding season kicks off!  Yes, I'll still have no time but at least I'll have the extra cash flow!  Ehh, I can sleep in November. :)

Here's a list of things I'd love to accomplish in 2011:

1.  Wainscoting.  I'm thinking around the back of the kitchen island, through our long hallway and maybe even on a floor to ceiling focal point in the master bedroom.  Depends how ambitious I get. (Image below from Centsational Girl blog)

2.  Garage door.  I think this is super important since it is the part of the house that is closest to the street.  Adding windows will make a huge difference in that dark garage as well!


3.  Outdoor lighting.  What we have now is the definition of builder grade.  A quick change to something fun like this will boost curb appeal, I'm sure!


4.  Learn to sew.  It's my new year's resolution.  Two years ago, my mom bought me a sewing machine (or at least gave me the dough to buy my own) for Christmas.  I have yet to do anything with it.  If you know someone who likes to teach people how to sew in exchange for pretty pictures let me know! :)


5.  The foyer.  We have the world's largest foyer for a house under 2,000 square feet, so it needs to be addressed.  I'm thinking a built in bookshelf on the right with crown molding and lots of drawers on the bottom for extra storage.  On the left, an old church pew or fancy bench like the one pictured below.  The perfect spot for getting shoes on/off, right?  I'm super excited about this one!


6.  Pendant lighting.  The current lights over the island make me want to gag every time I look at them.  The glass actually has petal patterns on it.  As soon as our budget allows, those babies are coming down!!!  I doubt we'll go with something as industrial as these for re-sale purposes but a girl can dream can't she?


7. Paint the front door.  I'd love to go with a funky color like one of these, but our HOA would skin me alive.  Something eggplant might just squeak by as acceptable, though.


There you have it.  Well, most of it.  I have a few more projects up my sleeves, but a girl's gotta have some mystery to her life, right? ;)

January 24, 2011

Somebody else loves yellow and grey :)

The ladies over at Decor8 just posted a lovely color inspiration piece on my all-time FAVorite color combination.  Here's a sneak peek from the post, but for the whole delicious set, check out the blog here.




January 21, 2011

back from Africa!

Yeah, I pretty much disappeared.  Sorry about that!  I've been editing images from my recent trip to Africa and kind of lost touch with reality.  I'll have the full post ready soon, but here's one picture to tide you over until then.
I know, I know.  I'm such a tease. :)