Changing Things Up!

Since January,  George and I have been looking at houses.   We were feeling the need to move closer to our family in Tigard and to find a home in a better area.  We really were looking to find a home with an extra bedroom as well as a home that had a bigger lot!

The market has really changed in the last 6 months and has definitely heated up since we began to look.    We found three homes that we really liked and were in our price range.  One house we went and looked at three times and in the end did not have the big backyard that we were looking for.  The other house we put an offer in and it got beat out by a all cash offer. The last house we put and offer on ended up getting 4 offers on it with it only being on the market for two days.  They ended up excepting another offer.  We thought it was just not meant to be.  The Realtor called George a week later and said that they offer fell through and they would like to except ours.   We were excited!  It was an older house that we knew was going to have some issues to contend with so we were prepared that this may not work.  We had the inspection and for the most part went well considering that the house was built in 1925.  We had to get several bids on the repairs and there was just too much to be done that we were not comfortable taking it on at this time!

We both felt like God was telling us to wait!  So, for now we plan to stay in the home that we are in until God tells us otherwise.  There is such a peace when you walk in Gods plan and not your own!  

Since we decided to stay, we have decided to make a few changes to the house.  The first thing that I started with was the living room!  The couches in the living room were great and still in good condition, but I thought I should try to sell them before I can't get very much money for them. 

Here are some pictures before the change:

While I loved our living room, I was just ready for a change.  My goal was to not have to spend to much to replace what we had sold.  I sold the sectional, the rug, the recliner, and a few other things and it helped pay for the new stuff.

So what did I decide to go with??

Here are a few photos that were my inspiration:

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I was really looking for something lighter and brighter.  Our house does not have a lot of window and the living room can get pretty dark during the Winter months.  I was also looking to add some color to the room instead of the browns and reds.

So before I post actual pictures.....I am going to WARN people that I know this might be totally CRAZY with kids, but after viewing several blogs many of them swore by these couches!

Via

I know....crazy right.  The reason that I decided to go with these were because they were bright and I loved the look as well as the price.  The best part about these slip covered couches are the fact that you can pull the slip cover off and wash it and get "most" stains out.    This could be a horrible experience gone wrong, but I love the way it looks and they are comfortable.  I figure if I am wrong, not a lot of money was lost.  Oh, and the slip covers are only $50 to replace.

Here is the end result:

There were a couple of things that I splurged on and this rug from West Elm was one of them.  I did get it on sale so I was pretty happy with that!  I love this rug!

These wood crates were from Joann's that I aged with Vinegar and steel wool.  I will do another post on how I did it.  Getting them all screwed into the wall and level was the most difficult part.

I love this vase from Anthropologie, the other one is from Goodwill!

The owl is from the $1 section at target.  I added some kids books in the accent colors that I have as well as a vase that I got from Marshalls. 

The plate I got from Crate and Barrel and the egg holder is like the one from Anthropologie, but I don't think they sell it anymore.  I ended up getting this one at Marshalls for $5.00.

I looked and looked for pillows and this was the most difficult thing to pick out.  I was driving my sister crazy with all my choices.  When it came down to it, I did not want to spend a lot of money on pillows. The teal and brown pillows are from Pier One. The teal or what they call Spruce was half off and the brown pillows I was able to use a 25% off coupon.  The orange pillows are from Target and I took the pillow insert out and put a down insert in from Ikea.

This is one of my favorite pillows from Restoration Hardware, that was on sale too. 

The throw I got from Target as well.

One thing that I have learned from Blogs and my sister is to always group pillows in odd numbers.

Here is the whole room view.  I also changed out my curtains to a white curtain from Ikea as well.  I probably should have added some color in the curtains, but for now I like it.

So, there you have it!  I love the change and so does George!  I will let you how how thing go with the white couches! ;)