We've Been HANGING Around Here Lately...

These photos may not be much to any of our readers, but they mean a great deal to us! Having all these items hung makes this house feel so much more like home than it has for the past few months. We've been literally dodging these pictures and shelves as we waited for us to get off our lazy behinds the right moment to hang them. That time has come. I think we had a crazy impression that we'd actually get the rooms painted and de-wallpapered before hanging anything. I'm pretty sure that will take years.

I'm standing in the family room facing the front two windows. Ray hung the two shelves there. Some more fun pieces to note... the previous owners painted the windowsills but stopped at the top-- all because the terrible curtains that were there before blocked their way. Rather than take the curtains down to paint, they decided, why bother? I am assuming it was all for show before putting the house up for sale. Awesome. Way to give 75% effort. The little man on the chest (my family heirloom) is from Africa. Ray picked him up when he visited and climbed Kilimanjaro with a friend a few years back. Here's a before shot of this exact space in our house, pre-shelves.

This is the view just to the left of where I was just standing. You see the corner, a piece of art from Ray's Aunt Ceil (sadly, the other piece was broken through moving, etc.) and our lovely 19" tube. I know, you're all jealous. What's even better is that it doesn't even have a working remote. We have to manually change the channels. But, the photo was taken to show more pictures hung-- these are frames filled with photos of family, friends, and all things Europe. All of them were taken during our lives in Germany and the surrounding countries we visited.

If you keep turning your body left, you'll see the fireplace. I've shown the fireplace before though... Now, looking at this wall you are completely standing with your back against the windows from the first photo. You've taken a 180 degree turn. These are the other two from our set of Crate & Barrel shelves that were purchased for us as a gift from two wonderful wedding attendants. I even remember who gave them to us! Unfortunately, they sat in boxes for the last two years as we lived in a small beach bungalow and toured Europe. Those would be our lovely couches...yes, old and slipcovered. But let me tell you... they are comfy! We can't buy all new furniture at once, but we all know that I have my eye on some other couches that will take the place of these trusty ones. In due time...

Turning your body left once more, this is the longest wall and the longest couch. The three mirrors have come a long way with us. I had them when I lived in Hermosa Beach with my awesome Scottish roommates (when I first met Ray), in our first apartment together, and now across the country. These have been hung for awhile, but not spaced evenly or hung correctly. Now, they are in perfect unison.

This is the foyer. You see this as you just walk in the door. Goat is on the left and we love him. On the right are two new additions-- well, not new. The coat hanger is from Pier One and has lasted as long as those brown mirrors in the above photo. The other framed picture was made for me by my lovely friend Alison as a gift. I really think it's wonderful. Because it represents friendship, we figured friends will come and hang their coats in our house... and what a perfect place for both of those to be. However, I really want to replace that area with something like this. Again, we probably should wait on the purchasing of those very optional items at the moment. I believe that small victories at a time make you appreciate each one.

Here's the formal living room again. We hung our new Chicago photo on the left side...

...and on the right side we hung our photo from living in Germany-- the Köln Cathedral. It's a smaller photo, though, so we've already made the plan to get two 8"x10" pictures from two other European countries printed, matted, and framed to go on the opposing sides. It will make it larger, even out the center, and cover up a hole that bothers us. In order to be considered completely and entirely done, this room needs curtains and to be painted. But since neither are dire at the moment, we're waiting on both. Those two lamps are also new. While we aren't sure about the color or style of the lampshades still, we figured the price was right-- $30 at Costco for BOTH!

Here's the larger guest bedroom. We bought a lamp and hung one of Ray's Air Force paintings.

Back downstairs, Ray centered the beach portrait and miraculously changed the entire feel of the room! There was a big hole that was uncovered before and we made sure to cover that up nicely. It looks awesome.

In our terribly wallpapered laundry room, I hung the magnetic board and replaced the really long and awkward curtain with a shade that looks so much better in the space.

We're having a great weekend here so far. After an arduous week of scraping, picking, sanding, and using the xacto knife on just about every single piece of the baseboard molding in the baby's room... and prepping the walls with more sanding, scraping (these people loooooved tape and it's on every wall in so many places!), patching, etc., it was finally ready for a coat two coats of paint. We chose gray. Or is it grey. I know they're both correct, but I've never decided which I prefer in writing. That reveal is to come soon when the moose is hung on the wall and furniture is back in place. It does look a bit blue to us, though we still like it.