I LOVE moving furniture around in my home.  I love thinking of new furniture combinations and super cleaning under and around stuff as I do it.  Sometimes I wake up in the morning with a new plan of how I need to rearrange things in my house.  It’s like it came to me in a dream.  I love the fresh feeling it creates.  It must be a feng-shui thing.

I moved Mila’s play kitchen back to behind the couch.  It really makes my kitchen area less claustrophobic.

I moved the kitchen chair to the living room area and contained all my plants here on the plant stand in this corner again.

Here is the cute play area behind the couch.

Remember those chandelier shades I had darling spray white?  I had to use white electric tape to cover the edges where the paint didn’t stick.  We decided we hated those.  They looked much too DIY.  You know what I mean?  Anyway here is the cheap fix.  We took the shades off and put frosted bulbs in instead.  Oh and I cleaned all the chandeliers in the house!

I switched the small, round, white side table with this mirrored table.

Before:  Here is a pic of the living room.  These are my mom’s old couches.  I think she bought them before Miles was born, which makes them 15 years old.  The seat cushions are like a foot too short now.  How does that even happen?  They have white slipcovers that are 15 years old.  Need I say more?  They are in terrible shape.  I bought white denim from Jo-Ann’s (on super sale with coupon) to slipcover them but if I pay someone to sew them the labor costs $400+ per couch.  $400 EACH.  And if I sew them myself, I lose my mind.  Not good options.  Then I realized Ikea couches cost $400 each and come with white slipcovers.  Guess how much it is to replace the slips?  $49 each.  WHAT?  Yes.  It is true.  I think this might be life changing.  So…

I was on a mission.  I returned the Jo-Ann fabric.  I had bought it six months ago and they let me return it.  I LOVE them.   I returned nearly everything I got myself for Christmas.   I returned a coat to Land’s End that my mom only wore once.  It was over a year old and Land’s End gave me back the full amount.  I love them.  This paid for more than half the cost of two couches.  Then we took a trip to Ikea.

After:  Isn’t it so cozy?  I feel like I have a new house!  Do you love my Ektorp Ikea couches?  They are surprising comfortable and do not feel cheap.  They are a bargain for the price.  See the raspberry pink chair?  I had it upholstered with the money my Grams gave Christian and I for Christmas.  Thank you Grams!   I had it upholstered  instead of slipped because it doesn’t have a cushion and the slip always pulls out and is very unsightly.   The fabric is cotton duck that I bought on sale at Jo-Anns (over the summer).  I think I paid $5 or $6/yard.  I bought six yards so it made this project a lot more affordable by using this fabric.  I used J & C  interiors in Gaithersburg to do the Upholstery.  They are fabulous.  They let you bring your own fabric (hard to find a place that let’s you do this) and I had my chair back in about a week!  They said this is their slowest time of the year (January).  I will definitely use them again, they did such a lovely job.  The rug is also from Ikea for $79.  It is a much more practical size for this room and makes the room feel really put together.

I did keep these two cushion covers that I ordered from Cath Kidston for Christmas for myself.   I adore them.  They are sold out of this pattern now (Notting Hill Rose in red).   I love the Cath Kidston site.  I obsess over it all the time.  I like to fill up imaginary shopping carts on the web and then , sadly, abandon them.  This is the first order I have ever placed and it was worth it.  I’d love to sell Cath Kidston in the shop that I am going to have one day.   The wool, plaid blanket is new as well.  I bought it with Nora at Homegoods for $30 (yay for dog walking money).

This is a new WIP.  This glass front cabinet belonged to my mom.  It had weird step shelves in it (some sort of display case?).  Darling pulled the weird shelves out and now I need to repaint the inside (maybe wallpaper?).  I can’t wait to show you what I am going to do with it!

I just bought these today at Target on Clearance!  I have looked at these curtain panels for at least a  year for Mila’s room.  I happened to be visiting them again today and saw that they are finally on sale!  $53 for four panels (yay for dog walking, I had the cash!).  They are %100 cotton.  I have no idea what I am going to do for cheap but not cheapie curtain rods.  I have to give that some thought.

This week I cleaned off my kitchen counters and tried to contain the clutter.  I love trays for this purpose.  I cook a lot so I really use all of this stuff and need it readily available.

I don’t know why I am in extreme nesting mode right now, but I love it.  I love getting things done.