Happy Martin Luther King Day! We don’t have class today, which is awesome because we got a little snow with more ice and freezing rain predicted for this afternoon. I would much prefer to stay inside being cozy, reading my favorite blogs, and sipping a cup of hot coffee than braving even slightly slick roads.
For the past half hour, I’ve been browsing my Pinterest boards looking for inspiration for our new house. Yes, we’re moving into town, and I am so excited! Living in a rural area has been a different and fun experience for me, and there are aspects of it I will definitely miss. But, my five years on the west coast transformed me into a city girl at heart, so I am very happy to be moving to a very central neighborhood in the Des Moines area. I think it’s really the best of both worlds – close to downtown, close to all the highways, close to our friends, and 15 miles closer to Ames but in a nice quiet neighborhood. And, I will definitely love that the grocery store is a half mile away instead of 13.
The house is a 1962 mid-century ranch on a tree lined street with sidewalks on both sides – one of my top criteria for our new neighborhood. It has great potential, but it needed a little updating, so we are doing some work before we move in. This past week, we removed the carpet from the living and dining rooms and had it installed in two of the bedrooms. On Wednesday, we’re having beautiful Acacia wood floors installed in the living and dining rooms and the hallway. We’re also painting everything, which is really exciting for me because I love transforming rooms through color, and we haven’t been able to paint in our current home.
I haven’t stopped thinking about Victoria’s deep blue dining room since I first saw it in Rue. Our dining room is fairly large and has a low chair rail and wainscoting which I plan to paint the same color white as the rest of the trim in the house – exact shade to be determined. I think a dark blue would look so sophisticated with all of the white trim without being too overwhelming. I also really like how she paired her rustic farmhouse table with white tulip chairs. The fun pattern on the chair seats and the fluffy rug add the needed touch of whimsy that keeps the room from being too serious and formal. This is the exact feel I want to achieve throughout our house.
Victoria’s Dark Blue Dining Room
I love using soft gray in rooms with tons of natural light because the right hue will change with the light throughout the day. I like the soft gray in this living room paired with white and pops of mustard yellow.
A fun color palette and gorgeous rug…
More gray via knack…
I’ll be sharing more of our process through the next two months before we move in. We’ve already remarked how quickly we’ve transformed a perfectly livable, move-in ready home into a perfect mess. Now, we’re off to the Home Depot for the third time in as many days!
Katie Stephenson
Monday 31st of January 2011
i really really like the grey/yellow/cream room. So pretty.