An Update on the Dining Room

Just going to leave this before and after here for your Friday morning viewing pleasure...

Our dining room when we moved in:

Our dining room today:

Amazing what a little paint and chandelier shade removal can do to lighten up a space! In other news, we finally got something hung on our dining room walls! I took some of the dyed fabric from my Shibori workshop and popped it into some frames. It definitely adds a little color and personality. We still want to get a wooden trestle table, some new chairs, and DIY some board and batten and maybe some light gray paint on the walls above to warm up the space, but this is a start! Happy Friday y'all!  xoxo, Lauren

I am the Mother of a Four-Year-Old!

I'm not sure how it happened, but on Saturday I became the mother of a four-year-old in all her crazy, sweet, hilarious, whiney-yet-adorable glory. She is four going on fourteen, already chasing the boys at playgroup (literally - I don't know how she can run for so long!), wanting to drive the car, being super-particular about her clothing, and changing her mind constantly from one second to the next. And yet, she NEVER wants to grow up. In fact, four is the oldest she will ever be. Next year she wants a party, but it will not be a birthday party because she not aging another year. If only we could freeze ourselves at our perfect age! I'm not sure which I would choose. I'm actually pretty happy at 32!

Anyway, considering that her party was the previous weekend, on the actual day of her birthday I still wanted to do something special. I considered some ideas that I came across on Pinterest like filling her room with balloons while she slept or taping balloons or streamers at her door for a wake-up surprise, but considering that she often wakes up in terror in the middle of the night after dreaming that wolves are eating her feet and runs to our room, I thought that might not work out so well. So instead I woke up early, whipped up a batch of good ol' Bisquick pancakes, and decorating the dining room with some simple classic party decorations in her favorite colors (she likes blue again!). She was absolutely thrilled when she came down in all of her bedhead glory and blew out the candles.

I can't wait to see what this year brings! We love you our sweet, special one-of-a-kind little four-year-old girl :) They broke the mold when they made you! xo, Lauren

P.S. Violet and Lucy's shared birthday party and Violet's birthday pancakes at age two (my how she's grown!)

Wishing...

Thought if I got this out on here I wouldn't be as tempted to buy anything...

Since we took down our Christmas decorations I have been really, really, really wishing for a few new things for our living and dining rooms. Minty hues are really doing it for me these days (sorry emerald) and I think mint would be the perfect accent color with our wallpaper (Cow Parsley by Cole & Son). The other thing I'd really like to change is the amount of black in both rooms. Right now our dining chairs, TV stand, and end table are black and somewhat traditional and I'd love to go with a more updated look in white and wood tones instead. Here are a few of the items I've been coveting as of late:

Tray, Stool, Media Stand, Dining Chair, Painting, End Table

So here's to hoping that now after writing about these beauties I will feel less of a compulsion to dip into the baby savings :) I think I can I think I can... xo, Lauren

Favorite Projects of 2012

Looking back at 2012, we got a lot of DIY projects (big and small) accomplished here at the H-Haus. Here are a few of my favorites from the past year:

1. DIY 'Confetti System' Ornaments

2. 10 Easy Steps to Create a Silhouette

3. DIY Play Kitchen Knobs

4. DIY Colorful Yarn Pom Pom

5. Fringed Banner DIY

6. Glitter Geometry Garland

7. Violet's Big Girl Room

8. Living Room Update

9. Dining Room Update

Looking ahead to 2013, I plan to tie up a lot of loose ends around the house before diving into anything new, but on my list would be:

1. DIY Upholstered Headboard

2. Wood floors in the master bedroom

3. Updating the nursery for the new baby

4. Painting the kitchen cabinets

5. Wood floors in the kitchen

6. Painting the entryway

And probably a few other little odds and ends along the way. Our house may be tiny, but we are hoping to spread a little DIY love to every single square inch of it - after all, it's where we spend most of our time. Here's to a happy, lovely home! xo, Lauren

Happy New Year!

We decided to spend New Year's Eve at home this year - just the three (and a half) of us. After running all over visiting with family and friends this holiday season it was nice to just be in our own space with our own little family. We made our own party fun - Kev cooked us a delicious German-style dinner of rouladen, dumplings, and red cabbage, I scavenged the house for some festive decorations, we had 'fancy' (alcohol-free for V and me) drinks, made paper crowns, and we all had a dance party in the dining room. Then after the babe was fast asleep, the Mister snuck out and got us some delicious desserts to munch on as we watched the ball drop. It was festive and fun and just what we needed to finish off our wonderful year. Happy 2013! xo, Lauren

Dining Room Update

We have been slowly updating the dining room, and I haven't taken any photos of it for a while, so I figured it was time. Back when we wallpapered the living room accent wall, its twin in the dining room got wallpapered as well. We also replaced our dust-collecting console with Violet's new play kitchen and added a few new accessories. All-in-all nothing ground breaking, but it does give the space a whole new look and feel:

One thing I'm still not sold on are the chairs. They were simple and inexpensive, but I was never really in LOVE with them and if I could I would probably replace them with mismatched or more modern white chairs. Just something lighter and with a little more character. Of course, being in baby budget mode means I can only dream, but for now these will have to do! If anyone wants to swap four black chairs for four white ones, give me a ring :) xo, Lauren

P.S. You can see more of our home here.