Remodel Update + Currently Loving (November 2011)

Are you getting sick of coming to this blog only to see me stand in an empty room? Me too! So good news! We've moved the furniture back!  Yay!

But we're not quite done.  Okay, we're not even close to being done. While all of the flooring is now installed (save for the stairs, which will cost as much as our entire floor install to cover with matching wood) (so it looks like we really will do a slide + ball pit!) (or we'll pebble it, as I've been watching way too much I Hate My Bath and pebbling is so fun!  And so cheap!  And so easy!  And I so really want to do it!) (And I'm not entirely sure, but I think Husband would get mad if I pebbled over the new bamboo in our bedroom so I should probably do it on something else!), we still have quite a ways to go here.

Still on our list:

1. A complete master bathroom overhaul, complete main floor bathroom overhaul. We have only one bathroom (out of three!) that is fully functional at the moment, and let me tell you--it totally puts the fun into "functional". HA HA HAHAHA not really.
2. New furniture.  We threw/donated a lot of our old furniture away at the beginning of this, mostly because it was mismatching sets that we had each independently acquired early on in our adult lives. And while mismatching furniture can have a certain je ne sais quoi about it (and it was reeeally hard for me to part with that fake potted tree that I had adorned with white christmas lights when I was 21 in an odd attempt to be classy, as I apparently thought classy was replicating something found all across America in cheap Italian eateries?) (ha ha ha, and ya'll read this blog for style advice!) it is time for Husband and me to be adults and have good furniture that kind-of-sort-of matches without being covered in five different slip covers.  Mom, I know you're reading this, stop crying.
3. Painting more walls.
4. Buying some lights to hang, because sometimes being able to see shit is fun.
5. Buying more Bath and Body Wallflowers, 'cuz I'm horribly horribly horribly sickly addicted.
6. Doing a cool textured/printed wall paper on the two windowed walls framing the fireplace. Yes?  Those sluts are almost begging for it!
7. Doing something with that fireplace. As you will see in the pictures below, we decided to tear out the tiled hearth that jutted out in front as we were installing the floors. We then haphazardly patched it up since we had no master plan for the fireplace at that time. Um. We still have no master plan. That mirror needs to go.  Halp. 
8. A cool closet overhaul. This will be last, since Husband and I are the only ones that see the closet.  Bummer. 

But with both winter and the holidays looming on the horizon (and Husband starting his competitive youth basketball coaching again), it is definitely time for a break. In spite of the construction hiatus I will still be working on acquiring some pretty furniture over the next few months, once I figure out what it is that I actually want, because I am tired of using old throw pillows & wiggly chihuahuas as make-shift coffee tables. They never sit still, the little brown one shakes uncontrollably because she's weird, and it's stressful.

So here we go!  Time for some pictures. The main floor living room looks sparse right now (I am still working on finding a rug, a different coffee table since the zebra thing is going in our bedroom, a funky chaise or set of chairs, end tables, curtains, wall paper, funky knick-knacks, more wall decor, curtains, and lamps--whew!) but I am still thrilled with the results so far. Husband has worked so hard on this, and it has been a great bonding experience to work together towards finally having a space that reflects our style:

Before!

After!

Before!

After!

And a pretty vase + flowers from Z Gallerie that I picked up last week:

In that same vein, I am long overdue for a "currently loving" post. Here's what I am currently lusting after this November...and you just might see a few of the pretty things below pop up in my home soon, too! Enjoy:

What are YOU currently loving this month? Spill it in the comments! ♥