Adding some color...

...to the media room that is. I've made a good bit of progress in the last week in our media room.  Here's what we've done!

We got our TV stand and new TV for the room last week. Our TV is a 60" 3D LED Samsung smart TV that we got on sale during one of the pre-Super Bowl sales. I wasn't sure if the TV we wanted would go on sale this month, but actually, one of the even nicer ones came way down in price, so we upgraded! :)  We are loving the picture quality and some of the cool smart features.  The TV stand from Hayneedle.com was delivered promptly last week and it's perfect. There were no issues with shipping or any damaged pieces, so I'm really happy that even with the free shipping it was great! We're really happy with the size and storage options. We can actually get all of our devices into the cabinet... DVR, Xbox, Blu-ray and Wifi modem and router.  This picture isn't great because the light was really bright and reflecting off of the screen, but it looks really awesome in person!

Finally, I got pillow inserts for all of the pillow covers that I ordered from Etsy. I'm loving the pop of color and patterns that they bring to the room.

I also made some progress on the window treatments for the room. I've decided to go with a cornice and panel style instead of roman shades. I bought off the rack red curtains and made my own cornice board to cover them, I'll make a post detailing all of the steps soon. The red is really great for the room and really adds a lot.

But, I'm not done with these curtains and cornices! I'm going to add blackout liners to them so they really block out light if you want to watch a movie during the day and I'm going to add a ribbon trim to the leading edge of the curtain panels and to the cornice.  Here's what I'm thinking it will look like. I took a piece of ribbon and held it up on the curtains:

I'll add a plain rectangle of trim to the cornice. I considered doing a more elaborate corner but I want to keep things masculine, so I think plain will work great. Here's what the gray trim would look like photoshopped in:

I think we're doing great on the progress for the room. It's finally at a point where we can use it which is really nice, since this room has been vacant for more than a year! We had a goal to be able to watch the Super Bowl in this room this year and I think we're going to be able to do it! ;)  I have a lot of ideas that we still have to incorporate, including accent tables, lamps, etc and even a gallery wall, but that will take place over the next few weeks as we start collecting things. 

Updates around the house

I haven't posted about the media room recently, but we are working hard on selecting and buying all of the different pieces. I am really excited about how it is coming together. Once we get our TV and a few more things, I will take some pictures with my camera of the progress. In the mean time, here are some photos of the progress from my iPhone. I ordered these pillows for the room from Etsy and we've already received the ones on the left. The rest should come later this week!

Pillows ordered for the couch

We also finally found a coffee table for the sectional. I had been debating for a long time on what shape and size ottoman or coffee table to go with. I finally decided that I wanted something round and unique, maybe a little masculine. I think this one fits the bill, the metalwork is really interesting and I like the shape. I think it will really work well with the rest of the furniture we are selecting.

New coffee table

Last night, I finally selected the tv console that we'll use under the tv, the focal point of the room. You wouldn't think so, but this has been so, so difficult. However, I think I finally found one that fit most of my criteria.  I debated on the height of the stand for a while and finally had to decide between two, one that was 36" high and another that was 25" high. I initially wanted the taller one that looked like a cabinet, but after playing with tape on the wall, we decided that the lower console would actually be more comfortable to watch tv on from our sectional.

Trying to figure out what size tv stand will
work best for the room

I ordered it from Hayneedle and with their free shipping (!) it should get here next week!

We also made some updates to our master bedroom. We got a new duvet and down comforter, changing the whole look of the room. The duvet is from WestElm and I love it. I had been thinking about changing the color scheme and fabric in this room for a while, so I'm excited that this will hopefully push me to make some more updates in our room soon.

We also ordered new shams and sheets from Pottery Barn during their big white sale. I love the way the gray monogram and trim looks with the bedding.

What have you been working on around your house?

Rory - 15 weeks!

I haven't posted in a while, but I figured I'd post about our newest addition to the family, Rory. We got Rory in the beginning of December. He's a goldendoodle and so, so sweet, but a little crazy! Well, he's 15 weeks now and has been growing like a weed ;) Here are some pictures of how much he's grown!

4 weeks

6 weeks

9 weeks - Picking him up from the breeder

9 weeks - Car ride home! 

10 weeks... settling in to life at home

Lounging under the coffee table

Christmas with Toby and Darcy

12 weeks

Sleepy pup!

Hanging out with Darcy

14 weeks - On a walk in the neighborhood

Rory!

Revisiting our 2012 Goals

Happy New Year! 

Wow, January already? I can't believe it. I thought I would take a look back at the goals that we made last January here and see how we did.

2012 House Goals
- Finalize design plan for formal living room
- Find/order furniture, paint, and decorate formal living room
- Tile backsplash in kitchen -- coming soon!?
- Update landscaping in front yard
- Media room layout and design plan
- Build built-in day bed/ window seat in media room  Decided not to do this
- Resod front yard grass
- Add more storage and organization in laundry room
- Finish decorating master bedroom -- almost, but still a work in progress
- Paint and organize garage

Well, we didn't get to all of them, but I think we made some really good progress. Plus, I kind of forgot about this list until just recently ;)

We started decorating and finished the formal living room this year... I really love this room.

We did update the landscaping in the front and back yard by planting lots of new plants, expanding natural areas, and beefing up my rose garden in the back yard. We also sodded the front yard, which was a huge undertaking, but was so worth it.

I finally finished our media room plan as well.

And, we've already started working on this room. Hopefully we will finish it up in the next couple months.

This last year flew by, I know we'll get to the rest of the things on that list eventually, but I'm happy with what we've done. Happy New Year!!