new home progress: the living room

Lets jump right in. I agonized for weeks over a sofa choice. Norah and I spend a good amount of time in the family room throughout the days, and Will and I love to watch TV together to wind down at the end of the day, so the sofa is a big deal in our house. Unfortunately, since most take several weeks to come in, time was somewhat of the essence. After browsing countless websites like Wayfair, Overstock, Ballard, Ethan Allen, and West Elm, and then actually shopping in person at Crate and Barrell and Restoration Hardware, we (I) decided on this one.

Maxwell Sofa

This is a mix of stock images + iPhone pictures I took in our local store. It doesn't look particularly special, which is kind of what I was going for. I wanted something modern but classic. Something that would be a good quality, and match different decor if we decided to change other things in the room. It's only shown in the basic Sand, but we ordered Taupe, which is the swatch on the bottom of the picture below. Shadowy phone pictures aren't the best at showing true color, but it's much better than the website mockup.

The top swatch is a color called Mist which represents the two accent chairs we purchased. These are probably the pieces of furniture I'm most excited about getting. I absolutely love the look and am really proud of myself for ordering something custom that I believe in rather than just picking stock colors and fabrics. Not to mention, I feel like such a bum sometimes when I spend all day on and off the couch. This will give me a comfy place to sit in the living room without feeling like I'm about to take a nap. We bought two of the Lyon Chair the white washed wood in the Mist fabric. I won't even bother with the online version of the wood and our color, because the fabric looks nothing like it does in real life. Any interested parties will just be waiting around until "late February" with me to see the finished product!

Lyon Chair

Next on the agenda for this room are a rug and end tables, but we'll most likely wait and buy those things until we're in the house next month. Until next time!

holiday & house update

Where to even begin? We have had so much fun this holiday season already I barley know where to start.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Very low key, and everyone had a good time. I'm generally a stickler about Norah's bedtime but decided to let her stay up with the big people for the holiday. She was a little cranky but it made the memories that much more special because she was involved instead of in her crib asleep. On Thanksgiving Day we ate with Will's family, then on Friday my mom and sister came in for a visit. Friday was also my sister's 17th birthday, so it was nice to spend that day with her too. Saturday the families united for a wonderful, long, and decadent dinner at what has become one of my favorite restaurants, Eddie Merlot's. This is the same place we announced our pregnancy to Will's parents last year (with my mom and sister in tow, and no, I'm not pregnant) so it has a special place in my heart. I took 0 pictures of any of this, but that just means we had the best time. I have bought a few here and there of N in some of her holiday outfits.

Come to think of it this one  actually was one Thanksgiving.

Aside from that, our holiday agenda has included just overall preparing for Christmas. Shopping, decorating, and attending lots of family friendly holiday events. The Christmas cards are being addressed and our annual events like family get togethers and friend dinners are on the calendar. We're also going to see The Nutcracker which I cannot wait for!

In other news, we're getting a house! It's hard for me to believe these things are really true until they give me the keys, but we're under contract, so it looks like it's going to happen. While we loved our current home, it is just so far out from the things we like to do. We are buying in an area just 15 minutes from Downtown (as opposed to our 30+ now). It's a great school district, the entire village is a historical landmark, and most importantly, it's walkable to so many things. Parks, restaurants, shops, schools. We really cannot wait to start this chapter.

Along with an older home is going to come a little bit of downsizing and lotta bit of renovations. We are starting with the biggest job of all, the kitchen. I'm terrified, but also excited. We've had our first meeting with the contractor and can't wait to move on to the next steps, which will hopefully happen soon. Anyone that has been through a kitchen renovation, I would love your advice and tips! These are a few pictures of what we're going for. My current must haves are white tile backsplash (either a classic subway pattern or herringbone), white countertops and cabinets, wood floors, farm sink,

and a classic look. I've pinned a ton of ideas here.

here

here

We've begun looking at furniture, and planning other smaller renovations throughout the house, and I really can't wait to get my Fixer Upper on.

In other news Norah has been hit with the sickness that appears to be going around. So many "bad" diapers. A round of projectile vomitting. Fever. You get the idea. We'll be quarantined all week it looks like, so wish me luck! Linking up with Jess today.