The House

*Disclaimer*

I really need HELP! Feel free to leave comments/recommendations on what works or doesn't. Constructive criticism is GOOD! I want to sell the house!

So with the new job, comes a move. Before the move comes the cleaning, preparing and listing of the house for sale. The number one thing we've read and been told is to remove all photos, and decorate neutral. To anyone who really knows me, you realize what a daunting task this is to me! I LOVE pictures, and 90% of the things hung on my walls are pictures of family and friends. SO the sad day has come to remove all these, well I'm getting there, I've removed about 3/4 so far. The problem is we don't want "bare" walls either. So I've been shopping, sales of course and picked out a few things here and there... so it is coming along. But I really do feel lost in the decorators world. Trying not to spend too much, I've also experimented with things on hand... here is an example... This very ugly retro wall hanging I got when my Mom was clearing out years ago with the intent to do something, well until last week I never got around to it. I always, liked the shape of it, but not the colors. So having heard/seen the wonders of spray paint I went to work, and for $2 I now have a neutral wall hanging. No it's not my favorite, but it works... I think anyway. Before and After shots...

We'd been needing/wanting to get a nice clock, and I found this one at Ross for $20... I think they fill the wall okay together...

For the half bath, I got sconces and a framed phrase/saying for all under $10, thanks to Factory-2-You. Love that store by the way. I've never used sconces before, but I think I like them.

For the dining room table I made the flower arrangement with flowers on clearance at Michaels, rocks from dollar tree, and an existing vase, and ribbon...total cost was around $7. Ignore all the junk on the table :).We did a rearrangement of the living room furniture to make it look more "open" and added these two framed items also from Factory 2 You. This isn't the best picture, but gives you the general idea. One frame is Faith, and the other is Love. This is all so much a work in progress! There is so much to do before we can even list the house. We need to replace all the carpets, we are hoping to get quotes on that this weekend. We need to paint almost all the upstairs because it has the original house paint from '03 that is really scuffed up. We need to fix baseboards, and trim, and we really need to deep clean. We need to box up as much as possible to make it look "open" as they say, and not cluttered... Speaking of look what I found at Michaels in the clearance bin, designer packing tape. Marked down to 50 cents a roll. Now we can pack in style :o)

So throughout the day I find myself bouncing between tasks, whatever is the most conducive to the current moment and needs of the kiddos. So I've packed some, I've decorated some, I've cleaned some, and I've done a lot of the everyday dishes, laundry, cooking, scouts, dance class, doctor appointments, and just life stuff... Eventually it will all come together, I'm sure of it. Although, sooner than later would be better. I miss seeing Dave everyday, and the kids are having a hard time too.

So now a direct question for anyone and everyone...where to put these 2 lamps. I originally bought them thinking I would spray paint them brown and use them in the bedroom on either side of the bed... they were only $7.50 at Kirklands!Which could still work...Snapshot of the room, they would be on either side on our little tables.But after putting them together and seeing the colors... It has me thinking, maybe they should be other places just as they are... For example the family room just got a new rug that these green and white shades appear in. And the couch needs to be balanced on the wall. Maybe I should get an accent table, or two and put them on one or both sides of the couch. Anna's Linens had accent tables for $10... so it's a possiblity. Here is the wall in question, and the new rug with it's colors.

Lastly I realized the green is very close to the green walls in the living room. But would that be too much green? I don't know. There is also a couch that could use accent tables and lamps to balance things out. The existing brown lamp could be moved elsewhere in the house.
And with that I am signing off. I will be regretting this late night in the morning!!!