Progress

I actually have some "afters" today, Peeps! I know, I can hardly believe it myself.

Two sections of the living room are really coming along after our Ikea trek last week. We purchased two white Billy bookcases and one small white Malm dresser. The desk I have my eye on wasn't in stock, so we'll head back later on. True to Ikea form, they came together pretty quickly and easily. Seth had them all put together in one evening, and I've been decorating them over and over ever since.

Firstly, the little dresser. This baby was well worth the money. I stalked Craigslist for a couple of weeks, but couldn't find anything just the right size for this space. When I realized we couldn't get the desk last week, I opted for this instead.

If you remember, this was what was here before:

Not ideal. The new dresser fills the space better, being wider and shallower than the little cabinet (which has taken up residence in the laundry room). And it holds all the stuff so much better.

The top has plenty of room for a tray to hold keys and such, and our "family crest" made by the fabulous Marissa of Recklessly Inspired.

I found this lamp at the Goodwill Store for $5.99, shade included. I love it. It's sleek.

The bottom drawer is my favorite. It's for the kids' shoes, and it corrals them beautifully. The drawers slide easily so the kids have no trouble with it.

The middle drawer is also a lifesaver--a place for hats, gloves, and winter accessories. In the summer, I'll swap this stuff for caps, baseball gloves, helmets and knee pads...the things that always seem to be everywhere.

The top drawer is for our bags and Seth's diabetic tools. Yay, organization!

Now for the bookshelves. Here's how it was before:

Cluttered, unorganized, and the one bookshelf did not meet our small house storage needs at all. (It has also been moved to the laundry room.)

Here are the new sparkly ones. I especially love them at night.

Definitely so much better! I'm absolutely thrilled how they're coming together. There's so much room for our books and pretty things. I can't even fill them up. That's awesome.

I love these lights from Ikea. They're only $5 each, and they definitely make the space. Lighting is amazing at changing the feel of a room.

I wasn't planning to do teal here, but my sad little homemade canvases looked pretty good there for now. They may get changed out if I ever get around to being creative again.

This other wall is going to be by my desk, and I want it to be useful and remind me of things I love. For now, I've decorated it with one of my favorite Goodwill purchases ever, this wooden clock. It doesn't work yet--I have to replace the kit in the back. But it looks pretty. I also framed a map of Ireland--because we've been there and I loved the colors in the map (found here).

Some of my favorite artwork is on the other wall--our kids' framed handprints, a photo of us all young and skinny in Ireland, and one of my Recklessly Inspired prints. (Go there. Get things for thine walls. You won't regret it.)

I have room for more books!

I also wanted to mention the owl print. This came from a set of little books of art I have by some of my favorite home bloggers, Jamin and Ashley Mills of The Handmade Home.These books are ingenious. They're filled with prints that are perforated so you can remove and frame your favorites. There are three books in the series. (Find them here).

There's still a lot to be done in here, but I'm definitely encouraged by our progress!