St Patty's Decor- Project #8

 Mantel Decor- Greenish Blue Hydrangeas, Nate's Baby Cup (tribute to his red hair on the mantel), Ireland pic, heart st patty's garland

 Close up

 Entryway vingette- Chalkboard with yarn wreath, greenery and lettered blocks

 Close up of Dingle Pennisula in Ireland

 Front Door

My Newest Additions:Our Adorable St Patty Pillow & Sign

So Valentine's is over which means yea St Patrick's Day is soon!! Which is one of my favorite holidays for many reason..after St Pattys means spring break and flowers blooming, I am of irish hertitage as well as my red-headed hubby, and it is my saints day. Being raised Catholic you have a saint's day and my saint is St Patrick. 

One day this past week I got tired of seeing all the pink and red decor. I love pink but the frillyness of Valentines was getting old. I was ready for Spring, St Pattys Day and Spring Break! I took all the valentines decor down and pulled out my lil bit of St Patty's decor I have. I say lil bit but if you go to my decor closet I have boxes of decor for each holiday. I can't wait till I get to pull out my easter/spring stuff! Wohoo. I love decorating for holidays and I love having things different for each one. I also like changing things such as pillows and accessories with seasons so it feels as if the house is changing too. In fall I use reds and browns, Christmas I add more whites and blues, spring I love all the brightness, and summer I love the aquas and blues. I will have to blog more about the seasons.

Anyways it brings me to my St Patty's. I added the celtic welcome cross to the front door. I added the letter blocks on the entry table with a green tree instead of the typical orchids. I felt the green was welcome for st pattys. I than added my yarn wreath on the chalk board with a cheery Happy St Patty's Message. On the mantel I added heart four leaf clover garland, nate's baby tin cup, and a picture of the homeland Ireland. I kept the Hawaii Map and our wedding pic. I love them and I feel they are welcome all year around, plus Nate loves art and pictures up..when I was putting them on the mantle he said OH I really like that.. wow ok!! Just seeing the map of my happy place- hawaii and our wedding pics make me happy. When I was putting up the decor, Nate was sitting on the couch and I said mind if I put the Ireland pic up and your baby cup. He said really I always wanted my ireland pic on the mantle. Glad he can enjoy the decor too.  Lastly I added our sign a wee bit irish and our pillow. I think it is just enough st patty's touch and I can't wait for Easter!

Side Note to St Patty's: Inspired Room just did a beautiful post on decorating with things you love and things that are important to both you and your spouse since you both live there. I always try to keep Nate's taste in mind. I say I because I do most of the decorating and he does the installing (hard work).  But he has clearly stated that decor is my area and he is okay with what I do. With that said I know what he dispises (anything grandmaie lol, country, floral and a lil too shabby chic). Nate doesn't like alot of change. He likes simple, functional and true to us. He likes a room to reflect my perspective but as he puts it he lives here too.  He appreciates art, pictures of our travels, photos of our families, accepts my love for all things coastal and white. He has specifically stated he hates words (like subway art..lol) and prefers art and photos on the wall. He is dying for me to put a collage similar to the one in the entry in the stairwell.

He dispised white before but likes the idea of bleach now..lol. He is truely a mans man and likes practical things- but he adores a comfortable house such as the one we live in. He accepts my disorganization behind closet doors and love for decorating, throw pillows, milk glass, seagrass baskets and clutterless rooms. I say clutterless rooms because they look clutterless till you open my disorganized closets..lol! He swears I will change when we have kids and accept clutter. I love him for accepting my flaws, wants and desires and I truely hope my house reflects us both. I know that both of our favorite items in our house have been hand me downs or given to us by our families. Which makes me beam that I have a hubby that likes furniture with a story!! Our dining table, kitchen table, pool table, guest room headboard, dressers, and bar cart were all others before they came to us!!But we like to make them ours and I am proud to say it is ours!

Thank you dear for putting up with my crazt DIY obsessions, listening to me and guiding me when I get frustrated with a project and you have to finish it. You are fab!!

Update on Past, Present & Future List

The list below is the list that I presented in my past posts. So I wanted to update everyone on it.

First off I am realistic in the fact that I want a house that is comfortable and liveable..I want kids to be able to play in every room and my house be truely enjoyed.. but with that said I won't be able to afford to make any major changes after a baby comes so we have a list!!



The list is as follows:


1. Pay off all credit cards & Tricia to finish Masters in Education (Feb. 2012) Debt is paid down & still enrolled in program to graduate in feb. 2012


2. Hold only one car note (the toyota is almost paid off so we are trading in the mazda for an SUV). Toyota has a couple more car payments and we traded in Mazda for a new Santa Fe Limited SUV which we drove to St. Louis at Xmas and Love.


3. Take a great vacation before .. you know it won't happen after! We just booked our first wedding anniversary trip to Belize, Costa Maya and Isle Roatan!!!


We have two extra rooms upstairs.. one is a guest room and the other is being habitated by the cats (litter boxes) and all nate's books for his business. So you'll understand the next lists.


4.Move Plywood from garage (whole stack) planning on doing this around spring break


5. Move bookshelves from 3rd bedroom to garage  planning on doing this around spring break




6. New light fixture in 3rd bedroom -fan motor is dead and a fan is a must in houston! planning on doing this around spring break




7. Paint 3rd bedroom planning on doing this around spring break




8. Install closet doors in 3rd bedroom. Currently closet has no doors I hung a rod with curtains and litter boxes are behind. planning on doing this around spring break




9. Install Kitty door to garage and move kitty boxes out there.. planning on doing this around spring break




10. Regrout tile in guest bath and master


11. Add tile to guest bath - it is wood..umm not practical with kiddos


12. Install Bamboo Roman Shades on all windows in great room to replace verticals (4 windows at 72 inches and a huge bay window) already priced and saving  Check See previous Posts


13. Hang burlap curtains in great room-DIY project to look like Pottery Barn! Check See previous Posts




14. New Dining room table that is all wood and can be used daily(we're working on it) Check


15. Add Chairs to dining room set and Oversized floor mirror to reflect light from french doors in dining room We decided to wait on the chairs, but we did add a new PB rug and a bar cart from Nate's Mom so no more large mirror!


16. To install safty latches on top of all french doors that lead to pool


17. To install safety net on pool(we cant do a fence because pool is immediately out of the doors.. not enough pool deck)


Since we have no playspace and our two guestrooms are on the small side we need a room that doubles as living space plus play room and if needed a second guest room since we're losing one for a babino(we're talking next 3 years here).. currently in our great room there is a living room, formal living room and dining room.. off of it is nate's office sperated by french doors and the kitchen.. The formal living room is not used at all.. It has a pool table in it.. I let my hubby have it. As he says the kids are taking it away.


19. Move pool table to the garage.


20. Add a sleeper sofa in tan linen to formal living room, shelves with wicker baskets to conceal their mess and a wicker trunk to conceal toys and double as coffee table..




 We are planning on working on our third bedroom that is suppose to be the nursery over spring break but the rest of the projects will probably be waiting till the summer.  I have also added to the list finding a dresser on craigslist for the nursery that is white or that I will refinish white and also a dresser for our master bedroom. The search is on and I think I might have a lead on one! I am also refinishing the cabinets in our 1/2 bath downstairs  black and painting the walls blue in hopes it will make it more beachy feel.. we'll see how it turns out this weekend. I already purchased a small tall lamp for the bathroom to help it feel brighter since it is so small and there is no window.  The list is always growing and keeping up on it takes alot of time.. which with teaching and being in my Master's Program leaves none.. when I have down time I seem to do nothing.

Here's our progress.. feel like we have gotten somewhere!

Bamboo Roman Shades- Project #5

Living room during the day-side view

 Pool Table room during Day with large window &  bay window

 The same rooms at night.. gives you better idea of texture of blinds.

 Excuse my hubby's mess on the pool table.. he thinks it is his dumping ground for all things tennis/gym

When we bought this house the downstairs had ugly 80's vertical blinds. Which as hideous as they are they keep alot of the heat out from the sun in the summer.. but they also darken the room a ton. Our living space downstairs is all open, the only seperating spaces is the french doors that close nate's office and our double sided fireplace in the middle of the room. I hated them. I dispised them. But I couldn't do anything about it because it wasn't in the budget after the hurricane damage and if I redid blinds in the living room I would have to do it in our formal living room known as the pool table room also. Luckily the french doors in the dining room going to the pool I decided to keep naked and save $$.

Since we are finally getting to the point where there aren't any major projects such as repairing the roof from a tree during the hurricane. I have had time to find blinds I loved and I could save for. The issue was we have 3 very large not average size windows in the living rooms and than two small ones in the bay. So I had to buy custom.. which can be PRICEY! After late night searches online I finally found my blinds..but I kept debating between dark wood like we had upstairs and in nate's office or light with dark accents. I decided on light wood to light the dark wood furniture. The blinds were shipped to the house and sat for a week before I finally convienced Nate and his bromance Jon to put up the curtains. 

Saturday we did St. Arnolds Pub Crawl with Jon, Alice, Nyomi, Paul, Justin, Jennifer and Gil! It was a great time. We than went back to our place and grilled out and Jon offered to help Nate on Sunday! Wohoo!! Jon is in construction and is a perfectionist so I knew Nate and him would hange the blinds perfectly and in one day..where as if it were Nate and I it would take forever.  Sunday came and passed and the boys took down the verticals and hung my beautiful bamboo roman shades. I have posted pictures of them in the day and at night so you can see them. I love the filtered light they allow in the room now. They add some privacy but you can see outlines of people in the rooms at night.. hence why they are downstairs. But we also have them in our rooms and I just draw the curtains. I love them and they remind me of my honeymoon in a tropical destination. I love the natural look  and hope you do too!!

Valentines in the E Casa

Well it's been super busy around the Embley casa. Like usual we have been teaching, I have been in my masters program, and we have been doing things around the house and enjoying our friends. I have made a ton of project lists and have only completed a couple of them..lol. But I found beautiful vintage shutters to display on my new mantel I ordered recently. So that is exciting. I will post pics of the shutters painted aqua with my special personalized subway art soon(hint-it is beachy with our wedding date)!!  But the cottage/vintage/traditional look is coming togeather and the great thing is it is all very versatile. On to other news...We recently planned a little trip to New Orleans to celebrate Julie's 30th in April. We also are planning our second honeymoon (baby moon) last vacay with out kids for July..but we are waiting for my check for my stipend from school. It got lost in the mail in December and they just voided and recut the check Feb. 1st. So now I hope this one will make it here. We are going to have our babymoon and put a little nest egg of $$$ away for baby/mommy..lol It will be for maternity leave etc.  Also great news!!!  We closed again on the house and everything went just as planned!! Hooray!

Feb. is in full swing. I can't believe Valentines is right around the corner! Well when I was growing up my mom always decorated for the major holidays- halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, and easter. She did small things for us for the smaller holidays such as valentines. But she wasn't into decorating for the small holidays as much. Now that Nate & I have our own house I like to change the decor up with the holidays and seasons. Nate really enjoys the winter seasons such as thanksgiving and christmas because we go home to see family and we have a break from work.  These are my favorite holidays too.. so I gravitate towards their decor and I forget about the other holidays!! Oopps. I have a TON of christmas decor..I have started a great collection on my fall decor.. and today after getting the PB catalog I got a jump start on my easter and St. Patty's day decor. More of that later.

The great thing about the main great room is that now all the main items are neutrals. The couch and arm chair are a chocolate brown. Area rug is a cream that matches the burlap/linen colored drapes and walls.  So it is super easy to just add a few things to give pops of color for seasons. It also makes it easy for the house  to feel not so drab in the winter months which I hate.

So I started to pull out my valentines decor and noticed it is basically non exsistant. I know I need to work on it. I have vowed to do better next year because I want to be the mom that my kids remember certain holidays because I made it awesome. My mom used to have us build scarecrows in Oct. and I loved it!! She also had a christmas village we put up every christmas and helped with the tree. I love these holidays because she involved us and made it special.. so I need to do better with the little holidays too.

I have a few vday pieces. I have a heart door mat I bought at target the very first valentines Nate & I were together. I recently purchased a new door hanger for vday because some how in the move I can't find my old one. I found my little heart rose wreath and than I bought an XoXo glitter sign to put on the entry way when you walk in. Than I pulled out my vday pillow I have had and another love pillow. Lastly on our coffee table is red candles and a heart candy dish full of pink, red and silver dove chocolates. The pics are below.

I have to say my favorite this season has to be my chalkboard. I layered the wreath over it and than wrote love scripture on the board. Verses are listed below:

My lover is mine and I am his. Song of Solomon 2:16
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth- for your love is more delightful than wine. Song of Solomon 1:2
Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, it is not rude. Love rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always preserves. Love Never Fails  1 Corinthians 13
I obviously had to shorten the corinthians verse due to lack of space on the chalk board.. but it is a classic and I wanted to put it on there.
My absolute favorite is his kisses are more delightful than wine.. perfect for a wine lover like me to write!!
Well hope you enjoyed! I loved following the Valentines Mantel linky on the blogs I follow. I love seeing how creative others are. Hopefully next year I will be the same ;)

 Front Door with Vday Decor (DIY frosted glass I did) & Mat

Entry Way- Chalkboard, Rose Heart wreath & XoXo

 All my Luv Scriptures I chose to write on the chalkboard

Above- Hugs & Kisses pillow  Below- Hand Stamped Love pillow


















Happy Valentines Day!!

Project #2- Living room & Dining Room Updates

 Linen Curtains, Milk Glass ( some have corks spilling from their edges too), White Frames, White Candle Holders with White Peace Lillies infront of Fireplace & SEAGRASS JUTE RUG!!

 White/Linen Throw Pillows- once summer arrives I want some beachy white/blues!

 My cork,seashells and vanilla candle centerpiece on coffee table. I love it.. some might think wine & beach not really .. but they have my color theme whites and tans.

 Here's the dining room- table still not refinished.. but new PB stripe Jute rug, New Bar from my MIL, monogram plate from Cousin-in Laws, Margarita Maker & Wine stored below!!

Here is the Light I was given for the dining room still in it's box.. hubby swears it will go up next weekend & than I will share more pics.

If you saw my previous posts you saw my inspiration. It is finally coming togeather, but I didn't want too much of a theme. Currently there are just a lot of neutrals and it was amazing how when I placed the seagrass rugs in from PB (got them on winter sale) that the rooms look so much larger. They also keep the dog hair down because it doesn't hold the hair well. The shag tan and red rug moved to the other side of the living room where the pool table is and scout still loves laying on 'his' rug.  Basically both rooms are done now! I want to get some nautical beachy pillows for summer and add the bamboo roman shades to living room and I will be done. The dining room just needs ceiling light hung and table refinished. I am thinking since this is the only room with out a vaulted ceiling attached to great room about painting the ceiling an aqua or pale blue.. almost white. I think it would look cool! We'll see if I get around to it!!

PS it is a little dark under the fish tank but I finally got a PB Pepsi crate.. nate dislikes it alot! So it not under the coffee table now. It is under the fish tank. The other one I got was yellow ( i disdain yellow) and is in the garage holding my tools. I figure once we have kids it can hold books or small toys like legos. So I won't part with either!

Happy New Year & Project #1 of 2011

 Coat Rack & show basket overflowing- Above
Below- Entry way Table completed with Chalk board & Wall Gallery - Christmas was still up!!


Nativity Scene given to us from Nate's Mom which was brought back from Africa from his grandpa!! Also our Jingle Bell wreath and Note to Santa on Chalk board from Scout!!


Close up of Valentine Decor in Entryway- Fresh Mum Flowers from my hubby! Not always there! Plus my sheet music wreath with Psalms written on Chalk board. Also my vday decor of XOXO!!

View from livingroom- my last DIY frosted front door windows letting in the light! LUV!!  It looks a little busy with the mums and XoXO.. but its for a short while..

Previously when we had a ton of warm colors in the great room (think all reds & browns) there was no entry way table. It was just a wall of crosses. I loved the crosses but my hubby hated them. He is a christian he just prefers art/photos on the wall than a whole wall covered in crosses! When I decided to change the decor in the room to something I could change when I got tired of it.. I went neutral. Now the curtains are linen to match the walls and everything is very classic with punches of color here and there.

  So I started thinking of a better way to maximize this area. I started with a memo board that is a chalk board (old mirror converted). I than hung all our favorite pics from our weddingmoon in Hawaii. There are pics of Nate and I with his sister and than us with my sisters, landscapes where we snorkeled, the wedding, honeymoon shoots and of course a Hawaiian Guitar printed on sheet music and a vintage skeleton key on scrapbook paper.. I love the Key- Nate will always hold my key to my heart as well as Hawaii. All the frames are black so that it feels cohesive but they are all different types of frames, some shiny, some matte, some flat some bulky with trim! I call this our tribute wall to Hawaii.. whenever Nate & I are stressed we always think back to Hawaii. So it is nice to have the reminder in our entrywall.
 Once I created the wall gallery I felt that it needed a table! So I found a PB knockoff and it is great in it's ebony color- vintage yet modern I feel. It really was a desk but it fit the wall space perfectly and I love the turn table legs and ebony finish.  I also pushed the two stools  covered in cream linen that I use for extra seating when kiddos are over under the table. On top I added a potted orchid- my favorite flower on top of a stack of books on beaches and Hawaii. I love orchids, I have some in my vanity area in our bedroom, one in the guest bath upstairs and now one in the entry. I feel like it adds instant elegance or timeless-ness. Yeah I am an english teacher and I just made that word up!! Plus a great lamp with linen drum shade. It was than complete!
To make the area work even better for us I bought a coat rack to hang dog leashes, keys, my coach purse, scarfs and jackets on it. If you see under the rack is the leather shoe basket which I am going to up grade to a larger one in wicker soon! I have to upgrade because my coaching husband has more tennis shoes than fit in our closet and now the shoe basket!! I found a great one at Target similar to a very costly one of PB and will order next pay period.. I hope you enjoy! I sure love it! I feel like the lamp makes such a lovely light in the evenings.. the photos are near and dear to us obvioulsy so I love looking at them. I also love layering the chalkbaord with wreaths (stole idea from nester).. Lastly  I  love the function of this area now. Pretty and funtional!!

Isn't my hubby great for bringing me mums.. the only reason they are in the entry way is because Bella our siamesse loves eating flowers and she is scared of this table for some reason.. mums are safe!

DIY Projects this weekend..

So this weekend I have been on a DIY decorating kick. I am trying to finish off all the rooms in the house. Our master, master bath, guest bath, 1/2 bath and kitchen are completed.  As you know I am lusting over burlap curtains from pottery barn.. I am DIYing them as we speak for our great room and if it weren't that our windows are single pane and non-insulated I would remove all the verticals now and just hang the burlap until we have the $$ for the bamboo roman shades. But it is winter in Houston and I can't afford a higher heating bill or cold air in the house.. so waiting! I will post once done!

Since we're getting rid off all tacky blinds in the house (master has bamboo roman, kitchen and guests have white wood blinds) I had to take them off the front door. I hated em. Every time the door open they swung and hit the door, we had to pull them up because Scout hates the UPS man and would flipout and pull them down.. so I was done with the blinds. Only problem hot houston sun and privacy! So during our daily walks with Scout I started observing other doors like ours.. many had curtains or blinds up except one house had textured glass. I began my hunt for film to texture the glass.. umm well it was 29 bucks a square and I have two doors.. not so much in the budget. I frosted the glass instead for a total cost of $12 bucks.. below are before and after pics.

 Before with blinds

After with frosted glass.. it allows light thru and privacy! Horray!

My next project started when my gf redid her kitchen. We both live in houses built in the 80's.. our kitchen had been gutted previously and has new cabinets, paint, granite and appliances.. Her's was getting the face lift too. Well she replaced all the outlet plates to a copper plated hammered finish because the switches are an off white (yellow to me) and couldn't match the plates. My house has the same dilemma and I just loved the look of the bronze and cooper against the walls. I had to have em. I went to Lowe's and Home Depot and for the whole house it would cost me well over 100 bucks. I began the hunt to DIY.. I bought two cans of Rust-o-luim in bronze hammered outdoor finish.. it sticks to plastic and weathers well. And the fumes began.. see below my  lovely project..

 Before with bright white switch plate and yellow switch..

 New lovely hammered finish bronze plates!

 

Than while in the garage getting tools for the switch plates I saw an old table Nate bought at Goodwill for me to use in my apartment downtown in 2005.. I was a single girl living alone with Bella in a 400sq ft loft apartment and so poor! I used it as a side table for two years and than it sat in the garage because the top was scratched and it seen better days. Our guest room is all whites and blacks. I purchased a beautiful zebra chair and I needed a side table. I love our current side table with the mirror finish but I couldn't afford another.. and the DIY started!

 Table Before almost ready to paint.. needed some love and new life..

 Getting painted Black High Gloss

 Guest room zebra chair looking sad with out a reading side table..

And look at that lovely table and zebra chair.. perfect addition if I do say so!!

The history, the present and the future..

Get your coffee ready.. I have alot to say today!!

So if  you know Nate and I's history you know we have been togeather now 5 years.. It is amazing to think now five years.. can't wait to say 25! We're newly weds in our first home and it was a foreclosure that needed a ton of TLC and just when the house was getting to the point of finished.. our home was damaged by Hurricane Ike. After Ike we saved  what we could and charged all other expenses for the house to get it back to  code.. hole in the roof, leaks, mold damage, walls ruined, fences down.. you get the picture. So now our house is back to the norm we are still paying off some of Ike's damage..don't get me started on insurance companies and what they cover!

While all this was going on I was working in accounting and going back to school for a degree in accounting. My undergrad is Psychology. I love behavior science and working with children. While in school and working fulltime we planned our Hawaiian Wedding! In this whole transition I figured out I should have listened to my hubby and my heart after undergrad and should have become a teacher. I nannied thru out college and loved it.. but the business world intrigued me.. I took a job at a small company. When I first started there I was under a different boss and I loved it. He left and I soon got  a different boss life soon changed there after.. the stress, the hours of work, depression and hating going to work each day got me on the kick to dig deep on what my career should look like.  I can honestly say my mom did a great job at raising me knowing the foundations of life- Family, God and Love.. and I felt my career as well as my life should reflect that. I decided I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to make a difference..so when I meet my maker I can honestly say I used all the talent you gave me to the best I could.  I took the test to be certified for elementary education..passed and took my current position a month before school started!!



Nate and I both are teachers now.. we're not rich in money.. but our lives are rich in everything else! We both are now so content in our careers that it has a huge impact on our relationship! We both truely enjoy waking up and going to work and we love to share with each other the experiences with our students. No day is the same..  but with all the good there is always bad. My students are reading Esperanza Rising right now and a great literal saying in there book is "There is no Rose with out thorns" well it is in spanish but you get the picture.  Nate and I have experienced many thorns in our relationship- the loss of a father, my mom being diagnosed with cancer (and she kicked it's ass), me struggling to finish school due to financial reasons, buying a house pouring our savings, sweat and love in to it and it being destroyed by a hurricane, lossing family members and one month before our wedding having one of our friends child's drown in a pool..I found him and Nate and friends administered CPR.. we have had the thorns and made it.  Last month was prolly the worst thorn month I have experienced in a long time. I am dealing with my loss daily and it has molded me..

The experience of last month has really shown Nate and I what we want for a home, a family and life. We openly talk about these things and it has really helped me move on from my  ( I should say our) experience. So we have started making a list of things that need to happen before kids. I know everyone says you can't plan kids.. but we're planners so we are going to try ;).



First off I am realistic in the fact that I want a house that is comfortable and liveable..I want kids to be able to play in every room and my house be truely enjoyed.. but with that said I won't be able to afford to make any major changes after a baby comes so we have a list!!
The list is as follows:
1. Pay off all credit cards & Tricia to finish Masters in Education (Feb. 2012)
2. Hold only one car note (the toyota is almost paid off so we are trading in the mazda for an SUV).
3. Take a great vacation before .. you know it won't happen after!
We have two extra rooms upstairs.. one is a guest room and the other is being habitated by the cats (litter boxes) and all nate's books for his business. So you'll understand the next lists.
4.Move Plywood from garage (whole stack)
5. Move bookshelves from 3rd bedroom to garage
6. New light fixture in 3rd bedroom -fan motor is dead and a fan is a must in houston!
7. Paint 3rd bedroom
8. Install closet doors in 3rd bedroom. Currently closet has no doors I hung a rod with curtains and litter boxes are behind.
9. Install Kitty door to garage and move kitty boxes out there..
10. Regrout tile in guest bath and master
11. Add tile to guest bath - it is wood..umm not practical with kiddos
12. Install Bamboo Roman Shades on all windows in great room to replace verticals  (4 windows at 72 inches and a huge bay window) already priced and saving
13. Hang burlap curtains in great room-DIY project to look like Pottery Barn!
14. New Dining room table  that is all wood and can be used daily(we're working on it)
15. Add Chairs to dining room set and Oversized floor mirror to reflect light from french doors in dining room
16. To install safty latches on top of all french doors that lead to pool
17. To install safety net on pool(we cant do a fence because pool is immediately out of the doors.. not enough pool deck)
Since we have no playspace and our two guestrooms are on the small side we need a room that doubles as living space plus play room  and if needed a second guest room since we're losing one for a babino(we're talking next 3 years here).. currently in our great room there is a living room, formal living room and dining room.. off of it is nate's office sperated by french doors and the kitchen.. The formal living room is not used at all.. It has a pool table in it.. I let my hubby have it. As he says the kids are taking it away.
19. Move pool table to the garage.
20. Add a sleeper sofa in tan linen to formal living room, shelves with wicker baskets to conceal their mess and a wicker trunk to conceal toys and double as coffee table..

There you have it I have made the list..Alot of the list involves updating the house to kid friendly but still grown up beautiful and making the guest room/guest bath ready for a lil Embley. Our plan is to have this all completed by August 2012.. so I will be updating you on our progress..Obviously some of these won't be happening immediately.. but we plan because we live on a budget and I am a smart, savy budget shopper!! Hope you enjoyed my crazy rant.. if you made it this far spike the coffee now ;) See ya soon!