Downstairs Details

I'm back from a trip to the big city (salt lake city, of course)! My boys and I enjoyed a fun time with my parents, dinner at Citrus Grill, as well as a solo shopping trip here (click for those of you as obsessed with paper and parties as I...yes, Grant's 1st b-day celebration is already in the works!) and a haircut (just my usual) while Bart stayed home and worked on homework. Now that I'm all unpacked, the house is clean, and I'm well rested the boys are asleep....time for another one of my home posts! This one is in continuation of our main floor. For additional pictures see this former post. Going forward, I plan to reveal the rest room by room.

I love the illustrations by Gyo Fujikawa in the children's book: Oh What A Busy Day but didn't like the stories in it, so I bought this regular old frame at Michaels (came with the double mat), cut out the pictures that I liked, then framed them as artwork. I think this piece adds a bit of playfulness to an otherwise traditional and somewhat formal living room setting. It makes me feel right at home when I'm playing around and being silly with my kids!

Close-up of photo collage above our dining room table from my Mother. I like the way the individual photo mats create an uneven, repetitive pattern, as well as the nostalgic feeling from the sepia photographs. If you're looking for an excellent framing company....visit here.

Here's those EASY PEASY drapery treatments I was telling you about. Since the large windows, thick white trim molding, and wooden blinds here are all so nice, these above window treatments in our dining room are the ONLY draperies we have in our whole house (my husband was especially excited when I came to that decision)! Anyway, since they're linen (sorry, just checked and no longer see them available at Pottery Barn), they're very lightweight and therefore are PERFECT candidates for tension rods. I found these pretty brushed nickel ones at good old Home Depot and they took me all of 5 min. to put up. No hardware or power-drill required! Seriously, that easy. All you do is adjust the rods to just a bit smaller than the width of your window opening, then set the rods at the top of the opening, then extend the rods out! 

Since this furniture piece is located right next to our pack-n-play/changer, I've made really good use out of all of its drawers and cupboards for the REAL every day necessities like wipes, diapers, and change of kids' clothes.

"Baskets, baskets, and more baskets!" That's one of the comments I heard during our recent move. But to my defense, I have very purposeful uses for each and every one. For example, the two pictured above are located right by our front door. The one with a lid is actually a hamper (and is used as a hamper) for the many spills, messes, dish cloths etc. that now need a place to go since our laundry room is no longer located right off of the kitchen. If yours isn't either, and are with child(ren), I HIGHLY recommend getting some type of container to house these dirty things in- such a quick way to get things cleaned up! The other basket w/o a lid is for shoes since we don't have a coat closet. :( To solve that problem we also put together a couple of garment racks (ours were a gift, but I'm sure you can find at Target or Amazon) in our garage for all of our coats. Works great!

To make up for the loss of storage in our kitchen, I placed these three pretty seagrass baskets on top of our refrigerator. They're all within arms distance and so handy for things like pens and paper, coupons, and other STUFF. Just remember the smaller the basket, the less often you have to sort through it. Found at Michaels.

Large baskets are such a great way to store toys, and when those baskets come with lids, no one ever has to know. Found these at Marshalls back in my Chicago days, but I've seen similar ones at Shopko and of course, Target.

Liked my i love poem so much that I framed it. 

Frame + mat found at Hobby Lobby. 

Loved these vintage style UTAH postcards so much that I framed them. 

Post cards found at Jolley's Pharmacy (1700 S. 1100 E. ). Frame found at Target.

With our limited counter space, I need all decor to serve double duty. 

Green pitcher: Real Deals Home Decor

Bright colored cookware: Crate & Barrel

Do you get sick of kitchen hand towels sitting out in your kitchen? I do! Found this MAGNETIC one here. Made out of super soft bamboo cotton and fun to toss on the fridge. You'll amaze people.

Remember how we used to use this coffee table? Thanks to a cute little plastic chair found here (I have trouble spending $ on temporary kid furniture), and now it's Benjamin's work/create/eat table. 

Dining Room

Dining Set: Smiths Marketplace

Benjamin's Table: Target

Hope you enjoyed this close-up tour of our main floor. Next up: master bedroom and bathroom, closet, and work space!