Downstairs at Six Months: Christmas Decor Edition

Sometimes I get a little frustrated at myself for how slowly this home is inching along towards my vision for it.

But I'm coming to terms with it, life is not just about my home hobby {what!?}

At any rate, I am glad to do these 'snapshot in time' posts because it does show me that, slow as it may be, there is actual progress.

I really need to start doing these for the upstairs too.  My goodness, I haven't even introduced the upstairs yet.

My last post like this was back at the end of August.

Here's the comparison from then.

August:

Now:

One of my favorite things about December is the Christmas cards.

Love hearing from friends and family who are now spread throughout the country.

This is the only time of year I'm excited to see what came in the mail.  

We received like 10 more last night so I need to rearrange and make room.

 

 The front door in June:

The front door now.  Uh yeah, nothing has changed.

But we have started purchasing and bringing home all of the trim pieces that I need to start this foyer project, so it is upcoming.

 The dining nook in August:

And now in December:

It and the kitchen did get primed and painted. Wahoo for progress!

Although I have decided it needs one more coat.  It'll get it when I paint the foyer after giving it a trim treatment.

Kitchen in August:

I painted it the same cream as the existing trim and cabinets.

I was going to paint it a gray color, even had the paint purchased, but when the primer went up it brightened the room so much I couldn't bear to dampen it with anything.

So cream it is.

Man I cannot wait to get rid of that fluorescent obscenity and have can lights.

I realize it's looking a little 'blank page', but it has to be cleared of its old personality before I can infuse mine.

As the appliances die they'll be replaced with stainless steel, and the hardware will be replaced with oil rubbed bronze pieces, which will up the contrast. 

Living room in August:

Living room now:

This room has made some visual progress so let's do a summary side-by-side:

The powder room has had the massive {sarcasm} improvement of getting a toilet paper holder.

 Dining Room in June (didn't take a picture of it in August):

{I really need to figure out a different name for this room since we're not going to use it as a dining room}

Dining Room now:

 And lastly, the front room in August:

The front room in December:

We had been looking at leather recliners for our library for several years, and now was the time to pull the trigger as the magical combination of settling on the ones we wanted, those ones being on a significant sale, and now having the space to put them happened all at once.

And that concludes this episode of 'tour our downstairs'.