no more blank walls

When we last left off with the living room, it was coming together, but sorely in need of wall art. Over the last year, we've been slowly collecting things to hang on our wall that represent us.

See decorating is very personal to me. The apartment I lived in when I met Chris was decorated to represent me and my happy memories. I had many pictures of Boston and Europe on my walls, that I had both bought and taken, and it was intensely personal. Chris has never been to either. I didn't feel right just regurgitating art for our house. We're in this together and I want both of us to feel like this is home.

I think the items we've collected over the past year have exceeded our expectations.

Before we hung anything though, major changes were needed.
Here is a reminder before:


**I apologize for the pictures. I'm trying not to use flash and it has been dark, dark and dark in the house. When we get sun again (next summer), I'll post better photos!**

First we moved the furniture around. I'd never liked the couch blocking the picture window. So it moved to the other wall with the two chairs facing opposite. It created a much more cozy seating area. Almost immediately we were more drawn to the room.

The second major change is we added curtains. This was my first curtain purchase and I couldn't be happier. The room is much more polished and *finished* with this simple addition.


The item hanging to the left of the window is quite possibly my favorite. purchase. ever.


Close up. We found it at a garage sale this summer. I knew immediately we needed it for the living room, even though we had no idea what is was. This was the piece that inspired us to add more *found objects* to our decor and really get creative about what was going on our walls.

Oh, and we found out later that it holds test tubes in labs.


This is my first *real* piece of art. I won it at an auction a few years ago and it still makes me swoon. It's by local Portland artist Robin Damore.


Float-y vases leading to the kitchen.


I'm not sure if the *M* will stay green, but I'm completely smitten.


We moved my old dresser to the living room to create extra storage and extra space in our bedroom. I love how our collage turned out. It really represents us individually, and as a couple.


We added the great orange birds, from Three Potato Four, to inject some fun color to the space. The picture right above the chair, just out of range in this picture (see above) is a vintage postcard of a Notre Dame. I found the piece of metal, not sure what it is, in Chris' car stuff. The license plate is from a 1932 Ford, a honeymoon picture adds a little life, and they're followed by a vintage science experiment flashcard. Just for fun.


The top picture here is a vintage map of Portland. I simply cut out our neighborhood and framed it. Next to it is a cheery letterpress that reminds us to *live what you love*. Lastly, is Chris' favorite picture. EVER. When I moved in I explicitly said no car pics in the living room. Then I felt like a horrible wife and said, okay, one. Um, maybe still a little horrible. This is the one he chose. I had it framed and matted and you know what? I actually like it.


Lastly, our hallway. This my friends, this is a dashboard. That's right, I have a dashboard in my hallway. Maybe I'm not so horrible.

Even though I think rooms are constantly evolving, we're really happy with where it's at. Which means, for the most part, I can stop thinking about it and focus on other sorely neglected rooms. Like our bedroom.