“Move into our home and finish decorating” is on this year’s bucket list, but it’s a much 
bigger undertaking than I anticipated. We have an entire house to fill and too many ideas floating around to make concrete decisions. Whew… it’s a real challenge! We did manage to design and create a few amazing pieces that we are truly proud to have in our house. Some projects came from craigslist.com and we added our own touches while others came from scrap wood that we found around the community; that’s one of the perks of living in a newly developing area. We have a long way to go, but we’re starting to feel like we’re home.
This armoire came from craigslist. Originally, it was dinged up and outdated, but with a few coats of primer and paint, it’s now the centerpiece in our living room.
Our table and chairs were a similar find. The 80’s wood stain is a thing of the past. The new colors tie the breakfast area and the living room together and add color to our lives. 
Our side table makes me proud of Darren’s creativity. We found a used piece of wood in the dumpster across the street; add a few nails and left over paint and we have a spectacular place to put our wedding photos.
The most recent addition to our personally created furniture is a bench for the laundry room. We’re still trying to decide on colors but we’re thinking about staying in the beach color palette.
What to do next? Paint the walls? Buy more art? Work on the office? Finish the bedrooms? The list seems endless, but when you’re having this much fun it really doesn’t matter. We’re making a home for our family.
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The joys of home ownership. 🙂 Nice job on the armoire.
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Thanks! You should have seen it before; I wish I had of taken a picture. It was really ugly 🙂
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I love the fact that you’re making your own furniture and re-using found objects. That’s my ambition when I eventually move out of my tiny apartment and into my own home. I can’t wait to see what else you guys come up with 🙂
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Thanks Sas! It can be difficult at times because we just want it all finished and making it ourselves will take a lot longer, but in the end it will reflect our personalities and be totally unique. It’s all worth it 🙂
Do you live in the US?
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No I live in the UK. At the moment I’m renting a horrible apartment in a really nice neighbourhood in Cardiff. I’m hoping that one day I can afford a house in the same area because I love it so much here 🙂
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Such creativity!! Job well done! Not only does it really have a personal touch if you do it yourself.. you also can save a buck or 2 to spend on other stuff!
It’ll be interesting to see how it comes along in further posts and pictures?
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I like the idea of having furniture that no one else has and pieces that we can relate to. It’s a long process but we’re loving it.
Do you do any DIY projects?
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YES!.. I love interior design and decorating. 🙂
My most recent was probably our kitchen table, which was already a solid kitchen table. Nothing spectacular, other than the fact I wanted a darker stain on it 🙂 Who would have thought how fussy I am and how complicated that made getting the colour just right…. lol.. My bestie said “Who pays $1300 for a table and then changes it”… *snorks*.. I guess that would be me…
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very nice love the furniture, making your own furniture adds more character to the house, like the blue.
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I love blue; the only problem is that I want to put it everywhere. It’s hard to come up with something unique for every room yet still have a flow in the house.
Do you like DIY projects or buying from stores? Or maybe a combination of both?
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I go to http://www.houzz.com/ for inspiration and pinterest
I do a combination of both (diy and shopping) I love the eclectic look, love old furniture with a mix of new, the trend is to diy it just makes the home more unique and you save money. About the blue I think you can use it around the house so it can have a cohesive look, it can be in the paintings,pillows or walls or objects. I just remodel my house and know what you are going through, just have patience, what I did I started with one room, decided what was the look and then I shop around, I went everywhere even thrift shops and flea markets, I also look up things in the internet, the chairs I wanted for my kitchen were real pricey at a local furniture store, I order the same chairs from Walmart with free shipping to the store, the same thing happen with the bed headboard, surreal but true.
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We always shop around. I use craigslist as my main shopping “location” and then Pinterest for inspiration. Wall colors are what I find the most difficult.
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I know what you mean, I use many colors around the house, just my office is crazy bright red and Mustard yellow, but I choose neutral tones inside like yellow, greens, and blues
martha steward color pallet ideas…
http://www.marthastewart.com/274423/superneutral-decorating-palettes-and-pro/@center/276997/decorating-color
I did not use Sherwin-Williams paint just took the paint ships to another place
what I did I took a picture of the room and painted the color of the wall in photo shop, before actually doing it.
I can help yo with that I am a graphic designer, just send me photos
I love craigslist, I bought my patio furniture there, had to fix it but it looks great.
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you used the colors of my new designed springcollection : brown, white and blue. i love the white table,the blue chair and the carpet. it looks beautiful on your dark brown floor !
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Yes, I love your colors. They can be found everywhere in the house 🙂 Do you have any suggestions?
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try to give each room his own identity. you can have the blue as your main color and mix it with other colors, ton-sur-ton, rusty or chocolate brown, mustard, oldfashion pink and lots of white and creme to create a beachy, relaxing space. love to see the pictures of your other rooms 😉
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That armoire looks fantastic. Love the blue.
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We weren’t sure about the blue when we bought it but I love it more every time I look at it. It’s perfect for us 🙂
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Beautiful home. Your great room looks almost exactly like mine was in my house in Ohio. Mine had a two story ceiling with a loft looking down on to it. New construction is both exciting and frustrating with all the delays. Joanne
Sent from my iPhone
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We were very lucky with the time frame and the builder; everything went smoothly. Decorating is the long part, but still enjoyable 🙂
Where do you live now?
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love the colors…makes me happy!
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Me too 🙂 That’s why I chose it. I’ll post Athena’s room soon too. It’s very “happy”.
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Your new home looks beautiful! It looks like you have a good start on ideas!
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The first few rooms were the easiest. We’re starting to slow down now. It will all come in time though.
Have a great weekend; do you have any big plans?
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Right now all our time is taken up with baseball. But we’re enjoying it and looking forward to a summer vacation soon. Looking forward to more of your posts!
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Gorgeous house! Blessings!
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Thank you! I’m starting to feel at home 🙂
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Congrats dear and I think you doing great cos’ those furniture are sure pretty and colorful
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I think that your favorite color is blue XD! really nice your deco, congrats!
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Green !! love it
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this is all very inspiring, because in two weeks my family will be moving into a new house: and only one member out of five has actually been IN it! I’ll be right there with ya figuring out paint and selecting furnishings. Great finds on Craig’s list, it shows what you can do with a little bit of craftiness. I’m not rushing into buying anything, I will wait for the right pieces to come around. Good luck!
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Check out FREECYCLE ….the motto is to keep useable stuff out of the landfill by giving it away.
I gave away a freezer, lawn tractor, printer cartridges, recliner. I got a riding tractor for my grandchild and a slide! http://www.freecycle.org Love the beachy blue!
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beautiful! I love the colors and that you’re repurposing materials, that’s awesome!
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there are way more decisions than I would have ever imagined! looks like y’all are off to a great start.
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I L.O.V.E. all the turquoise pieces. Light. Vibrant. Inviting.
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The color is perfect for the armoire – you have a great eye.
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LOVED EVERY SINGLE WORD OF THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Your furniture is beautiful. This is what we want to do. We have just brought 4.3acres and are planning a sustainable home. You dont mind if we steal some of your ideas???
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I look forward to seeing how you make them your own. Good luck with the new property. I’m sure you will make it amazing 🙂
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Love what you have so far especially the blue. My favorite color is blue,also. Love the unique pieces that you have. I live in a apartment now but will hopefully buying a house in a year or so.
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What a gorgeous house! Congrats! love all your hard work too and especially, that you have recycled stuff-or is that called upcyling nowadays?
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I love your home and your sense of style 🙂
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Love the creativity. And I like the color choices. Good luck with your move and new home!
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Congrats! Love the colors!
We moved in five years ago this summer and are still finding the right look for us. The bathrooms are still untouched and the kitchen is almost there. Enjoy your home!
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We haven’t broken ground yet on our new home – envy that you’re to the furnishing stage. I’m really looking forward to a new color palette – I think that’s the hardest choice of all, especially since I’m taking art work from the old to new. The best part is getting rid of clutter and old junk – two yards sales ahead!
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Lesley, the house is looking great! I love all of the front windows. Natural light is wonderful. I also love that you are making or refinishing pieces for your house–fun projects that make a home so personal! Best of luck with the rest of the house.
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It will take a while for it to all come together, especially since we are building most of the pieces ourselves, but the end product will be so unique and we’ll spend time together doing it; it’s a win/win situation 🙂
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Super ideas with the re-purposing! If all goes well, we’ll be moving into a brand new home in November or December also. It’s been a dream of ours for 20 years now! Hey…that’s something we can check off our bucket list! Thanks Lesley!!!
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Decorating a new house can bring out the creative side of anyone! Have fun decorating the rest of your house!
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It’s so pleasurable to get used/disguarded items and breath new life into them again … and so much less expensive! Love the pieces you’ve shared. May your house truly be your home of love.
Carole
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Your ideas and creativity when upcycling is involved is amazing. Be A Blessing because you’re Blessed. Mtetar
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Brilliant – I don’t think there is much more satisfying than turning a freebie, ugly piece of furniture into a lovely ‘swan’ – much better than buying it ready made!
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Congratulations! Having gone thru this experience very recently (still am), I have these two cents: don’t think you have to do it all at once. It’s going to be a continuous project that can give you pleasure for a long time!
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It’s wonderful to fill a home with recycled and personalized treasures! Thanks for providing some inspiration for my future projects, whether big or small.
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It sounds like you had a lot of fun doing this! Well done!
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GReat ideas! 😀
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well..youve got a load on your plate, as they say, but so far, looks like youve done a grand job!
and youve given me so many ideas already, for my place! great work!
jak
http://www.filmcamera999.wordpress.com
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Glad you’re nearing completion. reminds me of Cyprus where we built a house in 1988/89. A traumatic experience I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
Mind, we were warned by a Cypriot friend that they have a saying (don’t we all?)in that country: ‘A man gets his first grey hairs when he builds his first house.’.
In Cyprus it was customary for every father of every girl in his family to build a ‘bride-house’ for each daughter as part of her dowry – I wonder they had any hair left when they had more than one daughter.
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You are doing a great job of using and creating with the materials around you. How far do you think your family can push this?
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So far, we’ve completely decorated Athena’s room and the living room with stuff from craigslist (refinished) and other things that we built. We’re building a dining room table next. Then, shelving for the bedrooms. We’d like to build a few bookcases and create a chalkboard wall in the family room. We’ll go from there. That should keep us busy for a while.
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Looks awesome!
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I love how you took recycled items and made them your own with a little paint and elbow grease. Congratulations! You stated that you need some art, I noticed that you enjoy bright bold colours. I wanted to let you know about an artist whose bright bold palette would I think suit your new home from the images you posted. Here is a link to his web site http://www.robertcerins.com. His art is like you joyful, adventurous and playful. Also thank you for Liking my blog post Affirmation, Gratitude and Community. I appreciate your time and attention. :~)
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Everybody said so already, but I want to too… I love the blue furniture!
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OMG – I love your colors! Stunning:)
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Turning a house into a home is always ver rewarding. Very creative with the furniture. Well done.
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On the subject of recycling materials: I saw a local news item on TV last night about a chap who is expanding his successful wood recycling business across the UK. He started his social enterprise 15 years ago when he decided it was a crying shame that so many wooden planks were regarded as rubbish and being sent to landfill. He now makes furniture and shop fittings, and employs people who have been long-term unemployed and are interested in learning some new woodworking skills.
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Beautiful, spacious looking home!
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Great Job!! The thing is, you’re never really done–that wouldn’t be any fun. Our home was on the Historic Homes Tour this year and we’re still dumpster diving. 🙂
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Love the light blue side table and your house is beautiful! How do you manage to tick off everything on your bucket list? You do so much…
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It’s not easy but with a lot of planning and thought, everything is possible. What’s one thing on your bucket list?
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I have a lot of things I would love to do. Some are big (involving travel) and some are smaller (running every other day). I guess I need to update my own bucket list… either way, thank you for always being an inspiration!
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