It's Great To Be Home

Meet My Secretary

February 4, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 33 Comments

Do you spy anything new in our den?

Well, it’s not really new, just new to me. We are now the proud owners of my grandmother’s secretary desk!!

Isn’t it beautiful? I especially love the curvy drawer fronts.

This piece has lived in my parents’ house for a long time, and I nabbed it a few years back when my parents let us kiddos pick a few of our favorite pieces. I didn’t think that we had room for it so it’s been in my mom’s living room ever since, but after Christmas I realized that we actually have the perfect place for it!

( I don’t think I have any pictures of it, but we used to have an oversized armchair there, along with a side table. It kind of looked how it did in this post, except the sofa and armchair had switched places. Not sure if that makes sense. )

I still need to find the perfect chair to go with it (right now we’re just using a spare from our dining room). Any ideas?

In addition to all the sentimental value that goes along with this secretary, it’s also ridiculously useful. See?

I’m really digging all of the storage – I hadn’t realized it but we didn’t have a single drawer or cabinet to stash stuff in our entire living room. A travesty!

Look, lots of cubbies!! It’s perfect for stashing all of my stationary and thank you notes, magazines and books, my laptop, and the cozy blanket I crocheted for Jason back in law school (FYI, it’s the snuggliest blanket EVER).

As an added bonus, the top of the secretary is the perfect spot for a few of my favorite things.

Made any new additions to your home lately?

P.S. I’m linking this post up to Samantha’s Friday blog party.

The Flip: Staging Sources for the Great Room

January 5, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 20 Comments

You guys, I’ve been smiling all day because of your awesome comments about the flip – you sure know how to make a gal feel good!!

Since I got lots of questions about where all the staging goodies came from, I thought I’d fill you in on my sources with links (where possible and while they last).

sofa – World Market Emerson sofa
area rug – eBay, Braided Jute Area Rug from Natural Home Rugs in 9 x 12
coffee table – Overstock, Tray Top Bunching Table Set (came with 2 end tables that you’ll see later used as nightstands in the master bedroom)
green pillows – Pier 1
paisley pillow – Pier 1, Embroidered Paisley Pillow in Blue
throw – Ikea, Stockholm Throw in Beige (I think)
wooden bowl – Pottery Barn, wedding present, from my home
mercury glass balls (they’re really ornaments – shhhh)- I’m pretty sure I got most these guys from Hobby Lobby a few years ago (with some extras from my mom), from my home

wood table and benches – World Market, Napa Dining Table and Benches
bar stools – World Market, Elana Banana Leaf Bar Stool Set (bought individually)
glass hurricane – Ikea, from my home
woven decorative balls – Home Goods, from my home

green plate – Ikea, Trivsam dinner plate
woven place mat – Ikea, Snar place mat
linen napkin – Pottery Barn, Linen Hemstitch Napkins in White, wedding present, from my home
flatware – Bed Bath & Beyond, Lenox Pearl Platinum stainless steel flatware, wedding present, my every day flatware

leather club chairs – Overstock, Tivoli Dark Brown Leather Arm Chair
paisley pillows – Pier 1, Embroidered Paisley Pillow in Blue
woven basket & pinecones – from my mom’s home
canvas artwork – Ikea, Pjatteryd

I think that’s everything, but let me know if there’s something I missed, or if you have questions about any of the sources!

The Flip: The Great Room, Then & Now

January 4, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 80 Comments

We did it!! We reached the finish line and our old pal the flip is now on the market and FOR SALE!! Cue the confetti and streamers. :)

Now that every inch of the flip has been fluffed and puffed beyond all measure, I think it’s high time to see how far it’s come over the past 3 months!

Without a doubt, the great room underwent the biggest transformation. It was a gigantic undertaking to figure out how to combine four different rooms (den, kitchen, breakfast room & enclosed patio), get the vaulted ceiling figured out, fix the flow of the kitchen, and a billion other things.

Here’s how the great room looks now:

And here’s a reminder of how these four rooms (that we combined) looked when we bought the house on September 29, 2010:

What do you think?

This room gave us the most headaches during the renovation, just trying to figure out how to make the most of this gigantic space, but in the end I think it’s the room that most buyers will fall in love with.

Maybe I’m being sentimental, but I can just imagine an entire family hanging out in this room, kids doing homework at the kitchen table while the dad reads his newspaper at the peninsula and the mom whips up something tasty for dinner. Can you see it?