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This spring I was looking for some projects to keep my mind busy. I mean, the house is full of projects I still need to finish and tons I haven’t started yet but I needed something ‘easy’ to occupy my mind. I wanted a quick flip with great results to give me a boost! (This did not end up being a quick fix but it was definitely an excellent mental boost!)

Although the green on the walls in here was what inspired my whole ‘paint everything green!’ addiction, I realized that it was the wrong shade of green. (There are some shots of it at the bottom of this post.) It was more of a blue-based green. I didn’t realize that I was super picky about my undertones but I am definitely a yellowy green gal! So, that was the number one thing I wanted to change.

Then in true ‘if you give a mouse a cookie…’ fashion, I decided if I was going to do anything in this room, I ought to do everything else that was bothering me. I patched some decent sized cracks in the wall, re-finished the floor, and picked out new furniture!

The living room wasn’t terrible with what we had in it… but it wasn’t great. The blue couch I had been moving from apartment to apartment over the last decade no longer felt like me. Fast forward to this finished living room? It perfectly encapsulates my design style at the moment. I am OBSESSED with our living room.

PS. Peep the matching bandana Professor has to my leggings! Both are from Redbubble. You can use code ‘RBC-P22-thedaintysquid’ for 15% off your order.

sources + info!
couch is Sven in grass green
paint color is ‘Sweet Annie’ by Glidden
rug
snake lamp
hand chair
hand curtain tie backs

Of course, we can’t end an updated room post without a little peek back at some of the room’s previous looks! The first photo, with the red rug and curtains was the living room on inspection day. (I think all of this stuff, other than the tv and wall art, were all here when we took ownership of the house too.) The second photo is what it’s basically looked like the whole time we’ve lived here.

shirt from Redbubble. PS. You can use code RBC-V22-thedaintysquid for 15% off your Redbubble order, good now til June 30th.

Just dropping in to share some current photos from my hallway from the last month. Every tiny project that happens around this house reminds me more and more how important it is to document the house at every stage. So, even though this space isn’t finished here it is!

snake lamp // bird leg table

giant mirror

Although the hallway got a fresh coat of paint when we moved in, the real renovations aren’t something even close to the top of the priority list. I kept thinking that I’d wait until I did the big stuff (namely the floor) before I worried about hanging anything on the wall or even decorating.

Jeff and I kind of had an ‘aha!’ moment recently though. We decided that we should add to our tiny collection of portraits of strangers and that all of those should fill our hallway. I bought a few more portraits from Etsy and couldn’t resist hanging them. I’m not one of those people that plans out a gallery wall before hanging it so I’ve just been adding pieces as they arrive. Each new piece has made my love for this space soar. Aaand that’s how this all started. After that I added some new plants, picked up a clearance rug and splurged on my dream mirror.

There are still renovations I want to do up here but I truly love this room exactly as it is today. Honestly, I’ve felt that way about this space since the first time I saw it. It just keeps getting better and better!

rainbows made with this.

Can’t end this post without a little flashback to what this space looked like in 2013 while it was abandoned! I can’t lie, that wallpaper is pretty rad. I’m almost glad it was gone before we moved in or else I’d have definitely been tempted to save it.

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I knooow, It’s November already. Halloween is over, sadly. BUT I have to document this on the blog. I turned the sweet little rose garden in the front yard into a graveyard for October and I am OBSESSED. I truly can’t believe this is mine. Seeing this daily brought me so much joy. I even bought a set of solar-powered spotlights so people passing by at night could enjoy it too.

Looking forward to doing it even bigger and better next year. Fingers crossed I can get my hands on that stupid 12-foot skeleton. He’s what this place is really missin!

Even though this is our second Halloween in Stroup Mansion, it feels like the first. We had only been in the house a little over a month last year at this time. Decorating for any holiday, even my most favorite one, just wasn’t a priority.

Halloween this year though? It feels SO exciting. I’ve been hunting for decor for months now. Living in our small apartment with tiny closets and no extra storage space meant that I basically had nothing for any holiday. I’ve been stalking the big box stores as well as thrift stores, antique malls and well, literally anywhere else that might possibly have something I like. My collection of Halloween decor is still quite small but I definitely picked up some neat pieces this year.

When I was in my early twenties I distinctly remember thinking “I wish I had kids to decorate for!” I don’t know why but I felt like I needed en excuse to celebrate big for any holiday other than Christmas. I’m so happy to have realized how dumb that was because holy smokes, this makes me so happy. Just out of frame, my dining room is still a work zone. There is drywall that needs mudded, an ugly fireplace that I need to spruce up and gosh, I hate the fabric on the chairs but every time I walk into this room I’m filled with joy.

I hope every year here Halloween can be bigger and better! I’d love to add more skeletons, more spiderwebs in here next year. I want to be able to share more than just one tiny spooky corner!

For this year though? 10/10! Would haunt!