We made a quick trip to Chicago over the weekend and went to cb2 and Ikea to get some things for the house. We kind of went on a spending spree, but it's easy to do at those stores. Maybe it's a good thing we don't have an Ikea in stl! Last night we started unpacking/installing some of the things that we bought. This is big for us, Monday's are usually spent going to the grocery store after work, and then sitting on the couch for the rest of the evening, watching some of our favorite tv shows and enjoying some down time after (usually) working on the house most of the weekend. I guess we were trying to make up for our lack of weekend progress last night, because we were productive! Good thing we have a dvr to record our shows, I'm sure we'll be watching them tonight instead :-) Up first was the new light for the downstairs hallway.
Here is the old light. As you can see, not only was it so not our style, it was also broken and I was constantly afraid that one of the pieces of glass would fall out of the bent frame. I have big plans for the built-in hutch that is in the hall, I just haven't gotten to it yet...
And the new light! I like how it reflects in the cabinet doors. After some back and forth, we decided to go with a simple fixture in this area since we already have some more unique fixtures in the entryway and living room. And we have plans for another fantastic fixture for the dining room. I realized that my love of light fixtures is starting to get out of control.
and the view from the entryway, please ignore all of the extension cords and the dog gate.
We also installed a smaller version of the same fixture in the upstairs hall. Sorry for the dark picture, I took it this morning before work. I really love this fixture, it's simple and gives off a nice glowing light. I think we might try to get one more larger light (same as the one downstairs) to hang in the stairway. What do you think? I have my lucite light fixture in the entryway, right at the bottom of the stairs so I've been having a hard time figuring out what kind of fixture to put in the stairway. I like the idea of having the same fixture in hallways and stairs, with different fixtures in the various rooms. And no, I have no idea how we're going to remove that wallpaper.On to the dining room - please notice the last of the pink, we're hoping to order new roman blinds this week for that window. It's not a normal size, but we found a couple of options online. We went ahead and bought some curtains at Ikea to put on either side of the window. This window faces the street so we need the blinds for privacy, but I wanted to add curtains too. We have also been using this side of the dining room for storage (that box to the right of the couch is too heavy to move, that's where the movers put it, and that's where it's been ever since. I think it's full of books.)
Do you like my new table runner and plates? They were a cb2 find, I've been trying to figure out how to bring some more color into this room.
I might put a small white candle in the middle of each of the green plates, we'll see what I find. I also bought some salad plates that have a green and gray pattern on them. I am probably a little too excited about how nicely the plates match my chairs...
And I got some fun candles for the mantel.
But back to the original reason for bringing up the dining room - the curtains. We put up the new curtains and now I'm not sure about them. I like the curtains, I'm just not sure that they work in this room... I think it might be too much pattern overall because I already have the print above the mantel that has a strong graphic pattern. I think I need to wait and see what they look like with the new blinds instead of the pink blinds, that might help tone it down a bit. If I don't use them here, I will use them in the office upstairs.
They have green, gray, black, and a light tan, so the colors do work really well in this room.
The biggest purchase of the weekend was our new coffee table! We were planning on buying a different table when we went to cb2, but at the store the other coffee table looked really narrow and we ended up with this one instead. I think it's going to take some getting used to, at first I thought it looked huge and I really wasn't sure about it. I think the problem is that I've lived for so long without any kind of coffee table, it just seems strange to have something there.

I really love the wood that it is made out of though, and I think having the shelf space on the bottom will be good for some storage. What do you think? Now that I see it in pictures I think it looks giant again :-) Not that we can really return it, but maybe I just need to start accessorizing it or something? I also think I might move that bookcase that's in the corner upstairs, it could help make the living room seem less crowded.