And here's what it looks like now:


 This dresser serves as both a sideboard and tons of additional storage for us. It's the same cheap IKEA dresser we have in the kitchen, but with a natural wood stain. That painting used to hang above the couch in the living room, but I love it over the radiator in this corner of the dining room. The desk seen in the pic above was actually a DIY project. We used IKEA kitchen cabinets for storage and put Grant's already existing table top (displaced when Grant got kicked out of his office to make room for Ruby).


We spent the weekend taking a trip to Home Depot to buy a ton of plants. Grant's dad made us this bench and I thought it would serve as the perfect plant stand. These are just cheap terra cotta plants that I painted to match the decor a little better. I love them.

Sneak peek at the kitchen redo!


While we sold the big red couch, we retained its thone-of-a-chair partner--after all, Homer needs something to lay on in every room.

 I spy a spider plant in the corner. Not the prettiest in the world, but according to the internet they're hard to kill!


 I made the leap to paint our DIY $100 trestle table black and I'm loving how sleek it looks! I also love the new rug we got--black and white and aztec all over!