Rob and I have lived together for longer than I can remember and this is our first headboard—is that weird? I always joke that you can get married and have kids but if you really want to be an adult, your bed needs a headboard. It was always kind of low on the list of priorities for us and often times felt like just one more thing we would eventually have to move.

After spending the last decade or more moving from rental to rental in several different states and towns, we knew that we finally wanted our bedroom to really feel like home. My goal was for it to feel like a luxurious hotel where all our stuff just happened to be.

The gold mirror is one of my favorite pieces—it had been in my parents’ house forever so when they moved out I made sure to grab it. Everything else is pretty much new, and I love the way everything goes together without being too matchy.

We have a guest room that now doubles as my office area and it was a last-minute decision of ours to paint it a dark emerald green—I absolutely love the way it turned out. There’s something really soothing about the deep color and we always get compliments on how nice it feels in here whenever we have people stay over.

That’s all for now! I have a few images from Rob’s office now that it’s done and then I think I’ll finally be finished showing you all around. We have a few weekends with friends planned soon and I always forget how much I love hosting people here.

We have been in our home since October of 2020 and I recently realized that I have barely shown any photos! We bought this new build over FaceTime from California at the start of the pandemic and it was pretty much done when we found it, so we didn’t get to pick out any of the finishes that you normally would when building a house. It was almost perfect for us but we did spent a few months working with a designer to bring our personality and style to some of the parts of the house that felt like a blank slate.

The bookshelves and bench above is one of my favorite spots in the house—this was a giant blank wall in the living room and we knew we wanted to make it a little more functional. Our living room isn’t huge, so we thought a built-in bench would be a good way to add some more seating without having to squeeze an additional sofa in. We haven’t really had a ton of people over at once, but whenever we do have a larger group, it makes me so happy to see people using that little blue bench.

The painting is by Greg Osterhaus, one of my favorite artists local to Roanoke. It was our first real art purchase and I can’t even tell you how much it means to me to have in our home.

Our entry way is a little tight but this amazing dresser, lamp, and mirrors combo really brings it to life. I think it is so cute and inviting, and I love that it’s the first thing people see when they walk in. I never would have picked any of these pieces on my own, which is why I loved working with Melissa so much.

Table | Chairs

We’ve had the same old IKEA dining table forever and were really starting to get tired of it, so we opted for a smaller, brighter, and round one (from Target!). The people who did the living room built-ins added a bench here so we wouldn’t need as many chairs, and they finished the wall with some vertical shiplap. I love the way it turned out. We picked out some outdoor fabric for the bench cushion and pillows, and it is surprisingly spill-proof, which is great with kids. I also love the bench because we can squeeze a few extra people in without having to drag chairs in from other areas of the house. It’s really cozy and surprisingly comfortable.

Our kitchen came with brown cabinets which were not a bad color, but we really wanted something different, so we had the top painted white to match our island and did the bottoms in a great shade of navy blue. The hardware was great so we just kept it!

We also added new light fixtures throughout the entire downstairs—over the breakfast nook, the island, and in the living room.

We always joke that wherever there was a blank wall we were like, “let’s put a bench on it!” because that’s basically what happened—below is our little drop zone that functions as a mudroom sort of situation. This is right by our garage door and has been so handy for putting on shoes, putting Gideon in the car seat, and dropping bags and coats on our way into the house. They added some additional storage to the right and finished it off with matching shiplap and some great hardware (the round leather knobs match the ones on our living room cabinets).

That’s all for now! I have another post coming up with some photos of a few bedrooms, and we are currently working on finishing up Rob’s office, so I’ll share that once it’s done. After renting for so long (often from really bad landlords), it is such a pleasure (and a privilege) to be in our own place and be able to make it feel exactly the way we want it to feel. Thanks for stopping by!

Design by Wright Design Co | Photos by Harmonie House Images

I've been meaning to show you guys around our new place for months now, but if you've ever moved across the country (or even just down the street) then you probably know how easily days become weeks when you're getting settled.

Our place in California is a lot smaller than the house we were in last summer, but it's close to the same size as our first apartment in Charlotte, so even though it initially felt like we were downsizing a bit, all of our stuff fits really nicely. We bought a new piece for the entryway (a nice tall white cabinet that holds all of our shoes) and some curtains once we arrived, but other than that we just stuck with the stuff we've been collecting over the past few years. The only things on our living room wishlist were an upgraded coffee table (we've had the same $10 one from IKEA for quite some time now), an area rug, and to somehow fit more seating in (other than the couch we only have my grandmother's/Ender's chair when people come over).

Early this year, Hayneedle was so kind as to send us a few lovely pieces to finish off the ol' wish list: this gorgeous chair with an ottoman, this beautiful and cozy rug, this sweet table set, and this super soft throw which I think ties everything together perfectly!

I've always gravitated toward neutrals when it came to furniture and decor, so the pops of color that kept coming through really surprised me as our living room started taking shape. Color-coding my bookshelf felt really silly at first but now I think it adds a really lovely brightness to the otherwise grey, white, and black space. I really like the combination of neutrals with a super colorful wall of books, especially next to my grandma Eileen's baby blue chair.

My cousin Ashley gave us the R&M wall hanging, which her husband made for us as a wedding gift; and my sister-in-law found that Where the Wild Things Are crown and sent it to me. I really love all the little details in our living room--they're what make it my favorite spot in the house for sure. (And let's not forget that sweet little pup who's always looking for an afternoon snuggle on the couch every day! Oh Ender--what are we going to do with you?)

Hayneedle sent me the items I linked to in exchange for a mention in this blog post. Thank you for supporting the brands that make content like this on Freckled Italian possible.