Springtime at Wildwood

Springtime at Wildwood has been full of change and projects. My nesting instincts hibernated all winter and I had no desire to do more than spend the dark evenings on the couch wrapped in two blankets and an Olive and hope our gas bills wouldn't put us in foreclosure. But with the warmer weather and budding leaves has come an outpouring of ideas and a list of projects a mile long. The yard that made us cringe every time the snow melted this winter has erupted in green. In the mornings I survey the yard and find measured changes in the evening when I check back. The front yard is a menagerie of lady's mantle, day lilies, azaleas and hostas, all of which I couldn't have named a year ago. The back yard's ivy hasn't sprouted new leaves, but the vines are still tangled all over and need to be ripped out as soon as we can clear all the kitchen rubble that was temporarily piled here. The kitchen has made a lot of progress in our eyes, but is still a long way from finished. The walls and ceiling are long gone. The electrical is about finished and Chris built a new soffit above the peninsula. We should be insulating and dry walling very soon and after that it is all down hill (or so I tell myself).

crazy green yard

tangled ivy vines in the backyard

I'm not much help in the kitchen reno, so I have taken on some other projects. I won't touch a room unless I am 100% committed to it, so many of the rooms in our house are being lived in and used without a single attempt at sprucing them up. I've started with the two main rooms in the downstairs - the living room and the tv room. We spend the most time in the tv room and I can finally say that I consider this room completely done. Its been painted, rearranged many times, pictures on the walls and blinds and curtains are hung. It is the first room I can say I am happy with. I've moved my focus now to the living room which is well on its way. Its been painted and blinds and curtains are hung. Yesterday we purchased a new sofa table and lamp from World Market. I'm working on the accents and we need to get the new range which has been sitting in the corner of the room since November out of there, but it is really getting close to done. My next projects are the master bedroom and the guest room. I have ordered wallpaper samples and have been doing lots of searching for furniture. I'm enjoying the process, but would like to have a guest room in time for summer visitors.

tv room - first room done

Living room - on its way.

This surge of inspiration has been 2 parts spring weather and 1 part design blogs. If you are looking for inspiration, this is a great place to start:
Apartment Therapy

Not entirely my personal style, but LOTS of good ideas for rehabing and do it yourself without going broke:
The Lettered Cottage

Lots of do it yourself tutorials and ideas. This blog inspired me to buy a grotsky chair on craigslist and attempt a total rehaul. It is in process, we shall see...
Centsational Girl

Great wallpaper selection:
Walnut Wallpaper

I sent this to Chris to prepare him for this future in wainscoting:
Just Beachy

An my favorite Mid-Century Modernizers. I'm only slightly bitter that they started after us and finished their kitchen already. But mostly I'm proud:
Mid-Century Modernize