Home makeover

You know I love antiques. Not all antiques, but several key items that are just perfect touches throughout the house. When I go to antique stores or flea markets, I ooh and aah over the old kitchen appliances or garden tools, but a lot of that becomes clutter. I like practical antiques, like a desk or a trunk or a wall hanging, and a small amount of decorative things, like old bottles and advertising cutouts as a wall hanging.

Anyway, for Christmas, Matt got me a beautiful trunk that belonged to his grandma. I had to find the perfect spot for it in the best room so that all could see it. Naturally, I had to take down Christmas, reorganize the whole livingroom, and de-clutter. While I was at it, I reorganized and de-cluttered the two bedrooms and the kitchen too! I may or may not have completed exhausted myself on Day 1 of 2012. At least I love our home! So here's the new look:

 There it is, in plain view as you enter our house.

 I brought in our milk cans from the porch to add to the antique feel and to protect them from the winter.

 That heater is my BFF. I love it.

 There she is! Beautiful. And great for storage too!

 Better get going on that homemade jam! Yum!

 This was the biggest change: I removed the black card table that was big and square and stretched from the wall to the fridge. Now, we have a little more walking room. I wish I didn't have to take the antique table from the livingroom but I had other plans for the black card table. I stacked the end tables for extra storage. Too bad I couldn't hide the hideous water heater...

 I moved this table from our bedroom to the bathroom. Perfect for de-cluttering the tiny closet from everything else in there: cleaning supplies, linens, towels, and TP.

 The rug was a dumpster find. I love it. The bed used to be on the side wall by the windows, but it was too drafty. I still have a night stand while Matt gets a makeshift night stand as a bookshelf. What do you see on that shelf? A statue, you say? Let's take a closer look...

 Yes, Pat, somehow it ended up back at our house....

 Look at that NJ sun! Love it! (and while you don't think I'm a total neat freak... look at that pile of "what to do with this" paperwork on the ground there)

 And here's Matt's work space. We leave the futon as a bed because Matt sometimes likes to sleep lay down while he studies. There's that black card table that can now be a desk (or at least a solution to the mounds of books that find their way on the floor). Books off of the floor are safer for us and for them. This room is not de-cluttered, because we're storing a friend's stuff for the year (hence the extra bed in the picture and the mountain of boxes).

Let's not forget Victor from Mexico. He keeps Matt company.

And that's the grand tour of our home makeover. We're enjoying it very much.