re-arrange

We've lived in our house for six months now and I felt the urge to re-arrange. I love to re-arrange. So, we sent our family room downstairs. And I love it. The TV and sectional fit so much better downstairs and it's cozy to watch movies or football games down there. Plus, the kids have been playing a lot more downstairs now.

Then we moved the dining room into the former family room. I've liked having the kitchen/dining all in one room and it's so much bigger and the fireplace stands out more. So far it's been a great change. I'm still deciding what kind of china hutch I want and where/how to add some benches or other comfortable seating. Any ideas?

In the former dining room, I decided to add a big desk and move a comfy chair and ottoman in to make a den/homework room. I've tried several times to get away from having a big desk and office type room--but it never works out well. It's a bit tight with the big furniture in a small and rather awkward space, but we like it. I found this big, old, wood desk for a great deal and re-finished it. I love the way it turned out. I'm still considering if I should distress it--what do you think?

Our final recent project was Jeremy's job. He re-painted the deck and then added a big red U. One day, I came home to find him painting the deck a lovely shade of pink. After explaining several times that yes, the deck was pink and yes, it was still pink when it dried, he finally believed me. The nice folks at Lowes took the paint back (he hadn't used much) and we bought actual white instead. Moral of the story is color blind people should not pick out paint.

the desk before

the desk after

the new den

the new dining room decorated for fall

the red and white deck