I’m taking a small detour from the guest room as I wait for artwork and other items to roll in. I wish I could Amazon Prime everything into my life at all times, oh and while we’re at it, I will take $100,000  and complete control of the weather, to be adjusted like a thermostat #agirlcandream.

Anyway, the Mr. and I are staring into our second winter hanging out in the 1998-era cave of a living room. Let me take you on a fun-filled tour:

Are you having a hard time seeing? It’s pretty dang dark in this room. This is mid afternoon, with the blinds open, which just shows how much those damn bushes need to come out!

The couches and tv stand came with the house, and since we didn’t have any furniture to put down here to begin with, we considered it a win. The couches are a toffee/cognac leather that recline; even though they are a bit overstuffed to fit the sleek look we are going for, they are super comfy, in good shape, and most importantly, free. Nothing else in the room is our taste, so here is a breakdown of what we would like to do:

One: resurface the fireplace. In the long run my ultimate goal is stacked stone, but for under about $150, we can eliminate the multi-toned brick and make it more modern.

Two: built in shelves or art niches. I haven’t seen anything that I like perfectly, so it might be just some simple shelves for now. Would love to do lighting in the future

Three: a new entertainment center/area. Less lake vibe, more downtown.

Four: perhaps a new coffee table (we’ll see where our non-existent budget ends up) and for that matter, lamps, artwork, pillows, tchotchkes, etc.

Five: PAINT. glorious paint. We have never for a second considered removing the wallpaper, it was put on the bare drywall, so there is not enough elbow grease and steam machines in the world to convince me to take it down. We will prime over it and paint. And hubster even agreed to help!

We are calling this Phase one, we would like to eventually do some serious updating but for now, this will get us through. Anybody want to come over and help us get started?