Hubby and I have just moved into our first house together, and the overwhelming gladness of not being confined in an apartment anymore is bouncing off our walls. Somehow we’ve moved a 2 bedroom apartment into a four bedroom house and it seems like all our current stuff has already managed to fill it up (how does that happen??).

Our style is different; he’s a firm believer in camo, I’m a firm believer in adding lace and pearls to the camo. He’s outdoor chic, I’m vintage chic. At one point in time, he informed me that “green goes with everything”… We’re working to mesh these ideas together so that our home looks like us, and not one of us, or neither of us (even though he has let me make a lot of unilateral decisions regarding some areas of the house 🙂 ).

As we finish each room, I thought we’d do a tour of our house room by room to discuss decorating/ DIY projects, home styling, and tips and tricks of moving. This is our first installment…

For some reason, the dining room has actually been one of the first rooms in the house we have completely finished and decorated. We were blessed to have two amazing wedding showers and ended up with piles of new things, which helped in our furnishing and decorating, especially in this room. In our apartment, we had the table and chairs, and that was about it!

Here is the finished product, and then we’ll break it down:

Our dining room is a little nook off our kitchen. Directly behind me taking this picture is our kitchen, and off to the left of that is our living room, so this room is a little set apart from the rest of the area. Out that window is our backyard, and I’m honestly still on the fence about adding curtains (Hubby thinks the trim is enough. I think it is, too, but a house isn’t a home without curtains, people. But I’m working through it…).

Now for the details…

Tablescape (aka fancy word for what I’ve got on my table all the time):

• Tablecloth by Fiesta- Arabella print
• S&P shakers by Pioneer Woman (my hero, my role model, my inspiration)
• Ampersand trivet by kate spade new york
• Antique milk jug by Granny, Steven’s grandmother; this piece came from their farm, I believe. Daisies are from Hobby Lobby
• Seat cushions by Pioneer Woman- reversible turquoise and red [hubby has declared turquoise as my signature color, so they are on the turquoise side, of course]

Recently, we went on our belated honeymoon to Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii. One of my souvenirs was a stack of vintage postcards with Hawaiian scenes, with the intention of framing them somewhere in the new house. It turned out that the bright, colorful scenes went well with the colorfulness of the dining room, so that’s where they ended up!

• Postcards from a small shop on Front Street, Lahaina, Maui
• Frames and mats from Hobby Lobby
  • These frames were actually leftover from our wedding, which is how I ended up with 3 sets of 2 postcards in 8 x 10 frames. I worked with what we had instead of buying new, but I don’t know that I would have framed them individually if I were buying new because I like the size and shape differentials.
    • Just an FYI that I learned the hard way– 2 5 x 7 with 4 x 6 opening mats DO NOT fill an 8 x 10 frame. It leaves a gap on the edge, even though I thought the math seemed pretty good. Apparently math is pretty exact, not pretty good. 😐 Those are 8 x 10 with a 5 x 7 opening, which is why the postcards are flush together. I like the way they look, but these are things to consider if you take on this project.

We are avid Texas fans. We are those people, friends. We love Texas, and we wouldn’t want to really live anywhere else. We’re loud and proud about Texas. And we’re loud and proud about George Strait, as evidenced in the next picture…

 

This is the same concept as the other wall, but this is our dedication to our Texas love.

• Texas cards from amazon.com
  • I couldn’t find postcards, so these are actually folding cards you could write in. They came in a big pack, so I’ll use the extras for correspondence. I’m a snail-mail fiend 😉
• Frames and mats from amazon.com
• Wooden Texas sign from Walmart (I know, right??)
  • I had been on the look out for a large wooden Texas and happened to find this at the Walmart in Beeville, Texas while we were camping at Choke Canyon State Park with my husband’s family. I bought it, and then hauled it around the campsite and then all over the state until we finally got it back home. Talk about a souvenir!
    • The wording on this Texas is the chorus from the George Strait song “Take Me To Texas” from the album Cold Beer Conversations, and the soundtrack to the History Channel mini-series Texas Rising. It is one of our life anthems. You can’t listen to this song without being a proud Texan, or wishing you were from Texas if you aren’t. Oh, my goodness, I’m so thankful we’re Texan!
• Other wooden Texas signs from Kirkland’s.
  • Texas decor is universal. Everyone loves Texas, obviously.

This next part is one of my FAVORITE things in our new house. In searching for Texas postcards, I came across this vintage Texas map tea towel (some people call this a dish towel, I think??). LOVED it, ordered it, and thought I had a barn wood frame it would fit in according to the dimensions listed on Amazon. Unfortunately, those dimensions were FALSE and it was over twice as big as my frame. Not wanting to spend a fortune on a giant poster sized frame (and it’s hard to find cute ones!), I got a little creative…

This tea towel is wrapped around a 16 x 20 canvas and pinned with straight pins. Now it has a 3D look, and canvases are super cheap!

• Texas tea towel from amazon.com
• Canvas for wrapping from amazon.com
• Picture frame from Hobby Lobby
  • Side note: that is a picture of my husband and me at the TEXAS! musical in the Palo Duro Canyon outside Amarillo, Texas. They put on a wonderful musical production of the history of Texas every night through the summer in an outdoor amphitheater in the Canyon. It’s inspiring, and if you have any love for Texas, it’s basically a citizenship requirement to see it at least once.
• Chair from Target
  • That’s a folding chair! I know, right?? They were ~$20 ish and are great to have on hand for when we need extra chairs for the table! Target is just the best!
• Owl pillow from Earthbound Trading Company
• Chevron pillow handmade by me, with fabric and pillow form from Hobby Lobby

 

Now back to the Hawaii wall… We have split destination personalities, I suppose. Once I found my Texas towel, I had to find a Hawaii one for symmetry. Sometimes I’m okay with things being off and cattywompuss, but 99% of the time, I’m not, which requires another towel for symmetry. And thus, back to Amazon…

• Vintage Hawaiian Islands map tea towel from amazon.com
  • Fun Fact: We actually bought the exact same towel from a shop in Lahaina for Steven’s mom as a souvenir. The pricing is slightly different ordering it from Amazon 😉 But the memories are the same!
  • The dimensions were also wrong for this one. They list around 10.5″ x 8.5″ inches and they easily wrap around a 16 x 20 canvas with extra fabric to spare. Not sure if they are all this way, but I would get the towel first before committing to any display options.
• Picture frame from Hobby Lobby
  • Picture is of my husband and me at our luau in Maui. Some of the best food on the island! And Steven swears there must be crock pots in the back to make all the pork because there’s no way that one pig in the ground feeds everyone…
• Same folding chair, chevron pillow, and owl pillow as the other side

 

This is our first room by room feature! Any questions about decor specifics or project specifics, hit me up! I’m not sure which room will be next, but see you for that soon!