making it lovely

Four Dining Room Ideas, originally uploaded by pinklovesbrown.

Moss on a rolling stone and all that, we are finally getting serious about a renovation around here. The old homestead isn't looking too good, truth be told. Not that it ever did. We bought it because A) it was summer and there was a pool in the backyard - a small one with faux mosaic faux tiles that defy explanation, and B) There was a yard! With grass! The combination proved irresistible. Five years and one incomplete paint job later here we are. Ready to renovate.

I have my folder of magazine tears. I have a sketchy floor plan and a laundry list of hoped-for improvements. We have a budget. What we don't have, unfortunately, is an architect/builder/designer to draw up the plans, and perhaps reign in the less realistic items on my list, like taller ceilings. The first design/build place I contacted eventually did return my email, but they're booked a year out and even if we do the $500 consultation there is no guarantee they'll take on our job. My second and third choices have not returned my calls. What we have in mind is beyond DIY - taking out a load-bearing wall and moving a staircase to eliminate a crazy jog in the kitchen that renders half of the usable counter space unusuable - so we're in limbo until we find someone to do the plans. Someone simpatico, not merely available. I had some cockamamie idea that we'd start in September, take off for a few weeks during the worst of it and have the dust settled and the paint dry by the time we're ready to deck the halls with balls of merry. I may have to reassess the timeline. But in the meantime, my hunt for inspiration continues, which brings me to Making It Lovely, which is a fun and inspiring place indeed. I love these curtains. Or are they window treatments? I never know really. Anyway, she's done a bang-up job on her bungalow. I'm itching to get started on mine.