Decisions, Decisions

Some of you who know me in real life might not know this, but I love to decorate.  I say you might not know this because my home doesn’t necessarily reflect my love.  This is probably due to a few factors: 

1) My hubby. He could live the rest of his days with white walls and be content.  Pretty ironic that he is a web designer, right?  I also think that we tend to have pretty different styles.  If you’d ask him to show you a photo of his style he’d probably show you something like this: 

I actually like this kind of look but consider my style to be more contemporary/eclectic.  The uber modern style leaves me feeling a little cold.  I can’t see myself coming home to a home decked out this way, but would definitely incorporate some of the same elements.  I like clean lines, touches of metal, etc., too.  

2) Budget. Let’s face it. Decorating can be expensive, depending on what you want to do.  And, our house is quite large. For example, we bought six gallons of paint for our main living area in our basement, and we’re still not sure this will be enough.  Not to mention, we still have a bathroom, two bedrooms, and a workout room that will remain white after we’re done.  

 3) Our home is fairly new. This leaves me feeling guilty spending money to update things that we just paid (technically, are still paying) for.  Jeff built and lived in our home about two years before we were married.  I helped pick out a few fixtures here and there, but didn’t really think about the overall look of the house.  After all, I had no idea this would become my house, too, in a few short years.  I specifically remember one day when Jeff and I still worked together, he asked me if I wanted to go and look at light fixtures over our lunch break one day.  I jumped at the chance.  Little did I know he had to have all of his decisions made by the end of that day!  So, even though I helped pick the fixtures out, I’m regretting some of my choices.  

I am making some progress little by little.  Depending on the project, it can take me a lot of time to coax Jeff into my ideas (sometimes years), but I’m softening him up!  Enter one of my Christmas gifts from my sweet, sweet husband:

I think I first fell in love with this beauty about two years ago, and now it will soon be hanging above our dining room table.  Now, there is nothing wrong with our current chandelier. (Which was Jeff’s main reason for telling me I couldn’t buy this one.)  I’d be content with it, but I am absolutely in love with my new one. I think it will help modernize our home that is slowly becoming a little more traditional than I’d like.  My biggest challenge will be getting the chandelier hung.  I was told that it was my duty to figure out how to get it in place.  (Good thing my brother is a skilled carpenter! I just have to get him to my house!)

Here is our dining room as it is today:

After I get the chandelier hung, my next step is to hang two or three shelves on the wall. They are about four and a half feet long, and I'd put the walling hangings on the shelves rather than have them hang.  I’m thinking either these: 

 or these:

I like the first ones because I think the stainless still will tie in nicely with our table legs and some of the metal looking elements in our wall hangings.  However, they need to be put up with brackets, and I like more of a floating shelf kind of look for this room.  

The black ones are nice because they are floating shelves, but I’m worried that the black won’t look good against our wall color (sometimes looks chocolate brown, sometimes looks camouflage green). I’d appreciate any opinions or suggestions!

I’m also wondering if this rug would work with everything else that is going on in the room.   

Jeff asked me if I wanted to get sick while eating. I guess he thinks the stripes are too busy!  Maybe I Jeff can do a little Photoshop work and see how it looks in the room before I go out and buy it. 

Curtains. Do I need them?  And if yes, I have no idea where to begin. I’m also taking suggestions here.  Please chime in! Decisions, decisions.  P.S.  Anyone want to buy a brushed nickel chandelier? P.P.S. No, I have not started on a nursery yet!