My Need for Change

It's not in my personality to sit still. I've never been good at just doing nothing. I moved into a house with Ashish that he has already owned. To call it a bachelor pad would be putting it mildly. The living room was a couch, a coffee table (which his mom picked out), and a 52in (yes 52 INCHES) television. The dining area has a table (that matched the coffee table) and 4 chairs. If you looked into the kitchen you would find pots and pans, though rarely used. The master bedroom had a bed, a nightstand, and 32in tv, hanging from the wall. He kept his clothes in tupperware drawers. He had a "game room" that has a futon and, surprise, another tv (32 inches). As sparsely furnished as the house was, it was beautiful. For a man that is so simple (I mean that in a good way), this house wasn't simple. He bought the home of a woman's dreams-hard wood floors, tray ceilings, a kitchen with an island, 3 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. I think one of the things that Ashish and I have in common is our motto of "go big or go home." To most women, transforming this house into a home would have been a huge chore but for me it was a challenge. I would have never considered myself a decorating diva. I am crafty and I have great ideas but often times I am not sure how to execute them. Who has the time to decorate a house anyway? As luck would have it, I did. I got pregnant and was lucky enough to be able to quit my job as a teacher and stay home.  A year after Jordan was born, I started operation "Patel Transformation."

I started with Jordan's room (long before he was born), making what was at the time, our only spare bedroom, a nursery. I started taking down all the cute baby stuff to make room for the big boy stuff in his room so there are no pics :(

From there I moved on to the 1/2 bath that is off of the second floor. The walls were builders eggshell...

The living room was next. We bought a sectional to fill up a big space, added, some pillows, a console table (which is really a bookshelf, it hides Jordan's knick knacks), a lamp, a plant, and a little bit of wall art. Oh...and I finally hung our wedding pictures.

The dining area and living room are attached so I tackled that task next. Adding curtains, pears, place mats, and some more decorative stuff gave it just the right touch.

Onto the kitchen! Because of an ever so generous mother in-law, we didn't need register for many things for the kitchen when we got married. All I had to do was say the words and magically, it would appear in my kitchen. The kitchen speaks for it's self. Just a couple little tweaks.

My favorite part was decorating my master bathroom. Aside from the kitchen, my bedroom is my favorite part of our house.

Online shopping for bedding was fun but a little stressful. Who knew that bedding could be so expensive? I found the perfect bedding and scored 2 lamps for $7 at a yard sale.

What was originally Ashish's "man cave" was transformed into a guest bedroom/office, complete with a wall (it was just one big room.)

Sorry that some of these are turned sideways.


It's been almost a year since I finished fully decorating my house and I have the "itch" again. I need a project, something to keep me busy. Yesterday, I spent 2 hours on the Internet just looking at stuff. I decided that it is time for Jordan to have a big boy room. It all started here...

Stay tuned...I'm starting a new project!