Fix-Up the Entry-Way

I just want to say a quick thanks for the input you all have been giving me. It really is helping to get my creative juices flowing. And those of you who know me are doing a great job at suggesting things that really would be in Ashley's house. :) I will be sure to post new pictures when your ideas are reality!

So my entry-way is a tricky one because of the high ceilings and funky wall-shapes. I had an idea to put a big collage picture-frame on the slanted way and then add an eclectic group of smaller pictures frames all around it. Sort of like a wall of pictures? It's one of the first things you see when you enter the house so I'd like it to be representative of Grant & I.

Oh! And since taking this picture, I did buy a rustic, metal sign with the verse, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". Grant was kind enough to put that above our front door. With that in mind, do I have too many square objects right at the front door?

This is one of my favorite little touches to the house but I am stumped as to how to use it. The sellers of the house had a few fake plants on this ledge, but that just seems like the easy way to go. I know I could use the ledge to display different seasonal decorations but how? Ideas?

Another view of the entry-way and ledge. I guess I've also got the wall next to the stairs to worry about decorating, as well. Geez!

Next on Let's-Fix-It...

So here we have a view from the dining room which faces the front of the house. A garden is what you're seeing from the window. This area stays pretty dark so I'm wary about putting up any heavy curtains.

This is the dining room view from the living room. Right now the dining room is more like "dog room".
Oh yeah...and "bike room". I forgot to take a picture of the lighting, you can brealy see it at the top of this picture. The owners installed some tract lighting, but the hardware is kind of flowery.
I've slowly started work on the downstairs bathroom. The lighting made these pictures look yellow. The wall next to the sink and bathroom is pretty big. It needs something...

An interactive blog...

I've decided I NEED HELP! I've come to seek the wise counsel of my friends and family for something extremely important. Ok, I'm being a bit dramatic. It's decorating advice. It's not exactly important but it'd help me out a whole heckofalot. And something tells me that a few of you out there will have some fun with this.

For the next week or so, I'm going to post pictures of different rooms in my house. You get to say what things we could do or get to spice them up. All I will say is that the theme of our house is "rustic". And I'll also say that I'm not too excited about the prospect of painting right now, but I might be willing to bend a bit in that department to add some life to our very white house. :)

Room #1-The Kitchen
Kind of boring backsplash, hence the Mexican plates above the cabinets for color.
Breakfast nook in the kitchen. My mom suggested swapping out the little lampshades. She also mentioned recovering the chairs.
Another view of the kitchen. The lab is NOT up for debate.

Room #2-The Living Room

So we've definitely added to this room recently. Besides the painting above the fireplace (Kirklands), we are trying to frame pictures of Austin and other rustic scenes that myself or Grant have actually taken. We'll add them to the right of the tv.

Grant has toyed with the idea of buying a cowhide for the floor. We saw a few different colors at a rustic furniture store down the road. Are we reaching a little too much with this? And yes, we have framed pictures of our dogs in the living room. Again, not up for debate and judge all you want. ;)
This is the view from our front entry-way. It looks slightly into the dining room and then on into the living room. Any thoughts on curtains or any type of drapery? (Is that a word?)

Ok, discuss! Next stop, the dining room and we'll take a trip to the downstairs bathroom...