Making our HOME look like a HOUSE

So, confession time!

Brand and I have lived in our humble abode for over a year and a half (we spent the first four months of our marriage in a tiny apartment that inhibited us from having the large dog we wanted and due to the close range of all the smokers...frequently smelled like an ash tray). We happily moved to our split level 3 bedroom 1.5 bath with den and yard in January of 2010 (I have to say...I'm pretty sure this house is the biggest house I've ever lived in...even when I lived with my 3 siblings and two parents). However, due to several circumstances out of our control that left us only spending money on food and necessities (and dream trip to Ireland)...this house has remained mostly...blank.

We have two pictures...TWO..pictures up that are actually engagement pictures. We never even got our wedding pictures up because of the cost. But now, that is going to change :)
For our 2 year anniversary gift to each other, we are finally getting our wedding pictures blown up and framed how we want it. Hopefully it'll be the kick in the pants to do the rest of the house.

This is the longest I've lived somewhere since I graduated high school and it does feel like home and I'm tired of these white walls.

Each room is, of course, going to be carefully planned. The only crappy thing is that I cannot paint these walls since we are renting so I'll be adding color here and there.

The room I'm most excited about is the Lair. It is our family room downstairs that is used most frequently for LAN parties (and cooling off in the hot summer because we do not have AC). While all the other rooms will be classy and sweet but still have our style, the Lair will totally feed into our nerdy side. We'll have posters of our favorite movies, fun movie quotes, and of course...a nod to our love/fear of zombies. It will be brilliant! It'll take time and money (time because we don't want to spend all the money at once) but it will be fun. We're not sure how long we'll live here but I'd rather make it home now.

Also, this will allow me to do some much wanted (note: not needed) organizing.

So this will be my project for the next however long it takes me. My dilemma is I see how everyone decorates their house and it all seems to look the same to me. So I'm trying to figure out a way to make it look modern but US. I want one of a kind pieces and things that scream US (without it being obvious like BSU Broncos and zombies). It'll be hard to pull off but I've been looking at thrift stores and hope to hit some markets. Plus, Rheanne is an amazing artist (so is her sister who I'm pretty sure I will be commissioning to do her adorable robot paintings for our children's nurseries when the time comes) so I'm not lacking in the artistic eye section in the family. And when we were in Ireland I was really inspired by the design of the homes and the whole vibe that Ireland gave off. It was a little different and felt it had depth and history to the design rather than just copying the pages out of Pottery Barn. I'm not artsty at all and I don't think I'm a designer but I'm really excited to get started...
Hopefully I'll have pictures as things progress!