Inspired

Fall is my favorite season. I seriously can't get enough of it. I realize now that my decorating style is heavily influenced by this autumn obsession. An orange-red on the walls of the dining room, a newly painted bright red door, rich wood tones, gold and brass odds and ends...it just makes me happy and I'm okay with that.
I still struggle with my decorating style and the historic charm of the house  (aka: annoying dark trim, plaster walls etc)...but I'm trying to just let go and see where it all takes me.

The last few months have been full...major job changes, the loss of my beloved aunt paddy, the joyous weddings of friends, birthdays and a few weekends away. 119 remained pretty much the same- save for some minor storm damage from Hurricane Irene. As we settle into the new season and our weekends become a little less full we hope to see some serious progress on the home front.
I'm most excited about the front yard/porch and its already in progress makeover. We aren't quite finished but I wanted to give a sneak peek...

The front yard BEFORE

Sneak Peek 

I am so incredibly over excited about the new house numbers that I can't just give a sneak peek. I have been collecting these floating house numbers for months and was actually able to score a few at Goodwill. I envisioned them floating but wasn't quite sure on what. I thought it over until I was able to find all three numbers and decided I wanted to place them on a really cool, stained piece of wood. I happened to find this example on pinterest and I was completely sold. I chose a red mahogany stain from Sherwin Williams (30% off sale) and took a little trip down the block to the local hardware store for the wood and hardware.

The board didn't quite fit in the car so Mike walked it home (luckily it was just a block  or two)

We (and by we I mean Mike since he did this entire project) cut the wood into the appropriately sized pieces, stained it (important to cut first so that you can sand and stain all the newly exposed edges at once) and attached the two boards with brackets on the back. The numbers were a bit tricky but came with templates which we taped to the board and drilled through in order to get the numbers even and straight (we may have failed once or twice and re-stained the off centered mistake holes). We still have yet to attach it to the porch wall with a picture hanging kit but for now it looks awfully pretty just sitting in the window. I love the grain of the wood and the way the red of the stain compliments the new red door and the brick wall. I think the silver, modern, floating numbers play off the wood so well... giving off a danish mod vibe. I'm always looking for ways to modernize this historic house without compromising its innate beauty...and the porch is really getting there.
We still have yet to:

• Hang the new (antique) door knocker (which I am way too excited about...story to follow)
• Frame out the door and window
• Hang a glass storm door
• Paint the window sills a bright white
• Landscape 
• Update the old (10$) porch light 

I can't tell you how incredibly inspired the new bright red door, classy house numbers and the changing leaves have made me...<3

ps- thank you  incredible husband for using your fall break to spruce up our neglected front yard. you've made me very happy (and probably the neighbors too).