We have a winner!

Husband and I have been busy playing with Polyvore creating mood boards in order to help us visualize possible designs and color schemes for our rooms.
For the most past we're incorporating our old furniture pieces and are using window treatments and wall colors as new ingredients to freshen up the look (after all, we have no reason to expect for unlimited funds to magically appear that will afford us all new furniture - even though that would be nice). Frankly, the biggest selling point for home ownership is the freedom to paint everything your way. My favorite room in our rental is the den and it is painted a lovely shade of "swine". Flesh-colored walls, seriously? I'm starting to believe it is probably the best-selling Ooops-paint on the market. I can't wait to get my hands on buckets of paint and a roller :o)

So, anyways, before I take care of a few errands and household chores and then run off to volunteer at our son's school I thought I'd post the more or less finalized design for our hallway that hubby and I have come up with.

Hallway - yellow/grey by Littleoldhouse on Polyvore.com

Since the entry hall stretches over two stories we decided to go for a fresh neutral color and chose a light grey against the crisp white of some fun batten and board. We both really love the bright happy yellow of the classic patterned fabric for our window treatments and the warmth of the aged brown of both hardwood floors and the big travel trunk. It will find a new place of honor in our entry hall and get to house our scarves, hats, umbrellas and gloves in its many drawers rather than being relegated to serving as the base for our Guinea pig cage (yes, sad but true. Practicality made me do it!).

Since we're both big NYC fans we really dig the artwork but might trade it for a similar shot from Jacksonville. Jacksonville has a great number of bridges that lend itself well for architectural shots and we've seen some really really cool artsy shots taken at the harbor with cranes and other industrial equipment. Another option is go the historic route and choose some vintage postcard designs or city maps instead.

Here's the To-Do List for the hallway:

• re-open wall to stair case
• re-create archway to living room
• repair electric (ie repair sockets and switches where necessary)
• repair drywall (from opening walls)
  
• repair and refinish hardwood floors
• repair and paint trim and moldings
• paint walls
• install batten and board
• update light fixture
• move in furniture
• decorate

And while we're at it we might as well

• remove ugly metal awning outside of hallway window
• replace crappy storm door
• replace exterior door lock
• paint exterior door

Pretty straightforward, right? We can do that in a weekend ;o) Right? (Probably not. It's most likely going to take 2 weekends but we can hope, yes?)
I'll be dabbling with Floorplanner.com over the weekend and maybe I can show you Before and After plans on Monday. Have a great weekend!