Our First Place - Common Areas

As we continue to pack (I find that doing it a little at a time doesn't overwhelm me as much) and edge closer to the point of moving out of our first place together, I thought it would be nice to share some of the rooms with you.  Today we'll take a look at the common areas and later we'll check out the bedrooms and bathrooms.

These pictures were taken when we moved in November of 2008, so there may be a Christmas decoration or two.  I'm one of those people that loves to decorate for Christmas in November - Chris thinks I'm crazy.

Dinning Room

The dinning room also contains the built in desk.  It's tight quarters, but we've made due.  The maroon and gold color scheme was inspired by my time in Aggieland.  The table was given to me by my Aunt Bunny when she was moving.  Love free furniture!  There is a leaf with the table, and we have since added it and 2 end chairs. When we move into a house I would really like a new table to seat 8, so this table minus the leaf (as it is pictured here) may become our kitchen nook everyday table.

Living Room

The living room is definitely the space we spend the most time in when awake.  We've added some more decorations over the past couple of years so the walls aren't so bare.  This is a prime example of why I'm so excited to move into a place that we can paint.  I've lived with white walls all of my life.  In my childhood home, in my parent's place in Texas, in my college dorm and townhouse and in my post college apartments.  I am so over plain white walls!

The furniture has seen some better days, so it will probably be moved into a gameroom/loft in a future house.  Even though I have never used that fireplace, I will be looking for one in our house hunt.  I love decorating the mantel, especially during the holidays.  The TV stand is great for this space, but I would love a way to hide the wires.  That stand will also be moved into the gameroom in the future house.

Kitchen

Our kitchen is very functional, but not exactly what we're looking for in our next place.  We aren't the biggest fan of the white cabinets/white appliances combination and would like the kitchen to be a little more open, hopefully with an island.  The countertop space is pretty decent, and I do love the amount of cabinets that we currently have.  Chris and I would both love to upgrade to stainless steel appliances at some point, but the savings will dictate when those type of purchases could be made.  Since we're talking about dream kitchens, I'll go ahead and put it out there that I would love granite or quartz countertops, an under mount sink and a cool, colorful backsplash.

What inspires the color combinations in your home?  Do you have non white walls?  If so how long did it take you to decide on colors to paint?