Extreme [New] Home Makeover: Party Edition

You move into a new house and [stupidly] promise your daughter that you’d throw her a birthday party with all of her friends and family (42 people!!!) in two weeks. What do you do? For me, the answer was simple: have extremely labor-intensive evenings/weekends and do a ton of bargain furniture/decor shopping.

Once you get over the hurdle of packing up and transporting all of your stuff, moving somewhere new and starting with a blank slate is always exciting. My favorite part is figuring out how to infuse the new place with our personal style: a little modern, a little eclectic, and a touch of whimsical without breaking the bank (um… pretty much how I like to dress!).

For me, the blank slate involved a fresh coat of white paint (the house was cream and warm tones throughout). I was on a mission. And I successfully painted 1000 square feet of it in a day and a half (Adam did help a little with the kitchen and hall ;)

Living Room

Ikea couch // nuLOOM rug // Target coffee table, mirror, & coasters // Ikea vase // Eames chairs

Dining Area

There’s nothing particularly special about our dining area, BUT, I did spend a solid hour or two decorating the existing light fixture to be a little more festive!

H&M table cloth // Amazon artificial ivy and twinkle lights

Kitchen

The kitchen didn’t take much. We changed out the pendant lights for a more modern/industrial still, and added a statement rug, colorful plants, and some small decorative accents.

Before:

Now:

Ikea pendant lights // Mercury Row runner rug // Target ice cream garland

Backyard

The backyard at this house won me over. Mature trees, the setup for a rope swing, etc. It just needed a little TLC (I was leveling ground, removing miscellaneous rocks/rubble, and throwing down sod and topper soil the day before the party!). But most importantly, no little girl’s yard is complete without a magical playhouse. Solid wood ones get pretty pricey, so I opted for one of the most budget friendly all-cedar kits and customized it myself.

The playhouse was like this out of the box (after 2 hours or so of assembly):

I put it together one night at 8pm and painted it the following day while my father made this amazing platform and stairs. Then I painted it and decked it out with Christmas lights, a solar-powered lantern, stools, and lots of play food!

And voila! It came out like this:

It’s still a work in progress since the pots and flowers I ordered have yet to arrive. If I feel extra ambitious next spring I may also add an herb garden planter hanging from the railing and some shingles to the roof!

Backyard Discovery playhouse // Reservation Seating Industrial stools // Wood and rope swing // Target tinsel tree

Oh, and in case you were wondering how the kids party turned out, they didn’t care at all about the furniture or interior design, but they did like the HD projector and pop-up screen we ordered last minute and had delivered via Prime right before the party for a cozy screening of Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas… :)