Our art tends to lean towards how we have decorated our home, neutral & rather simple. I'm not sure if it was a conscious decision, but rather one that has happened organically over the years. Of course our oversized piece from our family New York trip will always be a favorite. We also framed an image {image 3} from our 10 year anniversary trip to Miami and have it hanging in our guest room. Something about hanging photos from our trips that evokes a certain feeling and memories that we want to forever treasure. I have another piece from our California trip a couple years back currently in the works. I'll share once I have it up. If you have been around Two Ellie for any sort of time you will recall I have a love for all things Cecily Lowe. Image 2 & 4 are both by her and I have another in our main living room. Too much? Maybe, but she is a local artist that I can't seem to get enough of. Her work simply speaks to me. The 4th image is actually a print of hers from Minted and I love how the modern touch makes our vintage bathroom feel a bit more like me. The last image is from another local artist, Mckenzie Dove . Her use of texture is astounding. This piece currently sits among a few of my favorite things in our bedroom, but may shift as we finish off other spaces in our home. It's almost too pretty to be hidden away in the back of the house. The top image was a piece I did. I couldn't quite find a piece that was large enough for this wall that I adored and could afford so I gave it a go. I used my go to palette of whites, creams, and browns. The three rectangular pieces are actually handmade paper that my papa brought me from Colombia years ago that I had hidden away. Now it sits prominently in our front room and brings joy to me daily. Have any pieces of your own that speak to you? I love that art is truly for the eye of the beholder.

Can you see the change? It's one I have been waiting for since we moved in. You can see the before here. See it? Yes, our petite New York photo went HUGE. Like really huge. It's now a happy 60x40. It was framed by Simply Framed and I could not be any more thrilled with the way it turned out. the print was done by Artifact Uprising. It added the impact this space needed. To the right is our bank of windows that I LOVE, but it made finding the right proportions for the other walls hard to find.

I have also been working on the ikea shelves for some time now. Originally I wanted get rid of them all together. I felt like they added to the busyness of the room with all the built-ins. I do like the storage they provide for all our blankets and random kid stuff. They still may change one day, but for now I am content with the current set up. I can not even tell you how many times I rearranged the shelves. Again, it was all about trying to find a balance.

Most of the items I owned, but I did add a few more baskets and books to my collection. My goal was to keep it simple, practical and interesting at the same time. Easier said than done apparently as it took me 8 months to reach my goal.

I injected a few dominant black pieces to help ground the space some more. You may sense a common theme throughout our house in the form of black, white, warm wood and leather tones. I find that color palette easy on the eyes and introduces a calming effect to me. Others may find it boring, but to me it really helps balance all the saturated colors from outside that are always prominent due to our home being mostly windows.

As you can tell we haven't hung the Simply Framed piece yet and I am still debating if I will. I kind of like the more casual look it brings. For now I still have the piece layered with other frames, but that may change it I decide to actually hang the frame.

Here is my 5ft Ellie for scale. I love getting to see a vision come to life in this ole fixer upper of ours. This room is finally becoming what I knew it could be. Can you recall where it started? Next up will be new furniture pieces that represents the more lounge like area this room has become. Can't say the wicker chairs lend themselves to movie watching and this room can handle a larger sofa easily. Currently this sectional I am dreaming of although a major sale needs to happen before I could make it a reality. The proportions would fit the room perfectly and give enough room for the whole family to lounge. Anyone have an insight to the longevity of Crate & Barrel furniture?