So, last week we introduced you to Alaina from An Italian Girl Going Dutch. She’s telling you all about her and her husband’s DIY home remodeling and decorating. Read her story and follow along with her as she updates on her progress and all her decor adventures… Here’s part II of the first chapter of their story.

Making a House a Home: One Couple’s Tale of Renovating and Decorating 

 
Because my shower couldn’t be opened up to my closer forever, we had to go buy tile at some point. We decided to buy 20 square feet of brown glass tile to put up and make sure we were into it before we did the whole bathroom.  Please excuse the photo quality, since it was: 1 – taken with my iPhone, 2 – the tile still has the wrapping on it, 3 – taken on the Home Depot showroom floor and 4 – the white stone tile was still on a huge demo board.

The white stone was amazing and I really had my heart set on that.  We didn’t buy it yet since it has to be ordered and wasn’t in stock but this is the design we are planning on now.  The brown glass tiles will be the majority of the shower and the white stone will just be an accent (it might not even be as wide as that stripe there).  PI really loves the brown glass tile so that’s a huge step for us to agree outright on something like this. Usually our tastes tend to be a bit… opposite.  But it was a relatively pain-free trip to Home Depot (besides wearing the damn heels I hadn’t been planning on wearing for 10+ hours and marching around in the Depot AND Lowe’s).  I mean, just look at us, we don’t look like we would be opposites at all…

Well, more to come soon on the bathroom.  But I have to say that in terms of marriage, the hard part isn’t buying the house. The hard part is the remodeling. A house is a blank canvas, and it ends up looking like whatever you want it to look like once it is filled with your pictures, your blankets and plates, and everything else that’s yours. But during the remodeling you are picking those things out… and deciding what your [as in the couple ‘your’] style and look is. Chances are, if you are like me, that yours and your maes are probably different, and compromise and openmindedness is key. Be patient and keep that in mind.

But still pick out the tile you want and go from there:)

Til next time…

Alaina