Our Summer So Far

Hello! Oh my gosh, I have neglected this blog and I feel terrible about it. I don't even have a good excuse, other than, you know - LIFE. And Instagram, which I love, but will never completely replace blogging for me. This little blog is what started my home decor journey and I am not going to let it go. So, let's catch up a bit, shall we? Let's start where all things begin - in the home.

My latest love of adding color hasn't let up at all and I am forever adding more layers of texture, pattern and print. My favorite find at the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY this year was the colorful quilt that is on the back of the sofa. It is vintage and was in a collection of old quilts marked for sale at $40 each. The colors called out to me immediately. It was in someone else's hands when I first spotted it, but when she put it down and walked away, I knew it had to come home with me. I think it's perfect for summer.

I added back the blue and white gingham curtain panels (from Christmas Tree Shops last year) and the striped slipcover on the Stocksund chair from Ikea.

We had a fun photo shoot in June with Cottages and Bungalows for their Spring 2020 issue so we still had our Spring decor up well until mid-June.

It's always fun to look back and see a different perspective of our home from a professional photographer so I'm excited to see how it turns out. We've been lucky enough to be in a few magazines (I'm super excited about a fall one that I will share soon!!) but this one was special because it was my styling. It can be difficult (for me) to have someone come into my home and move my things around, while also adding in some of their own. It's not so much that I'm a control freak  (those closest to me might not agree-  haha!) as that most of the items that I've collected in our home mean so much to me. So it was a relief not to have to deal with that this time around. Here's a few shots I quickly took with my phone that day. I like to document the days that our WHOLE house is actually clean! :)

I'll be sure to share when that magazine comes out. In the mean time, I have lots more to catch up on, both personal and home decor wise. I hope you'll stop back. And I hope that your summer is going well!!

Adding Layers of Color to our Home

Hello friends! How has your late Spring been going? Mine has been busy! My youngest was playing 2 sports (lacrosse and track) while finishing up his middle school years and my middle son is finishing his senior year of high school. Lots of fun milestones and activities around here and I have to admit that I am looking forward to those quieter Summer days by the pool in the not-so-distant future. But first, I need to get through a senior prom, 2 graduations and a magazine photo shoot - all within the next week and a half. As for our house, I've been completing lots of little projects to add lots of color to our space!

The console table in our front entryway was previously black and I had actually moved it into our basement last year because I felt like it no longer suited my style. On a recent trip to HomeGoods, I saw a console table in a pretty aqua color and considered purchasing it - until I came to my senses and realized that it was almost the same as this table taking up precious storage space in our basement. Two cans or spray paint later, I had myself a "new" console table.

I used the leftover paint on an old small console table (which was also black) and our entryway had a whole new look! I also added a new area rug from HomeSense, that is also available on Amazon. You can find it (affiliate link) here. There's a link to the exact spray paint (Krylon Matte Aqua) I used here.

I also added some colorful flowers to the pack basket (from Ballard Designs) on our front door. This basket has been a fun addition to my seasonal decor.

Here's a peek of what it looks like from outside. We're still working on the landscaping out here. We recently added a re-blooming lilac to our front yard. It is supposed to re-bloom in mid-summer. Have you heard of this variety? Lilacs are my favorite so I am really hoping it blooms like they say.

Finally, as always, there will be a Golden Retriever or two (Keeper was probably napping when I took this picture) welcoming you to our house. :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!!

Library Card Catalog TV Stand

Hello friends! I recently gave our family room a bit of a makeover and I'm excited to share it with you today. If you are following along on Instagram (where I post much more frequently - you can find me here), you already saw a picture or two but I will share more of the room in this post. I mentioned in an blog post earlier this year that I was looking for a vintage piece of furniture for our family room television. I'd grown tired of the look of the big white wall unit that housed our tv. I've been scouring Craigslist for an old card catalog or apothecary cabinet with no luck. I will keep looking, but in the meantime, I found something that I thought could work on Amazon. You can find it (affiliate link) here.

It came stained a dark brown color but we immediately primed and spray painted it this (Rustoleum) Spruce Green color, even before we put it together. I love the personality it adds to this previously neutral space.

I still need to find better baskets for the bottom shelf, but these are suitable for the time being. They are holding our DVDs - which suddenly feel like antiques. We completely switched over to streaming everything we watch last year, which has the added benefit of no more cable box AND the ability to move the tv to any place in the room. That makes someone who re-arranges furniture as much as I do very happy! :)

This room is forever a work in progress. As you can see in these pictures, I was trying to decide where I like the Librarie sign (old, from Target) best. It ended up staying over the TV. We are still using the side pieces from the wall unit as bookshelves behind the sectional. I would still love to add a wall of built-in bookshelves here but we just don't have time for that project right now.

I was inspired to paint the "card catalog" green because of the sign over our fireplace on the other side of our family room. I am collecting a few of my favorite decorative items on the hearth for now and I am planning to put together a gallery wall on this side of the room soon.

It also inspired me to add some more colorful throw pillows to the sectional. I feel like this space is much more "my" style now.

Thanks for stopping by today! Here's a few sources, please feel free to ask for more in the comments.

Sectional : Ikea Farlov

Green check Throw Pillows : Amazon

Red Block Print Lumbar Pillow : Target

Librairie Sign - Target (old)

Console Table - Pottery Barn Outlet

Spring in Our Family & Mud Rooms

I went all out with Spring decor this year because I am just so ready for the warmer weather. I added a few things from my collection of Spring items to our mudroom for fun. It's been a few days since I took these pictures but it still looks pretty much like this - with the addition of a bunch of Spring sports items strewn everywhere. Moms, I know you can relate. This is a very busy season for kids as they finish up the school year!

Let's take a peak into our family room next.

I found the green "garden and company" sign that is the centerpiece of our Spring mantel at HomeGoods on clearance last summer. It hung under our covered patio all summer long and I thought it would be perfect to add a pop of green to our family room for Spring.

I had fun adding gardening items from my collection of stuff to round out the mantel decor.

My mom made the yellow and green stained glass lamp before her stroke, when she was still able to do stained glass, so it is a very special piece to me. I turn it on each morning when I come down to the family room.

And finally, our front entryway got a hit of color with the rug, a forsythia wreath and some greenery. Lots and lots of greenery!

Are you all decorated for Spring? We are enjoying some sporadic warm days and I am soaking it up for all it's worth until the warmer weather comes to stay.

A Quick Powder Room Update

We've been in our current home close to 12 years now and some of the projects we completed when we first moved here are already feeling a little dated. We have a small powder room just off of our (also small) mudroom that we decided to give a little bit of an update. This ends up being the bathroom that we use often along with our guests, so even though it's small, it is a well used space.

It always feels a bit awkward to share a bathroom online, but this room is what it is - a very small powder room with just the minimum essentials - a sink and toilet. The change we made with the biggest impact was the floor. We covered the tile with this much more updated flooring from Floorpops that we bought on Amazon. These are just vinyl peel and stick tiles that we put right on top of the old ceramic tiles. It cost about $30 to do this room and gave the bathroom a whole new personality! Note, this is not a sponsored post - I just love the product. Here's a look at the new tiles being installed over the old ones. We removed the molding and gave it a fresh coat of white paint, as well as removing the vanity and toilet to give it all a good scrub and to make installing the floor tiles easier. We decided to keep the blue paint on the walls because it's still in good shape and we still like it. The whole project only took a few hours.

It's really difficult to photograph a bathroom of this size without the toilet taking center stage but I did my best.

We added a combo of some new and old items to create a small gallery wall to dress up the space.

We kept the old sink, mirror and cabinet because they are still in good shape and I think they still work in this space.

This is the perfect, affordable way to try out a small piece of a home decor trend with this fun floor without a long term commitment. I'm excited with the results and smile every time I open the door to this tiny room.

A Bit of Spring

Hello friends and Happy Weekend! I usually don't do much decorating for Spring but this year, I am so anxious for warmer weather, that I seem to have gone all out. Try not to notice the snow on the ground in many of these pictures. As I type this, it is a delightful 70 degrees and my yard is a muddy mess of melting snow. I'm not complaining - even as my dogs track mud inside every. single. time they come in from outside!

In my kitchen, I made a green and white check skirt for for the farm sink from a $10 tablecloth that I purchased at HomeGoods. Sadly, I can't sew, but I used my iron and some fusible web and it came together pretty easily. I used matching napkins as curtains.

I knew I wanted to add some yellow in here and these little yellow wreaths (from Joann Fabric and Crafts) work well to add a spring feel to the kitchen windows.

Over in the dining area, I added a couple of new finds from Michaels. I thought the little bunny rocker was adorable and the green and white gingham plates add just enough color to dress up the hucth. Oh, and there's the rest of that tablecloth used as a runner on the table.

I continued with the yellow and green touches in the living room. I searched high and low for spring green throw pillows and ended up finding a 4 pack of pillow covers for $18 on Amazon.

I have more pictures to share of our family room but I will save them for next time. Have you added any Spring touches in your home?