Style Me Pretty

A couple months ago I had the absolute pleasure to spend the day with the lovely Jacqueline Elizabeth (seriously, this girl is the coolest). She snapped some shots for the girls over at Style Me Pretty Living and today they are sharing them in their Behind The Blog feature! 

You can check out the whole thing here.

Like, Jacqueline nailed it in a major way.

Thanks Style Me Pretty and Jacqueline Elizabeth for showing me so much love!

Kitchen Tour

I had so much fun making the living room tour I shared last week that I whipped up another little tour of the kitchen/family room yesterday. If you don't take it too seriously it is kind of a blast to make these, Sean's review of the last one was that it felt "very Napoleon Dynamite". I'll take it!

So here is my cheesy slash fun snippet of where we spend 80% of our days.

the shuffle continues

A leopard never changes his spots and neither does a Holly I guess...

I am SO happy I am not alone in my misguided Target splurge last weekend. You all made me very happy to hear that we have all been there from time to time, trying to fit a decorating square into a circle. As long as we recognize that while we love it all, we don`t necessarily bring it all home. I love Kaylan`s comment about keeping a few photos on our iphones to stay on track and I will definitely be doing that (thanks, girl!).

Now that I have a little time on my hands again I have been going full tilt on my house spruce up. It has been just over a year since WhiteBerry wound down and I am still in the midst of creating our 'true home' (anyone who works from home or has had any sort of career in furniture flipping knows what I'm talking about here!). It is the journey, not the destination, I hear. But I am excited to finally arrive.

Part of my living room update has been to find a lower, more substantial coffee table for the room. I have looked high and low, and at every price point. Nothing has jumped out at me but I did find a pair of great vintage coffee tables at a resale store for $40 last week. 

 

2 cans of high gloss spray paint were all I needed to fall in love. Here is a little glimps!

 

A couple of you were kind enough to ask what went back to Target. The pillow on the chair in the photo above and the wood frame are keepers so far, but these guys just didn't feel right for me.

But I still love them...

 

I also painted this guy over the weekend for our bedroom. He has sat in our garage for over a year and Sean gave me an ultimatum to make it happen or say goodbye during his garage purge this weekend. See what I mean? Shuffle is an understatement for what the last week has held in our house. Plus I completed the powder room makeover (more on that later this week)!

 

With the dresser heading up to our room, our slipcovered thrift store sofa came down to the kitchen nook. 

Sean has not been a huge fan of this sofa (not the concept of a sofa in our bedroom but the french legs in particular we his issue), but as soon as we set it down in here we both looked at each other and smiled. It was like it was made for this spot!

Dare I say I am looking forward to a couple lazy afternoon naps in here?

So that sums up my last few days. Hope yours have been productive and filled with pretty as well!!

Rocking Out

Our kitchen reading nook is a very well used corner. With the little table there I often find Wren working or crafting up something. In the evenings Sean puts his feet up and catches up on emails here and during the day I prefer to do the majority of my blogging/emailing here as well. We have circulated a couple chairs through here, not to mention a big old dresser at one point. It was always good enough for us but I never spent a lot of time or effort on it. 

Being a little winter stir crazy lately I want to jazz it up and get it where I want it to be. There was only one addition I really wanted to make: 

{ an Eames rocker }

 

It may seem TOTALLY out of character to what you'd expect of me, but the truth is I have wanted one for years. I first wanted one for Wren's nursery, but decided the nearly $600 price tag was out of my league. Specially with an entire house begging for renovations!

But I always loved the clean lines, specially in contrast to eclectic rooms.

via Coco Cozy

See? Cool, right! 

So I was SUPER DUPER excited to find them on our newest Sponsor, WireHome's website. And for a fraction of the price I thought they would be. Gotta love supporting Canadian businesses!

I am going to start accessorizing in here, but already it is a great fit.

 

I am liking the bright white of the chairs in contrast to the grey light, table and dark wood floors. I may move my sea grass and denim Anthro rug up to Wren's room to find a better sized piece for the room now that nearly all the floors are visible, but I'll play it by ear.

 

My favorite thing is that the chrome legs really tie into the kitchen hardware and faucet perfectly, and the white matches the cabinets too.

What do you think? Are you a Herman Miller/eames chair fan?

And please be sure to check out all the amazing goodness over at WireHome!

One man's glass is another woman's treasure

Sometimes you realize that you were missing something only after you find it. That was the case for me when I saw this lamp.

 

I first locked eyes with this beauty at the electronics table at goodwill. I liked the lines, LOVED the glass base but was only partially sold on the shade. It felt like a good fit for the little touches of modern I've been trying to add to off set all our treasures. Oh yeah, and it was $4.99. 

 

Worth a chance, but definitely in need of some heavy degreasing. 

YUCK.

Once I got her all pretty and new-like I temporarily set it on our 'catch all' counter. And wouldn't cha know, it just felt right! I didn't want to move it. My only switcheroo was to add a little marble cheese round I had to just keep it slightly off the counter. Which may or may not stay, but for now I am digging the whole set up. The best part? I found either the same version or a very close one at Crate and Barrel with a price tag over $300!

And that's how easy it is to stay hooked on thrifting guys. It really is a sickness!

 

As evening rolled in I loved her even more.

 

I think lamps in the kitchen are my absolute favoritest new thing!

Do you have a lamp in your kitchen or are you part of the no-cooking-near-lighting-club?

Counter Points

When we started planning our kitchen reno a couple years back there were only two things I knew I wanted: white cabinets and marble counters. I am a verrrryyy lucky girl because I got both of those things and then some. But the marble counters were definitely our biggest stumbling block. 

If you are wondering why I am sharing this now, over a year after the fact, it is because this is the single most frequently asked question I get. I get emails and comments galore from wonderful ladies telling me that they are desperately in love with marble, but get told it's a bad idea. I was told that too. So with a little bit of time to let things play out I figured it was about time I shared my real thoughts on our kitchen countertops.

When I started getting quotes on the counters and made my rounds to local fabricators I was actually told NO outright by 2. They didn't want any part of it. Another couple told me they wouldn't recommend it, but that they would do it. Not one single fabricator said it was a good idea. But I have a hard head and want what I want so we took a chance. I picked out 2 slabs of honed carrera marble and the rest is history.

If you are considering marble in your own home, here are the lessons I've learned:

1. It is an expensive decision if you don't think you can manage the up keep. Knowledge is key!! If you choose marble knowing you can't set hot pots and pans directly on it (I never did this anyways since I had laminate previously!), knowing you can't let wine or juice sit on the counter for hours before you get around to wiping it up, knowing you cannot dice celery with your sharpest knife on it you should be ok. These sound like common sense things, but if you have lived with granite you can do any or all of those things. So it may be an adjustment. 

2. Everyone told me it would stain easily. I have yet to have a stain anywhere.

3. Expect etchings. Etching is exactly what you think it is, where the surface gets a more matte look due to acidic food/drinks touching it. Lemons, lemonade, vinegar are the worst for this and we love ourselves some lemonade so we have a few etchings. I see them when the sun hits the counter at a certain angle but even when I point them out to other people nobody notices them. I managed to grab this shot at the right time of day to show you.

4. Invest in BIG, good cutting boards. This will save you lots of trouble. I bought the biggest one I could find and leave it out at all times for random food prep and this has been the best investment for our counters.

5. Enjoy them!! I know they aren't for everybody, but I do not regret a single cent I spent on them. My motto is life is too short, so I am going have the counters I love. You have to embrace imperfection, and over time they will change and develop markings that are from memories made in the kitchen, together. We don't keep our 3 year old off them, we don't hover over them protecting them from guests. We let life happen, while doing our best to avoid unnecessary damage. 

If you are interested in doing marble in your kitchen my biggest lesson of all is to go with honed marble. I had very little knowledge on this until I spoke with some very experienced kitchen experts. Marble is marble and will etch/stain over time, but polished marble with show it's wear so much faster because the contrast between etching and a polished surface is very pronounced. 

Also, keep in mind that bakeries and restaurants have been using marble for hundreds of years as a food prep/eating surface. It is not intended to be perfect, but it is great for rolling dough on and getting your bake on with!

I am being totally honest here, if there was any single thing I was not happy about I would be the first to share it with you. So my lesson is that if your heart yearns for a beautiful marble counter don't let someone talk you out of it!! Be true to yourself.

Indoor Herbs

I kind of suck at keeping most plants alive. There are a few I know I can manage, but for the most part if it needs regular watering I find it won't live at our house. But I've always dreamed of having a small collection of herbs sitting on my window ledge.

It may sound odd, since I know my incapacity of owning a healthy plant, but I actually made the decision to have deep sills in our new kitchen windows strictly for the purpose of growing herbs. I figure that if the plants are right in front of the sink I won't forget to water them!

It was almost a year ago our new windows were installed but until this past week I hadn't thought about trying my luck with a new plant. But now is the time to try because many garden centers are discounting their plants, these two basil plants were only $1.94 at Super Store. I like that they have an almost tree-like feel.

I am hoping they will make it into Fall and Winter, and that it won't be too cold in the window. We went with  extra energy efficient windows so if these won't work I don't think my window garden was meant to be.

 

Wren and I made cheese burgers for lunch this week and a few basil leaves were a delicious, flavorful addition to our tomato/ketchup-free creations.

Do you have an indoor herb garden? Any secrets to keep it going strong, even in the winter??

 (I need a lot of help here guys!!)

Evening

I was watching a movie the other day, one of our favorites: It's Complicated. I know I've chatted about my LOVE of the sets in basically any Nancy Myers movie before, but in particular I love the kitchen featured in that movie. While watching I noticed that most of the movie takes place in the evening, and the home is just stunning. It got me thinking that in the world of pinterest and blog land it is pretty rare to see the perspective of evening in most homes. Which is sad, because that is when many homes come alive!

If you stay at home like I do the kitchen is a busy place all day. It is bright, full of laughter and always has something going on.

By dusk it has already been dirtied, cleaned, organized and used. But there is a peaceful moment just before dinner.

 

This is the brief time when I usually have a second to reflect on the day. Wren usually has an hour to herself in her playroom or bedroom instead of napping these days and Sean is on his way home from work. Getting dinner going used to be so stressful for me, but lately it has become my own little ritual before the kitchen is abuzz with activity and family again.

 

There are always mid-prep requests for a snack or a taste.

 

Nightfall doesn't come till quite late here in the Summer, but this room faces East and is thankfully the first to fall from the direct glare of the sun. Hot days and a hot kitchen are not a fun combination.

 

Even before nightfall the kitchen takes on a different kind of feel. A warm, inviting, centered place. Where we catch up on the days activities and share our plans and goals for the day or week to come. 

{ where we share food, memories and laughter }

Does your home have a different vibe in the evening? 

Kitchen: 100% done.... finally

I've been a bit of a procrastinator. Maybe burnt out was more like it... after tackling the kitchen reno last year. It was a long road and when the final cabinet replacement items (mainly trim and side panels) were installed mid december, over 6 months since we began the process, I was not jumping for joy at the prospect of whipping out a wet tile saw in the dead of Winter. So I didn't whip it out. 

But that left me with this embarrassing scene.

 

I had a burst of DIY energy two weeks ago and decided I'd put it towards getting this sorted out (and lord knows I could have used it in pretty much any room of this house. But that is another story for another day).

{ a sigh of relief it's done }

 

But back to the start! I was at a party a couple weeks ago and so many of my Mom's friend's were telling me they love my blog but couldn't imagine tackling these things. I have to agree with them that it can feel overwhelming, which is why so many of us tend to have ever growing To Do lists, but it really isn't hard. Or scary, once you give it a go. For me saws have always been scary. I'd do a project but always stop and have Sean do the cuts for me. Until one day I didn't feel like waiting till he got home from work so I did it myself and now I am a breeze on most saws! You just have to try is the moral of my story. 

I wanted to continue the subway tile from the other end of the kitchen and still had enough left so that was easy, and because I knew my burst of DIY energy might be a short lived thing I was sure to buy a small tub of both pre-mixed thinset (mortar) and grout. This saves SOOO much time and trouble. 

{ what tended to be the dumping ground }

 

I spent about 3 hours getting it all tiled up and it looked good! But I knew that I wanted to do open shelves as well. I have always loved open shelving in kitchens and before we reno'd the last one it made a big temporary improvement to take down the upper cabinets and do shelves. 

These brackets from Ikea ($2.50 each) and the wood shelf (also from Ikea, $16.99) are also going into Lexington's kitchen and I liked the look so I bought an extra 4 brackets for here and one long shelf to cut in half to get 2 shelves in total. 

I actually toyed with the idea of going with the black brackets to tie into our few black items (lighting and stools) but holding them up in place just felt too dark.  So I painted them with matching cabinet paint (Martha Stewart, Picket Fence) to give them a custom feel. 

Once the brackets were ready it was time to determine where we wanted them to line up. I was SCARED to death when I realized I'd have to drill into my new tile job. What if the tiles cracked or shattered? With the help of a diamond coated tile bit I went through really easily and smoothly (all while holding my breath!).

{ could have been a disaster }

 

All up on the wall, I gave my screws a coat of matching paint as well. I was lucky that it lined up with studs on both sides so I don't have to worry about how much weight we throw on them. 

 

All done with the exception of one electrical outlet, my one remaining fear! I may learn how to do them in the future but for now I am steering clear of any electrical. I'll let the handy hubby handle that.

Those of you on my instagram feed probably recognize a few things!

 

{ no longer an eye sore }

 

I really like the weight of these shelves and they give just the right amount of interest without distracting from the items displayed on them. Plus they were half the cost of anything else I even remotely liked and a fraction of the price of some Anthro ones I was coveting. Well played Ikea!

 

We are getting close to the finish line at Lexington (I promise to update you early next week, or check my Instagram feed for daily updates) and I am starting to focus on the staging. While I made a quick stop at Goodwill to hunt down drapery options on the CHEAP I saw this funky antler. I loaded up my cart with 4 awesome panels of linen-like drapes (for only $13!!!) and left... but ended up thinking about this silly thing for the rest of the day.

So I caved and went back to get it.

{ $20 later... I'm still in love }

all in all, a crazy, hectic, busy, awesome week!

{Happy weekend}