A (sort of) House Tour

Ya'll. Forgive me, but the last few months have been craaaaazy. But to make it up to you I finally took a few photos around the house. It's coming along nicely. Phase 1 is pretty much complete…which was basically "get all our shit in the house and arranged so I don't go insane and OH MY GOD WHY ARE WE HOSTING HOLIDAY PARTIES HERE, WE JUST MOVED IN" phase. I'm calling Phase 2 the "Man, I need to get curtains up" and "I think I need a rug here" phase. Phase 3 is usually my husband saying "Are you finished yet?" to which I laugh and laugh.

So enjoy these crappy iPhone pics I took around the house this morning. One day I'll use my real camera.

The entry. Easily my favorite room in the house. Mainly because it's the only room that finished. Oh, except for a pillow. But also because of that AMAZEBALLS settee. Remember this post? It's just so much better than I ever thought it would be.

Dining room. She is a sexy lady if I do say so myself. It's right next to the entry so that color with the Schumacher fabric on the settee is giving me liiiiiife. Here is the post I did for the dining room. I stayed pretty true to my original vision. The color went more forest green than olive green as I had originally planned. And also yes I went wood for the floors, obvi. The seats haven't been recovered yet and I think I have changed my mind on the fabric, but that's a saga for another day. 

A peek at the kitchen. The rest of it has breakfast still scattered everywhere so this is what you get. That range is the butter to my bread and sometimes I just catch myself staring at it. Black and brass for the win for everything in life ever. Also, all tile should be herringbone tile. Just, yes. 

Formal living. A quick note, I don't normally have fresh flowers scattered all over my house. Who am I? Lisa Vanderpump? Although, #goals. These are (surprisingly) still hanging on from New Years Eve.  You can't see the left side of this room because it's a huge white wall that is killlllling me. After our Christmas tree left, all I can do it stare at it and wish something would appear. What is that something? I DON'T KNOW! 

A gallery wall that's shaping up nicely.

Powder room. Guys, it's really hard to take a photo of a powder room. How to photographers do it?! 

One side of the bar. After living in the house for a bit I've decided to wallpaper this little area. It's right off the dining room and needs a bit of drama. This will probably get done in 7 years because it couldn't be lower on the list of things to do.

This is the den. AKA, where we sit our butts and watch way to much TV. That's it on the left. About the ottoman, it's a craigslist find that I paid $20 for and had recovered in a blue/gray velvet. Craigslist forever!! Also, that Alexa Hampton lamp was found at Homegoods (!!!???!!) and when I saw it I ran to it like a lost child being reunited with his mother. I grabbed it and it's twin and happily walked to the checkout where I was asked by 2 different people if I was definitely buying them. I laughed in their faces and swiped my card. I didn't even know if they would work or not. Spoiler: they did. Moral of the story, always go to Homegoods. Oh…and you can see the bar area in this photo right where the ginger jars are. Wouldn't wallpaper be great there?

So that's what I have for now! I'll do bedrooms next time! Stay tuned. 

Kids and Your House

Not my house, but I feel for these parents.

A phrase I hear all too often is "I don't want to invest in a [insert] sofa, chair, table, rug for my house because my kids will just ruin it." I usually just don't say anything because what people choose to do with their house and/or money and/or kids is their business. But I heard that phrase for about the 3,324 time yesterday and I started thinking about it. Now, I grew up in a house where my mother was very much into decorating and took a lot of pride in the way her house looked. But I also had friends whose parents really didn't seem to care whether or not the drapes were lined or if the sofa looked good with the chair...and in both of those cases, we were certainly not allowed to ruin anything.

We had rules about how we were allowed to live and also visit in those homes. My parents raised 3 children in their house and aside from an unfortunate confrontation with a bedroom door, I can't recall a time we ever ruined a piece of furniture. Because let me tell you…my mom would. not. have. it.  I didn't pay for one single item in my parents house. I lived there like a squatter who felt entitled to having my dinner prepared and my laundry done. We had rules. No eating on the sofa. No food or drinks upstairs. No shoes on the furniture. And if you want to fight, take that mess outside so you don't knock something over. We never wrote on the walls as children. Because I'm pretty certain it happened once and the wrath of my mother was burned into our brains for eternity. Because there is a 99% chance she painted that wall herself with a color she loved and seeing our squatter-hobo crayon marks all over it made her lose her shit. And rightly so.

When I was a kid I thought these rules were just the result of my mom being a total buzzkill and super bossy. I think she was just preparing us to learn how to treat our houses and the things in them with respect. Now that doesn't mean I don't want my daughter to play and enjoy her home, but in the end it is not hers. She will not be able to do with it as she pleases. She cannot jump on the sofa or paint on the coffee table or have a water gun fight in the living room. She can't play with or mess with certain things in the house and if she does, she gets in trouble. Some might say to just put it away where she can't get to it, but that's not how I roll. Kids have a very "everything is mine" mentality. I am here to break it to her that everything is most definitely not hers.

It was always very clear growing up that our house was my parents house. We just got to live there for free. And it's also worth mentioning that we are always able to go back there if the need arises, and live, for free. Just no shoes on the furniture, a phrase spoken by my father to me not too long ago when I was there for a visit. I rolled my eyes.

New House Files: Den Design Board

So I thought it might be fun to show the design board I put together for the den/keeping room/TV room/whatever you want to call it room that's right off the kitchen. Not all of this is happening at once, obviously. That is unless we find a pile of money hidden in the backyard.

The leather chair was ordered 6 months ago and has been hanging out in the rental house and the sofa will (hopefully) be here not long after we move in. It's not exactly that sofa although it's very, very close. I did my husband a solid and ordered him a leather TV watching chair. He is building the house after all. All the lighting is what I have chosen and is what is being installed in a few weeks. I love the idea of a blue upholstered ottoman and I have loved that West Elm rug for a long time. Everything else is pretty traditional and that rug and the art are just the things the room needs to keep it from venturing too much into snoozefest territory. I like the idea of a striped roman shade, and that one is a great price.

The credenza is very much up in the air at this point. In my dreams it's a brass and burl wood piece like the one below from Jayson Home. A girl can dream. I'm definitely going with 2 pillows in my old faithful "Betwixt" in Biscuit by Celerie Kimble. I've used that fabric many times in almost all the colors and it has never let me down.

So there you have it! Now that I keep staring at this I might have to just go ahead and order that rug…..

Leather chair / Rug / Sconce / Lantern / Roman shades / Credenza 

New House Files: Construction Update

I'm baaaack! With an update! We are in the home stretch. 98% of the cabinets are in, hardwoods are down, the entire house is painted….date to finish is about 3-4 weeks (!!!). Now is when everything is starting to come together so the photos are a lot more interesting.

 The front door has been painted since this photo (in a blue/gray that I can't for the life of me remember right now). And the front patio has been laid. Also that large weed and dirt pile is gone. For the front I am planning on doing 4 large boxwood topiaries flanking the french doors (which will have shutters at some point as well) sort of like thiiiissss….

So, so good.

The kitchen!! I love it so much I can't stand it. The windows are giving me life. Obviously we are missing the right side lower cabinets due to a measuring problem. Which happens. All the white cabinetry and trim in the house is Benjamin Moore's White Dove. It's a perfect white. No gray, no yellow, just soft white. The doorway to the right is the pantry (see below). That hood is awesome too, it's actually curved which you can't see at all from this photo. Should have taken a side shot. But it looks great (shout out to our carpenter Jessie who did every wooden surface in this house).  Two of these fab pendants are hanging over the island…

Rejuvenation Cone pendant

From this shot you can see the fridge area. And the amazing light that comes in in the afternoon. 

That room to the left is the formal living. And the space right in front of where I am standing is where the breakfast table will go.

This is the pantry right off the kitchen. I wanted something different in this little spot, so I went gray on the cabinetry. No doors yet obviously. This is where my collection of tableware and glassware will be living with lots of room to expand. Which delights the hoarder inside me to no end.

This is the shallow pantry shelving wall to the left when you walk in the doorway. The door goes outside to the back patio.  

And this is the dining room. It needed one more coat of paint when I took this photo, but you get the idea. It's such a dark green that it's almost black. It's very dramatic and very awesome. A shout out this time to Sherwin Williams for the custom color. 

Last stop on the tour is the master bath. Aaaaand more props to carpenter Jessie for taking my crazy sketches and making them a reality. This bath is gonna be gooood y'all. 

That's it for now! Things are moving quickly so hopefully I can show tile and countertops next! 

Get In My Closet.

A few things from the interweb that I think are pretty great...

Black dress / Bag / Red flats / Maxi dress /  Hologram heels (dyyyiinngg) 

Vest /  Coat / Necklace / Skirt

Just a few things...

Everything is moving right along with the house. Sheetrock starts next week! Hooray! Because of this, I've been super busy with the credit card and checking account. Here are a few goodies I've recently purchased for the house. I'm not spilling where things are going yet (although you might have a clue for a few things), you must wait for the big reveal!

John Robshaw Mani fabric in chambray

Large Morris Lantern

Canopy Bed

Currey and Company chandelier 

Tilton Fenwick Zula fabric

Cone pendant

Random Bits

It's been a while since I've done one of these. Warning: this post is totally random.

Two, wait three, new skincare items I have to tell you about. The first isn't skincare but makeup. And it's really, really good stuff. I wear it alone most of the time, but you can also use a powder on top for more coverage. There's a reason Sephora was sold out of it forrreevvveeerrrr.

Complexion Rescue 

Does anybody else love a clay mask as much as I do? I've tried a lot. Most of them are eeehhh. I got a sample of this in my Birchbox and loved it. Really loved it. It's not a thick clay, it's almost like a cream, but it dries like a clay. And it cleans your face and pores like a boss. 

Marcelle Clay Mask

And the heavy hitter. As I have reached my mid-thirties (!!!!!!!) it has become abundantly clear that I need some heavy-duty skincare happening on my face. I caved and bought these. 

Radical Skincare Exfoliating Pads

And yes, it's working. I've been using them for almost 2 weeks. My skin is soft all the time. Like, I touch it constantly. Which is terrible and I should stop. I haven't had to do my 80 step exfoliating/moisturizing procedure since I started using these pads. I just wash my face and swipe away. My pores are smaller. My complexion is brighter. The wrinkle thing I'll get back to you on. I don't see a huge difference, but I don't think this product is what I need for that. My next item to get is the eye cream or the youth serum. Yes, this stuff is pricey. But good anti-aging skincare should be. 

I'm obsessed with this show. I binge watched the first 8 episodes, and seeing as how there are only 16 in the first season, I need to slow down. Holy crap it's good.

I have been busy planning a vacation to….

Disney World. Am I excited? Scared? Both?

A few new things I've added to my closet for the summer…

Tory Burch wedge

J. Crew slide

Kaftan 

Kendra Scott

J. Crew tank dress