Lite it up

So last week I was sprucing my home up just before a group of wonderful ladies gathered at my house for our monthly bunco game. {And when I say just before, I mean two days before. Yes, it took me two whole days to get this place into shape, and no my house does not look like it belongs in a magazine all the time or even most of the time. Although my husband would probably love me just a little bit more if it was.} I would be the first to admit that my fireplace could use a little love. It's sad really. I mean, it makes me sad looking at it. So grand and so very much part of the room and yet I have continued to neglect it. Orginally I had two hurricane glasses with stands sitting on the hearth of the fireplace. Totally an after thought and it showed. To make matters worse, the stand that holds the wood while the fire is burning was just sitting there... bare. Nothing to show for itself. I had had just about enough of this when suddenly it came to me.

Why not put the hurricane IN the fireplace with candles?

Then while upstairs digging through my craft closet {another space in despereate need for attention} I spied tons more glass candle holders. Well duh! I should use all of them!

Now I know this isn't exactly a new idea, but it's one that I haven't used before and thought I'd share. Maybe you have done it before, maybe not, but I think it's a fantastic way to use your fireplace in the summer.

 I used all glass candle holders I have collected from various places. Ikea, Kohls, Dollar Store, my Grandma's house, and other random places.

 All lit up it creates a very cozy feeling in the room.

Baby Time!

I would like to make an apology. I am not sure if there are even very many of you out there that reads my design blog, but for those of you who did I am sure you gave up hope. I am here to restore it.

I was on the verge of being on top of things, and then I got pregnant. It was planned, but the way this pregnancy has been going has been completely unpredictable. Since the middle of May, I have been pretty busy making a baby and the baby has been pretty busy making me sick. But, lately there have been signs of change. Good change! No more sickness.

I hope I can get back to life as I knew it... kind of. In celebration of my return and in celebration of making a baby, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the nursery. I know as of lately it has become popular to wait to find out what the baby is. We considered this, but with this being our first child, we figured there were tons of surprises in store for us. By knowing the gender I feel like I have some sort of sanity. =)

So, our baby is going to be a BOY!

Immediately I high tailed it to all the online places in search of bedding, color ideas and other fun nursery stuff. Now, when it comes to design, I haven't dealt a lot with the nursery. So, I have pretty much an open mind and an clean palette to start.

Let me show you where I got my inspiration.

Some friends of mine in Kansas gave me a little surprise baby shower before we moved away. This was the diaper cake they made for me. I instantly fell in love with the idea of using Black and White Polka Dots. I figured it could go either way. If we were to have a girl, I'd tie in Sunflowers and Bumble Bees. Since we are having a boy, I am heading in the direction of trucks, boats, and planes. I know that sounds like a lot, but go with me on this. I found when looking online the trend seems to be BROWN. Pink and brown for a girl, blue and brown for a boy, and yellow, orange and brown for gender neutral. I know that brown has been popping up every where and though I love it, it's not for my baby. I think I want to go in a brighter direction. I love the idea of black and white because if offers the opportunity to add any pop of color. Sticking with my inspiration I decided to use accents of red, yellow, and grey!

A good way to make sure I stay on track with my theme is to create a mood board. I pulled together some fabric samples and paint colors to make sure that what I was seeing in my mind, actually worked in reality.

This is my mood board so far...

I will use the black and white theme as the main focus in the room. So the big ticket items will be black and white, like the bedding, the furniture, and the window treatments. The smaller details in the room will keep true to the red, yellow, and grey accents. For instance, art work, pillows, and/or lamp shades. 

I am excited to get this party started! I hope to post more as the nursery comes together!

A place to call home

OK! I can't take it anymore. Nothing is for certain, so things could change, but I am bursting with excitement so I am going to spill anyway.

We are buying a house.

This is something that has been in the making (so you could say) for a few years. We have had our eye on the Austin area for a while. While we were in Texas for Chirstmas, we made a short trip to Austin to check out a few spots. By a few I mean 9 houses in one day. We came to the overall conclusion that most people should NOT be allowed to design/ build their own home. I am talking... no bath tubs in the entire house, or no windows in any of the bathrooms, or no dining rooms at all, or how about rain water collection as the only source of water... in TEXAS! Clearly these houses were 100% custom with no thought of resale!

Needless to say, we were losing hope. Just when we thought we couldn't take anymore, we stumbled across what is quite possibly the most perfect house for both my husband and I. Ladies and gents that is a feat for which I thought was impossible. A house we both simultaneously fell in love with? No way! But alas, it's true. 

I call it "The Beige House" You see every wall, counter top, floor, and cabinet is some shade of beige. I am not kidding you. Ok, so there are a few exceptions but still, it is a sea of beige. At first, this bothered me. The first time we caught glimpse of this house it was in pictures on a website. It came across as a typical track house. BORING! At least in my mind that is what I thought was boring. I was wrong. I almost passed it up because all I could see was bland beige.

There is so much character and unique little details about this house that I hardly noticed the beige. Now, this issue of beige is a whole other post. So I will leave you with a few pictures. Let me know what you think...

The view when you enter the house

The kitchen

The front doors. (I love them)

The master bath

There will be more to come, I just wanted to get it out there before I go crazy!