Guest Feature On Living Savvy!!

Well I am more than honored to have our rustic modern bar featured on Living Savvy! Tiffany is an awesome designer and DIY girl and her blog is one I admire. Go on over and check out her projects and tutorials. Also, I slipped in some sneak preview photos of some other basement spaces I have yet to post about! A huge thanks to Tiffany for featuring our space!

      

Good things come to those who wait...

Hi all! It has been a busy couple weeks for our crew. My last post, the shadowbox frame, from last Monday was coming off a trip to Atlanta. Yesterday we got back from Wisconsin from a long weekend with family. We had a great time in the "land of cheese" & cranberries, who knew. I ate a cranberry soaked in moonshine that I think gave me an insta-buzz! We bon fired, water parked, wined and ate lots of great food! The kids and I are home one day (long enough to wash our undies and write this post) and then we are off to Clear Lake to "lake it" for a week with my sister and her boys. Erin and I have taken our 5 kids to the lake for three summers running. Yes, we are the ragged looking girls on the pontoon (a floating play pin of sorts) with enough wine, goldfish and kids to sink it! I will admit, more fun as the kids have gotten older and our supervision a tad less taxing:) Follow me on Instagram if you want to see some of this madness unravel...

Some Exciting news for House Envy....

Tomorrow House Envy will be featured on a very cool blog! I am excited to share the details with you tomorrow!! Yay, first official feature!! A BD in the land of blogging!

This week My sister and I will be working on some formatting details on the site to get it ready to introduce her as my co-blogger on House Envy!! Erin and I have very similar taste but just different enough that it will introduce a wider spectrum of design and of course more projects and DIY than I could handle on my own! She is an awesome DIY'er with skills of sewing & upholstering that one up me for sure! Erin has an eclectic style and I'm excited to show off some of her awesome projects. Now, with all this said have mercy on the two of us who share a common genetic dumbness for social media and technology in general:)

Here is a sneak peek at her style and some cool spaces in her house... I "sneak photoed" them while I was at her house last before I had officially convinced her she needed to be blogging with me!! hehee!!

Below: A cool DIY in the making. Stay tuned for details in one of her debut posts!!

Uh this was her first upholstery project, completely winging it... She would tell you it's not that good and I am here to tell you that it for sure is! 

And of course you remember when I featured a couple of her paint projects on my post Painting Trim Details & Fun Patterns 

Also Coming up after our break I am so excited to be revealing a very fun and exciting client's good friend's kitchen makeover. You may recall when I was considering fabric for Jenni's kitchen. Well she decided on a few in this big mess and we painted and accessorized and it looks amazing. It will go to show what a difference color can make against cabinet detail. And how much more finished a wall of windows can look with window treatments! So excited for this reveal. 

Also if you follow me on Instagram  you may have already seen this mid century modern sewing desk that I found on a roadside rescue mission. It was FREE!! I have purchased some chalk paint to give all the buzz about this paint a try. Stay tuned for this reveal too!! It is going to be made into a desk for my son's room. He has had a desk chair forever waiting for the perfect desk to pair it with! Just in time for all rumors of the dreaded 3rd grade homework! Lord, help us all!

Hope you all are having an amazing summer and getting out there and makin some memories!:) See you back in a week!!

Oh Lord! I need a religious gift!!

My best friend's sweet baby boy was baptized this weekend in Atlanta and I am his Godmother! Leading up to my trip I was brainstorming what would be a unique and special gift. I had given the cross jewelry and the growth chart and have seen the ceramic crosses online and many many keepsake boxes and silver spoons but wanted to give something that would coordinate well with his nursery and also be special enough for the occasion. 

I found a shop on Etsy selling prints of cute sayings and some religious prayers, typed out in modern, fun lettering. It just so happened that one of the sweet little religious prayers had a pop of color in it that matched his nursery color scheme!

I will go through how I customized the frame but this is how it turned out!

Monochromatic color scheme, way more exciting than it sounds!

Here is it, the big question... how does one create a color scheme that pulls together a room?  Most people don't think they are good at it and struggle to come up with two or three colors they think go well together. I am always suggesting what I call "layering a color" to add depth and interest in a room. In other words, say that you want your room to be orange & blue. These two colors pair well together because they are complimentary colors or opposite each other on the color wheel. These opposite colors are complimentary by definition because they are said to be pleasing to the eye and together create a dynamic look. Everyone wants that, right?! But what if you are struggling on which two colors to pair?! And furthermore, it can be difficult to find pillows, rugs, paint, window panels and accessories all in the exact two shades you decided on! 

But what if you choose several shades of one color? Anyone can figure this out! This is where layering one base color can create interest that is pleasing to the eye without being overwhelming. You can still add in a second color (if you choose) but now you have a rich foundation of various shades of your base color to introduce the new color. 

Many people cannot see how olive green, citrus and kelly green go together but I am going to show you how monochromatic color can be very cool and very easy to accomplish! So here we have it... a bunch of shades of green. 

Use them all... together!!

In this shot we are seeing a blue green backdrop paired with lime green, kelly green and even a touch of an olive green tone in the place mat and the branch leaves. Stunning!

Via: Pinterest

Furniture layout...big or small space, you've gotta nail this!

Pay attention! This is an important one. There are a whole lot of ways to skin a kitty on this one but there is only one rule. It may be the golden rule in furniture layout or it may just be my own golden rule, I'm not real sure but here she goes....

CREATE A CONVERSATION AREA. Make it intimate, no matter if your space is huge or if it's small and you have no choice in it being intimate. I hear a lot of excuses for bad furniture layout! "we need every seat in the space facing the TV" or "my space is too small to fit any furniture" or "I have a long living room, how can I divide it up" or, and I love this one "there are too many windows in my living room and no space to put the furniture" WHAT?!? Never complain about having too much light!!

In response to some of these main dilemmas I have found some images of layout solutions that I hope will inspire some ideas!

One of the easier no brainer ways to create a conversation space is to layout your area symmetrically. This establishes balance, organizes the space and means you don't need to spend a lot of time trying to reinvent the wheel.

BELOW: I like this layout because it makes a great conversation area and also addresses the two major concerns of everyone needing to see the TV and having enough seating for a big family. It has become very trendy and also very functional to use benches as extra seating. It also visually squares off the area and although your kids are not going to sit and watch TV on them, they are great to pull up to the coffee table for extra guest seating.

VIA: Pinterest

VIA: Pinterest

BELOW: This layout allows for lots of seating without having to commit to buying a sectional. Having two sofas is less of a commitment if you decide you want to break apart the room later or rearrange for a fresh look down the line. For an alternative layout, the couch facing the fireplace could switch places with the two chairs and it would function well this way too.

Get out my bag, It's time to show you off!!

There's really no need to be too snobby about a wallet. Having a nice bag is one thing but a super fancy wallet hiding in your purse might be spending money on the wrong kind of accessory. However, it is a bigger must to have a wallet that suites your needs! Do you carry a ton of receipts, a checkbook (I know I am dating myself), lots of change and cards or are you a minimalist? It's gotta function for you. And if the price is right you can afford to change it out for the season. This spring, I came across my new wallet for summer!! And now its time I share it because I am loving it! 

The brand, "Spartina" was started in South Carolina and is growing fast! I love their fun fabrics and their practical shapes and sizes. 

This is the wallet I bought recently. It is the Wrist Wallet and retails for just $42.00 and comes in most of their fun patterns! I love that it has the wrist strap so I can carry it by itself sometimes. 

Spring bling in colors you'll want to eat!

Well by now you all know I love to throw in some fashion finds when I diverge from the subject of decorating... Sometimes it time to work a little magic on thyself. So, I am going show you a couple great finds that I have succumbed to or that are on my list for summer. 

First off, my youngest boy Vince just got out of school for good this week... On my last day of freedom for a bit I decided I was gonna set out to get myself something fun. I ended up purchasing this very cool  bright yellow enamel ring set at Nordstrom!

This is from the Ariella Collection at Nordstrom. The set of 3 rings is only $38.00 and they come in an array of colors. It was hard to decide! I may just have to get another set at that price (or maybe just some lotion for those hands, gees)! 

These  rings come in 8 different colors!! Here are some of the colors I loved...