Dream Home - Guest Room Suite

Now we are getting into the really fun rooms to decorate - the Bedrooms!! In my dream home I would have a guest suite as part of the main house AND a whole separate guest quarters - like a mother-in-law suite. That will come later, for now, here is my guest suite:



The hubby's favorite color is yellow and I'm loving the yellow and grey combo so I thought this would be fun to have in this type of room. Tying in the touches of turquoise found throughout the rest of the house, I added the tide pillow and a few other accents:


A small turquoise cake stand for jewelry or wallets or pocket lint:


An alternative lamp option is this turquoise coral lamp, but I do LOVE the mercury lamp in the collage:


This fun tray would be nice to have some bottled water and some snacks for guests while bringing a bit of turquoise cheer:


And lastly, a little bluebird for happiness:


Going back to the main color of the room, yellow! I love the seahorse pillow but I was thinking I could paint something similar on some white canvas and voila we have easy and pretty cheap wall art. I think I would stick with a white wall color and white ceiling fan as well.

Here is the guest bathroom:



I love the yellow sliding barn door! How awesome is that! The bathroom would bring out more of the grey color - with a similar grey color on the walls as the barn door picture. I don't imagine the bathroom to be huge or anything, just a simple pedestal sink, white medicine cabinet, shower with the great yellow and grey splash shower curtain and of course a toilet - obviously.

I really like the simplicity of these fixtures from Restoration Hardware:


For lighting, I like the matching sconces with a bright white lamp shade:


I do love the chandelier in the collage, but I also kind of love this one as well:


And who can resist some pretty fan coral on a black and grey background to keep the beachy theme going!

I'm really excited about this suite because I think our guests would be very comfortable and its just a little bit different from the rest of house, so it's a true get-away! What do you think? How do you feel about the resurgence of grey? I think it's pretty great - in moderation.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Dream Home - Office

I know, I know...it's taken me way too long to post this but I've been busy finding inspirations and such...so, without further ado, here is the dream board for my dream home office:



I imagine this same setup to be symmetrical on the other side of the room so both the hubby and I have a space and plenty of space for the kiddos one day. The color of the desks and cabinetry would be very similar to what I chose for the kitchen as well. Although I do kind of like that these are a little more turquoise as opposed to baby blue.

One of the must haves for me is a ton of storage space, which is probably what drew me to this inspiration room- there are a ton of cabinets! It'll be perfect for work, crafting, gift wrapping, homework, etc! There is enough room for everything!

As you can tell from the dream board, I love The Container Store!! I love the white lace looking desk sets for myself with a few of the navy blue ones mixed in - of course the opposite for the other side of the room.

I would also like to have some random and quirky office supplies thrown in - I love the little bird paper clip holders, aren't they fun! They are from Cute as Pie Office Supply.

I love the huge cork board hanging on the wall, great place for fun inspiration ideas! On another wall these dry erase wall calendar dots from Pottery Barn Teen will keep everyone on schedule:


What do you think about it?! Does anyone else ever dream about a home office! Ha! What types of things would you need to have to make it functional for you?

Babies, babies and more babies...

To say that I may be obsessed a bit is putting it mildly, but I'm completely addicted to crochet. I love the fact that I'm creating something completely from scratch. It's pretty awesome and it keeps me busy when I get bored! This is the third blanket I've made so far and it's for another friend's baby boy! Geez..all of my friends have babies, hmmm...

Anywho, I digress...I love the colors of this one, I may have to use them again for something because they are just so bright and cheery.

I didn't use a pattern again for this one, I just made up some stripes of course. However, I did use two different stitches again. This time the double crochet for the colored stripes and single crochet for the white. I like the double crochet a lot, it kind of gives it a little bit more of an airy feel.


It is going to be awhile before I post another blanket because the next recipient is the hubby and he is very tall!! So far I've had to restart the blanket 3 times to make sure its the right size!

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to all of the men and women who serve our country! I'm very lucky and proud to have served with some of the best of them!

My Newest Creation

Here is my newest crocheted creation. I made it for another one of my friends' babies - but she's not really a baby anymore! Anyway, I went with a little different stitch - a half double stitch. I still did stripes just because it's the easiest for me to do without an actual pattern. Not to mention that I don't always understand the patterns that I find!! I also made it a lot smaller this time...this is more Kelly size than Zoli size.

Dream Home - Laundry/Mud Room

In my perfect Dream Home there is the entrance that goes into a hallway with a half bath and leads into the great room/dining/kitchen area. From the kitchen/dining room side a hallway leads to the garage (in the front) and then in the back is the laundry room/utility room. There is also an office on this side but that'll be featured next.

In my true Dream Home I would have a nice huge laundry room complete with a mud-room (instead of the craft area seen in this photo) similar to this from My Home Ideas:


But...in the real world, I'll be lucky to just get a small closet with room for a washer/dryer and maybe some cabinets.

Either way, the laundry room will be solely my domain since the Hubby doesn't always pick the right settings so I get very nervous. Because of this I want to decorate with one of my favorite colors - PINK!

I adore this wallpaper from York Wallcoverings:


As for decor, these fashion prints from Chad Barrett would be fun:




As for the washer and dryer - I would like glossy white or a platinum color - of course an energy star appliance as well. Any cabinetry would be white with these very girly knobs from Restoration Hardware:


For the Mud Room side I would like something like this set up from - of course - Pottery Barn:


And for the piece de resistance - a chandelier for the lighting! I know its so over the top for a laundry room, but hey, why not! I would definitely try to find something cheap at a flea market or something and spray paint it white - or maybe even black! That would be fun! The look I have in mind though is similar to this chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids:


The Office is up next and then moving on to the bedrooms!! Yay!

Dream Home - Kitchen/Dining

Planning your Dream Home kitchen is a tough task and virtually impossible to cover everything, so the following inspiration board gives you the general idea and decor but not all the exact details.



The layout that I imagine is the living area of the great room opens up to the dining area which is right next to the kitchen (similar to the middle Home Idea room). I know a lot of people think that a formal dining room is necessary but if I had to give up a room, that would be the one. I'd rather have a nice big dining table with comfy chairs and bench close to the kitchen so you can actually enjoy your guests company as you cook! That's half the fun!!

For the Kitchen and Dining room I would like the sea blue to take over. I pretty much love everything about the My Home Idea Kitchen at the top left. Those blue cabinets are perfect!! The only thing that I would possibly change is instead of the silver accents it would be bronze/copper. I just love the copper look, but the silver also looks awesome. For the counters, in a perfect world, I would go with the Perla di Sabbia Granite countertop from Granite Transformations and a dark wood butcher block for the island.

I also like the open shelving and cream walls. Speaking of walls - I kind of image the board and batten from the living area with a darker khaki color on top to continue through the dining room and then end once it meets the kitchen and turn in to a shade or two lighter cream but all in the same color realm.

You are probably wondering - "Roosters? Roosters in Hawaii?!" Well, I've always loved the idea of having a rooster decor in my kitchen - not going over board or anything. Two reasons why they will work in this dream home are: 1) it'll tie in the coral color from the living area and 2) if you've ever been to Kauai - well, you know that there are a crap load of chickens and roosters walking around all over the place!!

We already have some good dishes, but there are some that will probably go including our purple, red, and vegetable design bowls. We will keep the cream plates as well as our putty colored plates. I also found some great rooster bowls and mugs at...wait for it....TJ Maxx of all places!! I know we shouldn't have bought anything that we have to move, but I couldn't resist! I think all of these would be perfect with the shiny blue set and a few more cream and sea creature plates shown above..I think they are all from Pottery Barn.

I went ahead and decided to include the dining room in here as well since it is kind of the same room. I LOVE the rustic wood table from Pottery Barn (yes, if I could live in a Pottery Barn catalog, I would!). One side would be a bench and the other I think would be something like these slip covered chairs:


The blue stripes would be fun but I'd have to see if it is maybe too much, otherwise I would go with the cream ones...and yes, I would stain guard them first!!

Lastly, the lighting. I love the pendant lights above the kitchen island and I must have the gorgeous capiz shell rectangular chandelier from West Elm. Isn't it perfect with that table!

What do you guys think? Will it all go with the rest of the house?

My Distraction

This blanket is what I was completely obsessed with finishing and caused my lapse in writing. I wanted to wait to post about it until I knew my friend received it. So, here is the story behind the whole thing....

One of my bestest friends is expecting her first baby, a little girl, anytime now and I wanted to make something for her. Initially I wanted to cross stitch a baby sampler but I was having a really hard time finding something that would match the nursery which is pink and a brown animal print of some kind. While looking for a cross stitch kit I found this yarn...


I decided that I would learn how to crochet and make a baby blanket! That wouldn't be too hard, right? Well, the first night I tried I could not for the life of me figure it out. After a temper tantrum and calling my mom to complain about the fact that I couldn't figure it out, I decided to give it one more try and I figured it out! Well, I only figured out how to single crochet but I figured that would be fine. Here is a close up of the single crochet...


I started out with 300 stitches, which I thought would be a good length. I wasn't using a pattern or anything, I was just going to make a small baby blanket with the Neopolitan yarn. Well, I soon figured out that it was really really long and an entire blanket of that same colored yarn would be boring. So, I decided to make stripes with the solid colors...


Needless to say the blanket turned into an adult size..it was actually perfect size for my hubby whom is 6 foot 2! Oh well, the little one will grow into it!


Now that this project is done, moving on to finishing the Scrapbook!

Dream Home - Great Room - Living Area

I apologize for the delay in posts, I've been completely consumed by a new project of mine which I will post about later once it's complete. In the mean time, here is the inspiration board for my Great Room living Area.



I'm going with the 60/30/10 rule. Sixty percent browns and khakis, thirty percent blues, and ten percent coral. I would love a couch similar to the one above from Pottery Barn in a camel color. I love the chaise lounge aspect to it, so that is a must. Z must have a nice leather recliner so I'm thinking a chocolate brown color would be perfect. For the island aspect, I'll include the pretty rattan side chair as well, Pottery Barn, World Market and Pier 1 all have some great options.

As accents to the seating area I would go with the neutral sea creature pillows mixed with coral pillows and some blue striped pillows (I love stripes!).

The painting of Pele - Hawaiian Goddess of fire - is the perfect piece for over the TV stand from World Market. The coordinating shelves will be perfect places for our keepsakes from around the world - which I have pictures of but they are on our external hard drive and I am feeling lazy right now.

To tie everything together, I think this rug from MItchell Gold and Bob WIlliams would be awesome:


Lastly, I absolutely adore this look of board and batten, but with a khaki wall color:


What do you think? Next up, the kitchen....

Dream Home - Half Bath

This is the inspiration board for my Dream Home Half Bath:


I'm sure you are saying to yourselves - "What is with the stripes?!" But, I figure that it is more likely for me to get a half bath or guest bath than a separate entryway so I will definitely have these beautiful Chocolate stripes!!!

I basically adore everything about the idea bathroom that I found at My Home Ideas. The stripes are perfect and I thought I could use some vintage Hawaii posters or even postcards as decoration. I found the awesome vanity and great lighting at good old Pottery Barn. You may be wondering why I didn't go with a round sink similar to the one in the Idea picture. Well, I used to want one and I do think they look great, however we have one at work and I don't actually love it. So, I have started to go away from that look. Besides I love the idea of the sink being so huge! You don't have to worry so much about cleaning a counter top and the clutter that can build up. (Is this a sign of laziness?)

I was thinking this mirror would be awesome. I might even be able to make something similar myself. This particular mirror is called Rock Candy Mirror from Marjorie Skoras Design (same place as the Entryway Chandelier).


The floor is an awesome custom colored bamboo from NikzadFlooring. It is a frosted white micro bevel and would really brighten it up I think.


To finish off the look, I would use some pretty monogramed plush towels from Pottery Barn.


I think that I might actually be able to pull off this look, besides the flooring which is a little on the expensive side, but where there is a will there is a way!

P.S. I apologize for the dramatic use of the word "awesome" in this post - but lets face it, the room is pretty awesome! Ha!

Awesome Idea

Just to make sure no one freaks out - NO, I am not pregnant and this is not my child! But I will have one of my own someday, hopefully, and I saw this awesome photo project at Young House Love.

They take pictures of the their cute baby girl every week on different fabrics with a simple white onesie. Then, they photoshop the week number on the onesie. It is so cute and an awesome idea. Check it out here:

Young House Love: Where Do Baby Photos Come From

Scrapbook Project

I know that you are all waiting on pins and needles for My Dream Home - Hall Bath, but I'm having some troubles finding certain items so you will have to wait a little bit. In the mean time, I'd like to share with you my latest project - Scrapbooking!

I've always been a scrapbooker, I have a Scrapbook for each year of college + other events that seem to be eternally in progress! Currently though, I was asked by my Step Mom to make a Scrapbook for my beautiful and talented step sister whom is graduating from High School this year! Ah! She is on a dance team at school called the Trojan Belles. They are pretty great and have been around for a LONG time so as you can imagine an organization like that tends to take over your High School experience....ie, she has a lot of stuff - I mean memories - that would probably just end up stored away in a box and forgotten. Enter the scrapbook:

I usually try to organize my scrapbooks in chronological order but this time I think I'm going to go with events - Football games, competitions, shows, trips, etc...

These are the stacks of things I'm going through, just waiting on some more pictures and then we can actually start designing pages!


I'm going for a girlie and glitzy feel while also paying homage to the school colors (blue and gold). I found this great scrapbook and solid paper at good old Michaels:


And then of course I like to throw in some fun paper and stickers and Bling!

You always need Holiday stuff and they sell poinsettia's at Christmas as a fundraiser - I'm pretty sure they hold the market for poinsettia sales in Austin! Ha!


Can't go wrong with Football (and pink glitter letters)!


They took a fun trip to New York her first year on the team, so this is crucial (again glitter is a must)!


This paper is just awesome! It's perfect for competitions or their shows!


And some fun girlie items are always necessary (who doesn't love zebra print paper)!


Hopefully this will all work out and come together nicely! I think it's going to be fun! I'll post my progress and some of the fun pages periodically!