Around the House: Making Room

It's Monday again, which sucks because yesterday pretty much felt like a Monday too. No bueno. It's one of those days where you were so busy the day before that you end up sending your children to school with cold hotdogs, no bread, and actually feel good about it because, "at least it was a hotdog with zero nitrates." Please tell me you've been there.

Yesterday was rainy and gross, so instead of going to the grocery store, I opted for finally (said with a deep sigh and eye rolling) cleaned out the spare room upstairs. It had remained our dumping ground for all things we didn't quite need to unpack yet... scrapbooks, photo albums, old tax documents, etc. You can see why they remained unpacked and really low on the totem-pole of my "to do" list. But I am overjoyed for the reason we suddenly needed to tackle said dumping ground. We are turning it into a sewing studio. I told you guys we are working on something really exciting and this is part of it. Now I just have to decide on the layout and other essentials. Desk against the wall? Floating? Rug? No rug? Storage? Displays? Inspiration Boards?

 1 | 2

1 | 2

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

It's all so very exciting. Here's the kicker...I'm trying to get this studio up and running, while spending zero dollars. Think I can do it? xo

top image via solid frog

Around the House: My Round Top Gift

Sisters do crazy things sometimes. The upside of this? Benefitting from their crazy. Last week, my sister forced me to go to Round Top with her during a crazy busy time for me. (Oh, and I should also mention that I had zero dollars to spend.) She and her hubs just moved and are now redecorating with an industrial/rustic look. Since she had never been to Round Top and I had been all of ONE time, I was now the expert. Bring on the miles and miles of vintage, rust, and story filled goodness.

We left Thursday, shopped all day and were back at it again early Friday morning. My sister got all kinds of amazing things from chairs, rugs and washtubs to an amazing, one of a kind, 8.5 foot farm table with railroad pipings (or something like that) for the base. Because my sister is a giver among givers, she bought me this amazing rug for my kitchen as a "thank you"/birthday gift. Y'all... I die. As if the trip wasn't great enough. Look at these amazing colors.

Come on... how sweet was that? We laughed till we cried, shopped till we dropped and had the best (and only) sister trip ever. I can't wait to do it again. We hope to make it an annual trip; not for the shopping, but for the good times and laughter. We talked the whole car ride down (4 hours) as if we were old friends that hadn't seen each other in years. (And y'all, we talk several times a week.) We needed this trip more than we needed the items that we brought back. It filled my heart and my soul to do something special with my sister that blessed her, and I think, brought us a little closer. That was the best gift of all.

Do you and your siblings take special vacations with one another? xo

Around the House: Inspired by Pegboards

Who says that peg boards have to be relegated to retail stores, kitchens and garages? They've been showing up all over the place lately - couple that with my love of polka-dots and I'm crushing pretty hard. I'm planning to do a little update in my boys' bedroom soon and thought I'd share my pegboard inspiration with y'all...

 nightstand

hello sign | art wall

union jack

happy birthday signage

grown up goodness

Are you inspired yet? How would you dress up your pegboard? Or would you even go there? 

Happy Monday homies. Let's do this! xo

top image found here

Around the House: It Ain't Easy Being Green

For years I have been a murderer of the plant variety. No matter my best intentions, plants come to my house to die. This Past year has been different. I've heard it said a dozen times that "it's all about the light." For years I scoffed. But now that my home has loads of natural light and an abundance of window, I'm finding that saying to be true. I guess that's kind of what makes it a saying.

my plants' mantra this past year... "I will survive."

the plants in this kinfolk spread via miss moss - i die

fern-a-licious via apartment therapy

Now that our temps are no longer hitting below freezing, I'm looking forward to moving some of my plants back outdoors, buying a few new ones to fill in the blanks and re-potting a few that need bigger homes. I recently read a post about house plants that help the air quality. Pretty and helpful. Love it. xo

PS - Many say that Jade plants are easy to maintain and great for us brown thumbers... I say - don't believe the hype! I've murdered many! RIP

first image via at swim two birds

Around the House: Exterior Makeover In Progress

First impressions are everything right? If that's true, and I'm pretty sure it is, then I want people to feel welcome the minute they drive up to my home and knock on the door. In fact, for many, I'd like them to skip the knocking and come on in. That is warmth, familiarity and inviting. I want that for my home.

That "before" picture above is somewhat welcoming, but not our vision for what we knew this home of ours could be. Since it's been warm out and my FIL had just wrapped a job, the hubs asked him to come down to Texas for some family time and a much needed facelift on the front of our home. This is a glimpse of what has been completed to date: old siding ripped down, cedar installed, beams covered, stain, new house numbers and a fresh coat of paint on the mailbox. Basically their part is almost finished and now it's time for me to add the accessories. 

Here's the progress we've made so far, via iphone...

Accessories provide the warmth and welcoming feelings that I hope to achieve. Plants, Tiffany blue painted door, light fixture and door mat. We're doing native plants in the beds; mostly cactus that require very little water and a few rocks to add depth and more texture. I had originally hoped for a big beautiful fiddle leaf fig in the front right corner by the front door, but it's Texas and I fear the heat would death. (Either that or my brown thumb.) Now I'm thinking I might need to play it safe and go with a snake plant.

1 | 2 | 3

I love that door mat. Funny huh? Feeling a DIY on that bad boy. And maybe I'll add some color to my cream plant pot. Hmm... I'm so excited. We are getting so close. Now if Spring would just show up and stay around a bit longer so that our grass can go back to it's lovely shade of green instead of brown. That would be the cherry on top!

Happy Monday y'all. xo

Around the House: Spring Patio

Happy Monday and a big Texas sized Happy Spring Break as well. We kicked our Spring Break off with a few friends gathered around our fire in the back yard. And though we have spent a lot of time around our fire pit lately, the patio remained neglected with about 10,000 leaves gathered under, around and behind our glider. Our poor patio was in desperate need of some serious TLC.

I moved everything off the patio, cleaned and swept. The stage was set for the amazing goodness I found at Target the other day. 

Here's the goodness. Doesn't look like much right now, but when you zoom into that red outlined rectangle... it gets real good. Nate Berkus gold "trash cans" marked down from $39.99 to $11.98. Not only is the price to die for, they are heavy. Really heavy. Like, flip them upside down and sit on them heavy. Hello side tables with a bonus of extra seating when needed.

At first I thought I'd set them to the sides of the glider and add a throw for an extra bit of warmth on those nights when the temps are still dipping pretty low.

I like it, but it feels unfinished. More changes... more textures. a better use of space and some pillows.

 Ahh... much better...

I'll bring out the blanket when it's needed. And as soon as it warms up a bit more, I'll be adding more plants. Eeek. I'm so excited to sit out here with warm breezes, books and wine. All the old wooden crates that used to be on our patio are being put on the wall in our mudroom for extra storage. Sneak peaks of that soon. How are you getting ready for more days and nights outside?

Around the House: Spring Fever

Outside it is completely white. Ice. And as much as I love a good wintery plaid and logs by the fire, I'm ready to spruce things up with bright colors and florals. Aren't you?

 print | colorful cushions (source unknown)

 botanicals | floral print

floral room | floral paper

skateboard | weaving

Saturday in Dallas we enjoyed an 80 degree sunny day. The day before that it was in the high 70's. And now schools are cancelled again due to ice and I'm forced to don my fake fur vests once more. Oh Spring, wherefore art thou Spring? Give me blushed cheeks, floral cushions, buds in vases and color galore. Amen? xo

floral image up top

Around the House: 5 Minute Bench Makeover

Happy Monday and MLK Day. I'm popping in for a quick DIY that some of you may be inspired to try today if your weather is as insanely gorgeous as ours has been. My friend gifted me this bench when she moved into her new mid-century modern. I love it. Clean simple lines and the perfectly worn wood. Mmm... 

And as perfect as it is, I couldn't help but feel that it needed a little spice. A bit of gold.

Once the sun began to set we threw a few logs into the pit, sat by the fire and grilled marshmallows. I love, love, love our firepit. I'm so glad we had it built. Our family gathers around the fire quite often and watching the flames is proving to generate good conversation. That warms my heart more than the flames warm my feet.

 Yup, gold stripes... they will do quite nicely.

Enjoy your three day weekend! xo

Around the House: That 70's Vibe

Have you felt it? That subtle pull towards 70's decor? From wall hangings to southwest rugs and prints to cactus and hanging planters, it's all making a comeback. In fact, I'll just go ahead and say, it's back. I can't decide which was the driving force, the handmade movement or the minimalist/modernist movement or both. No matter how it got here, I'm smitten. I love all of it, and want to cram it all into our home, much to my husband's dismay. He would prefer a gentle nod to the 70's with a modern focus.

living room via apartment therapy

lauren and chad's vintage digs via apartment therapy

bedroom via apartment therapy

1 | 2 | 3

Are you feeling it? The brass. The warm woods. The pottery. If rustic undertones and antlers were THE trends for 2013, I think this is where we're headed for 2014. Ya dig? xo

top image via ernests