Around the House: Painted Front Doors

Hello Monday. I'm greeting you with a freshly painted front door. It finally happened... the goodness of mint is covering my entryway. I hope to snap some pics today so that I can show the big reveal sometime this week. In the meantime, here are some amazing painted doors that show just why I feel in love with greeting guests in color!

yellow via

orange via

pink via

 robin's egg blue via

dual-tone via

orange via

I rest my case. Color glorious color! Hope this brightens your Monday after the long holiday weekend. xo

top image via plastolux

Around the House: Homestead Seattle (and The Chore I've Put Off For Years)

Just when I thought inspiration had flown the coop and there was nothing left to blog about I found Homestead Seattle via Instagram. Oh my heavens. Not only does this amazing team, Michele and Ryan, have incredible style, their finds are sold online and displayed in their showroom (which they happen to live above). It is a feast for the senses. Leather. Wool. Tapestries. Wood. Most of it second-hand and shown in a way that send send chills up my spine. Seriously, it's that good.

Seeing all of this amazingness has inspired me to rearrange/redecorate (with items I already own) and do a bit of much needed cleaning along the way. Maybe that's what finally got me to do this... I have been putting off the daunting task of cleaning my washing machine out with bleach and a scrub brush, but now that's it's done I wonder what took me so long? I'm a huge procrastinator and cleaning gross things causes my gag reflexes to get excited. Happy clean-ish Monday. So, are you a procrastinator? Please let me know I'm not alone. xo

Around the House: Plant Vibes

I'm crushing pretty hard on the whole 70's plant vibe that's so trendy right now. So much so, I was inspired to redecorate a bit. I like change...in the home. Home decor, that is. Adding a bit of greenery just seems to make things more cozy and inviting. Now I don't want to turn into a crazy plant lady where you walk into my home and think, "whoa, welcome to the jungle." But a nice mix here and there seems to breathe just the right amount of laid back hippie vibes into our home for the summer.

 via studded rose

 via breanna rose

 via design sponge

via vtwonen

After all, isn't that exactly what summer is supposed to be? Laid back. Welcoming. Inviting. I don't want to feel rushed, anxious or stuffy when I'm at home. It's my sanctuary and I'm there almost all day, everyday. I needed some summer calm in my home decor. xo

top image via local milk

Grow Up!

Five year olds want to be seven. Seven year olds want to be ten. Teenagers want to be 21 and I just want my decor to Grow Up. Weird huh? I'm not quite sure how one's decor can grow up, but there is something that seems a little, for lack of a better term, young about my home lately. Maybe it's because I have zero money to pour into the decor of our home so everything, and I mean everything, is thrifted. If I'm honest I also have a problem with buying things that I don't really need if they're under $5.00.

I follow Joslyn Taylor of Simple Lovely and if you've ever seen the interior of her home you will completely understand what I am about to say... she is a grown up. In the best possible way. She has this uber cool 70's vibe going with a mass dose of chic. That lady has style out the yang. When I grow up, I want my house to look like Joslyn's. Until then, I'll just drool over her pins and the homes you see here today. Slurp. Slurp.

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Happy Weekend all you grown ups and kids at heart! xo

top image via the zhush

Mint to Be

I'm sort of in love with all things minty, dusty green. It just seems so fresh and clean right now. Like that minty green color above? Yeah, I'm pretty sure my front door is begging to be painted that hue. Here are a few others currently tugging at my Spring strings.

The hubs and I shot the interior of this amazing Dallas home the other day that stopped me dead in my tracks with it's heavenly aroma. Sueded Tobacco from Aspen Bay's Reserve collection is the scent and the container has this beautiful dusty green luster. So good.

These dining room chairs seen on a House in the Hills. Drooling. They add just the right pop of color in the midst of all that natural wood and stunning white. Don't you think?

Now matter how hot it gets, I'm not giving up my coffee. This mint recipe from How Sweet It Is seems like the perfect refreshing summer drink. It's like Summer's version of Hot Cocoa. 

And if all of that isn't enough to make you swoon, Kirsten of Simply Grove has to go and paint her side table the perfect shade of minty green to brighten things up. I love the contrast with her neutral palette and gold and black blanket.

Are you in love yet?  I could have gone on and added desks, chairs and Jenna Lyon's silky green pants into the mix but I don't want you all thinking I've lost my marbles over a color. But... maybe I have. I feel like that little emoji that has the big goofy grin with the hearts for eyes. Yeah, that's me and mint. How about you? What are you loving right now? xo

door color dollop above via pure home

Trending Now: Pineapples

It's bananas! Pineapples are everywhere these days and it's got me longing for summer days on the beach (or backyard) with a pina colada in hand. Anyone else?

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Happy Fruitabulous Weekend! Let's all put our sunnies on, lay in our yards and pretend we're on holiday. Who's with me?

*top image via literally-obsessed

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

Peachy Keen

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I've been doing a little color research for a new project that I can't wait to tell you guys about. For now it's hush-hush. In the meantime, I wanted to share a color palette that I am absolutely bonkers over right now... peach, cream and slate blue, with a side of minty green. Seriously drool-y no? It's like fresh drops a Spring on an otherwise dismal day. So calming and fresh at the same time. 

What colors have your heart purring right now? xo

Friday Gems

Gems? Yes gems. Like diamonds in the rough. At first glance it looks like nothing, but look closer and a treasure can be discovered. My treasure in that heap of mess above? Well, two treasures really... the process of creating and the book I'm currently reading about it. 

A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman, has struck a chord with me. At times, it has struck a nerve. And I like that. It's opening my eyes to so much and driving me to create. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. Here are just a few excerpts from the pages I read last night for the chapter entitled, "See"

"When I am free and in good places, I trust their art {the art others make} and look to them to learn more of myself..."

[When I'm not] "Instead of being a friend, their art becomes the enemy... "

"To carry on [like this] is to worship the art rather than the Artist with a capital A. To carry on is to be pushed around by fear."  

"Fear drives out the love."  

Hello, Can I get an amen? This isn't what God wants and it isn't what He created me for. She proceeds on a positive note...

"The world needs you awake and alive. Does the world need another book? Song?  Painted living room? Not necessarily. But the world does need you to come alive right where you are and not where you WISH you were. If writing books or songs or painting living rooms is what makes you come alive, then that's what you'll need to do." (emphasis added by me.)

He has given each of us gifts and talents to be used for His glory. Far too often I squelch the fire within me to create because of a fear that it isn't good enough. No more. The idea is to create period because when I do, I feel connected to The Creator. And that is good. That is a gem, no matter the end product and how many "likes" it receives. Get ready world!!! I'm not quitting!

This little guy is one of my greatest creations to date. By God's grace I get to pour into his heart and help shape his world daily. Both of my boys inspire me in so many ways. 

For a little more motivation, check out this great video on "How to be Awesome" by the lovely Alison of The Alison Show. It's good stuff. So, what's your gift? What is the passion God has put within you? And more importantly, what are you doing with it? xo

Forgotten Without Departure

It wasn't intentional. I didn't mean to walk away from printed pieces of goodness. It just happened. So unexpectedly. And then Tuesday happened... With 30 minutes to kill and a bookstore on the way to my destination, I found myself enamored, engrossed and inspired by books all over again. I got completely lost. It felt so good. Like chocolate and red wine good. For some reason, inspiration was back and my inner critic that compares self to everyone else was gone.

When I look at other blogs, my inner critic is quick to point out that any idea I have is "not good enough." "That idea has already been done." "No one cares about that." "You can't do anything as well as her." And it leaves me paralyzed. That is one of the many reasons for my recent hiatus. I felt so stuck. With nothing to share. No desire to write or create. I seemed to have completely forgotten my love of books and magazines. Flipping the pages. The smells. The sounds. Every single sense being engaged. There's something quite beautiful about it.

The irony is that I'm surrounded by stacks and stacks of books in my home. I think I just forgot how engaging (and apparently non-threatening) they can be. They are so much more than the simple adornment I have relegated them to being. Their pages are filled with ideas, color, escape, possibility, teaching and on and on the list could go. Before Pinterest and the blogosphere, I would go to the book store almost every Sunday for 1-2 hours. I would find a comfy chair, stack my books high beside me and have my sketch pad at the ready. Now it seems, that I barely pause long enough to capture the detail of images; let alone be truly inspired by them. For some reason, books provide a separation between myself and the artist. There's no "follower" count, "likes" number or anything else that allows me to compare. I'm not so quick to judge myself. And honestly, think less of myself. It is simply creation, beauty and inspiration without measure. I like that.

Oh Lord, please don't let the internet do to books what MTV did to music videos. Books and magazines, both old and new, will forever have a place in my heart. And I promise, printed goods, I will do my best to never break up with you again. It's clearly bad juju for me. 

Let the flipping of pages, long pauses and inspiration commence! xo