layla grace…

Sep17

Maybe it’s because our house is in a constant state of renovation. Maybe it’s because I’m pregnant. Maybe it’s because their stuff is just so dang beautiful, but I’m enamored….

“Enamored with whom?” You’re asking yourself.

Layla Grace.

My friend Jen sent me a link to the website some time ago and I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the home and lifestyle company’s aesthetic. They offer something for everyone in the way of home decoration, personal style and children necessities. One minute I’m browsing through home accessories and the next I’m dreaming of crib bedding for Braden’s nursery or drooling over a delicious fall recipe on the blog! It’s a whirlwind of sweet ideas!

Layla Grace is breezy and substantial all at once. I adore that. To me, there is nothing better.

So go ahead, pour yourself another cup of coffee and take a daydream journey through some of their latest blog posts this morning. I know I am.

{Photo found: Layla Grace The Backroom} we're doing Braden's nursery in gray with pops of accent colors, which is probably why this layout appeals to me soooo much!

{Photo found: Layla Grace The Backroom} i'm dreaming of cozy fall fires and boots and apple picking and comfort with this...currently remodeling our living room space and adding beautiful details like these are on my to-do list!

{Photo found: Layla Grace The Backroom} i love how sweet, simple and traditional this crib is! for Braden, we're refinishing an older crib

{photo found: Layla Grace The Backroom} yum...that's pretty much all i have to say about this...what an easy and delicious fall snack!

can’t get enough of “Young House Love”!

Jul14

When a friend of mine recently dropped the name of a blog called “Young House Love,” I had never heard of it before. But you better believe I’m addicted now!!

John and Sherry Petersik

They are totally my kind of couple and as I sit here reading all of their tips, tricks and DIY ideas I am suddenly overcome with the undeniable urge to DO SOMETHING!! I feel like making a fabric headboard, repainting all of my trim, running down to IKEA, heading out to a thrift store, yanking all of the furniture out of our house and bringing it back in (or not) piece by piece until I achieve the exact look I’m going for…which might be hard, since I don’t have a detailed vision yet, just a feeling I desire to convey. So how do I get from here to there? Young House Blog even has a section to help you with that (Pin Down Your Style or Decorate in Stages)!!!

Check out this monogram art piece that I’m definitely going to replicate somewhere in my house (with an “F” of course)! SO easy and lovely!!!

Detailed instructions on how to create your own can be found here. (p.s. That’s a Halloween/fall motif they’ve set up on the entryway table.)

It really is one of the best step-by-step blogs I’ve ever come across and I’m sure it will be a repeat destination in my internet search history.

sixx design

May13

Has anyone else seen the Bravo TV show, “9 by Design?”

Image by The New York Times

I’ve become a little addicted to it. In case you don’t know, here’s a short overview: Husband and wife, Robert and Cortney Novogratz, have seven children….that’s right, seven. The ages range from 12 to 8 months or something like that. For the last 10 years they have been demolishing, renovating and redesigning old spaces into livable areas as the design firm, Sixx Design (named for the six children they had at the time).
Case in point, a recent episode highlighted the fact that one of the unconventional home spaces they were working on used to be a Manhattan sex club. Yeah…not your typical home renovation. Now, mind you, neither of them has any traditional training as designers. But they sure have a knack for it. You should see these uber cool, beautiful spaces they come up with!

Let me tell you what I love:

1) The kids names: Wolfgang, Bellamy, Tallulah, Breaker, Five, Holleder and Major. Right off the bat, they just sound like super cool people…though I know not everyone would agree with me, I love the names!

2)Their style: They have this wild, “I just threw this on” kind of messy downtown look to all of them, kids included. I love it.

3)And of course, their design aesthetic: Seriously, just watch the show (or check out their website) to see the amazing aesthetic this duo has!! They each come from the South and I think it definitely plays into their designs, which combine traditional with modern, vintage with contemporary and Southern antique with New York eclectic. If I had endless amounts of money, their design style is exactly what I’d be shooting for. Beautiful. Seriously. Check it out.

Image from Casa Sugar

Image from Magnificent Me

Image from WeHeart.

home improvement…

Feb1

Some of you know that my brother and his family moved in with us last year. We had the extra space for them, we just needed to do a little bit of renovation for us.

Somehow, I don’t think that need for renovation will ever end… 😉

To accomodate them, we gave them the two bedrooms and Jack/Jill bathrooms upstairs, as well as the finished basement space. But that meant Michael (and his dad and brothers) had to get to work on our own master bedroom/bathroom, which we had been using as storage space previously.

The master in this house was hardly “master.” It consisted of a strange hallway space that could be closed off, a small bedroom and a weirdly shaped, very dark, bathroom that is hard to explain unless you saw it. Additionally, there was no half-bath/”powder room” anywhere in the house.

We’re still not completely done…we need a few little touch ups here and there (ie. doorknobs, switch plates, drawer pull, ect.) But it’s light years away from where we started….see for yourself…

Oh, and stupidly I didn’t take pictures before the work started…I remembered to take pictures only once the entire space had been gutted. Here they are: