What I am Reading

Reading this and love it. Very inspiring.

My New Favorite Blanket

I was in Pottery Barn today shopping for some baskets when I spied this beautiful throw tucket away in a cubby.  It's perfect for a child's room for so many reasons.  It's stylish, soft and big - perfect for cuddling with adults.  I could see this draped over a glider in a nursery or at the foot of a bed for older children.

Or maybe in my living room.....

Put A Little Love In Your Room

Beautiful cashmere LOVE pillows on sale now at One Kings Lane.

Oh Happy Day!

Gas Lanterns installed! Yay!!!! I told my husband the very next house we live in, will have gas lanterns-nonnegotiable. They are worth every penny!

Baby Had a Little Lambskin

Create the perfect little cuddling spot for you and baby with these soft and affordable lambskins rugs.  They are the perfect size for any nursery big or small.  This one from BurkeDecor.com also comes in various sizes.

A Lambskin rug also makes a soft landing spot for the side of a bed.  Check out the Ikea version; great price and product!

Elevation Update: Progess on our home's exterior

You may be wondering why I've abandoned my blog for a while...let's just say its been for good reasons.  First, I am working like crazy to finish client projects and keep the business on track.  Below is a beautiful headboard slipcover I made for a local client.  She bought the headboard from Restoration Hardware Baby and Child and we slipcovered it in a cotton linen blend with silver/gray flange trim and monogram.  I wish this photo was better quality so you could appreciate how beautiful it really is.

Second, we are nearing the end of school and of course that means, school parties, events and lots of time consuming functions.

But third is one of the most exciting reason.  We started the exterior overhaul of our house.  Remember my original post here?  Work is well underway and about 3 weeks behind schedule.  Such is life, right?  Here are a couple of pictures to share, but remember this is mid way through. 

Some Befores

The ugly garden of weeds we purchased.  This area was behind a 40" tall brick wall that covered the entire front of the house.  I hated this area and knew the wall and weeds were goners.

The hideous and crumbling front door.  Don't let the red paints fool you, they are test patches for the new door.  The original door was a dark maroon.

 

The Afters (halfway through completion)

As you can see we painted the entire house Martin Senour's Linen Weave cut in half.  It gave the house a clean crisp new look and the color is a clean ivory.  We tried a lot of ivory colors and most were too yellow or white.  We also resided everything that wasn't brick and ripped out the brick wall.  Those mature boxwoods in the front are moving to the side of the house to cover the A/C unit and all new low to the ground beds are going in.

You know you're in bad shape when dirt looks better than what was there before.  We removed all the weeds, gravel and random plants and in its place will be a Pennsylvania Blue Stone patio for rocking chairs, wine and lazy afternoons.

Our new door and sidelights.  I went for a clean simple design since the architecture of our home is simple and slightly modern.  I have always dreamed of a red door so there it is and it's RED!  It still needs about 3 more coats of paint, but I am telling myself I'll get used to it.  It definitely screams WELCOME.  The color is Show Stopper by Sherwin Williams.

Still to come this week are the gas lanterns that will flank the front door and new painted cedar shutters and hardware.  I'll post again soon.

A girl can dream...

I wish I did not have 50,000 other projects in life right now that I need to finish, because if I didn't I would buy this painting by Janet Hill in a heartbeat.