Updated House Tour

Hey Everybody. So today I'll be showing you a more updated version of my home tour. Our home is going on the market, so overall there's less stuff. Let me know what you think. 

The Foyer

  

The Kitchen

 The Dining Room

The Living Room

(this actually needs to get updated, but when I was taking the pictures, I was washing the slipcovers. So I'll get that to you soon. I have the new pillows, and also the top of the bookcases are a lot less busy

The Downstairs Bathroom

The Mudroom

The Upstairs Hallway

 The Master Bedroom

There is an update with this too, that I'll show you soon.

The Nursery

My Office

  

The Upstairs Bathroom

You can also go here to see the old house tour.

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!

Foyer Re-do & Hydrangea Potted Plant

Today I want to talk a little about our foyer, and also planting a house plant. Here's our foyer last spring time

I'm a huge fan of that picnic basket under the table. I love the texture.

And at Christmas time we moved the table out, and added the tree and chair for presents.

And this is how it is now.

The chair I already had, but I liked adding a little color. I also added in the rug a couple months ago. As I look at this picture I feel like the lamp is the right height for the table but too tall for the chair. So I might just switch it out for another lamp.  I also love this round mirror, I'll have to get a close up for you guys.

Curious about my hydrangea? Ps. Totally my favorite flowers. I love them in any and all colors.

I purchased 2 of these from Home Depot. They are $12 each, but because they were in the wrong place, I was able to get them for $6. The point of this house plant is to enjoy, and then come the warmer weather to plant in our yard.

I took off the awful wrapping, and gently removed the plant from the pot. Just like you'd do with planting.

 Here you can see the difference. The left is so much more classy I think.

They are actually potted in the same pot, I just had spray painted one before.

I just think its gorgeous. There is nothing better than real flowers in the house. I put the terracotta colored pot in here to give some color. Its a very off white space.

And a little close up

And again what the foyer looks like now.

Do you have house plants this year? I cant tell you how much I'm enjoying them.

Have a great day!

Id LOVE your help

Hi everyone, Today I'm really asking for your help. As we all know picnik is closing in April and I'm wondering what everyone's solution is. Like many I'm looking for a a site that offers as much or close to, and is free. What will you be using? And my second question is how to you organize your pictures on your computer. Right now I have a HOUSE folder and that breaks out to the rooms in my home. I'm wondering if I now need to go through and delete all my random pictures and ones that were not edited. The problem is its also nice to have the edited picture with no web address too. And so far I only have the edited web address pics. I'm just fining that my camera is full and each folder is so filled its hard to look through and find what I want. So How do you organize your pictures on your camera and computer? Thanks have a fabulous day! Jen

Saying no

I know I was on "vacation" last week. So I'd love to pretend that I actually relaxed, got a massage, got some time to myself. But in all honesty that's not why I took my "vacation"

 

I needed a break from the pressure of posts to be able to handle some stuff.

I did some gardening, I"m tired and sore and I even got a little sunburn.

I cleaned out my attic. This is huge, my attic was where things and items went to die.

I made a to do list wayyyyyyyy too long for preparation of our open house. And got it all done.

We booked a vacation to California. I'm really excited.

I shopped for this vacation 

I had 2 appointments as an interior designer in one weekend. I loved them both. More on that to come.

We bought suits for my husband

I had 2 drs appointments

I was awfully sick, and needed a day in bed to rest.

 

Sometimes you just need to take off the pressure, admit that you can't do it all, and that you need the time.

I needed the time. Thanks so much for the people who wrote that they'd be here when I got back. It was so simple and sweet, but it touched my heart.

 

Vacation Time!

Hi Everyone,

I'll be taking this week off to spend some time with my family, and do some spring cleaning around the house. I'll be back next Monday, have a wonderful week!

Jen

clean 100%

Clean 100% when you clean.

BH&G 

Finish what you start. Don't clean the whole house but vaccuum and sweep later. or clean (                    ) later because you are too tired now.

A 100% clean house stays cleaner for longer than an 80% or even 90% clean home.

Do you want to know why? Perception. 

When your home is 100% clean every one walks on eggshells. You put your dishes straight into the dishwasher, your husband even puts his clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor.

Visually we see the cleanliness, the order, the time spent on making it clean and everyone does a little bit more out of respect for the cleaner and for trying to preserve it.

When we see little messes around the house, subconsciously we don't feel the need to go that extra step of putting away our dishes, we know we can get to it later. 

So when you clean take the time to do it all, and watch how your family reacts. Try cleaning only 80% next time, see how everyone reacts then. I can't be sure that this will work in every household, I'm not a scientist or anything, but that's how things work around here, and somehow it still surprises me. 

I hope you all have a Fabulous Weekend!

-Jen

Hardwoods vs Carpet Debate

The hardwood/carpet debate is going strong in my home right now. I wouldn't mind if a few of my friends came up with some great reasons to win my case.

Here are the facts:

• We live in a 120 year old Victorian home
• The upstairs has all hardwoods under the carpet

• These hardwood floors whisper to me late at night that they are beautiful and lonely and need to be exposed
• We made the mistake of putting down cheap carpet 2 years ago, and now its horrible and I scream everyday about how I hate it, and how its ruined several vacuums and how its trying to ruin my life. (slight exaggeration)
• The hardwoods will probably need some wo$rk if we want to have them
• New carpet can get pretty expen$ive too. Especially now that we know cheap carpet really stinks.

My husbands defense:

He thinks all bedrooms should be carpeted. He doesn't want to walk in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and have cold feet. His whole argument is based around how his feet feel when they first get up. He thinks we should just replace the carpet, and even called empire to come out ( We had to cancel for a dr's appointment, but now they call every night like an x boyfriend who just wont give up.)

My argument:

My husband never gets up in the middle of the night, but I do, and I don't mind cold feet. Our carpet is ugly, and hardwoods are beautiful. If you have hardwoods that you show them. We can get area rugs so when our feet touch the ground they go the rug instead of the wood ( in this imaginary scenario where my husband uses the bathroom at night)

Here's a picture before we moved in.

And here's so pictures of the carpet

It doesn't look so bad in pictures. But its very low pile in the places that we walk, and its hard to vacuum and the difference between high traffic areas and non high traffic areas make it look like the carpet is 20 years old instead of 2 years old.

Alright ladies- Its your turn, give me your wisdom, your opinions your amazing a ha moments that will make my husband come around! He's one of those super easy going, nothing ever bothers him kind of guys. But he hates hardwood floors in the bedroom, I've never seen him so passionate about an issue. I need help!

Nursery Details

Thank you everyone for your sweet words on Friday about my daughters nursery makeover. We are so happy with it, and the whole feeling the room has now.

So today I'm going to go over all the details in case you liked something, and wanted to know the source.

The changing pad was $20 and is from Babies R Us. We had a gift card, so it was free. The little fur rugs are from Ikea and are $10 each. My daughters favorite thing is stuffed animals, so she lays down on these and gives them hugs, its sort of adorable.

First little canvas- used arcylic paint mix of black and white, and then drew on it with chalk $0. Fish frame Ikea $10. White canvas I had already bought a 48 pack of crayons (from $ store) and used a hairdryer to melt $1. Flower painting- Already had $0. You are my sunshine $1 target $1-$2.50 bins a couple of months back. Grey Canvas- I already had the canvas, I just painted it and got pom poms from the $1 store. $1
Total= $13 gallery wall

The sheets are from Babies R Us. They were $20 but I had a gc, so they were free. And the bumpers are Carters on Amazon and were $33

This shelf is from Ikea, naturally. It's $20 and 73 inches long, I"m kind of in love. The little lamp on the shelf I had from a garage sale a couple of years ago. The standing lamp is also from Ikea.

The owl pillow/stuffed animal was $20 from Pier One. The pom poms are sold 3 in a pack at Party City for $7 each. I'm sure its really easy to make them yourself, but for me it was easier to buy them and just unfold and fluff and be done with it.

This painting I absolutely LOVE! The colors, the shapes, the way it looks like it was drawn out first. Originally this was at world market for $125 and I really liked it there. I bought this from Home Goods with an incorrect ticket. The real price was $60, but they honored the $24.99 that was on the ticket. Hello and goodbye...mama got a deal. Sorry. I got really excited. The owl is also from home goods and was $9 on clearance, and I spray painted him Krylon sun yellow. The gold apple is from Pier One and was $3.

This birdcage we already had, and I just filled with some vintage books. The little gold bird was $1.69 at Christmas tree shops years ago.

This mirror I actually stole out of the office, I felt like this dresser needed something tall. And I always love mirrors. The birdcage I already owned, and filled with some moss rocks I had. The little bird bath I already had too, and I filled it with my daughters bows.

That corner light is the foto light from Ikea. Its the exact same thing that I have in my office. It is really perfect for our pre-bedtime diaper change, the light is soft and dim because we have the antique bulb in it. We also already had it, so it was a nice way of adding light for free. The big grey and white rug is herringbone and from Urban Outfitters. It was $77.

These picture frame wall shelfs are also from ikea. They are $15 each, but they are perfect for books, and really added so much pretty and function to a wall that basically would get no attention otherwise.

The 3 canvases I had, but just painted. Both picture frames are from ikea and are $5 each. One has a map of Scotland in it because thats where I was born and most of my family live, and the other has a really simple 1-20 written in crayons. I'm loving the driftwood heart which I found at Home goods for $15. The little bird hook was bought in a super cute antique store at the beach. Total = $15

Book Shelves & Gallery Wall = $45

And that's it. If I didn't mention where something was from it's because I forget or I know for sure it's too old and it wont be there anymore.

Have a fabulous day!