Baby Girl's Nursery

Welcome to the little one's nursery!
I was hoping for a sunny morning this week to get some good photos

because this room gets the most beautiful am light...

but the weather has not been cooperating. 

Hopefully once she makes her grand appearance, 

we'll get some better newborn photos in here.

When you first walk into the room, this little nook is to the left.
Space for toys and books and my comfy glider.

The armoire is an antique piece that the husband refinished.
It's perfect for blankets, bibs, shoes, and clothes.
Lots of extra storage.
We replaced the wooden knobs with some
fun polka dotted knobs and a handle from Anthropologie.

This is your view when you look to the right.
Crib and dresser.

And the sweet birdie mobile.

I think I've professed my love for elephants before...I can't get enough.
And the E pillow...a clue as to her first name.

Some details.
Tiny bows & headbands,
Penguin classic books,
An empty frame that will soon hold one of our maternity photos,
And lots of little hats and socks.

So there you have it.
Now all we need is baby!

Crib & Dresser: Land of Nod
Armoire: Family antique
Cubed bookshelf: Unfinished furniture store
Floating Shelves and bookshelf: Pottery Barn Kids
Glider: The Best Chair Storytime Series
Floor lamp and mirror: Restoration Hardware Baby
Area Rugs: Pottery Barn Kids
Curtains: Land of Nod
Bedding: Little House by Annette Tatum
ABC Print: Rifle Paper Company
Wall Decals: Etsy Seller LoveMae
Pouf: Etsy Seller aletafae
Be Filled with Joy Print: Etsy Seller The Wheatfield
Mobile: Blabla
Elephant Hamper: Home Decorators

House Update: The Living Room

Thanks for your sweet comments on yesterday's post.

Our living room is more of a work in progress,

but we have made some strides in the last month.

 The little sliver of doorway there on the right is the front entryway, to give you some perspective.

On the left is my little writing desk. 

We found the piece at an antique auction and the hubs made it look like new!

It's perfect for writing bills and thank you notes :)

The gallery wall has been up for a while, 

but I'm always considering adding a little more here and there.

That black task lamp will be replaced with something more attractive, 

we're on the hunt!

A close up of the gallery wall, before I added the mirror.

On the left, our fall mantel-scape.
I'm getting excited to decorate for our first Christmas in the house!
And on the right, our couch and coffee table, across from the wing chairs.
I'm in search of some patterned pillow covers and a cozy throw.

Our bookshelves could use some help, but it's a start.

This weekend we finally lit our first fire in the fireplace

And the house didn't burn down.

I see many more of these cozy nights in our future.

I think Lilly approves!

A Facelift & Some House Updates

My blog finally got a little makeover this weekend 

thanks to the sweet and lovely Brooke from Bright Wishes. 

I kinda gave her free reign as far as the design goes,

except that I wanted something clean and simple
And I think she delivered.

I'll be updating the about me & our family sections sometime this week :)

In other news, we've been checking things off of our
"to do before baby" list pretty regularly these days.

We had a bunch of small house and decorating projects
that we've been wanting to do for months

and there's nothing like a baby on the way to light a little fire under your butt.
It's hard to believe almost a year has gone by since we moved in to our first place.
My, how things have changed!

First up, our dining room.
If you remember months and months ago,
I gathered some inspiration for a plate wall.
It took a little while to form my collection
but I think it was worth the wait.

A close up of the plate wall
And the view of the dining room from the breakfast nook.
We would like to eventually add a buffet under the large wall mirror.

We added a couple end chairs to the dining room table.

The chairs are from Pier One and I love how the compliment the colors
in our Pottery Barn rug.
I'm thinking of possibly continuing the plate wall theme
in that empty space on the wall on the right.
What do you think?

Tomorrow I'll share some living room updates.
It took us almost a year, but we finally have some furniture in there!

Nursery Inspiration

We've started piecing together our little girl's nursery!

It's one of the things I am most excited about, 

and how can you not be with the wonderful world of Pinterest  

and amazing inspiration out there?

It's been consuming my thoughts and free time in the best way possible :)

These are some favorite images I've saved for inspiration.

via

I love the soft colors of these two nurseries.

via

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The room will definitely have a reading nook, similar to this, around the glider. Love it.

via, via

I'm also loving the idea of an armoire.
Looks cute and adds extra hanging space and storage? I'm sold.

Here is a little of what we have so far.
This past weekend, I went to Sherwin Williams and attempted to pick a paint color.
We wanted something in a coral/pink tone, but kind of pale and muted.
I bought two samples and luckily one of them seems to fit the bill.

Sherwin Williams Oleander

The crib, from Land of Nod, that my parents bought for the baby girl.
I absolutely love it and can't wait for it to get here!
{unfortunately it is back ordered until October...boo!}

 This is the bedding I'm pretty set on. It's by Annette Tatum from Layla Grace and I'm kind of in love with it.
The colors and patterns are beautiful and think the blue compliments the pink/coral color perfectly.

Some prints I purchased off etsy for the reading nook. I have a thing for cute elephants :)
The seller is trafalgarssquare,I highly recommend her!

  The ABC print was one of my very first baby related purchases from Rifle Paper Co.
It actually looks hand painted and the animals are too cute.
The wall decals are another accessory I'm considering. These are from etsy.

So that's what we've got so far.
I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Where I blog.

Also known as the den/tv room (with no tv, yet..)/sun room/zen room. 

Also known as my new favorite spot in the house. It's so nice to be able to sit somewhere other than the basement! I give all the wallpapering credit to my hubs and father in law. They were rock stars one weekend and got it all up which saved us some serious money. Who knew hiring someone to wallpaper a room with three walls could be so expensive!? 

Well, now we all understand why...it's not easy!

The room isn't completely done, but is anything ever completely done? I feel like we're already constantly switching things up. I guess that is the beauty of interior decorating and accessorizing in general though. You can always make small changes, and make an impact. We're planning on adding some things here and there, but I wanted to share our progress. I am kinda in love.

This room is right off the kitchen, so this is the view from the doorway.
That comfy couch is my blogging spot :)

Close up of the grasscloth wallpaper! We're on the hunt for a mirror to go in between these two windows. 

Puppy is included!
We were thinking of some floating shelves behind the chair to display some photos and accessories.

The door to the left of the chair leads to the mud room & garage,
so this is just a convenience for keys and such.

View out to the deck & yard.
Please excuse my un-hemmed curtains. They are on my to-do list.

I love how the circles in the lamp mimic the legs on the ottoman.
Just noticed it right now as I sit here and look at the photos!

That empty wall is the future home of a tv that will be mounted and will have a little table underneath. Although to be honest, I kinda like not having a tv in there right now.
I'm quite content with the IPOD dock & Pandora.

So that's what we've got for now.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

PS...did you enter my giveaway? Check it out here.

Someday.

I feel like baby fever is in full force these days. Anyone else feeling this? Everywhere I go, everyone I talk to...is either a) pregnant b) a new momma or c) wondering when babies are heading our way. I guess that's what happens when  you get married and buy a house...seems like the next logical step, huh?

I think maybe we'll start with another pup.

And until the baby days come, I have an entire folder of nursery inspiration saved on my computer to swoon over.

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See a trend with that white crib? Love.

Treasure Hunting

When I met my husband, about five and a half years ago, I knew he would teach me so many things. He grew up in a small town in Rhode Island, ironically, only a few miles from where we currently reside. His dad co- owned a small antique shop on the Main Street in his little town and their house was filled with treasures, old and new.

One thing that has certainly rubbed off on me in our years together is his love for the old, and the joy in finding a perfect treasure. He loves antiquing, consignment shops, auctions, you name it. And over the years, I've grown to appreciate them too. There is something so special about finding the perfect piece...whether it be furniture, jewelery, or artwork. And there is also something to be said about the time and effort it took to craft something so beautiful, especially given the machine made, fast paced world we live in now.

Some of our most recent treasures:

Our entry way table. Solid mahogany for under $100. Can't beat that.

I'm aware that the table need some styling help. I'm getting there! We have a rather large sailboat painting that will go above it, and I'm also thinking a more fun lamp deserves a spot there along with some books/accessories.

I've actually been wanting a globe on a wooden stand like this for a while, so it was an exciting find. And at under $50, I'll take it.

Some pretty paintings

This vase is not antique, but it was $1...and will be perfect for our guest room when filled with some home grown hydrangea.

The beginning of my plate collection.  I'm still trying to decide whether to do a more neutral look, or go all out eclectic. Either way, the combined total for these plates was under $10. So no biggie if I decide not to use some of them.

Here is a view of our dining room currently. I'm thinking of doing the plates scattered on the two walls that flank the doorway into our breakfast nook, or possibly only on one of the walls.

The view from the other doorway, and a close up  of the rug.

 What do you think? Colorful, all neutral? I need opinions :)

I'm hoping our house will be a good mix of old and new things. Some antique, some more modern. I think we're off to an alright start!

Dining Room Decor: Inspiration

In the process of scouring design blogs for the past six months or so, I've come across SO many ideas and inspiration that I'd like to incorporate in our new home and future homes.

One thing I discovered more recently is the plate wall. The idea is to acquire a collection of plates, whether monochromatic, or a more eclectic mix of colors and patterns, and hang them up! So simple, and I think it really adds an interesting visual to a room.

Here are some photos I've saved as inspiration.

{apartment therapy}

{decor pad}

{modern jane}

{nuestra vida dolce}

{apartment therapy}

What do you think? Are you as big a fan of the plate wall as I am? The second photo is probably my favorite. I'm thinking of incorporating this into our dining room and I can't wait to share what I've found so far. The added bonus? It's a relatively budget savvy way to decorate. You can find plates at antique and consignment shops for DIRT cheap. More on that tomorrow :)