Adding Color and Pattern in the New Year

Floral Fabric - Wilmington Covington Multi; Lattice Fabric - Waverly Ellis Turquoise

Furniture, Fabric, and Falling for Pinterest...

I am getting really excited about Fall and inspiration has been popping up all over blogland.  In getting in the spirit, I recently changed around the furniture placement in our living room and added some new pieces to better suit our family.  Before the living room layout looked like this when you walked in the front door - mantle to the left of pic, kitchen to the right...

It's a great layout - couch facing the fireplace with tv mounted above, chairs flanking the couch to create a conversation area, etc.  Problem was, the flow from the living area to the kitchen was cut off and we never sat in the chairs.  When we had company no one would use the living area because the couch served as a barrier.  Here is the old layout again looking from the living room into our kitchen...

So, while I didn't mind this layout, I thought we could better utilize the space with some rearranging, much to my husband's dismay.  Here is the new layout when you walk into our foyer...

Here is a picture taken from the kitchen into the living area...

 The flow between the kitchen and living room is so much better and our living room feels so much bigger!  Moving the furniture also allowed me to bring in a $22 thrift store table that I painted white and paired with some extra chairs I had in the attic.  We eat occasional meals here and my son eats his breakfast and lunch here everyday.  It may be my new favorite spot in the house! *blurry pic - sorry*

I plan to cover the seats of these chairs with a shower curtain I found at TJ Maxx.  It was $15 and the perfect blend of colors for Fall.  I plan on making a couple of throw pillows for the couch and put away the graphic green pillows until next summer...

I can throw in some red, orange, green, or blue pillows.  Love that this fabric had all of my colors! I have been looking high and low for months now!  I get excited about the little things around here - let me tell you.

And last, but not least, I have a new obsession.  Pinterest.  It has fueled my inspiration for Fall ideas, craft projects, fashion, new recipes, EVERYTHING!  I find myself up late at night pinning away and wondering when I am going to find the time to do all these new projects.  So, on that note, time to step away from the computer and start covering some chairs.  I hope to get a post up once I have decorated for Fall.  Next week I am on a mission to "desummerize" my house!


Sara

Summer Changes & Laundry Room Organization

Ok, so obviously blogging has not been tops on my list for the past few months, since I haven't posted since March! Sometimes this blog is a huge reminder of how fast time flies.  Anyway, I decided to take some shots around the house of some little changes that I have made for the summer.

Nothing spectacular - just adding in some ferns and some touches of summer - starfish, shells, lanterns, etc.  I also bought a big lumbar pillow from Target for $30 and took away the mountain of pillows off the couch.  I just get tired of moving multiple pillows to another chair each time we need to sit down.  In the end, practicality and simplicity wins.

In other news, I have talked my husband into making this today...

Here is the link - http://ana-white.com/2010/11/laundry-basket-dresser

I can't wait to get it set up in our laundry room that has no storage.  I think it will make putting the laundry away much easier!

Sara

Spring Mantel

Just let me tell you.  It is really difficult to decorate a mantel that has a huge television hanging directly above it.  Not our brightest design idea, for sure, but it's up there so what's a girl to do?  Well, this girl stresses constantly about decorating her mantel without interfering with the TV screen and also not drawing too much attention to the TV at the same time.  Make sense?  Anyhow, here is my mantel decorated for Spring...

I placed some orchid stems in the shell and printed out a bee graphic from The Graphics Fairy's website, placed some rattan balls among my milk glass vases/candleholders and called it a day. Free and done in a jiffy.

Eventually, I would love to have our television  on top of the cabinets to the left of the fireplace, but for now it's not moving, according to my husband.

I am getting excited about planning/planting our raised bed gardens and decorating our porch and deck as soon as it warms up outside.  Hurry up, warmer weather!

Linking up to Centsational Girl's Fair Weather Forum!

Sara

Anthropologie Necklace Knock-off

Yesterday morning, while perusing the entries at My Backyard Eden's Make It Yours Day, I came across a tutorial for the cutest necklace on Yellow Blackbird.  Aubree is super talented and shared a wonderful step-by-step tutorial for an Anthro necklace that I LOVE.  You can go here to check out her tutorial and her fun blog.  Thanks for the inspiration, Aubree!  I love my necklace and now I am going to buy more ribbon, jewels, and chains to make these for friends and family.  Mine is a little different from Anthropologie's version, but their necklace retails for $278 and mine for just $6!  Can't beat that!

Anthropologie's Accordion Necklace...beautiful, but REALLY expensive and way over my budget at $278...

My version...still beautiful (to me) and way under budget at $6...

I still need to fix one of the unfinished ends and I didn't add jewels to this one since it was practice.

Here is what it looks like on...

To say I love it is an understatement! I am ecstatic about the way it turned out - and it was only my first one! It took about an hour from start to finish, but I had to get the lacing technique down pat.  I think I could knock the next one out in 30 minutes.  So easy and so chic!

Thanks again, Aubree, from Yellow Blackbird, for the tutorial and inspiration!

Sara

Yummy Appetizer Recipe

To switch things up a little, I would like to share an appetizer recipe that is a standby in my kitchen.  I don't have any prep pictures or final product pics, only the recipe.  Next time I make this I will take pics and post the process.  It is so simple and super yummy!

You can microwave this for about 3 minutes, but I prefer to bake it at 350 for 20-30 minutes.  I think the consistency is better.  No, it's not healthy, but is any good appetizer ever really healthy? :)  Serve with tortilla or pita chips and you have a quick and delicious appetizer ready to go!  Enjoy!

Sara

Organizing the Kitchen Office Area

When we were designing our kitchen, I knew that I wanted a small corner to be dedicated to an office space/mail hub.  I am so glad we have this in our kitchen and it is an area of our home that is always getting tweaked and organized. 

After living here for almost a year, I finally decided to organize the cabinets so I could easily find anything I needed.  One side was organized for office supplies and the other for small tools, meds, and basically junk drawer material that needed a home.  I hit up the dollar store and found cute little blue and green containers - 4 for $1.00! You can't beat that!  I love the dollar store for organizational containers, and they have so many fun cute colors and shapes!  Perfect for an organizing freak like myself.  No before picture, because I am so impatient and just jump right into a task.  So, here is the after! 

This is the office side - extra envelopes, pens, markers, pencils, sticky notes, etc.  are all stored in the left-side cabinet.  I didn't get a picture, but I also have greeting cards and blank stationary in the top cabinet. 

I printed out sticker labels and used a cute font from this website - Fonts for Peas .  Amanda is super talented and so sweet to share all of these cool fonts.  You can download them in a zip file - there are so many to choose from!  She also has great tips for customizing your blog.  I love her site!

Here is the right side of the cabinet.  Nothing super exciting, just neater and organized...

Thanks for stopping by!  I am going to be posting a couple of my favorite yummy appetizer recipes tomorrow!

Sara