Exciting news!

Did you guys know I'm taking the plunge and offering interior styling and organizing services?


Yes! I'm taking my love for décor & styling and making it into a little side hobby. Truth be told I've been thinking about it for a long time. Long, as in since April of last year. Like back when I was really huge and pregnant with Caroline, and my sweet friend and photographer extraordinaire Liz knocked some sense into me and said I really should start charging for my expertise (that I'd been giving away for free all this time). And so, after a lot of deliberating (over a year of it!) I decided to start offering my services for real. It's scary AND exciting!


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My love for décor goes way back. Remember Spiegel catalogs, circa early '90's? I spent lots of time studying the home section, imagining my own rooms and layouts & deciding how each room would be decorated. I love walking into homes and deciding what I would do with them. A little mental makeover if you will (not to make you nervous or anything...trust me, some of you already know what you're doing). I still search real estate listings because, #homeobsessed. And since having kids, I have a huge soft spot for nurseries, play rooms, and kid spaces. And more importantly, trying to figure out how to corral and store ALL.THOSE.TOYS. (trust me...we've been there, done that, are currently living it).


I find a lot of people are nervous and just need a push in the right direction when it comes to decorating and organizing their homes. Décor decisions can be overwhelming! Especially when you've pinned every image known to man, and still don't know how to get started. And sometimes you've got just too much stuff and aren't quite sure how to edit and organize it all.


Well, that's where I'm here to help.


I'm a believer that you should be excited to come home at the end of the day, and love the home you live in! Our house is a constant work in progress (if you know me, then you know we're typically talking about the "next project" when we're in the middle of another). But at the end of the day, I love our home and the time we spend in it. Everyone should feel that way, right?


If you're currently in debate over what color to paint a room, what throw pillows to toss on your couch, or how to style those built-ins that you've been staring at for months...shoot me an e-mail, I'd love to help!




Emme's playroom

So here's the thing about ignoring your blog for nearly two years...you discover posts that sat dormant & never saw the light of day. It seems I never got around to sharing pictures from Emme's playroom at the old house! Sigh. This brings a little tear to my eye, it was one of my favorite rooms. Everything was contained, pretty, and toys were at a minimum (vs. our current situation...a finished basement that houses an explosion of toys, princess figurines, and puzzle pieces that multiply by the second #icanteven)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the exception of the cube shelving from Target, pretty much everything in this room was thrifted, passed down or flea market/antique finds. Things have found themselves moved about the new house, serving new purposes...

The bulletin board (formerly a canvas painting), holds pre-school artwork in the kitchen.

The bronze horsehead bookends are sitting amongst the décor of our living room built in's.

The WWII shipping crate (that I added casters to) holds a slew of board games in the basement/family room.

 

The table & chairs currently reside in our living room (a great place for little people to eat lunch while watching a show). 

 

The wooden tool box is still holding books, but happily living in Emme's bedroom.

And I couldn't get enough of the pale blush color we painted this room (Pink Sea Salt by Martha Stewart), so we used it in Emme's bedroom at the new house.  

 

I can confidently say that our current playroom situation looks nothing like this (even on a good day), but that's the brilliant thing about basements. Out of sight, out of mind, right? It'll probably be a long time before it looks anything close to this...it's really one room at a time around here.

 

I'll be back this week to share some before pictures of the first floor of the new house! Get ready for lots of green, yellow, and honey oak wood tones....mmmmm, it's going to be good.

 

  

Open for business

Growing up I owned a retail store. In my parents' basement. We sold fine items like stickers, empty Chanel perfume bottles and an assortment of random shoes (mostly belonging to my mom, of which I intercepted before they ever made it into the Goodwill pile). With an inventory like that, I was nothing short of imaginative.

I took great pride in setting up the store, displaying the items and changing out things seasonly. My sister occassionally worked for me. But most times she was bagging groceries at the register in our dining room (which incidentally became her part-time job in high school...minus the dining room, of course). And when I decided to close shop for the day, I'd work in my cousin's basement store...Pier 2. I don't remember her inventory, but man...that shop name! I really felt she was onto a possible franchise there...

But now that I'm an adult, owning a store is way more involved than opening the basement door & "working" whenever I want to. It's about a business plan, managing employees, ordering inventory, budgeting, payroll, advertising, and getting real people--not your parents--to buy your stuff (and like, really buy it...none of this fake money business...).

So for now, I'm living vicariously through Tori Spelling. Because if I had a store, this would be it. Tori is taking all of her finds & selling them at her store InvenTori. Pure genius. She shops & then sells her goods. How's that for a business plan?

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I often find myself thrifting for fabulous things that we just don't have the room for. Aside from purchasing a new & bigger house to hold all of those goods, a store sounds like a more appealing option...right husband?

Hey, at least I have the retail experience.

I've got nothin'...

...but a big headache & a to-do list a mile long.

But I have some inspiration and it's in the form of this transformation...

The Before:



YIKES. Anyhoo, here's the after...

Amazing, right? The interior is quite impressive too...

I'm loving this accent wall in the master bedroom. Hmmm...the wheels in my head are already spinning with a possible (soon?) bedroom makeover. Baby steps Katie, baby steps...

And isn't this bird mobile in the nursery sooooo cute? I'm bookmarking this image for future nursery inspiration (with no baby in immediate sight...but it's good to be inspired, right?)...

You can find all of these photos (and more) over at 4 Men 1 Lady, as well as info on the builder & designer HERE. Pretty impressive, right?

And that, my friends, is all she wrote!

Well, it's been awhile...

So I took a little blogging break. See, here's the thing...if I don't have anything to talk about, then I'm not going to post. Simple as that. Not much is happening around these parts, and frankly, I don't think anyone is interested in the mundane things that are currently on my mind.

Such as:

1) It's so hot I can barely stand it.
2) It's so hot & I have to play kickball in this darn heat tonight (please, feel sorry for me...you should).
3) It's so hot that I can barely stand watering the plants each.and.every.god.darn.night.
4) Speaking of plants, the husband's lettuce died & I'm to blame (apparently, I'm not very good at watering...see above).
5) Despite my best watering efforts, I can't seem to keep a hanging plant alive on the front porch. Our house faces west & the sun/wind exposure is just too much for these guys. It's taken 4 years to learn this, and try as I might, I think I'm finally ready to give up.

But I did happen to catch the premier of Home by Novogratz on HGTV this weekend. Did anyone else see it? I'm sure it will be repeated in rotation at some point this week, but it was amazing.

I forgot how much I love these two. They are definitely design risk takers--something that scares me just a bit--but I'm utterly fascinated by their work. I'm assuming Bravo gave Nine by Design the 'ol heave-ho, but Bravo's loss is HGTV's gain, right? Check out the fabulous beach house they made over in episode one...

Aren't those stairs amazing?!

I love the look of painted wood floors, but they make me nervous...in my own home anyway! I think I would be too heartbroken to paint over our lovely floors. But in someone else's house...well, why not? I think these stairs are super fun. I wonder how well they hold up to traffic?

And speaking of paint, I'll be back tomorrow to share photos of a little outdoor project we're currently working on (major indoor projects have been put on hold until this heat subsides!). Until then, I'm off to stay cool...well, at least try anyway. Wish me luck!

Sarah 101

This weekend was a good one...lots of ice cream, grilling out with friends, sitting poolside, and catching the U.S. premier of Sarah 101. I'm a huge Sarah Richardson fan...her designs are are swoon-worthy, and the dymanic between she & Tommy are the icing on each episode.

Can you believe that mirror? Gorgeous! Though I'm guessing it's not in yours truly's budget...

While Sarah rarely does anything on the cheap, her designs are definitely inspirational. If I'm taking anything away from her, it's the ease at which she mixes patterns, especially with fabric. I've been drawn to lots of fabric, textures & patterns lately, which probably explains the recent living room pillow update. I've learned it's okay to take a step out of the 'ol design box & mix it up a little.

Like these two-toned chairs. Brilliant!

Some more mixing & matching of fabrics on chairs. I would never think to pair these particular fabrics together, but it works!

Wallpaper & accent chairs that make a perfect combo...

Yellow & red, yes please!

The wallcovering in this room might seem a little scary, but again, amazingness...

Loving that the accent chair, window treatments & storage ottomans are all working together...


How's that for a little post-weekend inspiration? Next weekend's episode can't get here soon enough!

Million Dollar Decorators

Has anyone else been watching this show? I'll admit, it's not a scheduled recording in our household. But since Bravo repeats episodes of their shows 839 times in one week, I'm definitely caught up.

After watching last night's episode, I couldn't help but think how outrageous this show really is. I know it's been the buzz among a lot of bloggers lately, and funny, most everyone's opinions fall into the same category (well, the blogs I'm reading anyway). I suppose for entertainment purposes, this show is great. But could you justify spending $30,000 on a rug or $15,000 for a mirrored wall hanging (on last night's show), of which Martyn Lawrence-Bullard considers a "bargain"? Yikes! Of course, this is coming from the girl who thinks a $39.99 lamp from HomeGoods is expensive...so what do I know. This is the big leagues folks, definitely not my reality...

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For what it's worth, I can't say I'm a Martyn Lawrence-Bullard fan. There, I said it. He's obviously good at what he does & has an impressive list of celebrity clients. But did you see how he treated Joe Francis's staff (which, the ridiculousness that is Joe Francis is a whole other discussion for another time)? No thank you, my friends.


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Now, Mary McDonald on the other hand, I can handle. Her personality is a little big, but with four pugs & an impressive portfolio--including this amazing office--I can certainly deal.



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And speaking of Bravo (my channel of choice) this guy is coming back. July 6 to be exact...

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I'm pumped for a new season of Flipping Out. Jeff Lewis & his sarcastic-angry-humor are right up my alley.

...but I still wouldn't let him sell me a $30,000 rug.

I'm a smart girl...

..but when it comes to understanding the cost of wallpaper, well, apparently...I am not.

I remember helping my mom wallpaper my bedroom when I was younger. The process didn't appear to be easy, but she was pretty darn good at it (I don't really recall what my role was, other than to watch what a great job she was doing). I do remember going to the store to order the wallpaper--and I'm going out on a limb here--but I'm guessing that whatever we chose was far more cost effective than (my favorite) Kelly Wearstler's Imperial Trellis wallpaper.

I know the verdict is out as to whether or not this pattern is overdone, but I for one love it. It's not going anywhere, anytime soon as far as I'm concerned. We have a small front entryway that would be perfect for this print...but since we don't have the funds to shell out over $200 for a roll (the thought alone makes me sweat), I'm instead posting some fabulous inspirational photos to hold me over.

Bright, green & lovely in Chloe Sevigny's home...



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Black & white in Monique Lhuillier's bathroom...

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Loving the bright contrast of colors (and of course, the gallery wall)...

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A perfect way to line the back of your bookshelves...

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Black on black, very chic...

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As an accent wall...

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Forget the costly wallpaper, how about the impressive DIY stenciled wall over at Hello Gorgeous (oh, the patience!)...

And last but not least, some fabulous dining room chairs thrown in for good measure...




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 And that chandelier ain't too shabby either.

And with that bit of inspiration...I'm off to enjoy the weekend!

Tori Spelling's house is for sale

I have to admit, I'll be a little sad not to see this fabulous house when getting my weekly fix of Tori & Dean. If money and the desire to relocate weren't a problem...I'd have myself a new home!









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Ahhh, that family room. It's one of my faves! The family room & kitchen in her last home were also one of my favorites (I'm loving the pops of red & blue!)...

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Hands down, this girl has style!