2011 Decorating Must Haves

Hello!

It's a chilly Wednesday morning here and I am staying in today to finish the powder room (almost there!) and make the pillows for the couch.

In blog browsing yesterday I came across this article from Canadian House and Home stating the top 10 decorating must haves for 2011. Perhaps you have seen it already if so I apologize I just wanted to share some favorites with you all.

1. Slipcovered Furniture- tailored slipcovers

2. Luxe Lighting- modern bright lighting

3. Patinated Knobs- knobs with a worn look
4. Colorful Pillows- make a statement with bright pillows
5. Refresh Floors- new textures and colors for flooring
6. Antiqued Mirrors- vintage feeling mirrors

All info and for more trends found here

I only shared the ones I like and agree with. What do you think? Any trends you will be taking part in, in 2011?

Have a great day!

Emily

Things I'm Loving: February Edition

Hi all!

I haven't done one of these posts in awhile so I think I'm due. Here are the top things I'm loving these days.

1. Hobby Lobby

It's been forever since we lived near a HL so this is a big deal for me. It's so nice to have another fabric/craft store to consider when working on a project.

2. DVR

Yes, Jacob and I are just joining the 21st century and have DVR for the first time ever.

It's ah-mahzing!

3. Feeling baby girl kick
I can't explain the feeling just that I love it and it is so comforting.

4. Dr. Pepper
I have been treating myself to one of these about every afternoon and I look forward to it all day. Yum!

5. My sewing machine

My sewing machine is actually my mom's so it is a lot older than what is pictured but it works great and it was free. I have been using it a lot to make pillows and a cover for our ottoman and possibly curtains for the nursery soon.

6. S'mores
Jacob and I have been enjoying our fireplace by making s'mores probably more than we should each week. I have been craving them so keeping the stuff on hand has been a must for the last few weeks. :)

7. Salty Carmel Hot Chocolate

I am loving Starbuck's hot chocolate. It is delicious but from what I have read it's pretty bad for you. I usually just get a regular hot chocolate but sometimes I splurge for the Starbuck's version because it's so good!

8. Shark Steam Mop

My mother in law bought us this steam mop when we moved because our house is primarily hardwood floors. I can honestly say I love it and would recommend it to anyone that is considering a chemical free way to clean. It is really easy to use and it's amazing the dirt that it picks up. We don't have the purple one but the one that I think they call the pocket mop because it has 3 different heads and a carpet mop (which I have yet to try).

What are you loving these days?

Emily

HGTV Green Home 2011

Hi all!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Jacob's mom was here and we had a nice time relaxing and visiting. We were also able to organize and basement, which turned out to be a relatively easy project that was very rewarding because it looks like a whole new space! We also started on the painting project I have planned for the powder room. I'm hoping I can make some headway today and get the worst part over but I'm not sure I can do it without Jacob's help.

I can't wait to share with you the after pictures.....hopefully very soon!

Are you sick of HGTV Green Homes yet? I hope not because I have one left to share with you.

I love the organic feel of the master bedroom and the hanging pendants!

All images found here

All in all I like the feel of this house more than the 2009 and 2010 homes but not as much as the first house I shared with you, 2008.

I also received the fabric for my family room pillows so I hope to make those in the next few days and finally reveal that room even though it is far from being finished.

Have a great day!

Emily

Nursery Inspiration

Hi all!

As you can imagine, one of the main rooms I'm currently planning is the nursery. Now that the fabrics have been selected and some of the furniture purchased I'm trying to figure out paint color and accessories.

Here are some nurseries that I love because they aren't too pink or girly. Just my style!

All images found here

Stay tuned for more nursery progress in the next month or two!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Emily

Guest Bedroom Inspiration

Good Morning!

Anyone have any big plans for the weekend? Jacob's mom will be here today through Sunday and we plan to lay low and relax. Today Jacob is working from home and we plan to wrap up a lot of projects around the house.

One room I just started thinking about is the bigger guest bedroom. I usually tend to do rather neutral rooms with a feminine touch. I'm thinking of doing a more masculine room this time around. I realize as I said that masculine probably isn't the right word but maybe a darker bedding with a pop of color. Here are a few rooms I found while searching for inspiration.

This one is my favorite!

All images found here

Enjoy your weekend!

Emily

Tutorial: Slipcovering an Ottoman

Hello!

I hope you all are having a great week so far. As you can tell I am moving right along in the house progress, primarily the family room and kitchen. Another tutorial I have for you today is how to recover an ottoman.

We were gifted a Ballard ottoman from a neighbor a few years ago and I have been recovering it about every 6 month since. The ottoman is one of the only pieces of furniture that Tatum is allowed on, which means it gets dirty quickly.

Back when I was trying to figure out how to recover it without it looking like it had been recovered I found a great online tutorial that I now can't find. I will share with you my version of the tutorial.

1. Measure and buy fabric. Remember you want enough to be able to staple under the sides (or if you wanted to sew a skirt allow extra fabric).

2. Lay fabric over the ottoman wrong side up

3. Make sure you have a supervisor.....just in case you do something incorrectly ;)

4. Pin corners of fabric so that it fits snugly to the ottoman

5. Snip off the excess leaving about an inch on the outside of the pins to allow room for sewing

6. Not pictured, sew on the line of the pins (just 4 straight seams) and turn right side out

7. Flip ottoman upside down and staple excess fabric to the bottom, cutting excess around the legs

All finished! It's an easy way to create a tailored slipcover that really doesn't look like a slipcover! Just my style!

Tomorrow is Friday!!

Emily