Livingroom & Kitchen Tour During the Holidays

Living Room Sectional:  Savesto Sectional from Ashley's Furniture (Expect a lot of fluffing if you buy this sectional as it's down-filled)
(I will preface this by keeping it real and say their customer service, in SA anyhow,  after you purchase something...is terrible. It took weeks for delivery and they delivered wrong pieces 2 times. Then we got the wrong cushions and went through our extended warranty program for that which was actually much better. Now 3 months in, a piece of the sectional caved in when Ty sat down and we waited for them to once again come fix it a month after we called on it. Moral of the story, if you buy something from here, get the extended warranty and just go through them because it's worth it). Or buy from someplace else lol.

Living Room Rug: Hermann Ivory Area Rug from Birch Lane -I Love this rug so much and Wayfair customer service is amazing! I've been buying from them and sister companies for years now.

Kitchen Stools: Milana Bar & Counter Stool from Wayfair. These stools seem to be great so far. Sturdy and kid proof as long s they are old enough to sit on stools. The kids are pretty rough with them and they have grippers on the bottoms so they don't scratch the wood floors.

Sofa Table: This was purchased from a furniture store in NY called "Taft's" about 6 years ago but here is a similar one: HERE from Birch Lane.

Kitchen Pendants: Similar Jar Pendants HERE

I'm still waiting to have my kitchen hardware installed and I'm getting a couple new runners but for the most part, this space is finished. We opted to stop the backsplash at the cabinets because I think I am going to do some white shiplap or wood texture above all of the cabinets. TBD. Most all of my decor is from HomeGoods, Target and World Market. The glass and black side table next to the couch is also a HomeGoods steal for $70. I don't get too expensive with that stuff. In the living room I'd like to get a square ottoman/coffee table if I can ever decide which one will fit all year round. This space will dramatically change come spring.

Holiday Home Tour: Scarlett & Maxwell's Room

 I let both of the kids have their own tree this year. Michael's had a great sale on trees in the beginning of the holiday season so I grabbed them both one. Then I got to decorate my own tree how I wanted. Scarlett got a flocked tree and she stuffed that thing to the brim with colorful decor. It is such a "Scarlett" personality tree and I just love it. We got Scarlett a canopy bed online and I bought some inexpensive sheer curtains on Amazon to run through the poles. Give it a dreamy look. I bought her some textured pillows and blankets from HomeGoods & Target and layered them on her bed. She still wanted horses incorporated so I left up her favorite picture and a couple horse things throughout but made it a little more focused on pinks and textures.  She picked out her room color so I went with it. Her room is pretty simple and the kids don't keep many toys in their room. They now have a playroom which is wonderful. Their rooms stay clean so much longer. I still need a fun rug for her room.

Maxwell wants a superhero room. So it is transitioning to kind of a vintage superhero theme, but for right now, it's more focused on Christmas- as you can see. I bought that metal M above his bed from The Home Store so long ago and it's still just as cute. Maxwell decorated his tree with lots of rustic pieces and I gotta say, this kid is definitely my kid. He placed things so organized and was very strategic about how each piece was put on the tree. Everytime I go into his room I look at his tree and think about how he's such a little organizer, just like me. Often he will re-organize rooms throughout the house just for fun. Then he will come to me and show me proud as ever! Maxwell got the ride on car when he was a year old. It's still available on Pottery Barn Kids. The rest of his decor is from when he was a baby and is mostly from HomeGoods. The Where the Wild Things are crown is from his first birthday (sob)  and it now sits on his first teddy bear which now has only one eye. The Discover the World sign is from Etsy. The bedding, superhero sign, Christmas decor and Cars & Trucks basket are all HomeGoods. Once Christmas is over, I plan to keep the reds throughout but again, it will change a bit. I also want to get a cute rug to add some texture.

A Horse Bedroom For Scarlett.

Scarlett has had a few different rooms in her short life time.

Her first bedroom Here.
Another Here.
Another Here.

As she gets older, I like to change her room up every now and then. But I didn't want to spend a lot of money since she grows so quickly. Not only that, but as soon as Summer nears end, I begin major house overhaul or Fall Cleaning, if you will. Getting rid of anything that we don't need and prepping for that transition of seasons when we will spend a lot more time indoors.

As we all know, Scarlett is really into horses. So I thought it was fitting to create a horse-themed room for her. I thought about painting her room but she insisted on keeping the pink. Instead I found some horse decals on Etsy and Ty and I found them really easy to put up. Also, they aren't permanent so they will make for easy take-down. Living in Saratoga, any horse artwork or prints are priced ridiculously!  I found a horse print at HomeGoods that was only $29.99! Steal. I also found the brass horse hook for $6.99. I took a rug from another room and the garland from her 4th Horse Birthday and used them to decorate. A few horse stuffed animals here and there and I made the happiest 5 year old I know! I bought the horse decals HERE if anyone is wondering. I also took out a large amount of toys which has made clean up of her room so much easier! All the toys went to the play room closet. I will post about that soon. If any of you saw my SnapChat posts of Scarlett seeing her room for the first time (laurenrebecca44), you know that she was thrilled with all of it! Easy little make-over for the start of Fall.

Around Home. A To Do List.

When we first moved into our home here, there was very little that I disliked about our house. One of the things that I vowed to change, was the kitchen color. Red is not my cup of tea. But finding out I was pregnant a week after we moved in and taking on a whole lot of sickness for a few months, painting the kitchen was the least of my worries. During Christmas time, it did look pretty festive. Other than that, I cringed every time I looked at it. This spring, I FINALLY painted. Only took 2 years...the new color is above ^^ Old photo below...

I did a coat of primer and then painted Benjamin Moore's Manchester Tan. After I was done, it had a greenish tint that I disliked. I couldn't figure out why but I hated it! I went back to the paint store and picked "Lamb's Ear" which had a bit more warmth and red to it. It was perfect! And so my kitchen is FINALLY painted. Now I have to tackle the laundry/pantry area that leads out from the kitchen....it's still red. I also plan to buy a new stainless stove and dishwasher and sell the old black ones. I think that will update the kitchen area a lot. I tossed around the idea of painting the kitchen bead board cabinets white....thoughts? And a couple of new hanging lights will finish it off nicely. 

We did a lot of work outside this year. We added a playground and did some work on our patio to make it more inviting. We added rubber mulch and got rid of the overgrown garden, leaving just a few plants. I probably won't finish the garden/shrubs until next spring. I really love our outdoor area. It's private and when we get the fountains running, it brings a relaxing vibe to the backyard. Great for entertaining. 

The living room is the room that needs the most attention right now. Our huge tv is sitting above the fireplace in the most awkward of heights. Whoever built the home did a horrible job of putting the beams in a place where our only option was to hang the tv higher than we wanted to above the mantel. So my idea is to take the tv off of the fireplace and put it in the finished family room downstairs. Then add some media consoles or bookcases on the sides of the fireplace and put a smaller tv on those. My only issue is that I have windows there so I have to be intentional when I do buy or build in this area. Then I can just add some artwork above the tv. Another idea is to just buy a new tv since this one is a dinosaur as far as technology goes. It's a Plasma if that says anything! A newer, thinner tv may have more hanging options so that we don't have to hang it so high. We'll figure it out. Of course this comes just after Ty rewired the tv so that the cord wasn't hanging down the wall.....sorry Ty. 

Ty's birthday present to me is to tile our upstairs bathroom. Someone decided it was a good idea to put a carpet in there and for a newer home....it's rather bizarre. So that will soon be gone. I'm having a hard time picking a tile since there is already tile around the tub and in the walk in shower. A brown and tannish colored tile. I would like a lighter floor. 

A couple of other to do's that are not pictured are to buy night stands for our bedroom....long overdue! And to paint my dining room a shade of blue. It's currently sage green which I'm not particularly fond of. I promise to post before and afters as it comes along! 

38.5 weeks & A Peak at the Nursery.

I've made it through everything that I wanted to stay pregnant for: My sister's wedding, a relaxing long weekend, a pedicure and making sure my bags are packed. I officially feel ready.

Which means nothing since this baby is going to come when he wants to come. I was almost 2 weeks early with Scarlett but I knew all along that they had calculated my due date inaccurately. With a short cycle, I was sure that my due date was more like the beginning of May than their prediction of May 14. But the due date is just an estimate, right? Sure enough, she came May 4th. I'm pretty sure this baby boy's due date is pretty accurate. So we technically have a few days left. Still, I'm ready ANY DAY.

The nursery is as complete as it needs to be for now. There are still some things that I would like to add to it but it's not necessary right this minute. We have everything that we need. Baby Boy's clothes are washed and put away, his mini crib in our room is set up and itty bitty diapers are waiting for the day he comes home with us. When we moved into our home, the upstairs doors were all numbered. It was set up almost as if it were a bed and breakfast. I laughed at first but we ended up keeping the numbers and it's come in handy when having guests over. We just say, "You'll be staying in room 2." After we moved Scarlett into her new bedroom, we decided that the other guest room would be the nursery. So room #3 is our little baby boy's room. Here's the start of his room here.

I'm nervous and excited all in one. I'm a naturally anxious person and tend to always think "worst case scenario". I know, it's a bad habit that I try not to feed into. My labor with Scarlett was not a bad one at all. It went textbook and after about 10 hours of labor (really only a few of those were hard labor but I have zero pain tolerance) she was born. Still, I worry. Guess that is natural.

But mostly I keep thinking about how pretty soon, our lives change again...forever. A new little life placed with us...just like that. I look back and I feel like this journey went by in the blink of an eye. It started out really rough (here) and thankfully turned around as soon as I hit the second trimester. It's brought me so much joy, (and aches and pains and moody behavior...ha) but it truly has given me this amazing chapter in my life that I've enjoyed, despite the hardships of pregnancy. I feel so completely blessed and I do not take one single bit of it for granted. The last days of this pregnancy will consist of time with Scarlett. I've been trying to do as much with her as I can before she is no longer an only child. I want her to know that she's loved and that even though our family is growing, she is irreplaceable. I have no worries about her really. She is that strong type of soul that seems to adjust easily and adapt to what life brings. Besides, she's been over the moon about him arriving for the last 6 months.  I know how she feels. As these days get closer, I feel like it's becoming all too real. And yes, as adventure awaits him, we can barely wait for him.

Adventure Awaits Sign: The Educated Owl

Tassel Garland: The Flair Exchange 

Mobile: Here

Rug: Here

Baby Boy's Nursery Start.

Baby Boy's nursery started out as a peach guest room. We never really finished the guest room so it was kind of an easy transition. Obviously, the peach wasn't going to work. I started thinking about what I wanted the baby's room to be like as soon as I found out we were having a boy. Originally I was going to have Scarlett and baby share a room but now that we have a girl and a boy, I decided to give them each their own. Of course, being a lover of all things vintage, I wanted to add some vintage to his room but still keep it a bit modern. I love so many styles that I usually find that I'm attracted to the eclectic style. A mix of everything. So I started a mood board. I wanted to have some cute vintage accents and then bring in some modern furniture. I found the cutest sign on Etsy that described exactly what I wanted his room to say: "Adventure Awaits" It kind of became my inspiration for the whole room. I also started looking for hints of metal and wood to add more of a masculine feel to it. 

Mood Board: 

It got painted a lovely shade of pale, with a hint of grey, blue. It's called Sweet Slumber by Valspar. It looked pretty blue going on but dried a nice pale shade. I love Valspar because I only have to use, literally, one coat and touch up corners a little. Valspar also makes a type that contains zero VOC's and is low odor. My older sister came over and helped Scarlett and I paint. It took all of but an hour and 1/2. We are kind of expert painters ;) Ty put the crib together and now the delivery game starts. I ordered most of the items to be shipped to our house so little by little, sweet packages keep arriving for Baby Boy's Room. 

I'm still working on this room but here's some hints to what it will look like. Scarlett goes into this room often and arranges his toys, looks around in curiosity and asks when he will be here. Makes me smile. She's the sweetest. This process has been really fun for me. I'm enjoying sharing the excitement with Scarlett. 

You can find more photos of this room as it progresses and other things on Instagram: itslaurenrebecca