WILW: major color crush

So many bright fun solids have arrived at Sugar this past week!

Sunny Dress in Magenta

Crosby Renee Dress Colorblock

y'all these solid tunics are AMAZING and all less than $50!

Luxe V Pullover in Lime Green + Cabo Necklace

Lexi Top in Hot Pink + Poms & Pearls Necklace

Raven Luxe Tee (silk blend!) + Shake Your Pom Poms Necklace

...and Colordrunk Designs has been one of my favorite interior designers for a while now! Her love for color and all things FUN just make me swoon.

She seriously takes it up a notch and inspired me to take the plunge on my own color flare when building our house and picking out cabinet colors, as well as master bedroom drapes and garage re-do project last Summer! 

I just added a fun colorful rug to our living room recently and have LOVED, so now when I look ahead at our laundry room design (that we have yet to finish) I can't help but  crush on color rather than go safe. 

Here's to a colorful Wednesday!

home sweet home: dining room

So here's our dining "room" BEFORE we moved in...

and AFTER...

It's just to the left of our front door and foyer, with columns defining the space. In our old house, we never really had a dining "room" either - just a space off the living room and it worked for us. We actually used our table then way more than we even do now because it was right off our kitchen. Now our dining room area serves us more when we have friends and family over and more formal dinners, whether it's just us three or whether it's with more family.

For this room, we decided to nix the tray ceiling (Gorgeous, yes. However if one thing to cut I thought that's where we could save money) Instead, we opted for wainscoting and extra thick crown molding. It helped "dress up" and define this space even more.

I found my fabric for curtains seriously years ago when I first knew we wanted to build. I'm not even joking. It was an impulse buy at a fabric sale in Williamston and the moment I saw it, I fell in love with it. I never looked back. I knew I wanted light pale blue/aqua walls in the dining room (my favorite color!) and so I matched to a color in the fabric and there you have it....Sherwin Williams Silvermist. The most gorgeous blue! I could stare at it all day long. I recently had Mrs. Ann (sweet family friend) sew my curtains and I purchased the hardware from Hobby Lobby (y'all. Hob Lob has some seriously good drapery hardware. Always 40% off with coupon, if not more when running 50% off sale!) 

The Claire Chandelier from Ballard Designs has always been one of my favorites. Well, when I saw it at the Ballard Designs Outlet marked to $150 (regular $400) I thought "yep, that's it". It's so gorg and you know I got to have a little "bling". So we strapped her in the backseat and off we went. Again, so many months before we even had the dining area complete. If you can't tell, I definitely had a set vision for this space.

The table and china cabinet was a purchase from my dad and stepmom when Chad moved into their old house (now our old house) before we got married. It was so heavy and they had so much furniture already (from combining furniture when recently wed) that they just simply did not want to move. They sold it to us for a pretty penny, but it was still an amazing deal! I am so glad we splurged because it could seriously be our dining room furniture for life. It's classic and timeless. Solid wood. Farmhouse style. We've enjoyed so many meals at this table and knowing my dad sat here and enjoyed many of meals too, it makes me love it even more. 

Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Silvermist
Trim Color: Sherwin Williams Pure White
Rug: RUGS USA (75% off sale)
Chandelier: Claire Chandelier via Ballard Designs Outlet
Vase: TJ Maxx

What's most special to me about this room is the china in our china cabinet. When we were engaged, I didn't register for formal china, only everyday. I knew that my grandmother had boxed up china before she passed that she had purchased years and years ago - long before we were ever even out of school or thought of being married. It is the most beautiful, simple white china with gold trim. I love!

I also love my pillows, also hand sewn by Mrs. Ann. The pink fabric matches the curtain print fabric perfectly and I told her I wanted the leopard print piping to add a bit of pizazz. Then I had to monogram it....le duh. 

 And finally.... dun, dun, dun, dun....here's the very last missing piece to the puzzle....what FINALLY makes our dining room THE only 100% finished room in our house...we recently added both of our boys' portraits to the wall!

The plan is to take a picture of Charlie when he's the same age (2),  in the same outfit, on the same porch. Until then, I just couldn't wait to get Cade's on the wall and bc I'm OCD about symmetry, that meant Charlie needed a pic up there too. Glad his newborn photo worked out perfectly!

the opening to the left in the hallway goes to the kitchen...

 The portraits look so small in the photo above, but you can see here they are perfect size for the size room and china cabinet. I would have hung them lower but we ran into an issue with the breaker box being behind Cade's portrait (on other side of wall) and had to hang higher than anticipated. I don't freak out about stuff like that though. It's perfect to me and that's all that matters.

This has turned into one of my favorite "rooms"...

and I'm so jacked that it's the only one that's completely "finished". Now my thoughts are how to plan Christmas decor around all the PINK? Oh I can't wait...

home sweet home: master bathroom

I have so much to catch up on. We have been busy little bees...lots of workin', going to market, and just enjoying Summer. I'll try to catch up posts on the little ones soon (and share some pics from Charlie's newborn session) but for now here's a post I had drafted up to continue the house tour!

So far we've seen Charlie's nursery, the powder room, the back deck, and now {to continue this random-no-flow-at-all-house-tour}...our master bathroom!

Hands down, this seriously is my favorite room in the house. Ok, close tie with my kitchen but I do loooove my bathroom and knew I must create one I love, because I am certainly a girly girl and spend a lot of time "primping" {yeah, those natural beauties out there who can just get up and go in 10 minutes?... I envy you. Drying/straightening this unruly mane alone takes forever!) Also y'all. Confession: at our old home for nearly seven years we had plastic sinks (ok maybe it's called something else but I swear it seemed plastic...) and parts of it had melted/burn marks because my straightener and curling iron got too close to it. Just remember that when reading all this...can you say major upgrade? My plastic sinks served us well but what a blessing and absolute TREAT our new house has been.

Our house plan called for vaulted ceilings in our master bath. After nixing tray ceilings in the master bedroom and dining, we knew keeping the vaulted ceilings in the bathroom was a must. It really opens up the space and never leaves me chlostrophobic when feeling like a million degrees while drying my hair/steam from shower/etc...We also nixed a few other things to splurge a bit in the master and create a spa-like space that we love. First up, we opted to splurge on a tile shower and to save money for this splurge, nix a tub. We just aren't "bath people" at all. I knew if I ever got the urge to take a bath I would have one in Cade's bathroom so for us - it was just an easy nix. Again, everyone has their own "must haves" or "can do withouts" and that's the beauty of building a custom home!

However, after talking with our builder and knowing this may not be our "forever home", we left space next to the shower in case we ever wanted to add a free standing tub for resale purposes (or if we stay forever, I'm old and want to take more baths :) It's not a big space at ALL but it would definitely fit a {very small} pretty clawfoot tub in the future. At least that's what I see there one day!

For now, to fill that space, we are using an antique cabinet from my dad's shop as linen storage and also have a full length standing mirror/jewelry armoire which I love!

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore "Cashmere Gray"
Trim Color: Sherwin Williams "Pure White"

I also love our floors. We went back and forth about what to do in here. At first we just thought we may use some sort of vinyl planks that looked like hardwood, but we ultimately nixed more elsewhere to splurge on ceramic tile (that yes, looks like wood!) This gave us the look we wanted plus the guarantee that the floors would withstand any moisture in the bathroom and last a lifetime.

Tile: Mannington "Wilderness" in Dry Kindle
Rug: Pottery Barn Outlet

Cabinet Color: Sherwin Williams "Anonymous"
Hardware: Restoration Hardware

Jewelry Storage Mirror: TJ Maxx
Roman Shade: Pottery Barn

One of the places we nixed to get our ceramic tile floors (see how this works? Building and staying on budget is nothing but a game of give and take. Whew!) was the glass shower door. I mean, who knew those dang doors were like $800 or more? When we found out it could easily be added on later, we knew it would be wise just to go ahead and spend that money on the tile floors. Something that would be a PAIN to go back and "add later". I had seen a few ideas on Pinterest and knew I could come up with an idea for the tile shower - without a glass door. Indeed I used a cheap, extra long shower curtain from Amazon and mounted with tension rod, then I realized I still had these {FREE} long curtains I had once used at Sugar to frame out a dressing room mirror. Mounted those on another tension rod so when we take a shower we just pull the shower curtain across, see what I mean? (We pull the curtains out so they don't wet at the bottom though) So this little project costs me less than $50 and for now, totally works. Winning.

Oh and this is "faux marble" tile mixed with real basketweave marble in the niche. Another way we saved $$$. I didn't have exact name of the faux marble tile but I can find out. I was amazed at how great it turned out with the gray grout...

To save money we also nixed double sinks. We had double sinks at our old house and only used one anyways. Plus I knew I wanted a big vanity area! My vanity chair isn't exactly what I wanted but I've yet to find one I love, nor have I gotten a teak wooden shower bench for the shower either. There's a long wish list around here that's for sure!

Mirrors: Scalloped Frameless Mirrors from Target
Granite: White Macaubus remnant from Solid Rock Granite 
(also used in our Powder Room)
Vanity Bench: Target

but oh how I LOVE my vanity area and my bathroom cabinets. Plenty of storage and I have everything {i mean lots bc I'm a beauty product addict!) organized in all the drawers.

My huge makeup drawer was one of my must haves and it. is. my. jam. I love it and used $1 Dollar Tree contact paper to line + acrylic makeup organizer from TJ Maxx + plastic storage containers from BB&B to organize it all.

When you nix the other sink, you can afford to make the one sink you do have look pretty amazing. Hello gorgeous chrome faucet! 

Faucet: Delta Dryden in Chrome

and I'm pretty obsessed with our crystal vanity lights. This picture does not do justice!

Vanity Lights: Golden Lighting "Neeva" Collection

Again, in this antique cabinet, we keep our towels and I have a few baskets to hold nail polish, extra small toiletries, etc...or as Chad says "my knick knacks"

So that's it! 

That's where I primp. That's where the grubby hubby gets clean.

That's where we spray down our muddy toddler {when needed}.

Just for kicks, here's my master bathroom inspiration to refer back to.

It's girly enough for me, yet it's durable enough for my messy men in this household.

It just works for US and again, that's what building a house is all about. I'm so glad it was one of our "splurges".

cozy breakfast nook

I love our little breakfast nook. 

I love all the natural light from the big bay window. I love the cozy jute rug. I love the brass light fixture.

Yep, it's little (I nearly fell out when I saw the size while building) but it has worked so well for us the past four months we've been here. 

We eat almost every meal here as a family of three, soon to be four, because it's plenty of room for just us. We have been using our trusty ol' {faux wood} black table and chairs from our old house that we purchased from Wal-Mart for a measly $100 when we got married. It had served us so well, but a couple months ago when my in-laws remodeled their kitchen, said they needed a bigger dining area and asked if we wanted their current solid oak table and chairs...we said um, yes. Of course! 

My mother in law, who is an absolute saint, painted the base of the table and the chairs {a gift to her from her brother, who passed away a few years ago so it also has such special meaning to us and we wanted to keep in the family} white chalk paint. Then she stained the top a super dark espresso color. Almost black, really. I love it. I told her the whole time I could do it, but with me being pregnant she insisted. Again, the woman is a SAINT. 

My father in law brought the table over this past weekend, since the chairs have cushions and still need to be recovered (I've yet to decide on a fabric). It still works great with our other chairs and we are so grateful for this gift from them. Major upgrade.

Now the only thing we are waiting on for this "breakfast nook"/kitchen to be complete is to fill the empty space you see to the left of that pic between where the kitchen cabinets end and the bay window begins. I am waiting on a buffet table to arrive (more on that below) and plan to transform the space into an even more cozy little setting.

Here's my inspiration from all along. Our kitchen is (to me...) a little French country inspired maybe? I just know a lot of what I get to decorate with is from Ballard Designs and let's face it - that's kinda their vibe. Mine too. I love it, as long as it's mixed with some modern updates and quirks.

I knew I wanted a cozy breakfast nook with a buffet table and rustic (or gold!) chalkboard above to put quotes, holiday accents, menus and more. I love to draw, so that would be not only easy but fun for me. Why not add more ways to have FUN in a kitchen, right?

So yeah we are just waiting on the buffet table that we ordered months ago from one of my friends who is an interior designer (it was a great price!) to go there. It isn't exactly like this one but very similar and that pretty distressed blue. I knew with all the gray cabinetry and gray walls, I needed to pack some punch and go bold with the color of the buffet table. Black or white just wasn't going to cut it, plus blues are kinda my thing. Turquoise is my favorite color and we have blues all throughout the house.

I can't wait to fill it with pretty serving pieces and more of our everyday china. Also it will be perfect as a "drink station" or "bar" area when we hosts parties. So fun. It was expected to be here mid-June, so we are all still patiently waiting!

Now the last thing is the chairs to go with the table are white and the seats just need to be recovered. I want to do a fun print maybe, that incorporates colors from the kitchen and maybe living area since it's so close?

or I could go with a geo print since I used florals in the dining room?

and while I love both of these, the floral on the left would pull in all colors. The white chairs, the gray cabinets, the blue buffet table, and the browns/blues in our living room too!

Who knows when I will decide, but definitely soon once the buffet table arrives and I can see the true color. Can't wait to see the end result.

Up next, I'm going to share a few more pics around the casa since I am major nesting and stuck up in the a/c waiting on this baby to arrive. Stay tuned!

snapshots around the new casa

So we moved nearly a month ago and we are slowly but surely getting settled. Within the past few weeks, I've had several ask about pics of the new casa. We are by no means fully unpacked, fully settled, and sure as heck not fully decorated (aka: Cade's room is the only room with anything over the windows besides paper temp shades). We probably won't be for a while, so while I would love to snap my fingers and have everything perfectly in it's place... I have to keep in mind what Marquillyn Smith said in her book "The Nesting Place", "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful..." ....and useful, and amazing, and so much better than before! Yes.

Oh and we certainly haven't let it stop us having friends and family over to cook for and entertain and if it's not all perfect by the time baby boy is here, well hey that's fine too! Isn't a house really always a work in process? I'd like to think so.

A shot of some of the exterior (garage is to the left). Stickers still on the dormer windows, no landscaping, no grass...see what I mean? Plenty left to do, BUT we finally got our porch railing painted last Saturday and I just love it. Wish those darn gutters weren't covering up my columns but I am thrilled with how the porch turned out and can't wait to turn on those fans and enjoy it in the evenings when the sun sets behind the house. The front door just looked so "blah"since we don't have our door knocker up yet, so I threw up a monogram I had and Chad's immediate response was a look and "Sandi. Isn't that a little girly?" Ummm, no! It's blue. I mean I could have done pink, right? 

Our open shelving in the kitchen is one of my favorite things.

Along with my hot pink barn light in the laundry room! We did without cabinets in there for now, since we had that small cleaning closet to hold necessities, but I do hope to have a friend build some open shelving for me so things are even more easily accessible. 

Confession: I went ahead and pulled out the bunnies! Easter really is right around the corner. Never been more excited and ready for SPRING? Who's with me?

I also looooved unpacking china from a box topped with a handwritten a note from my precious grandma Hall from years ago. That box had been sitting up in our barn just patiently waiting to make it's way into our china cabinet (before I had just placed our everyday china serving pieces in there because we didn't have enough room). I am so glad I didn't even bother with registering for fine china, because this simple china she left me is just so much more special and meaningful. All white with the tiniest gold trim. Both of my grandmother's were the classiest, most chic ladies I must say. So blessed to have little reminders of them (and all of our precious grandparents) throughout our new home. 

I've said this before, since both of our parents were only children that means there was a lot of antique furniture left to us three grandkids (my sister and half-brother).  What a blessing! This piece of furniture was so dirty just sitting down at the shop, but I knew it would look just perfect cleaned up and used as a linen cabinet in our new master bathroom. It has exceeded my expectations. Now no, I do not keep the boxwood wreath on it at all times since we do open/close those doors every day, but it had a nail already at the top of it and I thought hey, why not for the pic. I am glad I pulled out my good camera to snap a few pics, because once our TWO wild boys get ahold of this house in the years ahead, it may look nothing like this. HA! Let's remember it as fresh and new mmmkay?

We may not have mirrors yet...but we have monograms! #priorities.

(I took these pics last weekend and big news: we have since received our mirrors and got them hung. More pics on that later because you won't believe where I found them!)

Sneak peek of our closet, which I have yet to really organize and I just knew that would be the first thing I'd want to get my hands on. 

*Sigh*...if only I weren't pregnant, tired all the time, and had an hour or so to spare.

More antiques, like this mirror from my papa's house that fit perfect in the powder room.

Paint touch ups have also happened since I've taken these pics!

We basically reused all of our old furniture, but I did buy a new ottoman from World Market (waited until it was on major sale) to use as coffee table and I am obsessed. So lightweight, the perfect shade of blue, and it just looks great with our chocolate brown sectional. 

Glimpse into Cade's room. Still need to hang this pic and more, but it's coming along and I love all the color...

The boys' bath. We joke and call it a "jack and jack" instead of "jack and jill"...

It's a little tight, but think it will be the perfect size. That piece of art was one of the first things I bought for their rooms. I found it at a big trade show at market, straight from the artists' booth. I knew it was the perfect piece for what I thought was just going to be Cade's bathroom, but now that it's a bathroom for TWO boys I just love it even more...

(that striped frame needs to have a picture sticking to it...)

and just because I like to keep it real here on the ol' blog...what you see is what you get...so let's not forget a pic of Charlie's nursery. Baaaaaah!!!! Bless it. 

I told you, work in progress is our theme right now.

All in good time, my friends, all in good time. Until then, we are just relishing in the joy that comes from our NEW HOME. Could not be more thankful. We have certainly been enjoying it and appreciate our parents who have helped us work hard getting things organized, cleaned, decorated, etc...

It has been life changing in such a good way.

More updates soon!