Home Design

Transformation Tuesday no. 7

| The Bee Life

A little over a month ago, I was brainstorming some ideas for our empty, yellow and brown sun room. Well we ended up going in a completely different direction, but I absolutely love it. We ended up painting the room white, and adding some base and crown molding to give it more of a finished look.  Since we got new furniture, the big debate was what to do with our old leather couch and our super comfy, yet not so cute recliner. Solution? The sun room! Not to mention I had some fun colorful pillows that just didn’t go with our new furniture – B had the brilliant idea of re-purposing in this new space.

One of my favorite parts is the curtains, we used PVC pipe and little hooks to make the curtain rod, it goes around the entire window frame, it was super inexpensive and all custom. I also love our Jackson Hole pictures topping off and making this a true retreat. I love all of the color and patterns, I realize it’s not everyone’s taste but I love to mix it up and have some fun.

House Hunters – Backyard Living

| The Bee Life

Memorial Day Weekend is the official ‘summer’ kick-off party weekend. Which means outdoor living spaces are becoming needed and used. With this in mind, I can’t help but think of ideas on how we can turn our backyard into a functional area for summer entertaining. I feel like the options are endless, making decisions harder to make.

Inspiration:

Wish list:

  • We don’t have a patio or a deck, so we have the option although I like the idea of having both, a deck that leads down to a patio
  • I love pergola’s and would love to try and incorporate one over our potential deck area
  • Comfy/lounge seating and dining options are needed
  • Considering outdoor speakers to compensate for our neighbors horrible country music
  • Keep enough grass space for Moz to have room to run hog wild
  • Incorporate a veggie/herb garden by using minimum space

We might end up waiting a season before any final decisions are made and see how our first summer in the house goes.  Our sun room is nearly complete and once we get some furniture for the front porch we’ll have some outdoor options to hold us over with. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Happy entertaining season!

Transformation Tuesday no. 6

| The Bee Life

Our living room is finally looking grown-up, and I absolutely love it. One afternoon of; “Let’s just go look at furniture” turned into us actually pulling the trigger and buying it. One of our challenges was finding furniture that was deep enough… B is 6’6″ and I wanted him to be able to fit and be comfortable, plus once he tried out a deep couch he was sold; that was what we needed.  Mind you 45″ deep couches aren’t that popular; nor do they come in a lot of styles. With our oblong living room I wanted pieces that could be versatile and could be rearranged. Our other sticking point was the fabric and color, we wanted something light colored and also more lineny – no microfiber in this house! So once we found our pieces, we knew they were it, hitting our size/color/fabric requirements while being the perfect mix of the style we wanted.

Before:

The listing photos
The listing photos

After:

Luckily we could keep some of our original pieces: the coffee table was a steal from an antique store, while the light blue ‘car seat’ chairs were from B’s parents.  The rug was a steal from target being $40 and it’s Moz’s favorite – every time we get a rug she just goes and lays on it. It’s the cutest thing. There will always be finishing touches, but I am loving how this has come together so far.

House Hunters – Sun room

| The Bee Life

Since the weather is finally starting to perk up, there has been one room in the house that has been completely neglected – our sun room. This room is strictly a 2-season use room (for now) since it’s all windows and horribly insulated, thank you 100-year old home. So knowing this; I don’t want to put too much time or money into it, but I still want it to be a warm, inviting space that will be used on weekend mornings, rainy nights or afternoons.

Here’s the space we’re working with;

It’s basically a square with windows on three-walls and a door with two smaller walls from the camera perspective. First things first; it will need a coat of paint (the only room in the house that hasn’t been painted) – that dull yellow is going to turn into a crisp white. The ceiling and floors are a dark color, I am considering painting the ceiling white and maybe doing some antique texturing. A new area rug is also needed to add that cozy feel.

Inspiration:

01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05

These pieces might be a little big for this space, but I like the idea of it just being a room with a couch so all you can do is relax and enjoy the weather without actually being outside. We plan to go furniture shopping soon for our living room, so maybe we will throw in a piece or two for the sun room! First thing’s first; PAINT!

Last Minute Easter Prep

| The Bee Life

Now that we have 3x the space and 3x the doors, our space hasn’t been as Eastery as I would hope, with it only being 2-days away.  I recognized that this will take some time to figure out the perfect pieces for our spaces, but I also love decorating, especially for holidays! Easter is the ideal segue to spring so it’s a perfect time to pull in a mix of the two.

Here are some Easter/Spring essentials:

1. Front Door – DIY vs. Store

DIY – This tulip wreath is a perfect DIY opportunity (look for a future post!) Not to mention it allows for flexibility in choosing your own wreath size and tulip color based on your preference and house, and it can stay up before, during, and after Easter!

Store – Target (and many other stores) have these beautiful egg wreaths.  They’re chic and simple and I love this as an option.

2. Centerpiece – Mine vs. DIY

Mine – This is my first attempt at an Easter centerpiece working with what I have.  The tall tea light holders are my current year-round piece, along with the black place mats, although I would love to find the perfect ones with some color! The bunny was a gift from my “future” mother-in-law, which added the perfect touch. All of these pieces (minus the bunny and place mats) were purchased at the Dollar Store; $9 for this look!

DIY – I love this DIY option because it brings in the perfect mix of spring and Easter.  The fresh flowers give this dimension and life, simply switch out the eggs for more flowers or just more “grass” and you have a piece that can stay-up after the holiday.

3. Mantle – Dream vs. Reality

Dream – I LOVE this mantle, and wreath’s over mantles – especially for Christmas.  Sadly this is not an option. B and his 55-inch TV won the battle over the mantle. So while I have some options on the sides and under the TV, it can’t be as dramatic as I would like.

Reality – We have a 55-inch TV over our mantle. So I switch out small pieces and add in elements of the current season or holiday when and where I can.  My picture frames and the lights are a current fixture (along with the TV) – so I am sure this will change a million times over throughout the year.

What are your Easter/Spring holiday essentials?

Happy Easter!

Transformation Tuesday no. 5

| The Bee Life

Another Tuesday, another Transformation.  Our bathroom has come a long way since it was initially revealed in TT no. 2.  Small fixes along they way have been made like a new faucet, a new mirror and finally our open closet shelving.  The closet in the bathroom was sort of an odd ball, but had so much potential.  We opted to keep it without a door but wanted to spruce it up by adding some open-concept shelving.

Before
It was just an open space with a few hooks, and horrible pastel blue color, just wasted space.

After
A pop of color was needed to add some contrast with the white shelving and accents. My glass holders are recycled from Bath and Body Works candles, a little soaking and scrubbing and they’re perfect for cotton swabs, Q-tips, and other necessities! Baskets were newly purchased from Target, to continue with the clean white accents, a few more are needed for various things and new white towels will be a future purchase too! I love that everything is in one place, a one-stop shop and organized – it’s perfect for me and B, and guests!

Our next project in the bathroom will be getting rid of the horrid flooring and tile on the walls! I need some white subway tile in my life.

House Hunters – Patio Season

| The Bee Life

Happy First Day of Spring!

As warmer days and longer nights are upon us, patio season is right around the corner!  I am so excited that we have our own patio space to enjoy this year.

Our front porch is the next space that needs to be furnished for warm weather enjoyment, and of course there are so many possibilities. Before we buy any furniture we’ll need to assess the space we have first, it’s not the biggest front porch but it’s big enough to accommodate a nice seating area. That’s why looking for compact pieces (like the chair set below) – is key, multifunctional pieces allow for items to be stored away when not being used for optimal space. Bright colors and neutrals are a must for my outdoor space, I am sure a few DIY projects will pop up once we get into it to pull those elements in.


01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06

We will also be landscaping our front, so when everything gets done it will really pull together nicely.  I am so excited to get flowers and planters along with the furnishings, to create our own outdoor space, with greens used for privacy. Morning coffee on the weekends will be that much warmer when we have this space complete!

Transformation Tuesday no. 4

| The Bee Life

This TT (Transformation Tuesday) is one of my favorites yet. I totally underestimated what a change this would be, especially to such a small space. Our side entry aka ‘mud room’ was a huge eye sore, dark paneling, layers of old flowery wallpaper, and crackling ties.

Before

When we first got our keys in November, starting to tackle taking down the wallpaper was a random project that I worked on for one afternoon and then just stopped as I got to the third layer! And then it sat like that for weeks until finally I had the white paint open for another little project and I decided to paint over that wood paneling! Then B got into it, and we removed the rest of the wallpaper one afternoon … then I tore up all the floor ties, curious to see what was underneath, and after a few more rounds of paint… wah-la!

After

Rug / Roller Shade / Hooks / Shelf

We had all left over paint for the white and even the walls, which just looks so crisp paired together! The wall color is the same color we used in our hallway stairs going up to the second floor. Underneath the tiles was wood that was half painted and half not, so we decided to go all white again, eventually we would like to get some stone tile down. We bought a decent size rug, new roller shade for privacy and sunlight, and a floating shelf and some hooks to complete the coat area.  I grabbed the white standing shelf from another closet to finish the look. I truly can’t get over this, it’s so bright and big, for a small space, (it looks even better in person).

More things will be added along the way, of course, but this is one of my favorites so far!

House Hunters – Centerpieces

| The Bee Life

One small decorating detail that I have been rambling my brain on is a centerpiece arrangement for our massive dining room table.  Ideally I would like it to be usable year-round, but allow the possibility to add holiday touches.  Surprisingly, Pinterest has not been much help.  I like portions of centerpieces I’ve seen, but not the whole thing, so I am just going to have to get creative!

Wishlist:

  • Something that is classic and clean
  • Fresh flowers (everyday)… but highly unrealistic – fake flowers are not an option
  • Year-round
  • Airy and light

At this point I am leaning towards different size glass vases/cylinders that would house candles.  I also like the idea of candlesticks, but I want to potentially do this for our fireplace mantle, which is also a constant thought and struggle – everything I see is holiday related!

Pinspiration:

http://myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://homedesignlover.com/home-accesory/15-traditional-candle-centerpiece-ideas/
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-dining-room-centerpiece.html

My search for that first piece to drive the inspiration is ongoing, even window shopping in multiple stores looking for that one piece has been unsuccessful, but I am determined! I can’t wait to share the end result, hopefully sooner rather than later. Until then any advice, pictures or tricks you did would be awesome!