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House Tour – Backyard Patio

| The Bee Life

If you’ve been reading along, you may have gotten hints of our latest home project/renovation… our backyard patio!  This project was 100% a want on B’s end, and maybe about a 55% want on my end.  Sure I’ve wanted and dreamed about a backyard patio in our blank slate of a yard, but we’ve gone this long, so why not wait some more? But once B started getting quotes and kept moving the project forward, I jumped on board and helped from an aesthetic perspective to help pull it all together and finish it off.

The space we picked is off the back of the house, and connects seamlessly to the driveway for a universal flow for expanded living space. We’ve got plans for the house in a few of these areas so we designed with that in mind. Last summer we were looking into doing a square paver patio, but after numerous chats with family/contractors, it didn’t seem like it’d last for the price we’d have to pay. Plus it was WAY more than we were expecting at the time.  So we started exploring stamped concrete this time around figuring out textures and colors we liked.   It all came together just how we envisioned it!
House Tour - Patio(7) - the bee life

Since we only had one piece of furniture, the dining table a hand-me-down from B’s aunt & uncle (2-years ago!), we went shopping for some pieces.  We had our eye on black iron chairs that matched the table pretty well and found a similar base for the umbrella, so we were able to use the table. The dining space works out perfectly and we’ve already had a few dinners out on the patio.  The conversation set was a find that I fell in love with thanks to Emily Henderson, but luckily we were able to take advantage of some Memorial Day sales and got a great price on everything!

The last finishing touch that really pulls the space together (besides the super comfortable wide chairs – that I am OBSESSED with) are the bistro lights!  I’d bought almost half of the lights we needed when they were on sale last season for a steal of $8 each compared to $24.99 *WOW* – moral of the story, always buy more than you think you’ll need, especially if they’re $8 and you don’t have a use for them at the time!

We’ve spent so much time outside in these last few weeks now that we have this additional living space.  It was definitely worth it and I’m glad B pushed for this, because we love how it turned out and having another space to entertain in!

// Want the look?
Dining Chairs; Lowes || Outdoor Fire Pit; Lowes || Table Umbrella; Target || Umbrella Base; Target || Bistro Lights; Target || Conversation Set & Chairs; Target 

American Flag Decor Inspiration

| The Bee Life

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

In order to kick off the holiday weekend and the unofficial kickoff to summer, decorating with the American Flag is a great way to be festive from Memorial Day, to the 4th of July to Labor Day!  You can leave it up, and your set for the summer so you can travel, entertain, enjoy the warm weather and socialize with friends.  Here is some inspiration for an easy and classic way to feel festive all summer long;

I love decorating with an American Flag, the colors are bright and timeless. Get your house prepped with a statement piece inside or decorate and show off outside, or better yet, both!

Enjoy!

Sources: Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

DIY – Side Entry Tile

| The Bee Life

Our latest home project was tiling our side entry and the stairs that lead up to the kitchen area.  When we first moved in, the space was drab with gross stick-on tile with wood panels and layers of wallpaper.  Well our quick fix was an easy paint job and removing the wallpaper and floor.  We painted the revealed wood floor white and added some grips on the stairs – but as you can imagine white floors for an entry is not the cleanest or the prettiest. So, like I said, it was a quick fix in need of more help.

So it was Bentley’s idea to finish this space and add tile to the landing and to the stairs. This was the first time we tiled a space, so it was a little daunting at first figuring out what we needed, what tile we wanted, and when we would be able to do this.  The biggest piece that helped save us and this project, was being able to borrow my Dad’s wet saw to cut the tiles. B and I split up tasks, he would cut the tile and I would lay the tile!

The stairs went surprisingly well, but because we used large tiles there was a lot of cuts involved, although less pieces. I’m not sure if the stone we picked was the most cost effective (actually I am fairly confident it wasn’t) but we were going mainly off of aesthetic. Once we got to the platform it was very messy and hard to maneuver in the tight space without stepping on the tile! But we finished with only three trips to the hardware store once we got started. *smiles*

We waited the appropriate amount of time and then some before B finished the space with the grout and once that was dried he added some trim work. We finished off the space with a new storage piece to hide shoes and we were wrapped up!  It was fairly easy project once we got going, and we definitely feel like we’re tiling pros now.  This space has been instantly upgraded, it’s more durable, weather resistant and easier to clean up. We love how it turned out!!

House Tour – Easter Dining Room

| The Bee Life

Happy Easter, my friends… well almost! With the holiday quickly approaching, on this house tour I wanted to share our dinning room, all decorated and ready for a cozy Easter meal. It was nice to soften up the room with pastels and floral prints, our head-chairs aren’t enough some times! Not to mention the afternoon light was shining into the room so perfectly after a rainy morning – I couldn’t pass up a little photo shoot.
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I pulled this look together with a lot of existing pieces already in stock.  The only new additions were the white bunny with gold ears, her friend is on our mantle, and the Happy Easter napkins that I  snagged from Marshall’s. I wanted to keep this simple, classic and bright through the use of the pastels and then the white and gold to tie the whole look together.

Happy Easter!

Guest Bedroom – Reveal

| The Bee Life

It’s Friday! And I’m happy to share our latest and first little home makeover of the year, one of our guest bedrooms. The reason we did an impromptu makeover is because this room always felt like it was an after thought and just thrown together. It was a combination of my first apartment furniture; a dark brown book case and TV stand, and brown curtains – mainly because we had them so we made it work. The color of the room was yellow, we had kept it the same as when we moved in to keep it simple, but it was really bright! This is also the most used guest room, so it just made sense to give it more love.
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Instead of buying all new furniture, although I was tempted, we ended up, updating old pieces and buying a few new key pieces. We updated the book case and TV stand with some white spray paint and added some legs to the TV stand (B’s awesome idea) in order to raise it off the ground a bit.  And if your an avid Bee reader, the night stand might look a bit familiar – yes I redid it again, this time with some fun colors and new handles! I am a bit obsessed. We also painted up an old window and found a fun green wreath to create some rustic wall art.

New pieces include the curtains (LOVE!), the bedspread, the hanging light and the rug (which will probably be replaced again) and a few new picture frames and little accessories around the room. I am sure there will be some more accent pillows and blankets added to keep the space cozy and colorful.

I love the updates we’ve made, the wall color feels more calm and relaxing, and it’s fun to add some pops of color. I’ve always been a fan of color, but finally found a way to do it in a mature way and not childish. I also feel like the space feels so much bigger with the update of the white furniture. Can’t wait for some friends and family to enjoy the space this year! We will definitely be having a lot of guests ❤

Shout out to my little peanut for posing and being a good sport in all my pictures!

 

House Tour – Our Christmas

| The Bee Life

Eleven more days until Christmas! Our house is full decked out and ready for the holidays, it’s cozy and festive… I may be a bit biased, but I’m in love.

With this being the third Christmas at our house (wow!), I’ve definitely continued to perfect the finishing touches but also try a few new things! This year I took to Pinterest for some new ideas, specifically for our front door and dining room centerpiece. I looked for ideas that I could use preexisting pieces/decor but also be able to put my finishing touches on them!

Front Door: We amped up the front door to really make a statement, now that we have a full glass storm door, we can fully utilize all the real estate.  I’ve mentioned this many times, but your exterior of your home is the first impression guests receive, so why not make a statement?

My hack was to use wire to connect the three wreaths together, and then wrap the ribbon around to cover it up.  I probably spent $10 for the berries to add into the greens and the ribbon (sale at Joann’s!). I already had the wreaths, door hanger and wire.  I just hot glued the ribbon on the door hanger to make the ribbon look continuous! I love how the red pops on our blue door.
front-door_3front-door_1Dining Room Centerpiece: I wanted to switch up the centerpiece, since as much as I loved last year’s centerpiece it wasn’t conducive for entertaining with friends and family.  I often had to move it for space or take certain parts out of it.  I needed something a little more low maintenance, less intrusive and easy to move. I saw some inspiration on pinterest with a wooden box and since we found one when we first moved in (under our front porch of course), it was the perfect idea.  I used greens from the Christmas tree farm and just had to buy the candles. I added in some color and it’s completely portable if we need to move for a game night, dinner or cookie baking!
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dining-room_2I definitely got my “Martha Stewart” on and love the way these two spaces turned out! Everything I got too can be reused or altered next year – which would be my second hack for all of you is to think of DIY/Pinterest solutions that work multiple years, aren’t too trendy.

Bee Holiday Hacks – Printables

| The Bee Life

Shhh! I want to share my latest Holiday Hack with you all, some may be giggling and saying “You’re a little late to the game!” but whateves! I’m okay with that, it’s new exciting for me and might be to you too! Plus you may always see all these cute printables but then think, I need to get a frame, where would I put these, do they go with the rest of my decor?
bee-holiday-hacks-printablesSo here is the best part, you don’t need to worry about buying new frames or reworking your entire decor you can just switch out artwork in frames you already have hanging.  There is no need to put new nail holes in the walls or redesign color pallets or double up on frames – it’s perfect! Most of the prints to download are free and fairly easy to scale if you’re looking to fill at 5×7 or 8×10 frame.

This is a low-cost (if any) update to really put the finishing touches on your Christmas decor around the home.  These will be the little things that guests will notice around the house at your upcoming holiday party and drive home your cozy, welcoming, Christmas home!

Here are some of my favorite Printables (links below):

Share your Holiday Hacks with me on social, @mmariebee!

Links to Printables Featured Above:
Merry & Bright Plaid | Spread Christmas Cheer | Merry Little Christmas | Woody Wagon Christmas 

 

 

Winter Weekends – Christmas Tree

| The Bee Life

The first weekend in December means the Christmas decorations are out and the tree is cut down! Growing up in, essentially, farm land, and now living in a suburb of a city, it’s a little harder to find Christmas tree farms without having to go for a drive.

We had found the perfect spot last year, had our cash ready and went for a drive. Well, we started out walking and looking for the imperfectly-perfect tree.  And we kept looking… and looking… and looking… it got to the point where we were about to leave and just buy a pre-cut one from a larger department store (no fun!) but then, there she was! Literally at the very end (or beginning), right before we were heading back – tall and skinny just like we wanted.

She was a little goofy, but we went for it, and cut her down!  We also got a fresh wreath and a bundle of swag and then headed back to grab a few other items to finish trimming the tree and house.  Once we got the tree in the house and in the stand, it was seriously perfect. We spent the rest of the weekend listening to Christmas music, decorating inside and out, watched Home Alone and stayed cozy at home!

 

Our Master Reveal

| The Bee Life

The time is finally here!! Our master bedroom reveal!

For those who didn’t follow along on my 8-months worth of updates throughout last year… It all started with our attic, even though it was a ‘finished’ space, it was poorly done.  It’s open feel, large bright windows, closet space and size made this an instant dream master retreat.  Since B is so tall, we ended up raising the ceiling 6-inches, but that basically became a complete gut job down to the studs. This wasn’t part of the original plan – but we ended up doing new electric, new insulation, new drywall, new blinds, closet doors, new everything – and B did 97.9% of it! This was definitely our biggest house project to date.

So without further ado here is our awesome master retreat including the seating area and my two closets, yes two, one for clothes, one for accessories. *grins* We’ve tried to DIY and make as much as possible, including the headboard, curtain rods, barn door, DIY night stands and reading table, painted and redid the dresser and shopped smart for other accessories but splurged on a few items like the fireplace, rugs and our chairs.

master-reveal-the-bee-life-10master-reveal-the-bee-life-6The black frames next to the bed hold the love letter B wrote and proposed to me with. It’s the perfect addition to the room and show casing that instead of hiding it in a box somewhere. We also tried to keep some of the original wood work, especially on the stair railing coming up, but opened it to give an open feel.

I had full intentions of sharing the closet space with B, but he insisted I use both of the closets upstairs (don’t worry he has two-closets on the second floor). So I kindly thanked him and told him he was creating a monster and then proceeded to work on creating my dream <organized> closets.

We would both be lying if we didn’t say we were proud of the way this turned out. It was everything we imagined and more and I love having our own little getaway from the rest of the house and world (Moz really loves it too!)

Go Us!