Decorating

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.


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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!

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!

Transformation Tuesday no. 3

| The Bee Life

Remember that post when I “designed” our future dining room? (In case you missed it see here: House Hunters – Dining Room Design)… I also mentioned that we were having a custom table built, well table is complete, and dining room is complete!  We ended up going with my original design, but ran into some problems with the chandelier.

WORDS OF ADVICE: Don’t fall in love with something “available online” only to find it’s no longer available online or in any of the stores… also try and find similar models from different sights, just as back-ups or comparison.

I could not find a replicated chandelier of the one in my original design post ANYWHERE. It was my mission, I was so determined, but found nothing! And I called almost every Home Depot asking for the Hampton Bay, Menlo Park 6-light chandelier… I even went as far as upstate NY near my parents searching for this bad boy. Sold. out.

So… I had to try and find something else, it was hard but we finally found a replacement that we both liked and played into the character of our 100-year old home. We also went with chairs from Target, not only are they durable (and beautiful) but getting two chairs for the price of one (if that) is unbeatable!  Our table was built by a friend’s friend who is a carpenter, we were able to pick the wood, customize the size (8-feet by 4-feet), legs, spacing, height…everything. We ended up staining and finishing the piece ourselves to save some money and it came out great.

Before

After

photo 2

Final touches; side table with table-top lamp, new blinds, decorative bowl for the center of the table and place mats, and I am sure about a million other things along the way! I am completely in love with this space and can’t wait to entertain and have many dinners, game nights, and parties around this table.

Happy Dining!

House Hunters – Living Room Digs

| The Bee Life

Even though we have moved into the house and are pretty settled, we still have future decorating plans (that’s a given, right?) and one that is going to make a huge impact is our living room. I feel like there are so many ways to go with our furniture and style.  Also not being a designer; I have a hard time describing my style. So if anyone out there wants to help this girl out, I would love that!

Ideally, I would love to start with neutral bases for our big furniture pieces – whites and beige’s or grey’s.  Then from there start bringing in the color with an area rug, ottoman, pillows, and light fixtures. Something like this;

Pulled from How to Decorate via Pinterest – Site linked to picture.

How to make this my own:

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This is still a work in progress – but a starting point. I have really struggled with my living room, I feel like there are so many possibilities, I am just focusing on staying patient and when I see it I’ll know! How do you help decide on your designs?

House Hunters – Office Space

| The Bee Life

After two full weekends of house work, and keeping Lowe’s in business, the anticipation of moving into our house has been building… I just want to decorate and organize!!

Again, I blame pinterest for all of my design aspirations, including our future office. I want our office space to be chic and elegant but also sporty, we have some sports memorabilia that I’d like to be able to include in the same vein. So I feel like (once again) the contrast between dark navy blues with whites and greys is a good balance – but I know I can’t use this color pallet for every room… right? Another reason I love this color pallet so much is that it’s still sophisticated without being too girly, because frankly I would love to do something like this… But I wouldn’t do that to B. *smiles*

My inspiration:
MadeByGirl: Anya Kucheryavenko, small office defined by navy wall behind shelves, darling
Pulled from “Made By Girl” Blog via pinterest – Site linked to picture.

How to make this my own:


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In the next week or two, we should finally be moving into the house. All of the work we have been wanting to get done is nearly under wraps! Then the before and after pictures will start coming… so get ready!

Until next time…