home decor

Front Porch Decor Tips for Fall

| The Bee Life

Since this past Thursday was the official kickoff to fall, and the fact we’re coming off a beautiful fall weekend, I’m ready to start accepting everything fall.  One place that you can really make a statement for fall is your front porch/entryway; and this can be accomplished simple or on a more grand scale.  Here is some inspiration along with key pieces and tips to consider as you put your fall front porch together!

Inspiration:

First You’ll Want to Determine:

  1. Your color pallet – if you want to go with the deep oranges, reds, and yellows or if you want to keep it simple with white pumpkins and pops of one color.
  2. If you’re going to keep it simple and understated or if you’re going all out.
  3. Halloween specific or fall; personally I learn towards for fall since this will last you up until your pulling our your Christmas decorations. Halloween only lasts a month. CONSIDER:  If you’re leaning towards Halloween, because you have kids or are hosting a killer party, think of ways to switch out key pieces after the 31st so that you can keep it up through Thanksgiving.

Key Pieces:

  • Pumpkins/Gords
  • A sign or focal point
  • Mums – remember your color pallet!
  • Lanterns
  • Wooden crate or old windows

And wah-la! You should have a fabulous, inviting front porch for the next 2-months! I still need to finish a few DIY’s and crafts, but I’ll share my finished front porch here in the next few weeks.

Share your fall front porches in the comments below or tag me on social media @mmariebee. 

House Tour – Our Living Room

| The Bee Life

Hi friends! I wanted to invite you inside our home and give you a little tour of our living room!  It’s one of the rooms where we spend most of our time besides our master… yes I know… I still owe you all the official master tour, it’s coming, I promise! Anyways, back to the living room, since it’s one of the rooms we spend most of our time in, it’s one of the more finished spaces.  It’s also one of the spaces that I like to update and switch things around on the mantle, coffee table and even the picture frames. So here is the space just Plain Jane, no holiday decor – just normal life.
Living Room (2)Living Room (3)Living Room (1)One of my favorite parts of our living room is all of our old photos that we’ve incorporated into the gallery wall or through the mantle and built-in’s.  They’re pieces of our past and what make up our families and who we’ve been shaped to be.  Family is very important to both of us, so it’s nice to be surrounded by our loved ones, past and present.

It’s the little details we’ve been able to focus on and update (like the knobs on the built-in’s) still giving it an appropriate feel for the period of the house but giving it an updated feel. 

Hope you’ve enjoyed one of our most loved spaces!

Latest Obsession: For The Home

| The Bee Life

HERE’S WHAT, I have been absolutely obsessing over especially as the summer months are approaching and the store’s are switching out their inventory to be summery!!!

Lanterns. OBSESSED. I want them everywhere, but especially for outdoor spaces like our front porch. I love them as decor for your entry way and even lightening for your seating area. I also love lanterns for decoration inside, around a fireplace or hearth area, especially the really big lanterns. Not to mention you can find them in almost any finish from silver, to gold, wooden, ceramic, or bronze to fit into your current decor or switch to something new. You can get hanging lanterns or keep them on the ground or table. Plus you can use them season round by mixing up colors and styles with different fillers for the insides… I could go on for dayzzz!  On a lantern kick like me? Check out craft stores, as a lot of them have sever price cuts on summer and outdoor decor (like 60-70%!) you can’t beat it.

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2011/11/15/rehearsal-dinner-inspiration-by-elyse-jennings-weddings/
http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2010/08/back-patio-reveal-and-5-giveaway-winners/
http://www.digsdigs.com/30-adorable-fireplace-candle-displays-for-any-interior/

Greenery. I am loving me some greens, the fake kind. I first saw some moss like letters at Michael’s and really wanted to impulsively buy them, but one didn’t know what to spell or letters to get, and two thought they would look way out of place in my house, but I can’t help but pine over them. I also really love boxwood wreaths, but refuse to spend the money online and will most likely DIY one, one of these days. And as much as I truly don’t like fake plants, because I’d rather just have a few real ones – I really like the fake greenery balls… yes I just described them as such, okay they’re technically “boxwood vase fillers” (according to Target). Anyways, I like the idea of having some greens around the house to add to the real greens, it brings some added life to your living space.

http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/2011/05/one-project-at-time-link-party.html
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/boxwoodwreaths.html
http://www.target.com/p/boxwood-vase-filler-smith-hawken/-/A-16205611#prodSlot=_1_7

So those are my two latest obsessions right now, I’ve had my eyes on the lookout for these whenever I hit the stores.  I recently grabbed two silver lanterns for some added decoration up in our master suite, and I love how they compliment the space, we have a mixture of metals, but somehow it’s all working.

What’re your summer favorites?

Attic Update – 8 months

| The Bee Life

Exciting updates with this post on our biggest home renovation to date! Our attic turned master suite-oasis, and ohh boy did we out do ourselves this time. Attic Update Month 8 - the bee lifeSo I’m probably getting you all excited for a big reveal, sorry folks, not yet. But I do promise a few sneak peaks! The perfectionist in me has a few things that still need to be purchased and a DIY that is going to make a big difference – so until then we will all have to wait for the big reveal!

We are up and living in our master suite, and it’s awesome! It came out exactly how I pictured and more! Not to mention our second floor is now fully open to family and friends for a weekend visit. Now for the sneak peaks…   Our DIY mini barn door, strictly decorative to cover an uglier door heading into a storage space. We used old gas pipe we had found in the demo and threw together the rest!  If you’re interested in the specifics, leave a comment below, but I saw inspiration for a full size door and we just figured out the measurements for our custom piece.

Textured wallpaper on the stair backers. We had started with deciding to paint the backs white and the tops grey, but the white backs just weren’t cutting it. Adding this pre-glued wallpaper was beyond easy and  an amazing upgrade. Totally worth the $20 and 40-minutes after work!

A little sneak of the gallery wall! I am loving the way it’s turning out, however it still needs a few extra final touches! I am a firm believer that you can’t rush these types of projects you have to look and do what speaks to you and the wall. (Nerdy, I know)

Our little seating area!! Obsessed with these chairs. Obsessed with these pillows. Still need a few final touches like a light for the side table, a foot ottoman and maybe a few other pictures.

So yes, we’ve been busy! A lot of this was wrapped up a few weekends ago, the day B proposed we had put a solid 10 hours in, since then we’ve been able to dial back, slow down and work on the smaller things as we can- oh and enjoy the finished product!

Stay tuned!

Target Love

| The Bee Life

As I have been price shopping around for the perfect pieces for our master bedroom, I keep coming back to one place over and over again – Target. Their prices, convenience and in my opinion quality (for the price) can’t be beat.  I am always down for a bargain – even though as much as I would love to shop at some of the higher end spots regularly like Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn or Anthropologie – there are many other things I like to enjoy with my money!  See if you can guess which of these is from Pottery Barn and which is from Target (don’t cheat!) – you might be surprised by a few…
Target vs. Pottery Barn
01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08

How did you do?  These pieces are pretty similar and nearly identical, but the difference between price point is not even on the same level! Target is the clear winner when it comes to price, but I still love and dream about you Pottery Barn (and Crate & Barrel and Antrhopologie).  I also like to decorate or re-accessorize somewhat frequently, so spending more than I need to on pieces isn’t ideal – I am just lucky I have more rooms to move the ‘retirees’ to!

What’re your favorite ‘bargain’ spots?

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.

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:

01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05

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?

Transformation Tuesday.

| The Bee Life

It’s my inaugural Transformation Tuesday! Are you excited? I am, this means we are starting to wrap this up! But since we aren’t quite finished or moved in, here are a few of the projects we’ve completed, although small in tow, have made a huge difference.

1. Carpet Removal – Hardwood Please
This one was simple… as soon as we saw this carpet, and the gorgeous hardwoods in the rest of the house we just had to tear this up. So we did, the first weekend we got in the house.  And with Moz’s help, poof! The carpet disappeared… luckily it was in a small area of the house.


2. Wallpapered Built-In’s
My first initial instinct was to add a little more life into these beauties by painting the inside yellow so they would pop! Then I remembered I had some left-over embellished wallpaper from when we made our bar (I’ll share in a future post).  After some measuring and cutting, I soaked the pre-glued wall paper, waited 5-minutes and then placed into the built-in’s… wah-la! Instant character.  I love this patterned wallpaper because it reminds me of tin ceilings, without actually having dark tin ceilings in your house. The pattern is subtle enough that it isn’t too distracting, and it brightens the cabinets up just enough, I love it.

I can’t wait to share more before and after pictures with you! Honestly, I have to keep reminding myself to take the before AND after pictures… hopefully we can get the majority of the work finished up this week.  We have been putting in long nights after work, and full weekends for the past three weekends. It’ll be nice when it’s all over.

Happy Homeowning!