interior design

Attic Update – 6 months

| The Bee Life

We’re just over the 6-months into this project, yes definitely longer than both B and I anticipated – but hey! What can you do? Attic Renovatoin Update - Month 6 - the bee life - emilyboylan.comAs fantastic as the holidays were, they definitely helped delay progress as two back-to-back weekends were filled with parties, family, and endless amounts of food and drinks. Two, back-to-back weekends where virtually zero work took place in the attic.

Since, B has been back at it and focusing the weekends on mudding! Damn, mudding. Oh and then there is the sanding… and then more mudding… oh and then you sand again! The endless messy… messy cycle.  All “joking” aside, progress is being made, there are complete sections that’re ready to go and they look so great!

The bi-fold doors for our closets have also been installed, since the last update, and it really makes the space feel like a room. Since we bought the house the closets have been wide open so that was an awesome piece to finish!

Another update is that we ordered furniture for our sitting area along with nightstands, it’s getting us really excited (and anxious) to get on to the next part of the project; painting and trim work – so that we can decorate and live up there! I am obsessed with the chairs, they’re absolutely perfect.

As many times as we’ve wanted to hire someone to get this done, mainly because it would be much faster than our time frame, it’s truly awesome that we (but really, mostly B) have done 95% of the work, building a room from the studs, to insulation, to drywall, to paint, to life.

Hopefully next month we have a fresh coat of paint on the walls!

 

 

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?

Inside Our Christmas

| The Bee Life

Last weekend was full of decorating for Christmas! And with continual tweaks being made (always) I wanted to share with you our red and plaid Christmas wonderland!

The Dining Room
I wanted to keep the decor simple but still make a big impact and fill the space. I created depth by layering the plaid table runner and the greens.  I used extra bulbs to fill the glass vases and sprinkled some votives throughout for some nice mood lighting in the evenings.

Ornaments
We have a super tall skinny tree in our dining room as well, this tree is used for all of our ornaments, mostly B’s and one’s we’ve collected together.  I have yet to inherit all of my childhood ornaments from my parents, but then I think we will need a much bigger tree! I love opening the ornaments every year, they all have meaning and memories built behind them.

Cozy Living
The Merry Christmas sign was inspired of course by something I found on pinterest and one of my wood crafts! I hand painted the lettering, and used 100-year-old wood from our attic, it’s pretty hefty. The polar bear also holds special meaning, although it was a lucky find last Christmas season – my grandma used to have a ledge of polar bears, and it wasn’t until after she passed I truly appreciated that sentiment and wished I had asked for a few of hers.

The Tree
Here it is!  Our first REAL tree! She is a beauty.  Lots of lights and gold and red accents to trim the tree. And of course an angel as the topper (she was tough to find!)  – the last missing piece is a tree skirt.

I love being able to enjoy the house decorated, last year we were just moving into our house on December 13th – so throwing some decorations up and the fake tree was all we managed amongst the other chaos!

Merry Christmas!

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.

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 – Organization

| The Bee Life

Happy February 2nd, everyone!

This past weekend, I got a lot of much needed organizing done! I am a very organized person, so the clutter and organized mess (yes you read that correctly, even my mess was organized) finally got to me! Of course, like everything in the house this too will be a work in progress, only because I’m a perfectionist and like everything to match. My main areas that still need some organization are; my bedroom closet, bathroom closet and hall closet, office closet and desk space. I need to put up some more shelves in all of the mentioned closets, and then matching boxes/tubs for various items.

Until I have my spaces complete, I wanted to share my favorite organization inspiration pictures for various places around the house!

Pulled from Better Homes & Gardens via Pinterest http://www.bhg.com/decorating/storage/organization-basics/make-organizing-fun/?page=14#page=9
Pulled from vtwonen via Pinterest http://www.vtwonen.nl/inspiratie/slaapkamer/naturel-slaapkamer/
Pulled from Pinterest – site source unknown
Pulled from Organized by Kelly via Pinterest http://kelleymorrison.com/?paged=6

Of course a lot of these ideas will be adapted into my own space and own needs, that’s the one thing I love about organizing – it’s that I can be creative and think of new ways to give everything a resting place. What’s your favorite part about being organized?