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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?

Latest Obsessions: For the Home 

| The Bee Life

HERE’S WHAT I have been obsessed with in and around the home, especially since our master is nearly completed.  These are the things I am constantly looking for whether it be in the store or buried in a photo album.

Old Photos: Since the inception of the gallery wall in our living room, and the idea of using old, black and white photographs, (from years long before I was ever born) I can’t help but want to find more! There are so many hidden gems stored away that I know I haven’t found yet.  The last time I was home I insisted my parents dig out their old photos… And there is was, these beautiful wedding pictures of my grandma B, pictures I’d never seen before, pictures that took my breathe away (one pictured below). I also need to dig around in B’s grandma Dee’s pictures. I love making copies and filling my frames with family and memories that make up our history.

Table Top Clocks: I am over the wall clock, practical and useful in some rooms (like the kitchen) but not so much in other rooms. I LOVE table top clocks, vintage or modern, gold or silver, I’m probably going to start hoarding them and put one in every room! I just stumbled upon these gems at Target, $9.99 each, I’ll take one of each, please!
Clocks
01 | 02 | 03

Wooden Accents: With recent DIY projects, I find myself drawn more and more to custom wooden signs with hand crafted letters. I also love wooden frames that elevate the look and feel while tying in a natural element to the room and adding warmth. I have a specific DIY in mind to help finish off the gallery wall in our master, something similar below, only incorporating B and I’s initials or a special date or longitude/latitude.  There are also plenty of pieces like this found in stores, that have a custom, hand-drawn look for the not so crafty people!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/256254676/reclaimed-wooden-blessed-sign

What are you obsessing about lately when it comes to pieces in and around your home?

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!

My Latest Obessions

| The Bee Life

Taking a page from Andy Cohen’s book, HERE’S WHAT I’m obsessed with when it comes to home decor… because I have an entire master suite I am dying to decorate.

Neutrals – White and grey! More please!! I love creating a blank canvas to be able decorate and accessorize with pops of color.  Not to mention white and bright makes a room look 10x bigger, who doesn’t want their room to look bigger?

 

Floral Accents – This is my way to incorporate a little girly into a space without being totally overt with pink walls … like I would love to do. *smiles* I am completely in love with these pillows and they’re even prettier in real life – because they have flecks of gold in them. *swoon* The candle from Anthropologie also has flecks of gold and an incredible scent.

 

Navy and Gold – I mean… do I even need to explain? This is one of the most beautiful and classic pairings, in my humble opinion, especially when these colors are used as accents they can make a big impact, although if overdone not so hot.

I won’t lie – you’ll see a few of these beauties in our master suite when it’s all finished. What’re you currently obsessing over? That piece you’ve been eyeing have pinned AND favorited on your Pinterest board.


Product Links:
Neutrals: Unfinished Nights Stands | Upholstered Fabric Chair | Shag Rug
Florals: Pillows | Candle
Navy and Gold: Handsome/Gorgeous Frames | Ottoman | DIY Curtains

Master Bedroom Inspiration

| The Bee Life

Oh how things can change within a year! Almost a year to the date, I posted this Bedroom Retreat – which while all in good fun, the idea’s have transformed immensely!  Here are a few of the items on the must-have punch list and some inspirational pictures for elements that I want to pull from.

  1. Wing-back Upholstered Headboard
  2. Matching nightstands with table lamps
  3. Pop of color in curtains, pillows, accessories
  4. Accent Wall – Herringbone Pattern
  5. Cozy and comfy seating area w/ fireplace
  6. Thick baseboard trim
  7. Open concept railing
  8. Classic chandelier (DIY Project)

diy-wingback-headboard-tutorial-king-size: Master Bedroom Makeoverschairs- overstock, curtains, world market, tiny ottoman in tween for sitting area:

Our attic is slowly but surely coming to life and as much as I hate painting, I can’t wait to paint the room and do the finishing touches like the trim and our open concept railing. I am really wanting to have pops of navy, yellow and pink around the room, but still creating something that B will like and isn’t too girly. We are getting so close to the finishing touches it’s hard not to get excited!

Attic Update

| The Bee Life


Well we first started our attic work in the end of July – we are now nearly approaching October and we still have a lot of work that needs to be done, but finally after a delay we have progress happening again!

We had a minor hiccup finding someone who could finish our electric work, but hopefully that will be complete tonight. Then the fun begins: insulation and dry-walling! Both will be a first for B and I – and it honestly all sounds a little daunting! Especially lugging everything up to the 3rd floor, but winter is fast approaching so we will need to keep moving quickly and make sure we do everything right.  We’ve received a number of opinions by professions so I know we’re on the right path.

A few things that we hadn’t accounted for was needing to hire someone for our electric (our neighbor was helping us out, but schedules just got busy), so that was an added expense. We are also waiting to receive a quote on refinishing our floors, however they’re pine and painted – apparently two not so great things, sooo I am sure the estimate will be far beyond what we expect, so we need to figure out plan B and plan C. Do we just put in new floors? Or do we just paint our current ones again? I’m not sure yet what we will decide yet. Another to-do is finishing our chandelier, I got one for a steal from Lowe’s for $15, it was an old display fixture that had some broken strings – I’m going to switch those out, just need to buy my supplies!

The list of to-do’s isn’t getting any shorter, in fact it keeps growing! But I am excited to be making progress and ready to get some things complete!

Do you have any tips for dry-walling?

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.

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!

Homeowners.

| The Bee Life

As of Thursday evening, B and I are official homeowners… we got the keys to our house! The process has been so long, that the reality of it all is hitting me in waves.  We had a 60-day close, plus we are having some work done on the house, so there has been a lot of downtime.  Fortunately we have time left on our lease until the end of December, so we can get the house in tip-top shape and move in as needed.

We got a lot of work done around the house this past weekend, before and after pictures to come in a future post. But MY biggest accomplishment of the weekend was deciding on paint colors for the dining room and the living room… now only 5-other rooms to go… oh… and the actual painting…

We also met our neighbors this weekend, both sides seem super nice.. so I’m happy about that.


#homeownerselfie