Thanks and a fun night

Ok - LOVING all of the rug feedback!  Thank you so much everyone!  So far I think #1 is the clear favorite although #3 isn't far behind.  #2 was my least favorite of the three (like most of you) but it has grey in it that would tie into our paint so that is why I was considering that one.  If you haven't left your opinion yet I'd still love to hear it!  I'm totally letting you all make this decision for me.  :)  All three will work in that space with what I have planned so just pick your favorite one.  Next week I'll share pics of the room and my decorating plans for it!  

You all know that one of my favorite things about blogging is connecting with so many of you.  I love getting to know the people who read my blog!  I've had several instances when I've been able to meet some of you and I have absolutely loved it.  I always feel an instant connection with people who read my blog.  One night I was at a work party with Kenny and I met someone and we were chatting.  I asked her if she had kids and she told me about them.  Then I said "I have three.." and she interrupted me and said "oh - I have to tell you - I know your kids - I read your blog!"  I thought - well then - tell me more about YOU since you not only know my kids but everything else about me including the fact that I burned dinner last night and I just bought this dress I'm wearing on sale for 20 bucks!  :)  It's a strange feeling to meet someone you know nothing about when they know everything about you!  

I have to tell you all about my fun night last night.  A darling reader and decorator (Gina) and I have been e-mailing for years.  It started like it usually does - she left a nice comment and I answered her back.  She also lives in San Diego and we have always talked about getting together sometime.  Well last week we ran into each other.  And you'll never guess where.  The Container Store!!  Of all places!  We had to laugh.  I was just stopping by after a quick workout at the gym and I was a mess!  In fact I remember looking in the mirror that morning thinking "I hope I don't run into anyone I know today...."  (you know those days - and of course it never fails that you always run into someone!).  I had no make-up on, hair slicked back in a pony tail and was all sweaty.  I walked in the front door and she recognized me immediately - sweaty face and all.  :)  We hugged and chatted and laughed about finally meeting in our most beloved hang out.  We also decided it was time to finally get together.  So last night we met at Cheesecake Factory and seriously talked and laughed for hours.  

(blurry pic but the only one we got!)

It was so much fun - we just clicked!  The start of a long time friendship for sure.  We are already excited to get together again.  

I'm so grateful for this blog and for the fun friendships that have come because of it.

So grateful for all of you!

Happy Friday friends.

:)

opinions please! (dining room rug options)

Popping in for a quick survey if you have a minute today!  I'm looking at yellow rugs for my formal dining room (I'll show you pics of that room soon!).  I know it's hard to give an opinion when you haven't seen the space or my table yet, but just from looking at these rugs which one do you like the best?  I like them all three and am having a hard time deciding!  

{1}

The Andalusia Wool Dhurrie rug from West Elm.

{2}

Bazaar Wool Dhurrie rug also from West Elm 

{3}

OR the Octagon Trellis from Shades of Light

1, 2, or 3.  Do you have a  preference?  

Or have you seen another yellow rug you like other than these three?  

I shouldn't ask that.  I'm indecisive enough as it is!  

:)

Thank you!

Downstairs Laundry Room

Sharing our downstairs laundry room today!  This room looks similar to other rooms I've shared.  It's located right off of our mudroom and near the kitchen so I kept it cohesive with simple whites and grays (believe it or not I actually DO have rooms that look a little different - they are just few and far between).  :)  I'm going to apologize in advance for picture overload!  I got a little camera happy.  And for the brightness going on.  This room is so sunny because of the side of the house it's located on.  I love that about it.  It's a happy room that dare I say.. makes doing laundry not so bad.  :)    

Come in come in!

As soon as you enter the room you see one of my beloved farmhouse sinks.  It took some convincing to make Kenny understand just how much we needed one in this laundry room.  Luckily after living with an attorney for 17 years you learn a thing or two.  He's not the only one in our house who is good at making a persuasive argument and closing a deal.  :)

I researched faucets to death while we were building.  I have a love for faucets, sinks, lights and hardware.  They are the little details that really make a space.  This bridge/arch faucet was love at first sight!  I will have to add the source for it later because I can't seem to find it in my notes and it's the one faucet whose info. I can't remember off of the top of my head. 

Our last laundry room was TINY and didn't have a sink so this space feels like such a dream to me.  This Shaw sink is perfect for rinsing off dirty rain boots or clothes.  The kids wash their hands here every day after school after they hang their backpacks in the mudroom.  

I also fell in love with this simple nautical/industrial pendant.  I ordered it on-line at Shades of Light.    

 Floor tile is the same tile we used in the girls' bathroom.  I decided to place it in a basket weave pattern in the laundry room to mix it up a little.  For those of you who have asked about it, the manufacturer is Alfalux and it's the Olimpia Series - Color Clay.  I ordered it through a tile store (knew I loved it the second I spotted it!) but you can find it on-line here.

I just went with a simple white subway tile backsplash and Caeserstone quartz countertops.  This quartz is different from the quartz I used in the perimeter of my kitchen.  It's called "Concrete" and is more of a dark grey than a black.  So happy with how it turned out.

To the right you can see my upper cabinets.

And here's a picture of the lower cabinets and the washer/dryer from our previous house.  I love the built-in look so we measured our washer/dryer and had our cabinet guy build the drawers below them too.  To the left of the cabinets above the washer/dryer you can see I added some open shelving.  I thought that would be a fun place to put a few baskets and bring some personality into the room.  What I didn't understand until it was too late was how far set back they were from the other cabinets.  

I didn't love how they jut back in - sort of hiding in the corner.  I thought about adding a cupboard door to make them closed and opening up the cupboards above the washer/dryer to be open shelving instead.  You can imagine Kenny's reaction when I came up with that one (after everything was already installed)... "we haven't even moved in yet and you're already trying to remodel!?"  Ha!  Good thing he loves me.  :)  My builder convinced me to leave it for now and wait and see because it's something we can always change down the road.  I'm glad he did because I think opening up the three cupboards above the washer/dryer would have been too much open shelving to style and a waste of good cabinet space.  Now that I'm living in my house and starting to decorate it I'm realizing that I have plenty of open bookcases and shelves to play with.   Besides, too much of a good thing is never a good thing.  Unless maybe you're talking about open shelving?  :)

K - I am SO excited to show you my favorite thing about this room.  See the three bottom cupboards in the picture above?  How the hardware is located at the top?

They are pull out laundry baskets!  Ahhh! 

 Please tell me I'm not the only one who is dying over this little feature!? 

After years of having laundry in piles all over my hallway floor I appreciate this more than anything in my whole house.  I started dreaming about these pull out laundry drawers long ago.  The second we decided to build a house I said to Kenny "I'm putting pull out hampers in my laundry room!"  He already thinks I'm crazy so this being my first announcement didn't phase him much.  Then when we met our architect I said "hi!  I'm Erin and I want pull out hampers in my laundry room!"  :)  K - maybe I took a minute to introduce myself first, but it really was one of the first things I told him I wanted. 

I still need to find some fun labels for them.  As soon as I do they will read "LIGHTS, DARKS, and TOWELS."  An organizers dream come true.  :)  I can't tell you how happy it makes me to have a place for our mounds of dirty clothes.  That isn't the hallway floor.  

Here's another favorite feature.  See the upper open cabinet on the far left?  

Pull down drying rack.  Can I get another woot woot!?  

:)

Used to dry all sorts of things I don't want to put in the dryer.  Because of this laundry room's location we've been using this drying rack for all things pool related.  I took this picture last week.  (Even though it's too cold to swim we are using the hot tub most weekends.)  This will be especially nice in the summer so I don't have to keep re-washing suits and towels that we use every day.  

 To the right of the washer/dryer is a cupboard door...  

that opens into a pull down ironing board.  My iron fits on the little shelf above it.  My mom has one of these in her house and I've always loved it.  A place for everything and everything in its place.  :)

There's also an ugly electrical cupboard that I plan to cover up with a fun picture of some sort that will no doubt drive my husband crazy when he needs to get into it.   I came SO close to wallpapering this room and then decided to just paint it the same color as our kitchen/family/hallways for now (grey paint color is "Seattle" by Frazee).  I may still wallpaper it at some point.  Or maybe just add some colorful rugs and accessories and leave the walls neutral?  Fun options.  

So there you go!  Our main floor laundry room.  

Still hard to believe it's out of my head and sitting right in front of me. 

Anyone in the mood to fold?  

:)  

NEW HOUSE TOUR

Welcome to our new home!  We spent 2011-2013 designing and building our new house - although I spent years before that gathering pictures and ideas for it.  Feels like I've been planning this house for a lifetime.  :)  Now comes the really fun part - decorating and organizing it!  I took these pictures right before we moved in (October 2013) and I will be adding more rooms and updating them all as the spaces change and we make our new house a home.  Click on the link below each picture for detailed posts of each room.  Welcome and enjoy the tour!

 {FAMILY ROOM}
{Family Room Decor Update}

 {KITCHEN}
{New barstools/nook fixture}

 {GIRLS' BATHROOM}

 {PLAYROOM}

{POWDER BATHROOM}

{DOWNSTAIRS LAUNDRY ROOM}

{FORMAL DINING ROOM}

{Formal Dining Room Decor Plan}

{FRONT ENTRY}

{MUDROOM}

{UPSTAIRS LAUNDRY ROOM}

{LAUNDRY ROOM RUGS}

{STAIRCASE}

Priorities and new kitchen rugs

It's Monday!  And for a change I'm actually greeting this Monday with open arms.  Last week was a tough one around here.  My little buddy has been sick.

SO sick.  I snapped this pic with my phone just before his Xray.  Soon after our Dr. told me he had pneumonia and an ear infection in each ear.  :(  I pretty much held him for three days straight.  It's so hard for me when my kids are sick.  It's hard for all moms.  For obvious reasons it's hard - forget about anything you thought you were going to get done.  But worse than that, it's just hard to see them not feeling well.  You wish you could take all of their pain away.  But you can't.  So you just hold them and love them and take care of them and get up in the night with them and feed them and clean up after them and then hold them some more.  A favorite quote of mine kept running through my head whenever I felt frustrated that nothing on my to-do list was being accomplished.  

I wrote about this quote last March and think of it often when I face hard days as a mom.  I love it and believe it 100%.  Thankfully my little boyfriend is doing MUCH better and next week will be a happier one for both of us.  I just know it.  :)  

While not much was accomplished around the house last week, I did somehow manage to get my floors clean enough to take some pics of my new kitchen rugs!  

I found them at Target.  I've been looking for some kitchen rugs with color for a while and just couldn't commit to anything.

 When I saw these I knew they'd be perfect.  At least for a while until they get trashed or until I can make up my mind on other options (whichever comes first!).  The long, skinny runner fits perfectly in front of one of my sinks.

And the shorter 4 x 2 1/2  rugs work great for in front of my kitchen islands.  

 I know.  More grey and white.  But color is coming soon.  I promise.  

Aside from being in a grey and white rut, I seem to also be obsessed with this trellis pattern.  

Now I have it in my kitchen rugs, a rug in El's room (pics coming soon), the nook light, and on my staircase.  Oh my word!  Just remembered I haven't showed you my finished stairs yet!  I'll take pics of them soon too.  I still have a lot of our new house left to share!  It's all coming.  As soon as my kids are 100%.  Priorities.   

Hope you all have a happy and HEALTHY Monday.  And if you're feeling low, head to Target.  They have cute rugs.   Plus that place always seems to cheer me up.  Like I said - priorities.  

                                                                                     :)

Organized Silverware

Slowly making my way around my kitchen!  Half of it is now organized and in tip top shape.  The other half - not so much.  But progress is progress and I'm just happy to finally know where things are instead of scrambling through various drawers or in boxes in the garage.  First up:  the silverware drawer.  Because it's easy to organize.  Dump everything out on the counter.  Wipe out your silverware tray (buy/make one if you don't have one).  Get rid of anything you have in that drawer that you don't need or use.  Put everything back in its place.  10 minutes and done!   

I bought these grey and white organizers at Target.  Love them because they have non slip rubber on the base holding the silverware and on the back so they don't move around in the drawer.

This fun little basket is from Anthro and was a perfect solution to hold all of our corn holders.  I placed our cheese knives next to them and beaters to the right by the knives.

We need some new knives at some point.  I think these were from our wedding!  I wash the wooden knives in the dishwasher and I'm not supposed to.  But I'm not a fan of things I can't wash in the dishwasher.  So I do it anyway and magically they've lasted all this time.  Although they aren't the prettiest knives around.

A few other organized silverware pics to get you in the mood to wipe out those crumbs and straighten up the spoon and fork drawer...

The organizer I used in my previous house.

 My mom's silverware drawer.

My SIL's silverware drawer.  They bought the fun colored trays at TJ Maxx.  

It's a quick/easy drawer to knock off your "to-organize" list that makes a huge impact.  How many times are you in and out of this drawer throughout the day?  I am A LOT.

And now I smile every time I open it.  

:)