opinions please! (dining room rug options)
Downstairs Laundry Room
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. :)
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.
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? :)
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!
Priorities and 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.
Organized Silverware
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…
Popping in
That’s another rule.
The “no post” post
Lemonade anyone?
:)
Dining fixture and new barstools
A few new additions in the house!
I didn’t love that the Ballard barstools swivel back and forth because I know my three year old would have way too much fun with that little feature. :) Plus I was worried the gap would be a catch all for crumbs. So I had them made without the separation between the seat and legs.
You can see we also got the light over the kitchen sink. I’m wondering if it needs to hang longer? It came with another rod to extend it but when the rod is on the light hangs down into the window too much. I might need to saw the rod in half. Now that’s a scary thought. That would most likely end with me losing a limb. Is the perfect light length worth it? :) You can also see in this pic my little buddy with his fishy crackers. Best way to get him to behave for 2 minutes so I can snap some pictures.
Valentines Ideas
And a few mantel decorating ideas for those of you who actually have a coffee table and can focus on holiday decorating. :)
Painted cabinet shelves and styling inspiration
Happy Friday friends! So glad the weekend is upon us. I’m crossing my fingers I’ll have lots of time to sort and purge and categorize. Three of my favorite words! :) Aside from organizing I also have a lot of decorating on my mind. Now that Christmas is put away and things are calming down around the house I’m staring at a pretty blank slate and I’m excited to bring some decor and color into our new home. Painters were in our house during December doing touch up work and while they were here I decided to have them paint the back of my glass kitchen cabinets.
It’s hard to tell in this picture, but you can kind of see that the glass cabinets on the right side of my kitchen were all white.
I just had our painters quickly paint the back of the glass cabinet the same grey we used throughout the kitchen/family room. I have glass shelves in our formal dining room (haven’t shared that room yet) that are painted a really dark grey which is why I initially left these white. But on a whim I changed my mind. :)
A not too healthy salad and new additions to the family
Attempting to get into better eating habits again! December and the chocolate party I was having during December have ended. What a bummer. If you are in my boat (most people in January usually are!) I thought I’d share a quick/easy/healthy lunch I often eat. During months when I’m not having a chocolate party. :)