Fun decor (model home)

Do you love to go through model homes as much as I do?  Every time new home developments are going up I love to take a walk through the model homes.  The models are always decked with so many beautiful moldings and furniture.  Yes - they are totally staged and far from what "home" really looks like.  And they are usually full of way too many silk plants and overly themed bedrooms, but still.  So fun to get decorating ideas that you can tweak and apply in your real home.  I went through some model homes recently and thought I'd share a few pretty pics I snapped with my IPhone.  

Loved this ceiling.  

I also loved this display shelf.  Minus one or two silk plants.  :)

How cool are those floors!?

I thought this was a fun idea for a fireplace mantel - just a painting and two pictures on the right side.  The painting isn't really speaking to me, but I love the simplicity of this.

LOVE this formal dining room.  Aren't those lights cool?  It made me want to add a brick wall to mine.

But I chickened out.  :)  My sister has a brick wall in her formal dining room that she and her husband put up and it is gorgeous too.  

I do believe I will.  :)

Navy is always fun.  

I especially liked the print on these chairs.

These stairs were gorgeous!  Fun sitting area - you know - if you get tired half way up.  

There's even a place for the dog to take a breather.  

This is such an easy arrangement for a picture gallery.  Saving it for future inspiration.  

The right side of this media built-in was a bench seat.  I don't know how much that would get used in our house - everyone wants to be facing the TV.  :)  But it sure looks pretty!  Plus you all know I can't resist anything that has a few wide planks in the background.

Want to see the whole room?  It was my favorite!

Ahhhhh.  LOVE this!  Love all of the crisp white with pretty blue accents and dark furniture.  And I especially love that coffee table!  It's huge!  My kids would be camped all over that thing with every toy  imaginable so fast my head would spin.  It wouldn't be a coffee table in our house.  It would be a fort and a boat and a barbie party pad.  :)  

Like I said, model homes may be a bit staged, unrealistic, and a little too perfect, but they are also full of fun inspiration!  Thanks for taking the tour with me.  :)

Happy Thursday friends!

Everything and Nothing

Well hello all!  Sharing a few pics from the past few days.  Kenny took the girls camping over the weekend and the girls were worried that I would feel lonely.

So they filled half of my bed with their "friends" to keep me company.  Lucky me.  :)  They made me promise to look after them all and keep them in my bed so I slept among stuffed dogs, monkeys, and of course - several pandas.  

Speaking of ... when I saw this shirt at Gap I knew a certain someone had to have it.  :)

Kole loves to have complete access to the girls stuff when they're gone.  The monkey backpack works for school, but when he's home his real favorite is this old pink backpack of Ad's.  I always smile when he puts it on and starts marching around the house.  It's almost as big as he is.

He's hiding from me in this picture.  I love it.  :)  This has got to be one of my favorite things about toddlers - when they close and cover their eyes and think you can't see them anymore.  It just never gets old to me.    

  

When Kole wasn't messing with the girls things he started a new little trick.  Putting all of his toys (along with a few towels and blankets) into one huge pile on the playroom couch.  I can only handle so many messes like this one before my skin begins to itch.  :)  So after a while I took him in the backyard for one of my favorite toddler activities.  If you have a toddler, take notes...

Get a bucket and a paint brush.  Add a little water to the bucket and teach your little one how to "paint" the wall.  This is my favorite way to occupy a toddler in the summer time.  They love it.  And by the time the wall is finished the water has started drying so it's time to start again!  I told him what a great painter he was and thank you so much for all of the help.  He was in heaven and I was able to get the dishes done and watch him from the kitchen window.  Score for both of us.  

My girls used to do this for hours when they were little too.  :)

Of course a little organizing was in order.  The kids' bathroom cupboards were getting cluttered again.

 So I cleaned them. 

I wish I could show you some "after" pics of my scrapbook space but I'm afraid I went a bit crazy and only made the mess in that room even bigger.  :)  It always gets worse before it gets better, right!?

We met friends at the park tonight for dinner and I brought a fruit salad and my favorite fruit dip.  I've shared this before, but thought I'd post it again in case anyone missed it.  Because if you missed it and haven't tried it yet, well, I just think that's a true tragedy.  It is GOOD.

Whip together:

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

7 oz. jar of marshmallow creme

2 teaspoons of Maraschino Cherry juice

Perfect for summer BBQ's!  Love this time of year.

K.  That was a bit of a random post!  Everything and nothing.  Works for me. 

:)

Tackling this weekend...

Could my so called "office" be any messier?  Yup - those are Christmas pictures still up.  Yup - that's wrapping paper and random organizers all over the floor blocking the door way.  Yup - those are piles of kids' school work and art work and pictures and scrapbook supplies and albums and projects (started and then forgotten) and office supplies and ribbon and a Victoria Secret bag (huh?) and dolls and puzzles and who knows what else all over my desk.

This space has been the most neglected area of my house and a total catch all for any and everything lately.  This weekend my goal is to dive in and pack up the scrapbook room!  Major purging is in order.  I want things cleaned out and packed in an organized way so that it's easier to move it all into my new office space.  Kenny and the girls have fun plans on Saturday so my fingers are crossed that I can stay home and get it done!  

I'm sure my little monkey will be a huge help as always.  

:)

Enjoy your weekend!

Ready for paint!

A few exterior pics today!  

We have officially gone from a yellow house (with a fabulous blue porta potty in the yard - adds a nice touch, don't you think?)...

to a white house!  Which is not the final destination!  But one step closer!  This is the primer color.      And it is BRIGHT!  I can't approach the house without sunglasses.  And a hat.  And I still squint.  :)  The windows and doors and rock are all taped off and covered in plastic.  We are primed and ready for paint!  In fact, the white trim was all painted today.  Which is hard to tell because well.  Everything is white.  :)

 Back of the house.  

 Another yellow...

 to white.  

This is the shade of grey we are leaning towards right now.  My painter put it up around this window so that we could see what it will look like with the white we chose for the trim.  I really want the black roof to be a contrast so I've been leaning towards lighter colors.  Man.  Exterior paint has been so hard!  In the beginning I was trying to match the stone, but whenever I'd try out a warmer grey it would look too green or too brown.  Plus the colors look different during different parts of the day (in the shade/sun) and on different parts of the house.  Our painter is putting up this color one shade darker tomorrow and then I need to just make a final decision.  They will start painting as soon as I say GO.  I've been so indecisive about color!  Kenny told me today that it's amazing I was ever able to make the decision to marry him.  I quickly answered that decision was a breeze because it wasn't nearly as important as big decisions.  Like what color I should paint this house.  ;)  

The above pic I snapped with my IPhone so it's a bit grainy, but it's a good shot of the paint near the stone.  Both of the windows in this picture will have black shutters on them so I'm trying to envision the whole picture once landscaping and all of the finish details are done to decide if this is the right shade of grey or not.  That has been the tricky part with this whole building process.  Envisioning the end result!  I'm great at deciding if I like or don't like something once it has already been done.  :)

The other thing I'm considering is all of the pavers we have in the front and back of the house.  They are a cool grey closer to the paint we're leaning towards.  The pavers are grey (cool) and the stone is a bit more brown (warm) with grey mortar.  Fingers crossed it all comes together.

So!  That is my decision at this point in the game!  By this time tomorrow it will be made and done and my house will be well on its way to its final color!

Hopefully.  

:)  

Today

I was at the new house from 11:00 am - 8:00 pm.  I had meetings with the tile guys and the counter top guys and the balcony railing guys and the landscaping guys and the finish work guys and the exterior paint guys and my builder.  He's a guy too.  That's a lot of meetings with a lot of guys.  So many issues were worked out and so many details were discussed and so many notes were taken.  My head is spinning and I am truly worn out.

Where were my kids during these meetings?

In school and then home with their dad.

Aside from the two hours they were riding scooters through the house.  

:)

These are crazy days/evenings for our family.  All routines are tossed out the window.  Homework is rushed.  Dinner is rushed.  House is always a mess because mom isn't around to clean it.  Kenny and I have so much on our minds right now and are beyond excited to wrap up this process.  We are very much looking forward to a little more normal around here.  A time when we don't wake up in the middle of the night rambling about the door hardware bid or the shower back splash.  A time when we have conversations that don't involve electrical outlets and concrete pavers and paint swatches.  A time when we aren't so distracted and scattered with all we have going on.  It will be a good time indeed!

In the meantime, the kids seem to be enjoying our new "normal."  

To them this is all one big PAR - TAY. 

So I am going to put on my party hat and press on!

Maybe it's time I buy myself a scooter.  

:)  

Happy Mother's Day!

  

Looking forward to all of the handmade love coming my way.

:)

Hope yours is a great one!  

House update!

Oh my word.  Sorry for the slow week on the blog everyone!  Things are hopping at the new house and I have pretty much been living there lately.  In fact, tonight I've been considering just taking a sleeping bag on up and breaking my new bedroom in a little early.  The only thing holding me back is a vision of what my girls' hair might look like for school if Kenny is left alone in charge of the morning routine.  Scary.  :)  Here are a few pics of some recent progress with the finish work.  

Getting ready to start the ceiling in the master bedroom.

Beams went up first!  

And then the tongue and groove!  Which I prefer to call planks.  :)  The whole ceiling will be painted white and the family room ceiling will be the same.  They started that ceiling yesterday.  Yea for progress! 

Entry paneling is finished.

And everything is getting a lovely primer coat of crazy bright white.  I'm still torn on what color to paint my front door and dutch door and I have to decide quick because the color determines the finish of my door hardware which we need to order soon.  Leaning towards black.  Or maybe a fun blue?  Probably black.  Maybe.  

This is the wall to the left of the formal living room.  That wall was closed in the beginning stages with our architect but I decided to open it up so that the hallway wouldn't feel too long and dark.  Then I added a recessed niche and had the carpenters add some 7 in. wide planks.  A fun backdrop for a photo collage!  I have this whole room already decorated in my head.  :)

Recent pics with the primer.  

Planks for the ceiling over the kitchen nook.  Crown will go up soon to finish the look!  

Doors have all been installed and primed.  

And here is a picture of the kitchen from last week.  (Decided not to put planks in between these beams).  

Right now my kitchen is full of cabinets!  

And they are all over the floor!  

And they are going to be installed tomorrow!   

Not that I'm excited or anything.  

:)