ASSOULINE TRAVEL BOOKS DEAL

I have long admired the beautiful Assouline Classic Travel Books when I see them displayed or styled in a space.  The graphic covers in bold colors are so eye catching for this color lover, but they are pricey!  I've kept an eye out for a bargain to start collecting a few a little at a time, and stumbled across a great deal that I thought I'd share in care you're interested in collecting them too.  Wall Artwork Posts here and here   ||  Similar Lamp   ||  Lamp Tassel  ||   Travel Coffee Table Books I'll admit, the bright, bold, graphic colors and design of the covers brought on my initial interest in these books thinking about how great they would "pop" on a shelf, but the content inside is just as much of a delight!  These books are packed with a wonderful variety of photos from the title location, a delightful mix of vintage and current shots.  I've really enjoyed reading through them a little at a time and dreaming of visi......

CONTINUE READING »

SOMETHING I THOUGHT I'D NEVER DO... FAUX POTTED TREES ON THE PATIO

I recently did something I thought I would never do.  After one too many of the bushes that I use to fill my large pots on my patio died and needed to be replaced once again, I decided to switch to faux potted trees! For at least 5 years, I've kept green tower boxwoods in these large pots across the back of the patio.  I liked having something planted in them that would stay green through the winter, and in the summer I added annuals for some color around the rim of the pot. But after having to replace all of them at various times over the years- usually at around $70 a pop, two more were on their last leg early this Spring and I decided I didn't want to waste any more money on that particular plan.    There are some really great faux tree options now, and as much as I cringe at the idea of having faux plants outside, I decided to give them a try.  I made a one time investment that was about the same cost of the real bushes that I had been buying- and replacing ......

CONTINUE READING »

THANK YOU, AN UPDATE, AND PRETTY VIBURNUM PHOTOS

Happy Monday!  This week is a busy one, lots of appointments on the front end, taking my daughter shopping for some "professional" workwear outfits for some upcoming events she has, and 3 days of graduation festivities for my son at the end of the week!  Buckling my seatbelt and putting on my running shoes, it's going to be a doozy!  Today I just wanted to share a round up of pretty pictures I took around the house after I trimmed (whacked?) my viburnum bush and assembled 5 large bouquets.  They never last long but I sure do enjoy those fluffy blooms for a few days while I have them.   Several years ago I bought a couple of one gallon viburnum pots.  While they were small I planted them both in the bed around the side of the house intending to transplant one when they got larger.  They have a pretty fast growth rate and I never got around to moving one yet, I need to do that for sure this Fall!  I love to watch their bloom progression.  ......

CONTINUE READING »

DIY DYED FAUX ORCHID BLOOMS AND FAUX + REAL ORCHID ARRANGEMENT

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a simple, quick project with you of some DIY dyed faux orchid blooms and the faux  + real arrangement that I used them for that's pretty convincing if I do say so myself!  I almost hesitated to share it at all but thought it might get someone's creative wheels turning.  So we'll start with a pretty "after" picture... ...

CONTINUE READING »

MY FIVE FAVORITE GARDENING PLANTS, TOOLS, AND PRODUCTS

Welcome back for this month's round of My Five Favorites!  Pam from  Simple Details , Lisa from  Shine Your Light,  Kris from  Driven by Decor  and I are all so excited to share our favorite garden related plants, tools, and products with you today. 'Tis the season to enjoy the outdoors!  I'm not a huge gardener, but we try to keep our yard and flowerbeds looking fresh and presentable.  I've definitely found a few things that work best for us, but I'm looking forward to seeing some great tips from my pals today too. ...

CONTINUE READING »

TIPS FOR VIEWING INSTAGRAM STORIES (AND A WINTER GARDENING IDEA)

I recently had lunch with some friends and at some point the conversation turned towards Instagram.  As we talked about Instagram stories, it became evident that they weren't aware of a few tricks I knew to make viewing stories a bit easier and more enjoyable.  I thought for sure everyone knew these things, but since my smart friends didn't, I thought others might enjoy these tips too.  I shared them on my Instagram stories a while back, but those expire so quickly I decided to share them here for everyone who might not have caught that round of stories. (Before I continue, did you notice things look a little different around here???  I'm so excited to have a new blog design, and if you missed it I posted all about the new features and how to navigate things last week in this post.  Take a look if you missed it!) If you're Instagram savvy and already know all of these tips, fantastic!  Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a winter gardening tip......

CONTINUE READING »

WORKS IN PROGRESS

I share projects that I'm working on and sneak peeks pretty regularly on my Instagram Stories, but I realized you all don't usually see little bits and pieces of what I'm working on until I'm sharing the finished product.  So today, I thought I'd share a few of our works in progress with you, too! Last year our outdoor focus was on the patio , and since it's all finished up this year we're focusing on on our back yard landscaping.  We've done a few things here and there over the years, but that basically consisted of plopping a few knockout roses in a bed and calling it good.  The roses all got diseased last year, so we tore everything out and we're starting from scratch in the back yard. We dug out an entirely new bed outside of our bedroom on one side of the patio, ...

CONTINUE READING »

HOW TO ARRANGE FLOWERS LIKE A PRO (TIPS FOR MAKING GORGEOUS ARRANGEMENTS)

In my last post about Restore House, I mentioned a retreat that I attended last month.  Other than hearing from the Parkers about their passion of restoring houses and running their store and event center, we also spent some time learning from darling sisters who run their own florist shop, called The Wild Mother. ...

CONTINUE READING »

FALL PORCH DECORATIONS

I've shared my Fall decorations  around the house  and  on the patio  with you all, but I'm just now getting around to decking the front porch out for the season. ...

CONTINUE READING »

OUTDOOR MANTEL DECOR {WITH MOUNTED TV}

Hey guys!  I am in the home stretch of wrapping up my Powder Bath for the One Room Challenge Reveal TOMORROW!  As I write this post Tuesday evening, I still have 2 semi-major projects and 4 odds and ends to finish up, then I can clean, style, and photograph! I have literally used every spare moment (in between lots of recent events/parties) and lots of multiple nights to wrap this thing up.  And to think I thought this would be a fairly quick and easy makeover!  So, sorry the blog has been slightly neglected lately!  I'm piling up lots of good things to share with you and will be back to a normal posting schedule next week.  Thanks for hanging in there with me, and here's a sneak peek that I shared on IG because y'all are so sweet! I'm also well aware that I haven't shared a full reveal of our patio yet.  I was waiting for things to get green and pretty outside, and it's taken me forever to finish up accessorizing the space.  I think we're ......

CONTINUE READING »

DIY OUTDOOR PLANTER IDEAS

As much as my heart wants to get some pretty Spring plants outside, my head knows that it's still a bit too early!  Even though we were in the 80's yesterday, our temps are forecasted to be close to freezing at night this weekend.  So, while I'm waiting for this roller coaster weather to even out, I'm spending some time plotting and planning what I want those pretty new plants to go in! These black and white striped pots are still some of my faves.  They were super easy, all I needed was some tape and spray paint.   Black and White Striped Pots I bought 3 of these concrete resin urns 9 years ago when we moved to this house, and added some glimmering detail with gold metallic paint.  I love how it accented the scallop along the top of the pot.  I'm sorry to say that 2 of these finally bit the dust (mostly due to previous hail storms), but the lone survivor is still hanging on! Gold Trimmed Urns I've rounded up some other fantastic outdoor pl......

CONTINUE READING »