THE FORMAL LIVING AND DINING ROOM SWITCH

Our poor formal living and dining area. I think I’ve tortured it more than any other area of our house! I’ve done so much to this area that I actually forgot quite a bit until I went through really old phone photos. Beware these before pics are old, dark, and out of focus.

Everything really started with the room switch up while we were still renting. Thanksgiving to be exact. We were so cramped in the small dining area. Meanwhile, we had this massive formal living area at the opposite end that we didn’t ever use. We have the main family room and an upstairs loft with a couch for the kids. I really do not need another huge living area. Then I had a lightbulb moment and decided to switch the rooms. Now what’s funny is a long time ago my Mother-in-Law did the same thing. Switched her formal living and dining, and I had completely forgotten about it. So when I told Brian I wanted to switch the rooms out, I said your Mom did it remember? That’s all it took to convince him.

Why not? Switch out a room anytime it works best for your lifestyle. I think this photo was taken when we were moving in since there isn’t any furniture in the family room. All this furniture worked so much better in our old house, not so much here.

This photo below is a perfect example of how to NOT hang your curtains. Look how small and dinky I made the window look? In fact I managed to shrink the whole room by doing this. In the after photos see how much larger the window looks by hanging the rod high and wide. I want to slap myself for ever doing this. I was trying to find curtains to match the chairs and I didn’t even like the color of the chairs anymore. Ugh…lesson learned…I go neutral or buy slipcovers from now on.

Every single item in this photo I sold in garage sales or on Craigslist, except for the bunny who’s in my kitchen now. I love bunnies.

Making the switch was actually easy. You just move the furniture and the light fixtures. About this time was when I started to sell all the furniture so the room was pretty empty for months.

This area of our house has been tweaked more than any other spot in our home. I just couldn’t seem to get it right and I couldn’t leave it alone.

Here below is a perfect example of why redecorating a room when you don’t have a solid plan is a bad idea. I was trying to figure out exactly what I liked. You can’t effectively decorate a room to your liking when you don’t understand what you like! I ended up spending more, returning items to the store, and buying and selling what didn’t work over and over. It was exhausting. The entire situation was unnecessary.

I found this cute furniture set, and it’s managed to stay with me, through many transitions in the formal living area. The “Cute as a Button” sofa and chairs from World Market.

Meanwhile, I experimented with an old coffee table from my husband’s childhood lake cabin. I painted it turquoise. I knew I liked some color.

This photo above was all about trying things out. What worked and what didn’t. I tried sheers over the window. I loved how the window seemed larger and let in more light. I wanted to see outside but I was hiding an ugly view of large boxy overgrown shrubs, and a stop sign was visible. These were temporary rugs I moved in from another area of the house.

Once the room was switched and the dining room furniture was sold, the transformation began with this table. I had an empty dining room and no direction. I was poking around on a Facebook buy-sell-trade page one day when a man advertised he could make tables. He was local and a fraction of the cost from a furniture store. I had the measurements of the table I sold, and since it fit well in the room he built it to that size. After the table was delivered I thought what now.

Now was the hard part of putting everything together. I started with chairs. I’m actually surprised I didn’t get banned from Pier 1 with all the dining room chairs I ordered and returned. Each time I returned them I groveled and apologized. One day the manager said to me sweetly “it’s ok, decorating is all trial and error”. This is a comment that’s really made me feel better over the years. Sometimes we can easily get things right other times it’s freakin hard!!!

The new chandelier really helped give me direction for the room, and I managed to settle on the Parson chair from Pier 1 for the dining chairs. I should have just bought Parson chairs the first time, I’ve always loved Parson chairs even before I knew their official name. While waiting on the other four chairs to arrive I found slipcovers from Ballard Designs in my favorite French script pattern.

Next, I started looking for a buffet table. The only problem is I couldn’t find one I liked, again one day on Facebook a lady who flipped furniture had a French provincial buffet table for sale. I liked the measurements and we decided on black, lightly distressed, with crystal knobs. Here you can see I have the buffet measured out with tape and a mirror size. I use paper to tape everything to the wall.

I love the pretty strappy tabs on the top of the sheers, but the room seemed surprisingly gloomy with sheers. So I ended up selling them.

I found this quatrefoil mirror and started looking for rugs. I also decided I wanted the coffee table black, so I stripped it and repainted it.

You see the red ruffle pillow below? I started to notice that every time I looked at it it made me insanely happy. This was when I was starting to realize I needed pops of red and with black and white. I loved this look but hadn’t given myself permission to do this yet. Why not??

I experimented with lots of art on the sides of the armoire, nothing was really appealing to me. I was lost. After I painted the little wood coffee table twice, I realized I wanted a round one instead. I love glass coffee tables, they make the room seem lighter and they’re easy to maintain. I’ve got that little wood coffee table in storage, hoping one day it will go perfectly in my future tiny country home. I always try to incorporate sentimental items into our home decor when ever possible, I can’t get everything to work though.

Next I decided I wanted a taller armoire. I desperately need this to hold the over flow of my china, and serveware. The space above the armoire bothered me and I needed more space anyway so I found the perfect one at Restoration Hardware. Definite splurge item, I’m planning to keep it forever. This old armoire is now in our guest bedroom.

There was crown moulding in the new dining area but not the new sitting area. So we added crown moulding here and removed the chair rail and wall trim. I like the wall moulding on the one wall in the dining room, but over here it just annoyed me and it’s always dusty.

The round rug didn’t work so I sent it back and I again switched out the light. I needed one that dangled.

I love this light! It really compliments the dining room light. I decided to add ceiling medallions to both lights as well, and I painted both recessed ceiling trays white. It brightens the room and adds a visual lift.

Meanwhile, over in the dining room, I’m loving the slipcovered chairs. This neutral pattern goes with everything, and I can easily switch the slipcovers out for a different look if I need to. I found this nice simple border wool rug, too. Yes, it sheds. I hear wool rug shedding eventually stops. I’m waiting for that moment.

I added another small cabinet in the corner to hold all my stemware. I found simple charcoal curtains and mounted them high and wide. Look how much bigger this window looks, the window makes the entire room look bigger. I can’t wait to add plantation shutters one day. We have planted a tree to hide the stop sign and updated the overgrown shrubs. Now I have a pretty view.

I kept moving the furniture around here in the formal living room, never sure which direction I wanted, I’m certain now it was the rug throwing me off. I love the rug but it was hard to get the size right for this small sitting area. I was happier with the black and white photos next to the armoire, but it still wasn’t quite right, but progress was being made.

I removed the leopard rug – just having it gone I liked the room better, and I placed the sofa back in front of the window. I’m currently loving this oversized mat trend in the pictures, especially with black and white photos. I can’t say if this look is here to stay, but I’m really into it….for now. I needed larger frames and the contrast of the white mat with the black frame really does it for me.

I’ve been wanting a cow hide rug for a while now. I almost put one upstairs in our loft, but a spur of the moment decision had me place it here and I love it! I love the curves of the rug and how the smaller size lets more wood floor peek through.

If you love the look of a cowhide rug but you’re having ethical issues purchasing one, this one is faux and great quality. Faux also = less money. You can purchase this same rug from Amazon. It’s the 5′ x 6’6″ size. It’s easy to vacuum and soft under my feet.

This little spot is perfect in the morning for reading and sipping coffee, and in the evening it becomes a nice wine spot. It’s just the right size.

I found lamps and added finishing touches to the dining room. I try to always keep fresh flowers on the table, I have a flower addiction.

Every morning the sunlight fills the room and it’s beautiful.

I framed a painting my daughter painted that has a special family meaning to us. It goes perfectly.

Not to scare you, but let’s see that before pic again…

What an improvement! Not only is this an improvement, but it’s my actual style. It’s me, and finding out what I like has made redecorating the rest of the house a much, much easier process!

So here we are today, all done! Now let’s see if I can leave it alone.

Laura

Main Dishes

SLOW COOKER SWEET POTATO TURKEY CHILI

Today I’m sharing one of my favorite recipes, my Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili. The great thing about this recipe is there is no precooking! Um….awesome! Those slow cooker recipes where you have to pre-cook the meat are such a downer for me! There is a little work in chopping up the sweet potatoes and onion, but after that it’s all down hill. Not only is this recipe delicious, it’s incredibly healthy and the entire family will love it. I’ll show you below just how easy it is to make.

Throw 2 pounds of lean ground turkey into your slow cooker. I’m using a 6 quart slow cooker from Cuisinart. Now break the meat up into small pieces.

Add a small diced onion, 3 peeled and chopped sweet potatoes, and 3-4 pieces of cut up raw bacon. I cut up the bacon with a pair of kitchen sheers. The bacon gives the chili a nice rich flavor so don’t leave it out. I loooooove bacon!

Add chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and oregano. I love smoked paprika, and it pairs nicely with the sweet potatoes. I always like to pre-mix my seasonings together in a bowl.

Finally, add 2 cups of chicken broth or stock and 1 teaspoon of salt. I used homemade stock and my stock is always left unsalted for cooking purposes. I’m not sure how salty store bought broth is. My suggestion is to be conservative the first time, tasting it at the end and adding a little salt before serving if necessary.

Give everything a good stir to mix it up and set the slow cooker for 4-5 hours on low. Now go off and have some fun while everything cooks. Go be fabulous. Don’t be like me and spend this time doing laundry. That’s not fabulous.

If you’re home and near your slow cooker, after 2-3 hours you can stir and break up the turkey chunks a little more. If not no worries.

Once it’s finished cooking, lift the lid and give the chili a good stir, breaking up any chunks of meat if necessary. Don’t worry if any sweet potatoes get smushed while doing this. It’s all good.

Now grab yourself a bowl and fill up, put a dollop (a big dollop for me) of sour cream on top, and sprinkle with cilantro. Yum!

Print Recipe

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Turkey Chili

Ingredients

2 lbs ground turkey
4 slices raw bacon
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, diced
2 cups chicken broth or stock
2 tbs chili powder
2 tbs smoked paprika
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs oregano
1 tsp salt - or add to taste
sourcream for topping
chopped cilantro for topping

Instructions

Place uncooked ground turkey in a 6 quart slow cooker. With a spatula break up the meat into chunks.
Add sweet potatoes and onion. With a pair of kitchen shears cut bacon into small pieces, add to the slow cooker along with the chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and salt. Add the chicken broth and stir.
Cook 4-5 hours on low. With a spatula break up the turkey chunks into smaller pieces and stir before serving.
To serve, top with a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro.

Not only is this recipe perfect for a cold day it’s incredibly easy, tasty, and paleo friendly too. Enjoy!

Laura

DECOR

REVIEW: POTTERY BARN TORREY ALL-WEATHER WICKER SECTIONAL & SLIPCOVERS

I find reviews on major furniture purchases so helpful. I reviewed my Pottery Barn Chesterfield Sofa and decided with the spring season here I needed to review my Pottery Barn Torrey All-Weather Wicker Square Arm Sectional ASAP!! Before I review something I like to live with it a while. I purchased it last November. So its been about 4 months. We’ve used our sectional a lot during the fall and winter seasons.

The wicker is made of ecolene fibers. It’s very durable, replicates the look and feel of wicker, but is remarkably resistant to sun, rain, heat, and cold.

Originally what interested me in this sectional is that I could customize the size to my needs. I wanted a specific size and I was able to achieve this. Each piece attaches at the bottom. The sectional came with bright white cushions and pillows. Chances of us keeping those clean? Zero. When I placed the order I also purchased Sunbrella cushions in Linen Sand.

Our sectional is under a covered patio, but it still gets plenty of abuse. I remember soon after our patio was built and the sectional was delivered we had a hard rain. The entire patio was soaked. I was so mad. I forgot about sideways rain. Sideways rain is so annoying! It never occurred to me this sectional would get wet under a cover. Since then we’ve had even more sideways rain. Luckily the cushions quickly dry to its original state. After some use I started noticing our cushions getting dirty but I ignored it. I could of washed them then, but honestly I was putting it off because it seemed like a difficult task. Then March came and I started noticing drink spills, dust, and nasty green pollen over everything. It’s hard to see the dirt show up in these photographs but trust me it was there.

So, I decided I couldn’t stand it any longer and washed the cushions. Here are the original white cushions I put inside the house.

Then I hosed the wicker sectional frame off really well. It was full of dust and pollen too.

I washed the cushions on my fast wash cycle, it took about 3 loads because I was washing all my outdoor pillows. Most of the pillows are Sunbrella fabric too. Without washing all the pillows I could have easily fit this into 2 loads. After the wash, I fluffed the slipcovers 5 minutes on cool air. Sunbrella cushions are tough but they can’t handle ironing or dryer heat.

After 5 minutes of dryer “air fluff” I put the slipcover cushions back on. They were slightly damp, but Sunbrella fabric doesn’t hold water and they dry so fast that it wasn’t an issue.

I’m really pleased with how the cushions washed up perfectly. The process was a lot easier than I thought. Coffee and red wine spills? I’m not scared. With the spring and summer season I’m sure I’ll be washing these a lot and I’m relieved it was such an easy process.

I’ve yet to experience any negatives with this sectional, but I realize its only been 4 months. Our patio faces the harsh west sun so I will be checking for fading, and any issues that arise I will gladly update.

I have to say the Torrey All-Weather Wicker Square Arm Sectional has been an excellent purchase for our patio. If you’re interested in this similar sectional I hope this review has given you some insight! Happy patio furniture shopping!

*UPDATE It’s been more than 2 years and our outdoor sectional is holding up amazing! It shows no signs of wear, it was a great purchase! You can see more of our sectional in my life on the patio blog post.

Laura

DIY

HOW WE UPDATED OUR FENCE

Last spring we refinished the fence in our backyard. I was really happy with the results, but for whatever reason we didn’t get to the section over in our side yard. I decided we had put this project off long enough!

I actually had a urge to power spray something so it worked out perfectly! Using long up and down strokes on each board the old worn stain and water damage just comes right off! You can see where I didn’t spray around the metal flower because it wouldn’t come off the fence. I don’t know what my husband did to it, but it took viking strength to finally get it down. The difference in the wood is amazing….and this is wet wood. It gets brighter once it’s dry.

As you spray the boards down all the water and wet wood mush splatters all over you. Fun. I am seriously regretting that I washed, blow dried, and curled my hair yesterday. Bad decision. My hair is even worse than my arms.

The fence is nearly dry here, you can see how light it gets. I went to town with the power sprayer and also sprayed off all the brick fence. Look how bright the stone end cap got. Power sprayers are cool.

Then I did the other side of the fence. I’m filthy so I might as well go for it. This is our side yard and future square foot garden area.

Wow, look below at the difference! It’s so clean. The flags are marking off where we want our square foot garden boxes. I’m married to a Civil Engineer. Dude always has orange flags on him.

This is after I power sprayed everything and it has fully dried. It nearly looks like new wood!

So now I’m ready to stain. I’m generally pleased with the work we did refinishing the main backyard fence, but I was never really happy with the color and I had problems with it. I’ve now discovered Ready Seal stain in Pecan and I love it. I learned about it from our contractor. He used it on our covered patio, and now on I’m using it on everything.

I decided to brush it on. From past experience rolling doesn’t work very well because some boards are wonky and uneven.

Some cedar wood trim was added to give our fence more of a custom look. I wasn’t wild about those little scallops on top. We might add this to the bottom to hide any wood rot.

Staining the front side went much faster. I’m on Day 2 and starting to hallucinate I’m so tired.

Ugh…. all the little nooks and crannies are taking forever. Finally after what feels like an eternity I finally finish.

Before pic again:

All finished.

You still can see a little of the uneven shading but still a vast improvement no less.

Power sprayer+new stain +trim cap=Fabulous!

Another before pic:

And after:

All done! I’m happy and my hair is clean again. Next week I’m adding some potted boxwoods.

Laura

Main Dishes

GLUTEN FREE CHICKEN PARMESAN MEATBALLS

A few days ago my daughter ordered meatballs from a restaurant. She had the choice of chicken or beef, and surprisingly she ordered chicken this time. She loved them! Inspired by this, I decided to create my own recipe. Most meatball recipes use breadcrumbs, but since I had a fresh bag of almond flour I decided to make these gluten free, making these naturally a bit lower in carbs too. Even if you don’t have a gluten sensitivity it’s a worthy option. If you aren’t an almond flour fan you can use regular breadcrumbs in place… it’s all good.

For this recipe I use my Classic Marinara Sauce recipe, it’s so delicious and simple to make. It makes a little over 6 cups and I usually use a little less than half, and leftover sauce can always be frozen or used in tomorrow night’s meal. Feel free to use a jar of prepared marinara sauce if you’re really short on time.

What is it about meatballs? Maybe it brings out the kid in me, because I find them so fun to eat!

We prefer eating larger sized meatballs and I can get all 2 pounds of meat in my 9×13 inch pan, it’s a tight fit but it works. If you can’t find ground chicken, you can make your own using this meat grinder I have, or just simply use ground turkey. I’ve used both, and because both are naturally lean they cook great with little if any fat leftover in the dish.

Once I remove the cooked meatballs I simply top with marinara sauce, add mozzarella cheese, and return to the oven until the cheese looks melty good. Yes, melty good. Then top it with fresh Italian parsley. Don’t skip that part, ok? Italian flat leaf parsley makes food flavors really come to life! I have some growing in my garden, it’s so easy to grow!

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground chicken (or ground turkey)
2 eggs
1 cup almond flour (or regular breadcrumbs)
1 cup shredded parmesan
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
6 cups prepared marinara sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat your oven to 375, then lightly oil a 9×13 casserole dish. Mix italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and pepper together in a small separate bowl to blend and set aside. In a larger bowl add ground chicken, eggs, almond flour, parmesan, and blended spices. Using your hands throughly mix all the ingredients together. Scoop out meat mixture with a spoon, roll into balls, and place into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from oven and top with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Return to the oven and bake another 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with fresh Italian flat leaf parsley.

Depending on size makes 20 medium sized meatballs

Now simply serve with a side salad, or perhaps some pasta or bread for those who aren’t watching carbs or gluten, and you’ve got a great meal.

Oh, and did I mention this recipe freezes great? I do it all the time with aluminum disposable casserole pans. I bake the meatballs, top with sauce, and freeze. Let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight, heat in the oven until is thoroughly warm, add the cheese, and melt. When possible I love having a few of these waiting in the freezer for a quick family meal. Enjoy!

Shop some of my favorite kitchen favorites below!

Laura

Main Dishes

CLASSIC MARINARA SAUCE

Are you needing that perfect, classic, go-to marinara sauce recipe? One that’s simple to make and great just as it is, and also great as a starting off point for sauce building? I’ve got you with this amazing recipe that I’ve adapted from Teresa Guidice’s Skinny Italian Cookbook. Say what you want about Miss Teresa, but girlfriend has some GOOD family recipes. This recipe makes about 6 cups, but it can easily be halved if you need less. I love having extra on reserve in the refrigerator for quick meals, and it freezes great.

To get the perfect flavor and texture into this marinara sauce you need San Marzano tomatoes, and they need to be squished by hand. You can squish the whole tomatoes in a separate bowl or in the cooking pan with the heat off. Hand squishing the tomatoes makes the sauce smooth and adds some nice texture. If your San Marzano tomatoes have basil leaves you can leave them or spoon them out, it doesn’t matter.

San Marzano tomatoes originate from the small town of San Marzano sul Sarno, near Naples, Italy. They are considered the best canned tomatoes around. It’s not essential that you use them, you can substitute any whole plum tomato, but I find my sauces taste best with San Marzano.

This recipe calls for only a 1/2 cup of tomato paste, and I know it can be frustrating when you don’t use a whole can of tomato paste. Any time I have leftovers I freeze them in tablespoon portions on a baking sheet and later bag them. It’s so handy for when ever you just need a little bit for your recipe.

According to Teresa, the marinara sauce should simmer at least 10 minutes, but I think it tastes best when simmered a good 30 minutes, reduce the heat if needed.

This sauce has a wonderful texture and great flavor, it’s amazing served over pasta, veggies, or my Chicken Parmesan Meatballs. My daughter has also been known to dilute it down with a little chicken broth and cream for an amazing tomato soup!

Print Recipe

Classic Marinara Sauce

Servings: cups

Ingredients

2 (28 oz) cans of San Marzano whole tomatoes (broken up by hand)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 tbs Italian Seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Squeeze up whole tomatoes by hand in a bowl, including the juices, and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add tomato paste and spices, cook for 1 minute.
Add whole tomatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer, reducing heat if necessary 10-30 minutes. The longer it simmers the better flavor you'll have.

I hope you find this simple clean marinara sauce as delicious as we do. It’s a great sauce to make any time, from meals to snacks. Happy eats!

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Laura

DIY

OUR STAIRCASE UPDATE + JAVA VS ANTIQUE WALNUT GEL STAIN

Updated 2/8/22 We have a new gel stain staircase makeover in our new house. You can read all about it HERE.

I love dark wood, it’s so dramatic. It took a lot of courage for me to gel stain my stair handrail. It sounded like a scary project. I had a very bad experience in our old house. I tried to refinish the wood stairs and handrail myself. This was before gel stain was common. Let’s just say that project ended up with crying and calls to a professional. Well, after months and months of debating if I should attempt this or hire it out I finally got up the courage. I thought I might as well try again, as I had more knowledge this time. I told myself I might get lucky and have everything work out this time.

Beware of some really BAAAD before pictures in this story.

Our stairs needed a little makeover for sure, and I was not feeling the shade of oak at all. Previous renters had let their dog use the stairs as a chew toy. They had bites and chew marks all along them in various places. I wanted to make sure and finish this project before the new carpet came in for our stairs…because I’m messy.

Nervously, I made sure to read all the information I could find on gel stain.

I sanded the oak down by hand just enough to get the gloss off. Just in case I didn’t get it good enough I wiped it down with Liquid Sander. I filled in all the dog bites with wood filler and sanded them smooth. When I say bites in the wood, think of bites out of an apple-it was that bad in spots! Most of the dog damage was on the inside so you really can’t see it below, but it was really chewed up well!

After lots and lots of reading, I knew that General Finishes gel stain was the way to go. It wasn’t sold in any stores around me, but I found everything I needed on Amazon. However, I wasn’t positive what color I wanted. General Finishes Java was so dark that it almost looks black sometimes, and I could find very little info on General Finishes Antique Walnut. So I ordered both. By the way, there’s a lot of helpful information in the product reviews at Amazon. Be sure and read them!

After a lot of thought, I decided to paint the newel and nosing white, as well as the newel in the middle of the stairs. I repainted all the white balusters first. Not the best plan… It would have been best to save all the white paint for the very last section, but what can I say? Sometimes I like to do things the hard way. I had some white touch up to do at the end for sure.

If you’re wondering, I used White Dove by Benjamin Moore.

I saved my cabinet door when we installed our trash compactor in the kitchen. The old cabinet finish was similar to our handrail color, so this gave me an idea how it would look and how many coats I would need. This old cabinet gave me confidence.

I recommend testing your gel stain out first! I decided to test Java, Antique Walnut, and then a 50/50 blend. I mixed them in old plastic containers with lids.

Here is the dried 1st coat:

The gel stain colors look different at certain times of the day. Here below is after 3 coats dried.

My thoughts were:

Java is super dark; it can look black sometimes in photos, but in bright light here is looks like a nice deep brown.

Antique Walnut is certainly lighter, but it had a slightly more artificial look to me. It reminded me of a melted Hershey bar.

50/50 blend was pretty good. It was a nice blend, but wasn’t quite what I wanted.

I felt myself wanting more of a Java look, but I was scared of Java. So…

75/25 blend At the bottom of the cabinet I experimented again. I mixed 3 parts Java with 1 part Antique Walnut. See at the bottom, it’s dark like Java but not so intense. Bingo!

Gel stain can get messy, but it’s not very drippy. It’s more of a pudding consistency, but still take precautions and put drop cloths down. I was getting new carpet so I didn’t really care if I dripped.

Then I taped everything off with painters tape. I recommend taping farther down your balusters! I still made a mess on my newly painted white balusters. I don’t have any action shots-I know, I know. Frowny face. That was the old me, new me will always take action shots! I tried a paint brush for application at first, but it was too messy. Then I went with the gloved hand and sock method, and it was much easier for me. Wear a vinyl or latex disposable glove under your sock or you’ll have a nice gel stained hand.

Using the sock I rubbed the gel stain until each coat looked even, making sure to get under the rail and in the little crevices. Let each coat of gel stain dry at least 24 hours. If it feels sticky it’s not dry. If your gel stain isn’t dry your next coat will rub off the previous coat. You’ll see this happening and quickly want to stop. Don’t worry this can be fixed with your next coat. I repeated this step 2 more times for a total of 3 coats. Then after my 3rd coat of gel stain was completely dry I used General Finishes Gel Topcoat in Satin. I ended up doing 2 coats sanding lightly in between.

Interesting observation, I think my 75/25 gel stain blend looks like the full java. I have to wonder if I would of just used straight Java if it would look nearly the same or even darker? Just curiosity. It doesn’t matter because I love the result!

What a difference new carpet and a wood floor make. I like how the stair rail is different from the wood floor. It’s not the same color but the tones compliment each other nicely.

Not everybody loves gel stain. Some compare gel stain to paint. To me the wood doesn’t look like paint, just a really dark stain. However, you must understand that when working with gel stain you get a deeper, solid looking stain. Gel stains do not penetrate the wood, a benefit is it’s easy for rookies like me. If you want to see multicolor dimensions of the wood grain then gel stain is probably not for you. It certainly gives a more modern dramatic look, but that may not be everyone’s goal.

Lets see that before picture one more time!

And after!

I was so pleased with the stairs I did my mantel too!

Its dramatic. I like it!

If you are interested in using gel stain to update your home, the products can be purchased using the links below. Do you have any gel stain success stories?

ITEMS I USED

General Finishes Gel Stain in Java

General Finishes Gel Stain in Antique Walnut

General Finishes Gel Top Coat in Satin

Laura

DECOR

GUEST BATHROOM REMODEL

I can’t give you a true before picture of our guest bathroom. This is after I slapped some blue paint up, added crystal knobs, a new shower curtain, and a cute mirror. It helped. Before was just your standard cut unframed mirror glued to the wall, no cabinet knobs and the walls were a pale beige. If you like the blue walls it’s Benjamin Moore Fantasy Blue.

Being our fourth bathroom it actually does still get used quite a bit. It’s at the far end of our upstairs loft right outside my husband’s office and our guest room. Yuck, I’m so glad that carpet’s gone! Oops…I’m getting ahead of myself again.

Look it’s another sea shell sink! Are you jealous of my sea shell molded bathroom sinks with built in soap tray? I know you want one. Ignore the gross toliet lid cover. I don’t use those anymore, they are bacteria breeding grounds.

Here we are with our original shower. If you read about my girls Jack and Jill bathroom remodel, their shower also looked exactly like this. Nothing is good here. Not a fan of the glued on ceramic soap trays that stick out and eventually break off. The tile stopping at the window seemed to shrink the entire area, and why is there a towel rack in the shower just a foot away from the real one? Speaking of the wall towel rack it was also hung freakishly high and this is coming from a tall girl.

I wanted a carrara marble countertop. Nothing could change my mind. I know all about the drama with marble so I thought it would be most protected in our guest bath. I said this bathroom is used often but it’s not tortured as much as our other bathrooms. Due to scheduling, it worked out where the countertop came first. Our countertop place had a few left over pieces of marble so I was able to get this piece for not much. At this point I wasn’t sure if I would repaint the walls, but I had a hunch I would. Once the marble countertop was installed, as I thought I might, I wanted less blue and more of a gray tone.

Terrible quality picture below. Here we were in the process of upgrading the toilet. In our previous two bathroom remodels we replaced them with the Kohler Cimmaron chair height toilet. They have worked great!

I love lots of bright white in bathrooms so I opted for drum roll….. white subway tile. Hmm…you don’t seem surprised I picked white subway tile again. Besides subway tile being inexpensive, I stick with it because I know I would tire quickly with more elaborate tile patterns and colors.

I ordered new cabinets from our local cabinet shop. I bring in my old doors and drawers, and they measure and make new ones for me. If your cabinet frame is in good shape this is such a great option! They came unfinished, and it was about $65 total. I painted them in White Dove by Benjamin Moore.

My over the toliet cabinet is gone! What? Yeah, we didn’t really use it. Inside I was storing my paint cans. Now my paint cans are stored under the counter in the girls’ bathroom. My paint doesn’t last as long if it’s stored in the garage I’ve noticed. Anyway that cabinet was just so clunky, and with it gone the bathroom seems so spacious now. I added bins under the sink for storing items, and I can hang a favorite photo in place of the cabinet. I love decorating with black and white photos. They are elegant and beautiful. I have framed a zoomed in photo of the gates of Versailles that I snapped with my iPhone. I love framing my travel photos because they are so special to me.

No more sea shell sink here. Don’t worry I have two more sea shell sinks in my master bathroom to keep me company. I was lucky enough to have 4 of these suckers! I chose a smaller undercounter sink so we would have plenty of counter space. A Kohler faucet was added as well as Hanson knobs and drawer pulls in satin from Restoration Hardware.

I’m addicted to Niven Morgan. He’s everywhere in my house. Even though he is a Dallas based fragrance designer I had never heard of him until staying at a hotel in New Orleans. All the soaps, shampoos and lotions were stocked in the hotel room in his Blue scent. It smelled incredible. Now every time we use it we think of our vacation. Blue is one of my favorite scents plus I love the gorgeous shade of blue.

The floor is made by Daltile, it’s the Matte White Ceramic Octagon Dot Mosaic Tile we bought from Home Depot. It has a cool vintage look. We updated our mirror with this one from Z Gallerie, and the old mirror is living happily in my daughter’s room.

You’ll be glad to know we lowered our freakishly high towel rack to a much more manageable height! Towel rack, towel ring, and toliet paper holder are Pottery Barn’s Mercer Fixture set in satin.

We took down the original light and added this satin nickel one.

I painted the walls Marina Gray from Benjamin Moore.

That dirty carpet that was in the hall and loft is gone! That’s not part of the bathroom remodel, but it certainly improves the look of the bathroom!

Above you can see how the subway tile goes all the way to the ceiling. The shower seems much more spacious now. I added a taller 84 inch shower curtain from Restoration Hardware. This is the Italian Hotel Satin Stitch Shower Curtain in Greystone.

Ah, I like this look. Looking into a nice bright remodeled bathroom and in the hallway a photo of my 3 little cuddle bugs. Sniff….they aren’t that little anymore. They are now big cuddle bugs.

I hope you enjoyed our guest bathroom remodel!

Laura

DECOR

JACK AND JILL BATHROOM REMODEL

Ah, the teenage girls’ bathroom. Do you have teenage daughters that share a bathroom? If so, I bet you can definitely relate to this photo. Makeup on towels, products everywhere, hair everywhere. 10 empty shampoo bottles in the shower. It cracks me up staring at this photo. My favorite thing about this photo is actually the fork. Stare long enough and you’ll find it. Their bathroom really frustrated me. Of course I would nag them to clean it up but honesty there wasn’t much room to organize all their zillion beauty products, and I can’t really blame them for that. When it comes to hoarding beauty products I’m the same way, plus a lot of these products are hand-me-downs from me.

Next to their shower they do have a cabinet, but its not convenient to walk back and forth getting stuff and putting it away plus its full of other things. Storing items you use often under the counter is also a hassle. Countertop storage was just not working for us either so I browsed the Container Store to see what I could come up with. This Elfa door organizer, while it isn’t beautiful to look at, did the trick. I was amazed all the stuff I was able to cram in there. Luckily the door is open most of the time so the door rack is usually out of view.

Not bad huh? I could finally walk in their bathroom without having a panic attack. We went over the “new” rule: It must go back to the door shelves or it gets thrown away the next day. I said this in an extremely non-cheerful tone so they knew I meant business. There was a door separating the vanity area from the toilet and shower area originally. Three doors in such a tiny congested area was a mistake, so we removed the door and tried out a privacy curtain for a while. So that was that. Their bathroom had plenty of other issues, but I was content.

Meanwhile we were in the middle of our kitchen remodel. If you read that post I was having so much trouble picking out kitchen floor tile. If you haven’t read this you can read Part 1 and Part 2. One day at The Tile Shop, I made the mistake wandering away from the floor tiles and I bonded instantly with the Snow Stria with glass stone mosaic tile. I thought I must have this. Where can I put it? It was so sparkly and gorgeous, just looking at it made me so happy. I instantly thought of the girls bathroom. They had done a good job lately keeping it clean. I had convinced myself that my girls needed this tile in their bathroom and like NOW. A lot of our projects start out like this by accident.

I love this beautiful mix of crackled glass and marble. I could envision it with delicate soft pink walls to compliment the gray tones. I decided to do a mosaic wall with the mirror and add sconce lighting. I love sconce lighting so much! Luckily, adding the wiring for sconce lighting was an easy fix. When I decorate and remodel, I’ve learned the hard way that I must do it slowly or I screw it all up. So I ordered my gorgeous mosaic tile early, and it sat in the garage while I planned out the rest of the remodel. I took a sample to my countertop place. I wanted to make sure the tones would be right. I had to replace the countertop because of the sea shell bathroom sink. Every time I would see the sea shell sink the theme song to Sponge Bob Square Pants would run through my head. It was getting annoying.

After researching countertops that could survive teenage girls I decided on a quartz. Quartz in Hausys Minuet to be exact. I wanted the look of marble, but marble being so delicate I knew it wouldn’t have a chance. I love this undercounter sink! No more Sponge Bob.

Yes more subway tile. How can I not? It’s like a crisp white shirt that goes with everything and never goes out of style. Plus its easy on the wallet, that mosaic tile wasn’t cheap.

I did choose the larger 4×6 subway tile this time, and we had a band of the mosaic tile around the shower and in the soap niche. These recessed niches are pretty convent and eliminate the awkward ceramic soap tray that sticks out. Here we are with tile nearly done, but no grout. I decided to have the stub wall removed and open up the bathroom a little bit. For one the curtain looked tacky, and in most Jack and Jill bathrooms you just lock both doors anyway, and the girls seemed fine with it. Still some drywall and texture work to be done. To make the walls easier to clean we decided on a half wall of tile in the shower and toilet area only. The floor is also from the Tile Shop, it’s called Stark Grigio but unfortunately I think it’s being discontinued.

We had found a local cabinet place nearby during our kitchen remodel. We had converted some false panels into drawers and they were great. I really wanted some fresh modern cabinet doors. I really don’t like cathedral style cabinet doors at all, yet I’ve been blessed with them all over my home. So I brought them all my old cabinet doors and drawers and they measured and ordered everything for me. The doors arrived unfinished so I painted them White Dove in semi-gloss by Benjamin Moore. The cost was pretty low, but it made a huge impact. I might eventually do this in our kitchen, but not for a while. The thought of painting 23 cabinet doors and 11 drawers AGAIN makes me want to cry. I think all the new cabinet doors and drawers (including the cabinets by the shower) were under $100 for this bathroom. I recommend this route for sure!

Wow, these new cabinets and drawers make a huge difference! I choose the Aubrey knob in chrome from Restoration Hardware.

Here we are with the grout. The bathroom looks so clean and girly.

I decided on going with hooks for the towels. Odds go up kids will hang up their towels if they don’t need to fold them over a rack. Originally these hooks went directly into the wall, I preferred that look, but it wasn’t long before they were lose and wobbling out of the sheetrock. So I found a decorative wooden board at a craft store. It’s now screwed into the studs, so it and the hooks are not going anywhere.

These are the Traditional Clear Glass Hooks in chrome from Restoration Hardware. I love the jeweled glass, it’s the perfect touch for a girly bathroom. The sconce lighting is beautiful, but didn’t give off enough light. So a simple light was added to the ceiling.

Previously we had a moisture problem in the shower area. We did upgrade the bathroom fan vent but also opening up this wall has made a big difference in air flow and moisture reduction.

The original tile went to the top of the window, creating an unnecessary strip of wall above it. Bringing the tile up to the ceiling is a much cleaner look. With the subway tile being higher you can also get a taller shower curtain. Instead of the usual 72-inch long shower curtain I found an 84-inch long shower curtain from Restoration Hardware. This is the Italian Hotel Satin Stitch Shower Curtain in white.

The bathroom floor tile looks amazing! It has beautiful tones of gray that compliment the mosaic tile and the countertop. If you’ve never been to a Tile Shop and you have one nearby you must go! It’s a lot of fun, but be warned going to the Tile Shop will probably want to make you remodel and tile every surface of your home.

Here is a photo of everything put together, complete with a complimentary pic of my arm. It’s hard photographing a small bathroom!

So there’s our girls Jack and Jill bathroom makeover story. The girls of course are thrilled with the results. Thanks for reading!

Laura

DECOR

REVIEW: POTTERY BARN CHESTERFIELD SOFA AND PERFORMANCE VELVET

Sofas are big investments, and we absolutely want them to last. A lot of people end up at Pottery Barn because of their nice clean designs, plus lots of fabric choices and ways to customize your sofa. A major downside, though, is that there are no reviews for their furniture and products on Pottery Barn. I’m sure you’re like me and really value reviews. It gives me that extra bit of confidence when I’m scared about making a large purchase (hello, especially a non-refundable purchase). So I thought I better review my Chesterfield and fabric choice and help anyone out that’s undecided.

As you probably know reading others’ reviews, people either love or hate Pottery Barn sofas. I fall into the love category. So let’s get started reviewing the Chesterfield sofa!

I LOVE tufted furniture. I love it as much as subway tile, and that’s saying a lot! Our current furniture was great fit in our last house, but not this house. I really don’t have room for a loveseat, wish I did, but it won’t work with my living area. So, I was interested in one larger sofa, mixed with a few chairs. The Chesterfield sofa style has ALWAYS appealed to me. It’s just gorgeous! I would see the Chesterfield in the Pottery Barn catalogs and in stores and just drool. A big positive for me using Pottery Barn was that I could pick my sofa size and my fabric. I knew I wanted a light colored sofa, and I wanted it to be durable! First thing I did was request free fabric swatches online of everything that appealed to me. While waiting on these swatches to arrive I went up to the store and really examined the Chesterfield sofa closely. Now that this sofa was a possibility I had to really check out its comfort level.

Some Chesterfield sofas are uncomfortable. For this reason you want to avoid buttons on seat cushions! In the store the Chesterfield passed the comfort test. It really was comfortable, I wasn’t just blinded by love. It was also deep, so I could easily add pillows and have plenty of sitting room. About a week later the fabric swatches came in, and that’s when the real stress started. Picking fabric can be hard! I instantly eliminated many fabric choices, some looked a lot different online. The fabrics that appealed to me most were the Performance Everyday velvet, Performance Everyday suede, and the Performance tweed. I instantly nixed the tweed because of cost, it was quite a lot more. Here recently I’ve read some reviews of the tweed pilling. If your interested in the tweed please do lots of research! So, it was between the velvet and the suede. Torture was done on both samples. Ketchup, wine, and coffee. Nobody will be having ketchup on this sofa, but I always test ketchup on samples. Both the suede and the velvet samples cleaned up quite well.

In the end I decided to go with the velvet in buckwheat, and by luck it was actually the cheapest out of the tweed and suede. Velvet feels luxurious and is perfect for the Chesterfield. Remember the Seinfeld episode where George Constanza flips out over his new girlfriends velvet sofa? “I would drape myself in velvet if it was socially acceptable”, haha sometimes I think about that while sitting on my sofa.

Anyway, I committed to the Chesterfield Grand Sofa 96 inch length it was a great size and much wider than our old sofa. So I waited on a sale, for me waiting on a sale for Pottery Barn purchases are absolutely mandatory. During this waiting period I tried to find reviews on this sofa or the Performance Everyday velvet, but I didn’t have much luck. I read all the information I could find and watched the Pottery Barn videos about this fabric. It was stain resistant and great for kids and pets. Luckily soon I hit a 25 percent off sale so I placed the order. A week later they called to confirm my non refundable sofa and said it would be delivered in 8-10 weeks. After that I instantly felt nervous. Had I made the right choice? Did I really research every possibility? I actually had few panic attacks that I had made a horrible non refundable choice. I waited what felt like forever until it was finally delivered.

The first time I saw this sofa fully unwrapped and in my living room I loved it. Then I thought “we’re going to ruin this.” Well, let’s fast forward to 2 years later. We work this sofa hard. I don’t baby it much. It sees lots of activity. We try not to eat on it, but occasionally little snacks will happen. We drink beverages on it all the time. Little coffee dribbles easily clean up with a damp cloth and a drop of soap. One day after a Christmas party I found red lipstick on the cushion and I got it out with soap and water. A black shoe mark on the back was easily cleaned off. Then one night I spilled a full glass of red wine on the cushion. I instantly blotted it up and used my regular soap and water. With the dark evening light I thought I had gotten it. The next morning I saw pink splotches everywhere. In a panic I threw it in the washing machine, air dried it, and poof the red wine stain was all gone! You’ll be glad to know I’m much more careful with red wine now! Below you can see the perfectly clean cushion cover.

I like how this sofa has a much lower back then our old one.

Our sofa has so far been excellent, its comfortable, clearly stain resistant, and the style very much works for me.

It does have a few negatives. One minor negative is the fabric will go all different directions with activity. When the light hits these spots just right it can give a dirty appearance. This is easily fixable I just smooth my hand or a dry rag over the velvet and brush it smooth again. Another drawback, and this is with all Chesterfields really, the little buttons can fill with dust and will on occasion need to be vacuumed or wiped out. Any wrinkles on the cushion top are usually temporary and smooth away; however, I’ve also noticed little wrinkles forming along the edge of the cushion. These do not smooth out. They’re probably from the cushion wearing slightly, and luckily this doesn’t really bother me. Here below I’ve made a list of pros and cons for the Performance Everyday Velvet and Chesterfield sofa

Pottery Barn Chesterfield Sofa

Pros
Solid well-built construction
Polyester wrapped cushions keep their shape well
Gorgeous style that’s very comfortable
Many different sofa lengths available as well as sectionals
Easy to customize with fabrics to create your own look
Deep enough to hold large pillows and still have sitting room

Cons
No sofa bed option available
Dust collects in buttons and must be cleaned
Wrinkling along cushion edge
Special order takes 8-10 weeks
Non refundable

Performance Everyday Velvet in Buckwheat

Pros
One of the more affordable fabric choices
Very stain resistant, even light colors
Cushions can be unzipped and are machine washable
Tough fabric is great with kids and pets

Cons
Must occasionally smooth fabric to avoid a spotty looking appearance

Well, there you go. I hope this has helped you in either your Chesterfield sofa or Performance Everyday velvet selection. This has been a true honest review on my Chesterfield sofa. I plan on soon writing a review of our Pottery Barn outdoor sectional once I wash and test it out a bit more. As soon as I make a sofa decision for our upstairs loft I will let you know.

**UPDATE 5/13/19 I am still in love with our sofa and the Performance Velvet. The fabric is so durable and stain resistant that I just ordered the Raleigh Square Tall Storage bed in the same color. I’m known to drink coffee in bed and spill it everywhere but I’m not worried at all with this durable fabric.

Laura

DECOR

FAKING A MUDROOM

I’ve always wanted a mudroom. I have friends with homes who have mudrooms or the very popular laundry/mudroom combo. Every time I would see theirs or see mudroom photos on the internet I would think to myself “I want one!” This hallway is in between our family room, laundry room, half bath, and master bedroom. Our garage is right off the laundry room and is way too small put anything inside, so this hallway became a natural place to hang and pile our junk. Backpacks, coats, hats, and scarves would all collect here. There is a very small coat closet in this hallway but not everything makes it in there, actually not everything will even fit.

One day while casually walking through this hallway I thought ugh, this space is so ugly I really should do something with it. Then I hung my sweater on the already over crowded hooks, the nail pulled out and it crashed to the floor. We need better hooks and more of them I thought. Light bulb! At this moment I realized oh my gosh this hallway can be our mudroom! Why not? No longer is it just going to be a boring little hallway. It’s workin’ for us now!

I’m pretty sure that the builders who built our house took a special class on how to put all our light switches and thermostats in the most awkward spots possible.

First idea was to get the weird metal wall art off and add something that would serve a purpose. Ta da a chalkboard! Who doesn’t love a chalkboard? I could write upcoming events and reminders. Plus chalkboards are just so cute.
I picked up a thin piece of wood from Home Depot and we glued it to the wall. Once dried, I lightly sanded, taped it off, primed, then I painted it with black chalkboard paint.

Then, my husband got out his miter saw and added white trim around our new chalkboard. I really wish I had a photo of us doing this. Sorry about that!

Then it was time for hooks and beadboard. I love the look of beadboard. I first considered beadboard wallpaper just for convenience but the rolls at the hardware store were already scratched and dented, so I knew it wouldn’t stand up to our heavy abuse. So regular beadboard was for us. I found these bronze hooks at Lowes.

Again, I wish I had taken more photos of our steps but the blogging thing was just barely a thought at this point. I was more into just before and after photos back then.

So here’s the thing about hooks as your probably know. They aren’t strong when mounted into drywall. Especially when your daughter hangs a super heavy backpack on it (she must keep rocks inside it). So we used solid 1×4’s cut to length and screwed into the studs to give the hooks super strength, and then we added a piece of trim to the top. Because I wanted the beadboard a certain height and did not want the thermostat on the actual beadboard we moved the thermostat up several inches.

Then I found this light fixture from Shades of Light.

So here is our finished mudroom. It’s very functional and a great space. We love having the chalkboard. We will write to-do lists on it, inspirational quotes, or just draw goofy pictures on it. We did upgrade to a Honeywell Wifi thermostat which is great. We can adjust our thermostat while on vacation from our phones and program it to come back on an hour away from home. An exciting bonus about this upgrade is how much smaller the unit is. It now fits much nicer. That was just luck.

I do wish there was room for a bench but there just isn’t. Oh, well. I’m extremely happy with this little upgrade! It really feels like a mudroom and we even call it that. It hardly ever looks this nice though.

It usually looks like this….And that’s on a good day. Sometimes you can barely see the beadboard.

Little spaces are so fun! Do you have areas of your home you could change to make your life easier? Maybe turn a small hallway or a nook into something that serves a purpose for your life?

Well, thank you for reading and tolerating my extremely low quality looking phone & camera pics. Our mudroom doesn’t have much natural light. You’re the best, the best I say!

Laura

DECOR

CEILING JEWELRY

Just like when I’m putting an outfit together and add the perfect bracelet and earrings, these light fixtures are my ceiling jewelry. No room is properly dressed without the perfect light. I have such a love for lights, they really are the finishing touch to a room. You can be bold or dainty, modern or sparkly. They are necessary items: they of course provide light, but they also provide visual interest and finish a room. They tell the story of your space.

Next to new paint, I think updating light fixtures are the quickest way to add charm and style to a room. This can be with new lights or older outdated ones that just need some updating. In previous houses I have painted so many light fixtures!

I love mixing up different styles. Every light in our home is different. Our floor plan is very open so I have kept with the same bronze color downstairs for a cohesive look. I do also love the look of mixed metals and colors, also a great option.

Most of our lights fixtures from our house are new. I ALWAYS wait for a sale. I’m actually really clever how I purchase things. I use my store rewards often waiting to stack them with a sale price and sometimes I can get a coupon to work as well. Usually when I purchase new items I wait and wait for just the right time so I can save the most money possible. Saving money is awesome because then I can buy more things I love like shoes.

So, I started with our family room.

Large Orb Chandelier in bronze from Ballard Designs

Previously, we had an ugly ceiling fan. We didn’t turn it on a lot so we aren’t missing much. Our family room has a very tall vaulted ceiling. The large open space of the ceiling can feel overwhelming at times. This light helps fill in some empty space and gives great visual interest. You could definitely say hanging it was challenging on our 30 foot tall ceiling.

Glass Pendant Shade Adapter light from Ballard Designs.

Formerly a recessed light over our kitchen sink. This adapter light from Ballard Designs made this switch over quick and easy. I love this simple clean design.

Bellora Chandelier from Pottery Barn

This light was love at first sight for me! It’s a smaller light so it does well over my kitchen table. I waited and waited for it to go on sale and it was worth it.

Carriage House Chandelier in bronze from Ballard Designs

Our entry way needed a clean looking light and this one does just the trick. It hangs down on a 6 foot chain adding the perfect amount of light downstairs and also provides a little light to our loft upstairs.

Very difficult to hang on a 30 foot ceiling, my husband looked like spider man balancing one leg on the ladder and another on the wall. Naturally I was at the bottom freaking out.

Annabelle Pendant from Ballard Designs

I have this light in our small formal living area. She’s a cutie for sure. Sometimes I get the urge to put a fake bird inside, but I probably shouldn’t, that would be weird. It adds the perfect touch of whimsy and coordinates nicely with my dining room chandelier.

And sometimes your ceiling jewelry needs a nice medallion.

Celeste Chandelier from Pottery Barn

Hanging over my dining room table. With my dining room being pretty neutral it gives nice pop. Also a ceiling medallion here like in my formal living room. These are from House of Antique Hardware.

Margaux Ceiling Mount Chandelier from Ballard Designs

Formerly the workout room, now my future office. I’m not sure how my new office will be decorated just yet but it’s starting with this light. It’s all the inspiration I need. Right now it’s just an empty room with a great light.

Modern Cage Ceiling Chandelier from Shades of Light.

Home to our mudroom. Well, more of a hallway really but while turning my hallway into a pretend mudroom I knew this light would look great. You can read about my fake mudroom story HERE.

Large Vintage Magnolia Blossom Ceiling Light from Shades of Light

I really like the Shades of Light catalog. I devour it every time it comes in the mail. They have some very beautiful and unusual lights. This flower light is hanging in our loft, the negative is it doesn’t provide a ton of light so it’s best to have it in a small room.

A vintage light left over from our previous house, I had it in storage a few years. Formerly a brown Tuscan looking light, it’s had a fresh coat of paint and is currently in our guest room. A white cord cover helps hide my less than perfect paint job on the chain. If you have an old chandelier never get rid of it! The possibilities are endless!

Maskers Pendant Lamp from Ikea

If you have ever been to Ikea you’ve seen this light and you know how awesome it is. Seen floating around on other blogs and Pinterest, it looks good with many styles. Plus, it’s a very affordable light. I have this hanging in my oldest daughter’s room. She has a high ceiling and it looks amazing against her turquoise ceiling color. I love white lights against colorful ceilings. This is the smaller size, the 22 inch. This light has a few negatives. It provides low light so you will need to supplement with a lamp or two, and it’s made of paper, making dusting hard to do.

Clear Alyssa Chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids

I had some Pottery Barn rewards to burn and my youngest daughter needed a new light. It’s so sweet and delicate against her pale yellow walls. This light can easily grow in any future room changes we make, whether we leave it as it or end up painting it. The possibilities are endless.

Clay Alder Bronze Chandelier from Overstock

Outside under our covered patio. We have a pitched roof and while planning the design of everything I knew I wanted a simple bronze chandelier. I also didn’t want to spend a lot of money because I was worried it wouldn’t hold up against the elements, like storms and the harsh west sun. With the sale price and Overstock rewards I was able to get this light for not much money. I love the way it looks.

So there you have it. Most of our house lights. My last tip would be to add dimmer switches. This is great in certain rooms for ambiance.

We do have a ceiling fan in my husband’s office and in our master bedroom as well as the odd plain light here and there. No point in photographing a ceiling fan, we’ve all seen one. You must wonder if having a ceiling fan in our bedroom makes me sad rather than a gorgeous light fixture. Yes, it definitely does. Remember how I said that light fixtures tell a story? Well, this story is our bedroom faces west with three windows and is very hot in the summer!

I hope you enjoyed my ceiling jewelry. It’s just one of the many ways you can add style, sparkle, and a finishing touch to your home!