Happy Spring!

Hi friends,
Happy spring to you! Is your area behaving and providing you with lovely springtime weather? The Brew Crew rascals are on spring break right now so I am home with them hanging out. I had a few free moments to myself (thanks to recent birthday toys for Brayden and a neighborhood friend for Bryce) so I thought I'd update you on what's been happening lately in our household design wise.

We have now officially been in our (not so) new home near Raleigh, North Carolina for just about two years! We have done a lot to make it our own home but of course, there's still stuff left to do. There always will be, right? We haven't regretted making the move to this warmer, slower paced life one little bit and have loved stealing away to the beach in just a few hours (vs. the 7-8 hour drive it used to take from Northern Virginia).

Welcome friends, step inside and let me give you a decorating update:

 

 

 

 

 

The winter pansies are still holding their own. I'll be ready to get newer fresher spring flowers soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This sweet glass lamp with geometric shade was a cheap find at Target. I needed a small lamp for this table. I have added the mercury glass collection here lately as well as the starfish tile that Steve and I purchased on our honeymoon at St. John's British Virgin Island.

 



 

This new artwork I added around the holidays to display Christmas cards. It's simply two cabinet doors to a dvd case we have in our bonus room with clothespins hot glued onto it. I like to change out the pictures and quotes/scriptures/cards on it to spice it up.

 



 

 

Haven't changed much in the entryway. Still have the basket holding umbrellas.

 

 

 

I do dream of painting this room and the adjoining rooms (and ceiling) a light blueish green but that is one big job!

 



 

 

I've changed the furniture arrangement in the family room. Having the sofas set up this way allows us to look out the windows more. One draw back is that it's not as easy to walk through the family room but I do like having the windows less obstructed as I love light!

 



 

 

 

 

We do have a lot of seating arrangements right now in the family room because we are about to host our small group bible study friends over at our house so I needed about 14 seats (still need to pull in some chairs from the kitchen table).

 



 

You can barely see the oyster shell mirror I made to the left of the door.

 



 

 

 

 

The previous owners left these three floating shelves from Ikea for us. I've been re-arranging/ staging them for the past two years. I think I've finally found an arrangement that I like (for now!): small green glass lamp, beachy artwork, cool white coral pieces, and blue and green glass pieces.

 



 

 

 

People do think I'm crazy to have white slipcovered sofas with one black dog and two messy kids but I gotta tell you, it's so easy to throw the slipcovers in the wash. I still love them! The great thing about neutral sofas is that you can spice it up and get new pillows frequently.

 

 

 

Not much has changed on the screened in porch except the new fresh green chevron pillows. Maybe someday I'll add an outdoor rug. Looking forward to adding some palm trees out there soon and some summer flowers.

 

 

 

 

I still love the glass ceiling light fixture that we added over the table. I do want to add two industrial style ceiling lamps over the bar area eventually.

 



 

 

 

I do dream of painting the kitchen cabinets a creamy white and changing the backsplash to a fun glass tile but that's a super big job and an expensive one to boot! So I guess I can live with the brown for a while.

 

 

 

I am considering add one pottery lamp with a burlap lampshade here instead of the two lamps.

 



 

I must admit I am in love with this new driftwood bowl that I found at a cool import antique store in Columbia, South Carolina while on a business trip. As my brother pointed out, if I get tried of it, I'll have kindle wood available for the fireplace (too bad it's gas!).



 

This little brown geometric rug replaced the worn out one we had (cheap Target find).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haven't done much in the living room. But it has turned into my favorite room to curl up on the sofa with a great book and take a nap. I might want to paint this room a softer paler color in the future.

 

 

 

 

The cheap white rug from Ikea that I painted in this room is getting stains on it so I am thinking of getting a newer, nicer and larger rug for this room in the near future.

I am still in love with the basket light hanging from the ceiling found on discount at Ikea (we swapped it out from the large heavy bronze one that was once here).

My home office (we gave up our dining room so I could have a work space here on the main floor) used to be a dark brown color (including the ceiling). My handy husband painted it a soft pale blue for me.

 



 

 

 

I made this artwork out of three dishtowels I bought at the aquarium in Monterey, California.

 

 

I made the blue striped curtains by painting wide blue stripes on an inexpensive white curtain. I found the two bright blue furniture pieces at the local Goodwill for $16 (they were brown).

 

 

 

 

My home office is also where the kids do their homework and art projects.

 

 

I made the artwork on the left hand side and my husband got the sweet pair of seahorses for me for a gift.

 

 

 

Friends,

Thanks so much for joining me today as I shared my updates in our home. I'll try to get my act together and go upstairs and share (meaning clean and straighten upstairs!). I hope you're having a wonderful spring.

Happy spring and decorating,

Megan