A great addition for the Great Room

Last week we had our club chairs delivered for the Great Room, they were a fabulous addition.  They are super comfy and even swivel!  I love the tufting and the nail head trim and the low back so when our guests walk through the front door they have a clear view of our backyard throught he bifold doors.  The chairs have become a new favorite reading spot for our daughter so that's a bonus.  This space is finally starting to come together and nearly finished.  I just have a few last pieces I want to get.

Midsummer Night's Dream

Over the weekend we hosted our first party in our new backyard.  It was a Midsummer Night's Dream dinner party, a theme I've wanted to do for a long time.  It was a six course wine pairing and every bit as indulgent as it sounds.  The night was just as dreamy and magical as I imagined…

A few of my favorite people

Floral headpieces for the girlies 

When your beef and potatoes are served on a repurposed wine plank

Cheese course, pure bliss

And then, we ate cake and all went to heaven

My blue sofa crush

The first piece I purchased for our Great Room was this blue, velvet sofa.  I fell hard for it the moment I saw it and it's been nothing but love ever since.  It is beyond comfortable and makes for the perfect place to sit and relax.  I love the navy color that seems to go with just about anything.  The gold and faux fur pillows were the perfect accessory for winter.  I'm currently on the hunt for some fresh, spring pillows.

Back in business!

The first phase of our backyard is almost done.  I'll save you my rant about how it was supposed to be completed December 18th.  And it's March.  And it's still not done.  Insert deep, calming breaths.  We have been without a barbecue since we moved, quite a hardship in our family when Preston is so good at grilling.  Last week we had unseasonably warm weather so we were able to use the outdoor grill for the first time.  On the menu for our first meal prepared al fresco, Hawaiian chicken burgers and zucchini.  So glad this man is back in business!

Pretty laundry room = happy laundress

I really despise doing the laundry.  I do it, dutifully each week but I would really rather be doing pretty much anything else.  Knowing this about myself, I created a laundry room I would enjoy being in.  A space that would inspire me to embrace the laundry and all of the folding and sock matching that goes along with it.  Bright, white subway tiles adorn one wall to freshen up the joint since it doesn't have a window and the other walls are painted in Dunn Edward's crisp, French White.  For lighting, crystal flushmounts add a bit of glamour as well as the crystal hardware on the cabinets.  The black and white tiled flooring adds some whimsy and for further inspiration, I had a sign made from Etsy reminding me to be thankful for the piles of laundry.  So now I really have no excuse other than to tackle those dirty clothes with the happiest of hearts.  And I do.  Most of the the time.

When you have talented friends...

My dear friend works for California Closets and happens to be really, really, ridiculously good at what she does.  She designed our master closet, as well as the kids' closets.  What she created in ours makes me want to pinch myself every time I walk inside. Here is just a little piece of the beauty that she gave us…

We still have a bit more work to do in here.  I need to have a valance made and a cushion for the bench under the window.  I will get to those little projects this spring.  Even without it being completely finished, it is one of my most favorite spots in the house.  It's the perfect place to have a glass of champagne while contemplating what to wear for a night out.  Cheers to that!  And cheers to super talented friends!

OK, where was I?

I had to take a quick break from blogging.  We took back-to-back trips to Newport and Manhattan.  We came home, exhausted and needing to thaw out only to find that our Internet had been disconnected.  It took a while but we finally figured out the problem.  Apparently our new neighbors who just moved into their home disconnected our service in order to get theirs.  Every man for himself I guess, not very neighborly if you ask me but there you have it.   So, we are back home and reconnected and everything is right in our little world.  Here are a few more pictures of our master bathroom, for the flooring I wanted what else?  Marble, of course.  It's a big space so I wanted to break up it a tad, adding these small, polished, black granite pieces did the job beautifully.

Master Shower

For the master shower I continued to use Calacatta Oro marble.  The great thing about marble is that it comes in so many different shapes and patterns.  The bad thing about marble is that it comes in so many different shapes and patterns.  I would leave design meetings feeling dizzy from all of the choices.  I loved the mosaic pattern and knew I wanted to incorporate it somehow in the shower.  Using it on the floor and as an accent on one wall was the answer.  Knowing that using this material would come with a lot of color variation, I kept it simple from there and surrounded the rest of the shower in 12x12 tiles.  We used a decorative border piece for the bench seat and to wrap around the mosaic on the wall.  I am so happy with the way it turned out.  It's fresh and bright with nice some details while still maintaining a classic look.

Master bathroom tour, part 1

Designing the master bathroom probably caused me the most amount of stress.  I knew I wanted to use Calacatta marble, so that part was simple.  The difficult part was choosing the right marble pieces for the floor, the shower, and the countertops so that they would compliment each other.  For the countertops I took a trip to a marble yard and found this beautiful slab of polished "Calacatta Oro."  I had them fabricate it with a square ogee edge to add some nice detail and finished it off with a thick border in the same marble.  

A room fit for a princess tween

Madelyn's room was a lot of fun to design.  We did it together and I am so proud of the choices she made.  Madelyn was excited to be rid of her pink room with all of the princess decor.  She wanted purple and teal, a fabulous color palette for a young lady approaching her teen years.

Marble Powder Room

Designing the powder room was a lot of fun.  I had a great inspiration photo from Houzz that helped guide me.  Once I found this calcatta oro hexagonal pattern I knew it was just what I wanted.  I finished the look off with a thick border and matching baseboards.  The stark contrast between the white marble and dark hardwood floors is just what I wanted.  Hopefully our guests will enjoy it, because this room is strictly off limits to those who reside in the house.  Anyone who lives with boys will understand my reasoning.  To be fair to our guys, Madelyn and I just stay out as well.

Well hello there, you pretty thing!

I just love well dressed windows.  A beautiful curtain or valance can completely change the look of a room.  It can add whimsy or romance, color, texture… so many wonderful aspects.  I was so excited for these drapes in our great room.  I loved working with Tami Smight Interiors to get just the right fabric and look for these windows.  However, one of them is pretty much completely hidden by the piano.  The other one has been behind our Christmas tree for the better part of two months.  I finally gave in on Sunday and let Preston put away the tree.  Boo.  While I was sad to see my pretty flocked winter tree dragged into the depths of the garage, I am loving being able to fully see these drapes.  

And the kitchen is now complete

Our barstools arrived!  They were a custom order so they took their sweet time to finally get here. I can't wait until Monday morning when I can serve the kids their breakfast with ease as I race around the kitchen like a crazy person packing snacks and making lunches.

It's the weeekend! Cheers to that!

Preston and I love wine.  It's our thang.  We pilgrimage to Napa once a year in the fall where we visit fabulous wineries, sipping what they offer us as we try to learn as much as we possibly can.  I am also a champagne lover.  Our day spent in Reims, France two years ago is at the top of my all time most incredible days.  So naturally, we wanted to turn the "den" off our great room into a wine room.  Enter Closet Wine Cellars, a company owned by a dear friend who turns ordinary walls and closets into temperature controlled, wine sanctuaries.  We gave them an entire wall to work with and what they created is nothing short of breathtaking.  Add four plush, velvet arm chairs and you have the makings of a fabulous Friday night.  

Storage for all the kitchen eye candy

Our old house had this great butler's pantry where we could store our pretty stemware and china.  When I first saw the blueprints of the new house I knew we would be losing that great storage space.  However, we were gaining a new morning room with lots of potential.  We had Ludwig Millworks create this beautiful built-in hutch to store all of our lovely little things like my embellished crystal champagne flutes, white porcelain vases, and those Antropologie cereal bowls that are too pretty to put ordinary cereal in.

A morning room straight out of my Parisian dreams

By far my most favorite room in the house is the morning room.  I wanted it to feel like you were in a cozy french bistro.  We had Ludgwig Millworks create the banquette and built-in hutch.  They did a phenomenal job.  My fabulous window covering gal, Tami Smight created the gorgeous valance, cushion, and pillows.  The wall color is Dunn Edward's French White, magnifique.  After a lot of searching I finally found the perfect bistro chairs and to top it all off, a shimmering chandelier.  Voila!  I eat my breakfast each morning expecting a waitress to come refill my coffee and ask if I want another croissant.

Clean my white kitchen all day long, clean my white kithchen while I sing dis song.

I love white kitchens.  They are clean and crisp, everything a kitchen ought to be.  However, I did not realize how high maintenance they were.  Sheesh!  In our old house I would have to hunch down at a certain eye level just to see any crumbs on my beige and black, granite countertop.  And I dutifully did that once a day.  More or less.  Probably less.  But now, no need to hunch over in a white kitchen.  Nope.  The crumbs are just sitting there, staring at you.  Yelling at you to clean them up. My hands are dry and cracked from all the cleaning I'm doing.  I am just so thankful I didn't have this white kitchen while my kids were babies.  And even with all that extra maintenance, I am still madly in love with my white kitchen.  Who knows, maybe all this extra elbow grease will tone up my arms in time for summer.

Come for the velvet settee, stay for the champagne

Madelyn and I love to read, so when it came time to deciding on what to do with the little room just before our master bedroom it made sense to turn it into a proper sitting room where we could cuddle up and read for hours.  Bliss.  I picked up the velvet settee and a gorgeous hutch during my trip to High Point Market last spring.  From there I designed the room around those pieces and it has become one of my favorite rooms in the house.  It doesn't hurt that it has a bell to ring up for champagne at my heart's desire.  Now we just need to employ a butler to answer that call.  For now, my sweet husband takes on the responsibility.

Friday nights in

We are in the midst of our January Whole30.  My waistline loves it.  My wallet loves it.  My opentable account does not love it.  When on Whole30 life is just much easier to cook your own food.  This way you know exactly what is going in your mouth and you don't end up annoying the waitress with your high maintenance order.  I love to cook and I do cook most meals during the week.  Typically though, my kitchen is closed on the weekends.  During Whole30 I begrudgingly push through the weekend and continue to cook all of our meals.  This time around though I'd much rather spend Friday night in, dinning at the French farm table of my dreams under a sparkling chandelier.  Cheers to that.  With sparkling water, of course.  

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday to two weeks ago when we rang in the new year with a big bash in our new home.  There is nothing like a big party to get your booty in gear to get your house looking its best.    It ended up being the most fabulous New Years Eve to date for us.  We were surrounded by our closest friends and dear family (who live close by).  We ate delicious food, sipped French bubbly, and danced to the most kickin' live band I've ever heard. And as the clock struck midnight you could just feel the love in the room.  It was a magical moment.  And then, we ate breakfast.  How wonderful is that?  Yep, while we were kissing our loved ones, blowing party blowers, and throwing confetti into the air our caterer was setting up a breakfast buffet for us.  I can't think of a better thing than tasty breakfast items like chicken and waffles after a night of drinking and dancing.   I am so bad at taking photos during a party.  I really need to work on that.  I smell a good resolution to add to the list.  Here are some before shots...

We rented some cool lounge furniture for our guests

It ended up being the hangout spot for all the 5th grade girlies

 White tufted bar.  LOVE. 

I tried to figure out a way to keep this beauty without the rental company realizing it was missing.  

The dance floor and buffet table all ready for the fun night ahead

My babes, hamming it up for the photo booth

My dad and his two girls

Happy New Year!