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! 

New, fresh look

I have said before that one of the only things I didn't love about the house was the facade. Who knew so many shades of brown and rust even existed?  We asked the builder, while we were still under their umbrella and just before we were left loose to a homeowner's association, if we could repaint.  They were so quick to respond with an approval that we knew they agreed with us that those brown shutters, rust colored siding, and tan garage doors needed to go.  Buh-bye.  So here is the house with a fresh new look that matches our taste a bit better.  A French Chateau it is not, which would be my personal preference.  But, we've at least taken the barn feel out.  We've also planted some trees to get those babies growing.  The front yard will eventually get a full makeover, but for now we are embracing the "drought tolerant" look and putting our focus on other projects.

His and hers office with a view

At our old house there was a perfect niche in the kitchen for me to call my workspace.  I realized right away that with the new house I would be losing that space so I decided to create a "his and hers office" that we could both share.  Preston works in his home office a lot so I needed it to be a functional and inviting space for him.  We had a custom desk built for us with all the office necessities like filing cabinets and lots of storage and flanked it with shelving.  I had found an inspiration picture on Houzz a long time ago and showed it to our cabinet guys.  They did a phenomenal job of creating this piece for us. We used the painting of the Chrysler Building as the center focal point.  That painting was the first thing I bought for the new house.  I gave it to Preston last Christmas and it's been under our bed all wrapped up for almost a year.  It was pretty exciting to be able to hang it up.  Preston and both I love New York and have created a lot of special memories in our travels there over the years.  It's a great daily reminder of all those trips we cherish so much.   But my most favorite part of our new office is the view from my side of the desk...

The furry babies seem to approve

Our sweet dogs have adjusted so well to the move.  I was very nervous, especially for our 5 year old Great Dane who is unbelievably neurotic and habitual.  Here favorite spot in our old house was a window seat in Preston's office that obviously we couldn't bring with us.  Her second favorite spot was our disgustingly worn out, old couch that was not stepping foot into the new house.  But the pups were both quick to find new favorite spots and are certainly enjoying all the extra space to run and play around in.

Charlie loves the cool marble in the entryway.  He lays there most of the time.  

Chloe is much more high maintenance and requires something plush and comfy.  I bought this bench from Pottery Barn with her in mind.  I had it covered in a durable denim fabric and put it in the office, under the window, in hopes it would replace her window seat.  She has definitely embraced it as her new spot.  

Back at it...

Moving is stressful.  The holidays are stressful.  Moving during the holidays is pure insanity and I do not recommend it.  I am happy to report though that we came out unscathed, purely by the grace of God.  Somehow everyone got fed, even the dogs.  Somehow the homework and reports all got done. Albeit last minute and with me shouting from under a pile of boxes, "Help your brother with his math!" Somehow my son managed to win the spirit day dress up contest when all I did was throw on his old Halloween costume.  Somehow my daughter delivered all of her Christmas play lines beautifully even though they were all new to me.  Somehow I didn't miss anyone on my Christmas list.  At least, not that I am aware of.  Somehow my kids rocked their Christmas piano recitals.  Somehow I never did have that nervous breakdown I kept thinking was looming.

So it's January and the holidays are over.  Thank God.  And I can breath again.  And while the last two months have been crazy, it's been filled with all good craziness.  I have enjoyed every second of making this brand new house feel like home.  So I'm back to blogging about the progress of our house, and as it evolves from just a house to OUR home sweet home.

Our beloved painter, Henry, was in our home for 4 weeks.  It's a good thing we really like him.  His first task was Madelyn's room because she was so anxious to see it all come together.  He painted her walls in Dunn Edwards Soft Lilac and installed wallpaper on one wall as an accent.  It came together perfectly and I had a very happy and grateful 11 year old who was so ready to be done with her pink and light green room she had been in since she was 18 months.