wallpaper emo

 I put it in front of my great-grandfather's "library table" (more on that here). I think it works perfectly there! It also adds a bit of (soft) color and further balances that side of the room.

Here's some more ideas from around my house!

A pretty, simple centerpiece...


 I LOVE displaying blue and white in a grouped collection... I used to actually display twice this amount (I have a lot put away) on this table below, but I like to change it up every now and then!
Oh, and they hold pink flowers beautifully!



A cute little umbrella/whatever holder in our foyer...


 Also, a tiny touch of blue and white in the kitchen...


These have flanked our sink for years. I just love these little topiaries. Adding some symmetry with blue and white is one of my favorite things to do.
It's just simple and subtle.



So like I said, check out antique stores for unique blue and white finds. If you're looking for a lot of pieces to group together and you'd like them to be somewhat similar, you can sometimes luck out at antique stores, but you may find more similar pieces at places like TJ Maxx and Homegoods. Even Pier1! I'd say to stay away from big catalog stores or specialty "catalog" stores/websites. Lots of their blue and white pieces are crazy overpriced and that's never a good look. Don't go broke starting a collection! If you love it like I do or want to start a collection of your own, make it fun! Gradually hunt for unique pieces at good prices rather than settling for every blue and white thing you find or randomly searching for and buying up a ton of it to get an insta-collection of the stuff.  Let's face it, that's no fun.

So I hope you all enjoyed this week's little home decor break! Do any of you collect blue and white too?

Oh and for more inspiration... This is one of my FAVORITE decor books. TONS of blue and white gorgeous-ness. Mine lives on my coffee table in my office. ;)

 **COME MEET-UP WITH ME AT IMATS LA!! I'll be at the Sigma Beauty booth from 10:30am-12:30 pm on January 18th (Saturday's show). Be sure to stop by and say hi! I'd love to meet you!!

So for this week's home decor break, we're headed down to the basement.  I had mentioned in previous posts that we had made some changes down there. Two HUGE things in particular that we had been on the search for since we moved in, and one lighting update I mentioned in my recent home decor haul here.

Before I get ahead of myself, here's what we started with...


We had been on the hunt for the perfect piece for that big blank wall since before we moved in. We knew it had to be pretty huge. Notice how tiny that mirror looks against it! That mirror used to hang in the living room at our old house and I actually considered it quite large!
Also, the big empty space in the middle. Having the little bar built in is really nice, however, we really wanted an actual "bar" that people could sit at for the middle area. We looked at a lot of them (they're not easy to find), and they definitely aren't cheap. We considered getting one eventually when we found the perfect one, but I also didn't want to limit that area to JUST a bar, you know? A giant bar isn't exactly the most versatile piece of furniture...  Plus, for the price we'd be paying (the cheapest option we found came in around $1700), I just couldn't justify it. There was no reason we needed an actual "bar" with storage and all that good stuff that a typical bar would have since we already have more storage than we need for that area in the cabinets. I really just wanted a seating area, at least counter-height.
So the bar idea was toast.

So I had seen some photos of large counter-height tables (a little taller than an average table, but not quite as tall as "bar" height) used in basements and kitchens and decided that one would eventually be mine.  I didn't expect to find the perfect one so soon...


First of all, this thing is huge.  The guys who delivered it said it was the heaviest table they had ever lifted. It's really made nice and solid too which is a huge plus.


This photo shows off the pretty natural grain in the wood.  It's the same height as the adjacent counters which makes it all look "pulled together".


Notice the huge leaner mirror?? I'm SO in love with it! I got a great deal on it at Ballard Designs during a recent mirror sale. It goes with the whole "industrial" theme and really opens up the space by bouncing around a ton of light. It makes the room feel so much larger! We waited on that baby for almost 4 weeks... Getting that thing delivered was not easy.

I'm planning to refinish the light colored base of the table to something a little more dark and rich to compliment all the bronze and darker finishes down there.  We'll get there soon!
Also, I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for six industrial-style counter-height stools so we can put three on each side.

I actually found the table at a local furniture store when I had gone to look for my tufted chairs. I wasn't looking for it at all. I just turned a corner and there it was! They had the exact same one with a darker base for $1700. This one was normally that price and I got it for $500 because it was marked down because of some inexplicable sale.

I'm loving the versatility of the table- It's taller and the dimensions are a bit more "stretched" than a typical table. By that I mean it's super shallow front to back, and very wide left to right.  So we can use it as a bar, serve food on it during get-togethers, or sit at it like a typical table for game nights.  We could even push it back further toward the wall if we needed more floor space for whatever.

Here's another good shot of the mirror...


It has sort of an antiqued finish so that's why the actual mirror looks cloudy in some places. It's super pretty in person.

As far as adding any accessories to the table top, I think I'm going to keep it really simple.  I posted a photo on Instagram a few days back of some pretty hurricane style candleholders I found at Target. I actually purchased a large size as well. I think before the day is over he'll be living atop the new table. Totally just got that idea as I'm writing this post...haha.
Here it is...

Here's that Instagram photo of the smaller ones in our dining room...

Totally just got an idea for next week's post. ;)



I think it worked out pretty perfectly in that little stairway heading down to there.  Still can't believe what a great deal I got on it! I actually found the fixture on the website and was mistaken about the original price... It was actually $198 originally and I got it for $60. Always fun finding an amazing deal on something you'd been wanting and didn't expect to go on sale!

So that's it for the basement...for now. Like I've said before, we've got SO many plans for it! Including a completely empty room that is twice the size of the area I just showed you that we can't wait to get our hands on...  I'll keep you guys updated!

Happy New Year Everyone!! I'm so happy that you all have stuck around and shared another great year here!
A new year always brings about new changes--  Fresh feelings, resolutions, and most noticeably... a suddenly very open (and empty) house.
Does that happen to you all?? You take down all of your Christmas decor and feel like you've suddenly been left in a new, open house with tons more space.

Well that change brought about this change in the family room...

Early in December, I found these gorgeous tufted chairs at a local furniture store. I had seen similar ones all over the place online, but I knew there was no way I was going to buy chairs online without sitting in them first. So I was so surprised when I found these there and that they were exactly what I was looking for for this space! You may remember what we had in here before...


These chairs were totally fine, but way to small for the area. They remind me more of dining chairs anyway, and not of a soft, family room-ish chair that screams, "Hey you... You come here to me.  No, no. You come here to me."

5 points if you know where that's from. ;)

But seriously, no one ever wanted to sit on them. I wanted something a bit more comfortable and substantial for the space since that side of the room always felt super unbalanced. These are SUPER comfy.


I love how well they work with the tufted coffee table/ottoman as well.

That shot gives you a better idea of how much better they sort of balanced the area.

Well, that, and my new pretty antique "library table".


This table belonged to my great-grandfather. He was a preacher, and used it as a desk where he would sit and write his sermons. There are still pencil marks underneath it where he would "sharpen" his pencils. Really special.
My Grandma used it in her house for years, then when she moved in with my parents, my mother used it in their basement. She recently gave it to me a few months back and I've been searching for the perfect space for it.

I wasn't originally planning on using it here actually. This came about in literally about 5 minutes.
We took down our tree and moved the chairs over to this space. Then, I put the little white tray table I used originally between them. You may remember (in this post) I had moved it up to the guest bedroom while the tree was up. Well, it was WAY too small. It worked fine with the smaller chairs, but it looked too tiny between these. Plus, it was just too many lighter shades. Using this table crossed my mind, but I was convinced it would be much too large. Turns out, it worked perfectly!

...and I still was able to use my little tray table! Well, a part of it at least. The prettiest part.


The little tray top detached from the bottom so I centered it on the table. I think it works perfectly!


As far as styling everything else, I kept what was actually in the tray exactly the same, and added some lamps from target I've had forever. They were packed up, all sad and unused. I couldn't bear to part with them at our last garage sale. Glad I didn't!
They actually match the lamps on the other side of the room pretty well! These are a bit smaller and not actually glass. The larger ones on the sides of the couch are a bit nicer, but I like the size of these for this space.

Here's a closer shot of the chairs...


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Hello and Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you guys had a wonderful holiday filled with lots of time spent with family and friends. We really did this year!
So to celebrate this year, we had family over for Christmas dinner at our house on Christmas Eve. We usually go out for a nice dinner on Christmas Eve, then do Christmas dinner mid-day on Christmas day. This year, I really liked the new tradition. To me, Christmas Eve is so special and having a late night dinner followed by lots of time together, presents, and sweets made for a pretty perfect night.

So I didn't get a ton of photos around the actual house since I already shared all of our Christmas decor in my recent Christmas decor video and blog (you can check that out here if you missed it), so I focused mainly on the food.



It's called "Pinecone Dip".  I first had it at my bridal luncheon given to me by my mother in law. So this recipe is all thanks to her.


On the other side of the kitchen, I set up sort of a drink area and a little dessert area.

My mom put together this really easy and yummy punch she's been making since I was little. It's so simple. Just lime sherbet and ginger ale. Delish spiked too. ;)


The little wooden risers are from Pottery Barn a few years back. I found some similar options below.
My "Christmas dishes" with the pretty silver snowflakes are from Target. I got mine a few years back, but they still have the serving dishes.
I think when you have this many dishes grouped together, adding some height is important. Saves you some space, plus it just looks pretty!

We had dinner in the dining room, which looked pretty similar to the home decor tour. I just set out some red cloth placemats, a red holiday candle, and called it done. :)

I was SO surprised to receive these beautiful flowers the day before. They are from my sweet friends, Andrea and her mother, Michele. So thoughtful! They looked perfect in the kitchen. We're still enjoying them.


So that's it! I hope you all had a great holiday! I do have an upcoming "What I Got For Christmas" video in the works! It should go up Friday night, maybe Saturday. Since you guys really enjoyed last year's version, I thought I'd continue the tradition. Or should I say, start a new tradition?

Merry Christmas, Loves! I'm so thankful for you all... For all the support and how wonderful YOU guys make the blog and my videos. This has been such a happy and wonderful place to be and thing I've been able to do the past almost 6 years. It is SO much fun to do and to be able to share my life with you guys. Seriously, thank you. :)
Love you guys.



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Yup. The outlet had ONE. My mom actually spotted it and said, "That would be cool in the basement."  I don't think she believed me that it was the exact one I had been wanting... So I scooped that baby up at $60.


These are custom pillows that you can order from their website in the colors and fabric of your choosing. These were the only ones they had, in any color. Someone probably returned these, or either the store made the wrong color. Who knows. But get this, they were $8. Yeah. Depending on the color and fabric, these run from $34-$59.  So I'm super excited about them. Not sure where they're going to live yet. I think they'll look nice on our white couch, or even on a pair of accent chairs. They even look cute on the head chairs in the dining room.
So those were all of my great outlet finds. I actually ordered something really awesome from their website last week for the basement. Something I've been looking for for a particular space down there for a while.  There's actually been some progress down there recently! Can't wait to share that soon when it comes!

At the mall, my mom treated me to this precious "hot cocoa" pot from Williams-Sonoma.



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