If I were

Before we get started, I want to wish my mom a Happy Birthday!!

I am borrowing this from Tanika who got it from Amberly. I thought this would be a fun little way for you to get to know me better (especially since there are a lot of new faces around here)

I also asked Gabby to participate so you can see how we are alike/different.

Samantha's answers:
If I were a month, I'd be June
If I were a day of the week, I'd be Saturday.
If I were a time of day, I'd be sunset.
If I were a direction, I'd be South.
If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be a dining table (place to gather and fellowship).
If I were a liquid, I'd be Coca-Cola.
If I were a flower, I'd be a peony.
If I were a kind of weather, I'd be a warm, breezy summer day.
If I were a musical instrument, I'd be an acoustic guitar.
If I were a color, I'd be TEAL (if you didn't know that one by now....)
If I were an emotion, I'd be laughter.
If I were food, I'd be macaroni and cheese.
If I were a place, I'd be an island in Hawaii :)
If I were a scent, I'd be cookies baking in the oven.
If I were a song, I'd be Oceans by Hillsong (country song- American Honey).
If I were an item of clothing, I'd be a cardigan (or a pencil skirt).

Gabby's answers:
If I were a month, I'd be ...October! The weather is beautiful, the scenery is beautiful and I love pumpkin!
If I were a day of the week, I'd be...Saturday. So many possibilities!
If I were a time of day, I'd be...sunrise. It's the start of a brand new day!
If I were a direction, I'd be...north. All I can think of is the north star.
If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be ...a comfy couch. There's something cozy and comforting about a comfy couch.
If I were a liquid, I'd be...water. can't live without it!
If I were a flower, I'd be...tulip. simplistic and beautiful.
If I were a kind of weather, I'd be a...thunderstorm. love the sound and smell of thunderstorms.
If I were a musical instrument, I'd be ...cello. love string instruments and love the rich tones.
If I were a color, I'd be ...teal. it's the best color ever!
If I were an emotion, I'd be...joy. enough said!
If I were food, I'd be...lasagna. comfort food!
If I were a place, I'd be...the mountains. Just love everything about them.
If I were a scent, I'd be...honeysuckle. Reminds me of my childhood every time I smell it.
If I were a song, I'd be ...How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin. Every time I hear it it always lifts my spirit and makes everything right in the world.
If I were an item of clothing, I'd be...don't know if this counts, but a scarf. Great for accessorizing and keeps me warm! Double whammy!

What about you??

Housewarming Ideas

Okay...I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself because we haven't bought a house yet but I was perusing Pinterest and stumbled upon some adorable housewarming ideas that I couldn't resist sharing. (wow that was a long sentence...whew..)

Moving Announcements/Invitations

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Party Ideas

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Guest Baskets

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Making Memories

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Have you ever hosted a housewarming party? I'd love to hear about it :)

If you've been following along, you'll remember that I shared a challenge Tim and I decided to take on in 2014. We are donating to a different charity each month and Charity: Water was our January selection. 
I first learned about Charity Water my senior year of college. We were to select an organization (from a list) to design an office space for. After watching one of Charity water's promotional videos, I knew this was the one! If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will. They are doing great things and I am happy to help in any way that I can.

You can keep up with them here:
website/blog/facebook/ twitter

Countertops: Get Over Granite

Part of my job as a designer is to help our clients make selections and if we are doing kitchens and baths then that means tile, countertops, cabinets, etc. You get the point. We are constantly striving to give the client the best product for their budget.

It seems as though everyone has an expectation that their kitchen should have granite and stainless steel appliances these days (probably because of HGTV). Well I hate to break it to you but that stuff costs lots of money. Most people want it but don't realize how much it could set them back. So now I'm gonna take the blindfold off and open your eyes to some other great options for countertops. That is not to say that granite isn't amazing but there might be a better choice for your budget or situation.

Marble (requires a lot of maintenance and can be very expensive)

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Butcher Block (beautiful, unique look, moderate maintenance)

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Laminate (affordable and fairly low maintenance)

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Concrete (requires a lot of maintenance but very customizable)

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Solid Surface (Consistent look, practical and easy to clean)

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Stainless Steel (Antibacterial and stain resistant, expect patina)

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Do you have any of these surfaces in your home???

The Pink Fox Designs

I love sharing ways to spruce up your home and make it "you". I gave you the Ultimate Guide to DIY art, how to paint chevron curtains, why you should use chalk paint, and how to focus on the Details and add character to your home.

When it comes to finding art for your home my two favorite options are doing it yourself or buying from a local/small business (like ones from Etsy). You may have noticed Kirsten Ann's logo at the bottom of each post? Her Etsy shop >The Pink Fox Designs< is incredible and I am so excited that I get to show it off.

Here's a little blurb from Kirsten: "At Pink Fox Designs I sell my digital printed posters, original photography prints, wedding invitations, logos and business/blog branding, and printable paper goods and stationary. I also have been expanding to designing mugs and other decor. My style is best described as light, feminine, simple and clean. I'm a web and graphic designer with a love for photography who enjoys making everything around me beautiful."

Here are some of my favorite prints from her shop:

Order Here

Order Here

Order Here

Gabby's 1st Contributing Post

(So I wanted to make a little button with a picture of Gabby to put at the start of her posts but...my macbook died and therefore I do not have photoshop for now. More on that later)

Hey blog readers! I’m so excited Samantha asked me to be a part of her blog and can’t wait to start sharing some of my projects with you all. Some of you might already know a little bit about me (like Samantha and I are sisters in law) since she has mentioned my name a few times, and for everyone else new to the blog, I’m excited to meet you!

Samantha and I both love DIY projects (and even attempted one together—see the post about the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Entry Table), so I’m going to share some of my adventures in DIYing…the good, the bad and maybe even some of the ugly.
One of my favorite crafty past times is making quilts. I know Samantha will agree with me since I made this chevron quilt for her birthday last year!

I started quilting many, many years ago with my mom, and within the last couple years picked it back up after a summer trip to Cape Cod. There was a really cool quilting shop there called Tumbleweed Quilt Shop and I saw some AWESOME quilts there. I am in no way as gifted in quilting as these ladies are, but I try!
      
Source: http://www.tumbleweedquilts.com/photo_album.html

Since all of my siblings, friends and coworkers have all of a sudden started having children (eek!), I started making a lot of baby quilts as baby shower gifts. I’ve always tried to think of personal and unique gifts, so this was one way I could give them something no one else would!

The hardest part for me is always picking a design that I like and finding material that I think fits the design. I’ve spent hours at fabric stores (just ask my husband! he’s called me before asking if I’m ok haha) mixing and matching colors and patterns. Apparently I’m a perfectionist…who knew?

My latest project is for a friend who is due in March. She’s having a girl and decided to stay away from the pink theme. A few months ago she told me about her nursery color scheme (funny enough, it was at another friend’s baby shower…) and I decided to stick to those colors and make a quilt for one of her baby shower gifts!

So the last time I went to JoAnn fabrics I just so happen to find all the material I needed within a half hour! Seriously, that’s an all-time record for me! My friend wanted a mix of orange, grey, teal and lime green colors and decided on polka dot and chevron patterns. I threw in the navy because I love the color combo and then later added the owl pattern (from spoonflower.com… check them out, they have some really great fabrics) because it broke up the other patterns more. Plus, who doesn’t love owls? I found some really cool chevron material for that back that had some of her colors and I thought would be really fun with the front.
     



I had already decided on the pattern before I picked out the material, so I knew how much to get and the general layout I wanted. Then the fun began…cutting and sewing all the pieces together. It started to come together pretty quickly and I loved how the colors are so vibrant next to each other!
    
I pinned and sewed and pinned and sewed…until I finally finished the top! It ended up being 25”x25”. There’s no real “right” dimensions, I could have kept going with the squares and made a bigger quilt…but I stopped since it’s a baby quilt!


Then I got to the fun part…sewing the inside batting and backing on with the binding. There’s about 100 different ways you can do the binding, I kept it simple for this one and just folded the edges over several times to the front and sewed it down.


And here’s the finished product!

         
        
Right: without quilting. Left: with front quilting.

I absolutely love all the colors and how much fun it is. I think she’ll like the non-pink themed quilt!
I found a really cute box at Target that was the perfect size and made a “Care Instructions” card so she’ll know how to wash and dry the quilt. I can’t wait until her shower!!

Thanks for reading!! I’m so excited to keep sharing all my crafting adventures with you all. I already have my next project. Hint: It involves burlap! See you in February!

My design inspiration pt 3

**Be sure to link-up to Design in your Home with Jackie and I and you could be featured**

Hey lovelies! I hope you've been enjoying this little series about who inspires me. So far I have told you about Nate Berkus and Candice Olson and shown you some of their amazing work. Today, my blog/interior design friend Lauren from Enjoying the Journey is going to tell you about who inspires her.

When Samantha asked me if I wanted to join her on this series I knew I could not pass up the opportunity to share who inspires me.  As I started going down my mental list of designers that inspire me I started getting overwhelmed.  How in the world was I to choose only one?  Well, I didn't.  I actually choose two, a couple if you will.  But before I tell you who this couple is, I feel that I must first share with you a few of my runner ups.

-Dorothy Draper
Talk about legend.  She paved the way for what us women know as interior design and I cannot imagine this industry without he style and poise.

-Barbara Barry
And I quote "Underneath all I design lies the solid belief that beauty is a positive force."  Need I say more.

-Genevieve Gorder
In my book, she can do no wrong.  If you are like me you have been following Gen for years on her many television ventures and her genuine, real style makes me love her that much more.  Read this amazing article and you too

So now, for the main event!  My Number one choice for which designer(s) inspires me is:
Charles and Ray Eames

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What I like about the Eameses:
-Power couple.  They knew how to live together and design together.  Just look at how he proposed to Ray with this letter!
-Trend setters.  Charles and Ray set trends and pushed boundaries that had never been touched before.
-Passion.  When designing they asked the hard questions.  Does it interest and intrigue us?  Can we make it better?  Will we have "serious fun" doing it?

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The list of buildings designed by the Eameses may be short, but the impact that they had on architecture, furniture and interiors is lasting.  Mid- century modern is my absolute favorite style of architecture and they not only did it well, but they were great at it. 

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"The details are not the details.  They make the design."

-Charles Eames

Have you heard of these designers? Who inspires you??

How to: Give your home character

**Be sure to link-up to Design in your Home with Jackie and I and you could be featured**

I shared that we are house hunting so you will probably be seeing a lot of home related posts (not that you weren't already).


Do you have a cookie cutter house?? You know like this one? Haha...I mean one that looks exactly like its neighbors? Do you need some help making it you?


Here are some ways to make your cookie house stand out. (note: Some of these are very expensive ways to accomplish this and I am not saying these have to be done to have a beautiful home).

Architectural Elements

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-add feet to your kitchen cabinets or bathroom vanities
-add crown molding, chair rail, or beadboard

Flooring

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- paint them! (some people will probably cringe at this one)
-rip up that carpet (okay I am not opposed to carpet but I think hardwood/tile/laminate with an area rug is way better for living spaces)


Lighting

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-choose cohesive lighting to carry throughout your house but don't be afraid to pick out a unique dining chandelier or a fun foyer pendant
-and if you can't afford new fixtures, try painting or altering your current ones

Ceilings (this is a great way to set yourself apart)

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-add wood planks or even wallpaper
-make a faux coffered ceiling


"Built-ins" (this one doubles as extra storage space)

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-you can fake it till you make it or shell out lots of money on this one.
-frame spaces (ex. put bookcases on either side of a fireplace)