Hello Lover...

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Hello Week

I enjoyed a lovely 4 day weekend for Easter and today is back to reality for me. Here's a little motivation for any one else out there trying to get back into the swing of things.

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, April 2, 2012

I love our little condo in the city and I love our life here. We live in a great neighborhood, we have (for the most part) great neighbors, there are delicious restaurants within walking distance, a fantastic farmers market in the summer months and the shopping is abundant. But sometimes (especially after busy weekends like this past one) I find myself dreaming of what our lives would be like if we lived some place a little quieter in our own space on our own land. Here is what the dream consists of:

A cozy home with a green front yard

Southern Living

Martha Stewart

A welcoming front porch to relax on

via

A back yard with grass and trees and a little hammock couldn't hurt

via

Greenery everywhere!

via

And on my wishlist is one of these dog doors.

via

No more walking our dogs in the cold, snow, and rain.

What type of dream home or space are you currently dreaming of?

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wedding Wednesday: Lindsay & Mike

Today is a very special Wedding Wednesday for me because I get tell you all that my little sister is engaged! Here is a photo of the lovely couple!

Congratulations Mike & Lindsay! Here's to lots of happy wedding planning!

Friday, March 23, 2012

H&M Home

I am going to need H&M to get their home line to the U.S. asap!

H & M Home

Who doesn't need one of these bright chevron towels?! I think it would be an amazing beach towel. Rumor has it this home line may be making its way to the states as soon as this spring. Click here to check out their more from their home decor line.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Hello Guest Bath Reno

So I talked a little bit about our guest bathroom reno here, here, and here (and yes, that first link really was over a year ago - that's just how our house renovations roll). It's time I start showing you what is actually taking place in that room instead of just showing you lovely inspiration images from other people's finished baths. So today I'll share with you our tile floor. I was really torn on what to do on the floors, I knew carrara, because I just can't have enough of i,t but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the hexagons or just a large scale subway pattern or go for something a little different. Well, I went for a chevron pattern. The hex's I love but they were just going to cost too much so I opted for the chevron pattern simply using 3x6 carrara tile.

So to remind you, here is what we started with:

And no, that is not blue paint, that I could have done something with, in reality it was really awful faux blue marble wallpaper, faux stone tile and a really ugly light fixture.

When we ripped up the tile we were amazed to find that the original white hexagon tiles were still underneath. (Circa 1930's?). I so would have loved to have been able to salvage that but the mortar from the most recent tile job along with some drilling into the floor was not going to allow that but here is a shot of it anyway.

Here is an in progress photo of the carrara subway tile being installed herringbone style

Here is a fake finished bathroom photo.

There is a story behind this one. While we were working on this bathroom we also decided to refinance because the mortgage rates were so ridiculously low. Well, we could not do that with an unfinished bathroom. So we ran to Home Depot picked up a vanity, put it in along with our clawfoot tub, the faucet and lighting and painted it a simple grey I could live with for a little while. The appraiser came over, our refi was completed and then we returned the vanity back to home depot and apparently forgot the room still existed.

Here is the bathroom today - finished floor, installed toilet and that is about it.

Still to do:

Put in wainscotting & baseboards

Order and install wallpaper

Install vanity/countertop & marble step

Hook up bath tub

The list looks short, but apparently it's so daunting that we have been frozen for 6 mos. Hopefully posting these photos will get us motivated again.

Monday, March 19, 2012

80 in March

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. It was 80 degrees here in Chicago! There were people outside everywhere you looked and they were all talking about the amazing weather.

These temps have me completely switched over to spring in my mind (although, I know Chicago and I'm sure we will have more cold days and possibly even snow before the seasons really change). Spring for me is full of pretty blooms, here are some of my favorites I like to have in my home during this season.