A collection of affordable Christmas gift ideas perfect for the home lover in your life! Plus, see how to gift each item in a fun, unique way! I'm still working on decorating our home for Christmas. I squeeze in as much as I can in between nap times, which some days is trickier than others since little sweet pea doesn't want to nap and really only wants to play and hang out with momma. I'm not complaining though. She's good company and she likes to keep the conversation going with her excited shrieks and constant jabbering. She sure is fun! If you're like me though, you're starting your Christmas shopping and looking for gift ideas. I've had fun putting together a collection of gift ...
Red, White & Gold Christmas Decorating Plan
Looking for Christmas decorating inspiration? See our red, white & gold Christmas decorating plan and how I'll be incorporating it throughout our home. Believe it or not, this year I'm adding red into our Christmas decor! As a lover of neutral colors, I haven't had red in my decor in several years, but I woke up the other day and decided the house needed something fresh and new... and vibrant. Bring on the red! To go with it, I'll be adding in plenty of white and gold too, and I'm loving the color combo already! I think I'm most excited to decorate our flocked tree. And even though Ania won't remember her first Christmas at just five months old, there's something magical ...
Art In The Entryway
Looking for a quick, budget friendly way to add art to your home? Digital prints are a great way to personalize your home while staying within budget! Our entryway is still going through a transition period. There's so many things I want to do, but until we can get it done, I've been focusing on easier ways to give the space the fresh look it's been needing. Adding new art in the entryway has done just that. It's been a fun, budget friendly way to really update the space, all while being cost effective. Affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here. Adding Art To The Entryway Digital prints have long since been one of my ...
TGI-Friday: Three Months With Our Girl
It's been a while since I've shared a TGI-Friday, but they're still one of my favorite posts to write. They always give a more personal look into our lives and I enjoy sharing fun things I've ran across and what we've been busy working on. And boy have we been busy! I blinked, and our sweet girl is already three months old! How is that even possible? It's true what everyone says... the time is fleeting! We've been soaking up every second with her, but my heart still hurts knowing time continues to go way too fast. As far as babies go, we couldn't have asked for a happier girl. Ania loves to smile and her happiness shines. She loves to talk and coo and she makes new sounds ...
Vertical Planking & Open Shelves In The Kitchen
See how we installed vertical planking & open shelves in the kitchen to make it feel bigger and brighter! Our kitchen has come a long, long way. After we had our backsplash installed, it was time to add vertical planking and open shelves in the kitchen. From the very beginning when we were designing the kitchen, I knew I wanted open shelves to make the kitchen feel larger. We don't have a big kitchen, but the new addition of the open shelves makes the kitchen appear bigger and less crowded. Before we could have the shelves installed, the first step was adding the vertical planking. Todd and I decided to tackle the project a few weeks before I was due to have our baby ...
Our Fall Front Porch
Our front porch might be small, but it sure does look good dressed up for fall! See how to recreate the look below! It's time to share our fall front porch! We've been working so hard on our yard these past two years. Last year, we focused all of our energy on the front yard, and this year we spent our time on the back yard. And let me just tell you, it's miraculous having grass and a yard. It's basically night and day difference and it's literally given us a breathe of fresh air. This year, we had a large garden area which allowed us to grow our own pumpkins. There's nothing I love more than a porch filled with beautiful pumpkins... problem is, I don't want to pay for them since they ...
Laminate Countertops & Backsplash
The secret is out: Our kitchen has laminate countertops & backsplash! See how we made it look like real marble! It's been a hot minute since I've shared anything about our kitchen, but so much has changed lately! It's time I shared an update on one of the biggest additions yet, our laminate countertops and backsplash! When we designed the kitchen, we knew we'd need to splurge and save in different areas with the countertop and backsplash being one of them. But just because we needed to save in that area, didn't mean they needed to look cheap! Quite the opposite really! Laminate has come a long, long way from what it used to look like. These days, you can get patterns that look ...
Our Fall Home Tour
Welcome to our fall home tour! It's hard to believe we've owned our home two years now, but we've accomplished so much! This house isn't even close to the same place we bought a few years ago and it's so fun to see the transformation and how far we've come... even if we aren't finished yet! That's just one of the many reasons I love sharing seasonal tours of our home. It's so much fun to look back and see how things change, and this fall it's especially special with the new addition of our sweet baby girl. While my decorating may be more simplified this year (most of my time is spent cuddling our sweet girl), I've loved adding those warm, cozy touches throughout the house. It just ...
Introducing Our Sweet Girl
I've been so excited to share the happy, wonderful, truly joyful news that our sweet baby girl has arrived! I've waited so long to become a mother, and now that our sweet girl is here, Todd and I are both overwhelmed with so much love for this precious gift from God. Ania Nichelle was born July 13th at 2:43 am. A perfect 8 lbs, 14.9 ounces and 21 inches long. We didn't have the easiest birth, for her or I, but the important thing is we're both healthy and doing wonderful after some much needed rest. She's a true momma's girl, loving to cuddle and sleep on my chest and we've been enjoying our time together, spending most of our days snuggling and staring at each other. She's ...
Gluten Free Banana Nut Bread
This Gluten Free Banana Nut Bread is a long time family favorite. Make it gluten free by using gluten free flour, or use regular flour. This recipe works wonderfully either way! Several years ago, before I was gluten free, I shared one of my favorite recipes... Banana Nut Bread. It's always been one of my very favorites, for multiple reasons, but it wasn't until a few months ago that I tried using the same family favorite recipe, just with gluten free flour. I'll be honest, I didn't have very high hopes that it would turn out. It seems often that even though gluten free flour says it can be used cup for cup, there's something that doesn't quite translate the same. Be it a taste ...
Easy DIY Raised Garden Beds
Looking to create your own garden? These easy DIY raised garden beds are the perfect solution and can be customized to fit your space! One of our big goals this summer, is to get our backyard in shape. It's a scary mess of dirt and weeds and we're both so over it, we could cry. That's what we signed up for though when we bought our fixer upper. This is the year though... we're both determined to get this large yard in shape! Our first big project this year for the backyard, was to build some easy DIY raised garden beds. Last year our garden was in a small area of the yard, but since the property had been severely neglected for several years, I spent so much time hoeing and pulling ...
Our New Back Patio
Late last summer we had our back concrete patio replaced. It was such an exciting and house transforming project! We did all the demo ourselves and even though it was hard work, it was so fun to see that beat up, cracked and crumbling patio removed and replaced with a much better and larger concrete patio! Before we had the patio replaced, I shared our inspiration and plans for the new patio, and then some of our progress with demo, but I realized I never shared the new, finished patio! Let's take a walk down memory lane and look back at where we started... Our Old Back Patio Not only was the patio small for the house, but it was pieced together, crumbling apart ...
Summer Home Tour
It's a been a heavy few months and weeks, hasn't it? Not only with everything going on in the world, but also on the home front. A few weeks ago, my grandpa passed away. Sadness has been heavy in my heart and I haven't had the desire to share anything new here on the blog. I'm sorry for being quiet, but stepping away for a little bit was much needed. Today though, I'm looking forward to sharing our summer home tour. A big thank you to Marty from A Stroll Thru Life for inviting me to join in and share our home. If you're visiting from Heather at Southern State of Mind, welcome! She has a beautiful home with a stunning outdoor area! Lately, we've really been trying to get as much done as ...
Gluten Free Oreo Scones
Love Oreo cookies? Then you'll love these tender gluten free Oreo scones. Use gluten free cookies to keep them gluten free and delicious! Around here, we love those tasty Oreo cookies! Thank goodness they make a gluten free version, because they're the star of the show in these tasty Gluten Free Oreo Scones! I can't tell you how yummy these are! I always have so much fun coming up with new flavor combinations to use in my favorite scone mix. These scones were inspired by a favorite little cookie of ours. Lately, Todd has loved munching on Oreo's for an easy dessert after dinner, so when I was thinking about what flavor combination to create for Scone of the Month, I used them ...
Wall Moulding In The Nursery
Today I'm sharing how we installed wall moulding in the nursery. It's added the perfect amount of character to the bare walls, really bringing this room to the next level. We've been hard at work getting ready for baby girl! It's been a real team effort, but her room is looking so good and things are coming together beautifully! Today, I wanted to share the wall moulding we just installed in the nursery. It's made such a huge difference and it's added the perfect amount of character to her room. If I'm honest, I've been a little bit indecisive when it came to what exactly I wanted to do in her room. The one thing I knew for sure, was that we would be installing wall ...
Customizing Our Ikea Pax Dining Room Cabinet
Today I'm sharing how we customized our Ikea Pax dining room cabinet. It's the perfect way to add character to Ikea cabinets while staying on budget. Our kitchen is small. We don't have a ton of storage, and that's something our entire house lacks as well. Getting creative and adding places to store our items has been on my project list since we moved in. In order to help add storage space to our kitchen, we added an Ikea Pax cabinet to our dining room. It instantly solved the problem of adding more storage space to our kitchen, but it also stuck out like a sore thumb, not really blending into our kitchen. With our kitchen and dining room essentially one space, I really wanted the ...
New Dining Room Table
We recently added a new dining room table to our dining room! Suddenly, things are feeling much better! Our dining room... sigh. It's a hard space to figure out. With it being small in size, and right in the middle of two major walkways, figuring out the right furniture placement has been tricky. Since we've been moving furniture around to make room for the baby and her nursery, we recently moved the office furniture to our basement where we'll be reworking everything to make things fit. The table I was using for a desk however, wasn't going to fit. I wasn't sure if it would work in the dining room, but it was a chance I was willing to take in order for us to have a more ...
New Garage Doors
Our New Garage Doors are installed and our exterior is looking better than ever! If you remember back when I shared our 2020 project goal list, adding new garage doors was at the top of our list. We worked on the exterior of our home so much last summer, and we made really great progress with new paint, windows, the addition of our front pergola, and all the landscaping we completed. The last really big item to finish things off, was having new garage doors installed. I've mentioned it time and time again, but the previous owners of this home really beat things up. They didn't take very good care of the house or property and the garage doors were just as much evidence of that as ...
TGI-Friday
Happy TGI-Friday! It's been a little while since I've shared a TGI-Friday post, but I always look forward to putting them together. They're a bit random, but they're full of so many good things, including my favorite new finds and behind the scenes things we've been working on, or upcoming projects we'll be starting. Lately, we've been focusing on all things baby. I've been putting my registry together and finalizing our design plan for her room, as well as the budget for all the pieces we'll need to be collecting to make her room come together. Like with most rooms, it's going to be a mix of high and low priced items. We'll splurge on some things and save on others, ...
DIY Towel Hook Rack
This DIY Towel Hook Rack is the perfect addition to our master bathroom and a great way to store towels! We've been busy working in our master bathroom and I was hoping to be able to share the full reveal with you at the end of the month, but since I haven't had the easiest time shopping for all those pretty finishing touches, things have been pushed back for a while. One thing we were able to create, was our DIY Towel Hook Rack. This was such a fun project to put together and I love the finished product. Believe it or not, but the wood is actually a left over stair tread from when we did our DIY staircase makeover. I loved the stair treads so much, that I wasn't willing to ...
Nursery Design Plan
With our sweet baby girl due the beginning of July, I've been working hard to pull together her nursery design plan and our baby registry. It's becoming really real that she'll be here soon, which is both incredibly exciting and making me a little bit nervous at the same time. We still have so much to do and prepare before she makes her arrival! Last weekend we removed everything from our office, which has been relocated to the basement, in preparation to start working on her room. I've thought long and hard about what I want her room to feel and look like. I often find myself sitting in her room, taking it all in and letting my imagination take over. This is the room we'll be ...
