Sugar and Spice

IT'S A GIRL!

IT'S A GIRL!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Marshalls, How I Love Thee

The Marshalls gods were smiling down on me today.

I've been following The Lettered Cottage for about a year now. If you've ever read their blog, you know what I mean when I say I am in love with their kitchen. Layla and Kevin have the perfect DIY style and make everything they do look effortless. One of my favorite parts of their kitchen is the display of herb crates seen here:

I've scoured the internet (apparently along with many TLC fans) in search of these crates. Layla explains that they found them during a trip to Marshalls a few years ago. A few websites do carry them, but I was hesitant to pay almost $40 (+SH) for the set of four. Plus, a number of places I found that carried them were consistently out of stock.

Imagine my surprise (and pure joy) when I stepped foot into Marshalls today and saw these:

I literally jumped for joy, scooped them up and ran to the front of the store for a cart, crates in hand for fear that someone would snag them in the 60 or so seconds it took me to reach the door. There was only one full set available. There was a half set of just the two largest crates so I picked the best of the two sets and went on my way. I was so excited I texted hubby, whom I've showed pictures of this kitchen to a dozen times, but I'm sure he doesn't remember. He told me to settle down and buy them. :)

The reason I said that the Marshalls gods were smiling upon me is that I found these crates in a Marshalls that I rarely visit - maybe once a year. I was further up in town than I usually go because I needed to pick my up wedding rings that were being repaired at the jewelers. There is a Marshalls up that way that I rarely visit it because 1. there is a great Marshalls about a mile from our house and 2. this Homegoods side of this Marshalls is half the size of "my" store, plus everything usually seems pretty picked over. 

These crates only cost be about $26 for all four. Like I mentioned before, the website I found was charging almost $40 (+SH). To make up for what I saved (rather than just taking the $26 price tag and running, haha) I also purchased these two candle holders, 

bringing my total to $37.94. Still less than the crates were going for online! The candles were already in the house. Aren't these holders great? And just $12 for both. Undecided were they will reside.

I'm planning to put the crates along this piece of wall that sticks out in the living room where the two framed photos currently hang. This part of the living room opens up into our kitchen. Remember, the chair has since been moved to the master bedroom. (Speaking of, I am making some progress on my wall of frustration. I will share some pictures soon.)

The herb crates will hang vertical like they do in the TLC kitchen. Not sure yet what I will put inside them, but I have some time to play around. I still need to purchase some sturdy hooks to mount them on the wall so I anticipate that these won't be going up anytime soon as I still have a number of unfinished projects (like hanging the photos in the hallway, finishing master bedroom, painting nursery, etc etc etc..). Once we have the hardwood instead of carpet I think it will look even better.

I am still so excited that I found them. Sometimes patience truly pays off. :)

If you have a few minutes (or in my case a few hours!) stop by The Lettered Cottage and check out Layla and Kevin's beautiful home. 

Quick Fix

What do you get when you take some hot glue and rope..

and toss in a few thrift store finds?

Check it out!

I didn't have a before picture of the lamp. But I purchased two at Goodwill for $5.00 each. Lampshade and pewter base. The lampshade was an ugly yellow-cream color so that had to go. I did the lamp first and once I realized how easy it was, I started searching for other items to re-vamp. 

Happy Friday!

Master Bedroom: A Closer Look

(For a refresher on the many faces of our master bedroom, check out this post.)

New duvet set and throw from IKEA.

 Wedding memorabilia: our invitation, my wedding dress hanger, photo of us at Gibraltar Gardens. 

My nightstand.

Numbered glasses from Marshalls. 

The picture is of Jordan on the Bermuda beaches - one of my favorite honeymoon photos. 

Hubby's nightstand. The picture on the right is Jordan with his grandfather. The one on the left is a childhood picture of my that Jordan snagged from me when we first started dating. 

My garter belt from the wedding. 

Accent pillow leftover from previous bedding set. Chair relocated from living room. 

(Don't mind the furniture sliders that are still under the dresser - oops!)

Love my Mongstad mirror from IKEA. A housewarming gift from the hubs.

Our deep window sills which I love, but have yet to find a great way to decorate. As you can see, blinds are not easy to find that fit in this window. I think my best bet are bamboo roman blinds that can be mounted on the ceiling of the window sill. 

This wall slightly frustrates me because I'm not sure what to do with it. I did take the shelves down yesterday since they are too high now that the bed has moved. I'm trying to think of something appealing that takes up a decent amount of the large wall.

It looks like there's enough room to put a small vase or something to the left of the sofa table so it doesn't look lost in the wall space. I really like this Pjas vase from IKEA. It's 35" high but pretty slim front to back. 

I also have a faux weathered wood frame that I bought at Marshalls months ago with no plan for it. I'm thinking of putting the mirror above the table, slightly to the right and using the rest of the wall either for framed photos or hang nails to display my jewelry. Something like Lauren from Pure Style Home did in her bedroom redo.

picture borrowed from Pure Style Home

I'd also love to get a large jewelry box like this one from Pottery Barn to put on top of the sofa table. Or I have some miscellaneous bowls that I could temporarily use to hold bracelets and chunky rings and other costume jewelry pieces. Past my engagement ring and wedding band I really don't put money into good jewelry. I'd rather spend $10 for a piece from F21 or H&M that I can wear any day with anything rather than an expensive bracelet or necklace that I'm afraid to wear for fear that I will lose or break it. 

In addition to jazzing up the wall, I just need to add some art pieces to the room. Specifically the space above the accent chair, and the corner by the bathroom.

Oh and did you notice this door next to the dresser?

It goes to our walk-in closet! One of my favorite rooms in the house. Seriously. But it didn't always look this way. I'll post later how the closet transformed from a dark dungeon to this:

It may be some time before I'm satisfied with this room, specifically our blank wall. But as always I will keep you posted with any and all progress or ideas that come across. Of course, suggestions are welcomed!

PS. Someone thinks this is HER bed..

Master Bathroom - Finally!

Three posts in one day? What can I say, I'm on a roll and have no real interest in watching the Superbowl. I could have put everything into one long post, but even I don't want to scroll through all of that. 

Ok, it's a few months late, but I am finally posting some pictures of our master bathroom. Did you see that little doorway in the last post of our master bedroom? 

Ok come a little closer..

There it is! Our master bathroom is finally looking normal. Now before we step inside let's take a quick refresher. (More details in this post.)

Master bathroom before moving in:

.

Master bathroom after first coat of paint. Supposed to be blue, turned out periwinkle. 

Second paint job was a truer, darker blue and lasted probably about two years. No pictures available of that step. Back in November I made the decision that I wanted to go more neutral and softer in my paint choices around the house and opted to get rid of the blue bathroom. What color did I paint it? White. Yup. Plain old boring white. And you know what? I love it. 

There you have it.  A few months late, but a peek into our master bathroom.