How to give your space a spring sprucing!

You all know I’m a home decor-aholic. My husband cringes with every new season, knowing I’ll be walking through the door with new pillows, lamps, rugs, etc to reflect the changes outdoors. In the winter you can bet I’ll be snuggling under a fur throw, burning a musky candle, and and enjoying warm toned pillows and accessories. But spring is my favorite season of all, and I look forward to sprucing up my space for spring weather all year!

Here are a few of my favorite items to “spring up your space”.

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A jute rug is the perfect spring/summer addition to any decor. It’s natural, durable, and the muted coloring pairs well with almost anything. The beachy, summer-home feel that a jute rug gives off is perfect for this time of year (and year round). I just purchased a jute rug for my living room and I’m absolutely loving it! The above rug is from Ballard Designs and is 20% today.

Floral pillows, as well as bright corals and summer colored pillows, are an easy and cheap way to freshen up a space. Layer different textures, colors, patterns, and sizes to create a well-styled sofa. I read somewhere that every room should have something black & white, as an anchor, so pop a small accent pillow in the mix. You can purchase the floral pillow, coral geometric pillow, yellow bloom pillow, and black and white pillow at Target.

Target has also brought back their upholstered x-benches in grass and coral, and I am beyond thrilled! These babies are perfect for tucking under a console table, in front of a fireplace, flanking a living room table, and more. The colors pair perfectly with florals, and scream spring. Run, don’t walk, to get your hands on these!

Last but not least, fresh flowers. No need to spend a lot on expensive roses, just grab a $4 bunch of carnations or whatever your local grocery store sells, and pop them in a fun vase. Get creative! I used my Alice + Olivia mug as a vase recently and it looked so chic. You can also light a fruity or floral candle (I’m currently burning this one from Bath & Body, and it smells amazing) and your home will scream spring within minutes.

XO – Samantha

Big Girl Bedroom Update

Hello lovelies! Before I jump into today’s post, I just wanted to say THANK YOU so, so much for all the sweet comments you left me about my hair. My IG blew up, and I was seriously feeling the love. {side note – found out this week that we’re not pregnant, still, and all your amazing compliments were a really wonderful pick me up that I needed desperately.} Thank you. <3
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If you haven’t already read my post about Camryn’s “Big Girl” bedroom decor, then you can view that here.

I just wanted to update on the progress of Camryn’s room, and share a few changes that I’ve made to the design board. The most obvious change is the wallpaper. I had originally wanted the Great Meadow Mural wallpaper from Anthro, but after debating over the price, and the size (which wasn’t perfect for the wall I’m wallpapering) I decided to go with something a little different. I fell in love with the colors in the Watercolor Peony wallpaper, and it still offers the whimsical and floral look that I want to achieve. The much lower price point has my husband celebrating too.

I’ve been dying to get my hands on some of the Caitlin Wilson pillows for awhile now, and they pair perfectly with the color scheme. Have you checked out her new rug line? I nearly scratched the entire mood board for Camryn’s room and started over using one of her rugs as inspiration. They are beautiful! I chose the teal arrows pillows and the coral bows pillow, but may switch up the patterns, we’ll see. I love that she offers multiple patterns in the same shades of colors so you can easily mix and match pillows.

Camryn’s headboard arrived last week, and she’s been loving it! I have always called her my “tiny lady”, but she’s been correcting me with “I’m a big lady now mom” ever since the bed switch. She’s so proud of herself. :-)

The headboard was extremely easy to assemble (I did it all by myself, so that tells you just how easy), and it’s great quality. It’s a much prettier color in person. I just checked Costco, and it’s no longer available…oh no! Here’s a good dupe.

I had planned on buying sheets from Serena & Lily, but snagged these beautiful minty/turquoise sheets at Target, and I’m so happy with them. The colors in person are beautiful, and the pattern is small enough to work well with the pillow fabrics and wallpaper pattern. Did I mention they were only $30? Such a bargain. I also grabbed this organic blanket for the foot of her bed, for cooler nights or to replace her down comforter in the summer heat.

The creamy rug is on sale at World Market, and if you use code BIGWIG you can save an additional 10% off.

LOVE art is from Made By Girl. I own many of her prints, and they are all favorites of mine. She makes art that pairs really well together, so if you’re in the market for something statement or something to add to a gallery wall, she’s your girl!

I’m going to start painting this week, and will instagram progress photos. Her room is a light grey right now, but seems dark and moody because of the poor lighting, so I’m hoping the Swiss Coffee color is a nice bright change. Speaking of bad lighting, any suggestions for fun lighting in her room? I haven’t even begun looking, and would love your input!

I hope you’re all having a great week!

XO – Samantha

Playroom Organization

Hello Darlings, how were all of your weekends? Mine was spent helping my sister pack, making a quick trip to Ikea (so, not that quick, because it’s Ikea), and watching the Superbowl. I may or may not have gotten bored during the Superbowl and instead played on the computer. On the bright side, I finally made my blog button! Hooray! I love getting to cross things off my to-do list, it’s just so damn satisfying. Fellow bloggers, if you also have that daunting “Create A Blogger Button” task on your to-do list, I will be putting together a step by step tutorial for you ASAP. I spent a few hours compiling all the information needed to create a button, and the steps that I took to create my own, and will put it all into one quick post for all of you. Hopefully I can save you some time and hair pulling. Hallelujah! For any of you that aren’t bloggers, and are wondering what I’m talking about, a blog button is just an image that links back to your blog and allows other bloggers to support you and introduce their readers to you (and vice-versa). Blog buttons are what introduced me to most of the blogs that I’ve been reading for years now.

In other news….

My daughter’s playroom has been overrun by toys, and is in desperate need of a facelift. It needs to be organized, and old toys that are no longer of interest to her need to be donated.

I started by dragging my husband to Ikea to buy 2 of the Expedit shelves in high gloss white.

I ordered 8 of these Rugby Striped Bins to hold small items like cars and trains, puzzles, etc.

She already owns the Ikea Lack side table in high gloss white which is the perfect size for small art projects, coloring, playing legos, and puzzles.

Kids-Tabouret-Stacking-Chairs-Set-of-2-P14973716 I ordered these Tabouret Stackable Chairs in cotton candy to go with her white table.

The large wall in her playroom has multi-colored polka dots on it, so it’s already loud and fun. All I need is a fun piece of art for above her table. I have a few ideas in mind…

I’ll share photos of the room as it becomes less “bomb-went-off” and more “bomb.com”.

XO – Samantha

Home Tour: Kourtney Kardashian

I have been drooling over Kourtney Kardashians home for a very long time. After searching the internet for photos and even trying to sneak a peek on her designer, Jeff Andrews site, I figured I must be coming up empty handed for a reason. They’ve been planning a big reveal for awhile, and lucky us, it’s out!

My obsession with her house all started here, in the living room that we’ve all spotted on KUWTK and swooned over.

Penelope’s room was designed by Kourtney alone, and she says it’s her favorite room in the house.

My kid would go bananas in this playroom. Kourtney hung surfboards from the kids choice awards on the ceiling, and has an Ikea rug on the floor. Even millionaires love Ikea. :-)

I’ve been having a black & white moment lately, but this house just brought my crush onto a whole new level. I’m ready to move right in…you coming?!

All photos are from InStyle Magazine.

XO – Samantha

What I’m Loving {Wednesday}

After having been gone for a few days, I wanted to get caught up with some of the things I’ve been loving, and pinning lately. I try to bookmark things that I’ve enjoyed all throughout the week so that I can share them with you on Friday’s Lust List’s, but this week there’s too much to wait.

1.|| This yummy southwest chicken salad from MSK

2.|| Buying one of these “Hustlin” mouse pads for my husband, and another for myself.

3.|| I love these leggings for Camryn

4.|| What a beautiful living room!

5.|| I love this quote.

6.|| My yellow lab, Aly, needs one of these chic little doggy beds.

7.|| Get in my belly. I would trade in my husband for this delicious looking cake. ;-)

8.|| DIY gold lip wine glass.

9.|| I received a bunch of new coffee table books for Christmas and my birthday, and the Kate Spade book was one of them. It’s soooo good you guys. I’m absolutely smitten with it, and it looks so pretty sitting on my table.

10.|| My daughter was given Living Sand as a Christmas gift from my husbands grandparents, and it’s absolutely AMAZING!! Have I mentioned this to you guys already? I’ve been telling everyone I know about it. It’s super easy to clean up, doesn’t stick to anything or dry out like playdough, and has been hours of fun for us. It’s also non-toxic and anti-bacterial. We own the large set, but there’s also a less expensive smaller set. Parents of toddlers, go buy some. You’re welcome!

11.|| I was really sick again all day today, so I lounged around and relaxed in the bath…which looks eerily similar to this one. I’m hoping to be back to myself by tomorrow. I have a long list of my favorite blogs to get back to reading. I’ve discovered a few new bloggers that I’ve really been enjoying, so I’ll share those with you guys soon. Maybe I can get some of them to come by and say “hi”, and tell you a little about their blogs themselves.

I’ll sure be glad when Friday arrives…until then, Happy Hump Day!

XO – Samantha

Nursery Design: Pink & Chic

Girls Nursery

My pregnant friend, Alyssa, is struggling to design her little girls nursery due to the green wall color in her current rental house. She could paint, and then re-paint in a year when the home they’re building is done, or leave the green walls and work with them. Together we designed this mood board which incorporates the green walls into the color scheme rather than fighting them, and will also look beautiful in the new house (with lighter walls). She’s not afraid of a good DIY, so I added in a tassel garland and map letter, and some pom poms for her to work on. How lucky is the little girl that will soon call this room home?!

Here are the items we chose:

Elephant Print (size 60×40″)

Crib

Elephant Stool

Faux Fur Shag Rug

Candy Kirby Designs Crib Sheets OR Target Mudhut Sheets

Herringbone Throw OR herringbone minky baby blanket

Mirrored Heart Art

LOVE Art

Brushstroke Art – Commision pieces are available if you contact Jen.

Gold Polka Dot Pillow

Dreamer Pillow

DIY Tassel Garland Tutorial courtesy of Linen Lace and Love

I am off to Washington this morning for my sister-in-laws babyshower. My tiny lady and I are flying solo, so it will be quite the adventure, as always. She’s actually a great little traveller, so I’m not very worried, but I do get anxiety when flying ever since becoming a mom. I’m not good at having zero control over situations, and well, flying is kinda out of my hands. Wish us luck! First stop when I get in town is the Bagelry, my favorite little bagel shop in the entire USA. Mmmmmm! It’s one of the things I crave year round, and binge on whenever I’m home. My MIL usually has a bag of them waiting for me when I arrive. I’m an addict. Sad truth. :-)

I’ll be posting as usual, as well as updating the Camryn Daily page.

XO – Samantha

Whimsical Big Girls Room

My husband and I have been talking about moving Camryn into a big girl bed for a few months now, and I think it’s nearly time we actually made the transition. She currently sleeps in her toddler bed and has done great in it. We never have issues with her getting in and out of bed throughout the night, and she’s never fallen out of bed, so I feel safe moving her into something bigger. We have a full size bed for her, but I need to buy a new headboard and change up her room decor. I want to design a space that she can grow into for awhile, and that can have minor changes made without having to overhaul the entire room.

Here’s what I currently have my eyes on:

Screen Shot 2014-01-08 at 9.13.14 PM Anthropologies Great Meadow Wall Paper

To say that I’m in love with this wallpaper would be an understatement. It’s so whimsical, and reminds me of the Secret Garden. It’s the perfect artistic piece for any girls bedroom, and I know my tiny lady would think it’s pretty amazing. I also love having such a big palette of colors to work from, which will make changing small pieces in her room as she gets older really easy.

Here’s what Anthropologie says about the artist, Nathalie Lete:

“French art and designer Nathalie Lete works as a solo artist, creating paintings, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, books and toys centered on themes of fantasy, humor and childhood memories. With this limited edition, grand-scale floral mural, the artist awakens the child-like wonder in all of us, leading one to imagine what it might be like to be minute amid a verdant meadow.”

Camryn’s room is currently painted a light grey, which I’ll repaint in Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee. This color is a beautiful creamy off-white, without any yellow tones.

swiss coffee I found a darling pink headboard at Costco

The photo does this headboard no justice. Here’s a photo of the headboard in a girls room designed by the uber talented Kristen of 6th Street Design School.

There is a large dark wood dresser that I considered painting, but because it’s such an expensive and well made piece, I might leave it. The dark wood might be a nice contrast to the otherwise bright and colorful room. The nightstand needs to take up little space, and not obstruct too much of the beautiful wallpaper…I’ll let you know when I find something.

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I want to make Camryn a little desk area and I found these darling industrial chairs thanks to Erin of Candy Kirby Designs. They are exactly what I’ve been looking for.

I also found 2 beautiful rose gold polka dot pillows at HomeGoods. They look exactly like these, but in a rose gold coloring:

Camryn has a huge window seat (with storage – Hooray!) that I want to have a custom cushion made for. I want to pile on a bunch of pretty and comfortable pillows so her and I can lay and read books, watch the sunsets, and look at stars from her window.

I’ll keep updating as I make progress on her room over the next few months. If any of you have good decor suggestions like lighting, a nightstand, bedding, etc. then leave me comments below.

Tomorrow’s Friday, so go grab yourself a coffee and keep on truckin’, because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. There’s also a new Camryn Daily photo up if you haven’t seen it already. We had a little rain yesterday, so we threw on our Hunter Wellies and puddle jumped for a bit. :-)

XO – Samantha

A Simply Beautiful Home

Your guys know I’m a sucker for beautiful interiors. It’s my thing. Nothing inspires me more than a well designed room, or a beautifully styled table. Even a bookshelf done perfectly makes me stop in my tracks. It’s an addiction people. I’m the girl that visits Home Goods 2x’s a week, and squeals in Target when I find black lamp shades with gold leafing inside, and has 10+ interior design coffee table books on my Christmas wish list. My dream day would be to lay around (kidless of course) while skimming through all my favorite design books and drinking coffee in peace. Ahhhh!

One of my pet peeves about most interior design photos that I come across on Pinterest, in magazines, or in books is that they’re nearly unattainable. Not because the decor can’t be bought, replicated, DIY’d, etc. but because the space is unlike the homes that many of us actually live in.

Image Via

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What’s the matter? Don’t you have intricate marble flooring, a palatial winding staircase, and enough room in your hallways to have a row of orange trees? Ya, me neither. So when I came across Jessica & Scott’s East Coast Nest I immediately fell in love. Their unassuming, 2100 sq. ft home, is a wealth of beauty.

Jessica is an interior designer, and creator of Nest Studio (Her drawer pulls are literally my favorite on the market. The gold and lucite…DROOL!)

That’s a hand stenciled floor…HAND STENCILED!! I’m just so in awe of what she’s done with this house. I also really enjoy seeing items from places like Target, and Ikea; places we all shop.

If you want to check out more of Jessica’s home, visit her blog here.

Today’s giveaway is one of my very favorite coffee table books, and a source of constant design inspiration and enjoyment for me. I flip through it at least once a week. It’s perfect for anyone starting on their home from scratch, or even someone who’s just looking for a change but doesn’t know where to start. It looks pretty sitting on my coffee table too. :-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck! XO – Samantha

PS…I was sent a fun game called “How Do You Shop Style?” that I thought you guys might enjoy checking out. The quotes are hilarious, and no surprise, it figured out that I have a shopping addiction. Oops! Here’s the link if y’all want to play too. You can also win a designer handbag just by playing. http://bit.ly/psssjgame

Lust List: 11/22/13

Happy Friday!!!

My daughter and I both caught colds this week, and have been laying pretty low, trying to recover. Usually my husband is the culprit bringing home germs and whatever illnesses are running through his office, but this time I think I was the dirty bird who got us all sick. Wahhh!

I have been watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix while trying to recover, and I’m a little bit obsessed now. You guys, this show is CRAZY!! I keep catching myself getting all sassy (while drinking my chai tea, and hugging my box of tissues) and *Z snapping* at the screen, saying “Yeah girl, you tell her!”, and “Oh no he didn’t!”. I do the same thing when I watch Sons Of Anarchy. I’m an embarrassment to my family. ;-) Are any of you watching the show too?

If you missed yesterdays post, go enter the giveaway here. You can win the prettiest Anthropology apron and the “Can’t Cook Book”.

Here are all the other things I’ve been loving this week. Enjoy!
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1.|| I love this DIY gift guide from Lauren Conrad. These mugs are my favorite.

2.|| Please tell me you’ve seen this ridiculous Kanye West video. Is he serious? I love Ellen’s reaction at the end.

3.|| I bought my sister this candle for her birthday in April, and everytime I go to her house I smell it because it’s AMAZING. One of the best smelling candles ever. This would make a great gift.

4.|| These girls can sing!!

5.|| I received samples of the Guerlain Lingerie De Peau foundation with my Sephora orders, and it might just be my new holy grail product. It’s has absolutely blown me away, and I’m adding it to my Christmas list. (Dear Santa, I wear color Beige Clair 02) If you’d like to see me do product review “vlogs” or a tutorial on how I apply this, please leave me a comment down below. I’ve been on the fence about doing the occasional youtube video for “favorites of the month” videos, and product reviews like this. I know I always enjoy seeing a product used before purchasing.

6.|| How fun is this Christmas Bucket! Kids unwrap an activity a day, for example: write letters to Santa, make homemade ornaments, sort through toys to give to a shelter, go look at Christmas lights, hot chocolate before bed, Christmas movie and so on. I found this little gem on Pinterest, but couldn’t find the original source.

7.|| This book looks like DIY heaven.

8.|| Jennifer from The Chic Pad introduced me to High Street Market recently, and it’s so good! Definitely worth checking out. She’s rounded up some of her favorite pieces from there, so you can check her blog for a designers picks.

9.|| This post from Kristen of 6thstreetdesignschool was so refreshing. My previous home looked absolutely nothing like my current home. Pinterest and beautifully written blogs like Kristin’s have giving me a completely different look at interior design.

10.|| Awesome video from Fun Fun Fun Festival 2013 of the SprATX artists. They sell art and shirts designed by extremely talented local Austin artists.

I am starting to put together Holiday Gift Guides for you, so leave me a comment below if you want a specific type (ie: Kids, Co-workers, Husbands, or if you want me to focus on a store, like Target, etc) Wishing you all a great weekend!

XO – Samantha

Visions of Gray

I have been seeing some of the most beautiful closets going around on Pinterest, magazines, and blogs lately. This closet, designed by Catherine Kwong, with fashion blogger Eadie Blair in mind takes the cake. Kwong created a piece of art, layering dark walls with lighter built-ins, and showcasing all the beautiful clothes in brighter, more vibrant hues. The slanted shelves displaying fashion books, the inset bulletin boards upholstered in Kelly Wearstler’s “Channels” fabric, and (below) the Andy Warhol “Chanel #5″ poster all create such a glamorous space.

Images via Elle Decor

If this were mine, I would never leave my closet. I would eat, sleep, and die in that closet.

Here are a few others that have me thinking gray-is-good!

Carrie Bradshaw’s Closet. Can I just have the shoes?

Here’s a quick glimpse at my vanity area in my closet, in “gray” of course:

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Make sure you enter to win the deer necklace (pictured above) here.

My husband has been out of town for nearly 2 weeks, and comes home today, FINALLY!! Being a single mom is not a joke. I am exhausted, and in serious need of a shower. ;-)

See you tomorrow for my Friday Lust List!

XO – Samantha

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