home decor and garden are very famous in the world: Love The One You're With

Showing posts with label Love The One You're With. Show all posts

Love The One You're With- Inside Out Design

5:03 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

Today I have the most wonderful Sherri guest blogging for me. I know I have said

this before, but Sherri is one of those people who you

really feel like you know after reading her blog Inside Out Design.

The other day I read this recent post and was brought to tears. Maybe it is still the hormones, or maybe it is having a baby in our "very tiny but special to us first home" but it really spoke to me. Anyhoo, I am honored to have Sherri here today so without further adieu...

When Marianne asked me to contribute to her 'Love The One You're With' series, I had a hard time deciding which room to choose. Do I choose the one I enjoy looking at the most or the one that holds the most memories? I decided to show you the one I love looking at the most. It is the one room in my house that is always peaceful, has no television, is used mostly for family gatherings and always looks clean (even if it isn't).

I love to sit in here and read a book, visit with friends and open gifts on Christmas morning. This room is also the first thing you see when you walk through our front door and it feels the most like 'me'. When we first bought our house 24 years ago, the "living room" was a narrow space that was basically a pass-through from the bedroom wing hallway to the kitchen. Because of that, it was a hard room to space plan.

Over the years we made some changes. We relocated the front entrance, moved the hallway opening so it was not in the middle of the room and created an 'entrance' by adding a courtyard in the front. It is not a big house by today's standards and I never thought it would be our stay-in-forever-house. There are many things I would love to change (a larger dining room for one!) but it is our home and it holds so many memories I do not know if I could ever give it up. We have watched our two beautiful daughters grow up in this house and are blessed to be enjoying our new granddaughter here as well.

I have always liked white and except for a short phase where I tried to 'conform' I have had a white sofa. I found that it was the easiest to care for with small children (and even more so when they became teenagers) because I could clean it and it would never fade. I have had my current sofa for 12 years now. It has had red wine spilled on it, chocolate and who knows what else but all I have to do is throw the slipcover in the wash or spot clean it and it is as good as new.

For me, white just feels fresh and gives me a feeling of calm. It is also easy to throw in pops of color when I am in the mood and gives me the ability to change things around; which I do a lot.

I originally bought the corner armoire to place a TV in but changed my mind. It holds my revolving accessories and overflow of platters and serving pieces and balances out the fireplace in in the opposite corner.

The decor has evolved over the years. It was never decorated like I would do for a client - all at once and put together; instead pieces were added here and there, little by little - mostly discounted furniture I found while shopping for clients or perusing through HomeGoods. I tend to buy pieces that I love and don't put too much thought into where it will end up. It all gets moved around anyway!

Last summer I brought in the white cabinet that used to be in my daughter's room to give the room and lighter look. It was an inexpensive Ikea piece that was intended to hold my daughter's school books but I have to say, I am really enjoying it in the living room.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the room I love ... in the house that I love. Thanks Marianne for including me in your series!

Thank you again Sherri, what a wonderful post about a wonderful room. I can definitely see chatting with friends in there and I loved hearing your take on the white sofa! Everything looks perfect but comfortable and inviting.

Read User's Comments(0)

Love The One You're With- The Newlywed Diaries

4:34 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

I am thrilled to have a fellow Birmingham blogger and friend Jennifer as a guest blogger.The Newlywed Diaries is one of the first blogs I read, even before I knew Jennifer. I have loved following along with her life from the changes to her house to the birth of her sweet girl. I am so excited to have her here today!

This series has really taken on new meaning in the last year, as we became parents and I left my full-time career to stay at home with our little girl. Dropping my income has been an adjustment, and the projects around our 1959 rancher have taken a backseat to oh, say DIAPERS. We are definitely learning to love the one we're with - for better or worse. Here are a few things that keep me in love with our imperfect - yet perfect for us - little home.

Learn to admire without the need to acquire. I can't take credit for this one; Erika wrote about hearing that phrase during a sermon a couple of years ago, and it still resonates with me. I'll admit that I like to shop, but have found that it can be just as fun to get out and about, look around, get ideas and go home without the anxiety that would come with spending money needlessly.

Keep a "have list," instead of a "wish list." Don't get me wrong, wish lists are great. Goals and priorities are important, but it can be so easy to get caught up in what you wish you had, that you lose appreciation for what you already have. It's hard, believe me. These days there is a design blog on every corner, and it seems that every minute there is something new to love on Pinterest.

I read once that comparison kills contentment, and find it to be more than true. I may wake up feeling completely content and happy, and one look at a friend's stinkin' fabulous new kitchen or something beautiful I've pinned, and suddenly, nothing I have is good enough. Sure, there are always improvements that we can make, but the truth is, when I look at what we have and have been blessed with without the but-everyone-else-has-more goggles, I am moved to tears. We have so much. And it is enough.

Thanks Marianne for having me, and for a great - and timely! - series.

Thank you Jennifer! Wow, this was timely for me, I think I needed to read this more than anyone. I am going to memorize each of these points and take them to heart. What a great post, I am blown away!

Read User's Comments(0)

Love the One You're With- Simplified Bee

5:00 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

Another guest post by another fabulous blogger! I was lucky enough to meet Cristin a year ago in New York and I have been a big fan since. There is a lot to love about her blog but her guest post series "What Would You Do" is my favorite. So happy to have her here!

First off, I am so excited for the arrival of Marianne’s darling baby boy! I had the pleasure of meeting her last year NYC and I can confirm she's darling. And I just know she is going to be an amazing mother and hope she is enjoying this most special time with her newborn. Marianne, I wish you much love and sleep!

I am also thrilled to be part of Marianne's Love The One You’re With series. It is easy for many of us to focus on the aspects of our homes that need to change, rather than on the beautiful spaces that bring us joy and positive energy.

One such room in my home is our dining room. I love the the open and airy feel, the bank of beautiful windows and the furnishings. It is just a feel good space and a place I enjoy spending time with my family every day.

eclectic chinoiserie dining room hide rug

It’s an eclectic space and pieces have been added over time. An antique Chinese cabinet, reproduction French cane back chairs and a vintage chrome & glass display case have all found a home in our dining room.

Some of my favorite items in the room include various styles of artwork, a cow hide rug {added most recently} and a vintage chrome cart that I purchased at an estate sale. It was originally used as a TV stand, but today it makes a great tea or bar cart.

Thanks again to Marianne for the opportunity to be on this wonderful blog.

Thank you Cristin! That room is inviting and chic at the same time. I love anything that has the word "cane" in the description.

Read User's Comments(0)

Love The One You're With- Design Manifest

5:15 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

If you need a dose of inspiration then look no farther than Naomi's blog...

As part of father/daughter design duo (how great is that?) her great taste is evident in every post. See what I mean?....

Hey everyone. I'm Naomi from Design Manifest and I need to be reminded daily to love what I've got. I am your typical OCD redecorator type. I'm always looking at my space with a critical eye- analyzing what needs to be improved, what editing can bring a better balance, etc etc. But the truth of the matter is that I am so lucky to live in a beautiful loft. That's why I love Marianne's series so much, it's helped me appreciate the good stuff.

So let me give you a little tour of a few areas.

This is one section of my living room. I recently added a slipcover to a modern sofa and I love how it's changed the personality of my entire space.

Nearly everything I own has been found at flea markets, estate sales, craigslist, or Ebay. I just don't have the budget or commitment to spend more right now. I scored my glass coffee table for $30! What's not to love about that?

I found this painting in my grandmother's basement and paired with two Ikea Rast cabinets. A little black paint and some new hardware totally changed their look.

I have a serious weakness for La Fiorentina fabric so I splurged on this entry bench. I paired it with a free mirror. It was a little small, so I painted a frame around it to make it pop.

I dressed up my Ikea bookcase with plate mirror backs and lots of pretties. The pop art was also found in my grandmother's basement. My nana's house is so stylish, even the basement looks better than my pad!

Since I have an open loft with 20' ceilings, I left most of the walls white. But I did paint a bold blue in my office nook. I painted a second-hand parsons desk hot pink. I just love that blue pink contrast.

One last thing I love- my clerestory windows! Every time I look up at the ceiling I smile.

So those are just a few elements of my apartment I love. I hope you enjoyed them too. Looking back at these now, I'm noticing how much pink I have! I swear it isn't as obvious in real life.

Marianne, thanks so much for having me over. I'm honored to be over here.

xo
Naomi

Thanks Naomi! I don't know where to start with your space there is so much I am obsessed with! First, your rug is one I have been DYING for for years now. Also, you are making my love of pink stronger. And those windows...they can come stay at my house anytime!

Read User's Comments(0)

Love The One You're With- A Perfect Gray

5:00 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

Today I am happy to say Donna from A Perfect Gray is my guest blogger!

From my very first post I have proclaimed my love of gray so naturally I knew I would love Donna's blog when I saw the name. But the mutual love of a color is not what kept me coming back, it is the realness you sense, she is so genuine and sweet. This guest post is a perfect example....

I freely admit it. I am so guilty of lusting after OPH. Other People's Homes.

Daily.

If I stop to think of the spaces I love the most, I think the more I see the homeowner's personality, the more I like the space. In other words, it's personality and not perfection that I love. So what makes me 'love the one I'm with' the most?

I think it's this wall:

Just off the hall in our house you'll find this corner wall

where we mark each birthday that our son has.

It's one of the places that we've truly made our very own. If our kitchen is the heart of our home, I think this spot is the soul.

This wall really does make it easy to love the one I'm with.

Marianne, thanks so much for having me. I am honored.

Maybe you'll do a similar wall.....?

best wishes! Donna

Thank you Donna, I will certainly do a wall like that, I could not love it more. I agree with you, the best homes are the ones that show the owner's personality and real live along with great style.

Read User's Comments(0)

Love The One You're With- Danielle Oakey Interiors

5:00 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

My next guest in the Love The One You're With Series is Danielle from

I love everything Danielle shows on her blog, I really feel like we have such similar tastes. So often when visiting her blog I will find the same images and items I have been focused on lately. What can I say?

Hi, I am Danielle from Danielle Oakey Interiors. I am so excited to be here today. Since I am typically thinking about what my next project will be, it is nice to take a step back and share what I love about my home.

My little abode is small, just over 900 sq.ft! Although it is little, I have managed to squeeze in a couple things that I love. First up, my chevron drapery. Did I mention my husband is a medical student? That means one thing, our budget is tight tight! I purchased the chevron fabric here and made them myself. They were inexpensive and add so much life to my living room.

My absolute favorite piece of furniture, my yellow credenza. I think it steals the show! I love the bright yellow, it really brightens up my small condo.

A couple months ago I painted black and white chalkboard stripes in my daughter's bedroom. I can not get enough of them. They add so much character to her bedroom.

And I am still crazy about my DIY sunburst mirror. I wanted one so bad but couldn't swallow the cost of a new one. So, I made one and I think it is perfect in my little home.

Thanks so much for having me Marianne.

xoxo,

Danielle

Thank you Danielle! It would be hard to pick my favorite part, every picture was so full of inspiration!

Read User's Comments(0)

Love The One You're With- Everything LEB

5:03 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

I am so happy to introduce my next guest blogger, Lindsay from....

Not only do I love reading her blog but I also get to call her a friend!

I'm so excited to participate in Marianne's "Love the One You're With" series! Although, I have to admit when putting together this post I realized that my apartment has changed so many times over the last 3 years it was hard to pick a space that I've loved for longer than, say....6 months. Call it design ADD.
Anyways, I thought I would post about my bedroom which is ever changing and hasn't been the same for longer than 6 months, but I still love it. I love my sleep, I could sleep for days, so my bedroom is a special place.
I'll start with the bad. This photo is from when we first moved into the apartment. It was a mix of furniture and bedding just thrown together.

That Pottery Barn duvet cover had to go- its not horrible but it was time for a change

I then went into a major green green kick and was dying for an upholstered headboard. It was not in the budget so I took one of those college days egg crate (remember those??) folded it over the top of the wood headboard and made a green slipcover. It worked perfectly.

The yellow shame came from Homegoods- one of those impulse purchses. And the monogram pillows I made with some fabric paint.

I lived with the green headboard for about 6 months and then Shumachers Chaing Mai Dragon fabric came into my life. The green would just not do, so the headboard went to navy. Lets face it, since I change my mind so often I realized that a whole headboard out of the pricey Schmaucher fabric wouldnt be wise. So, I went with a pillow to satisify my craving.

Last but not least (I'm actually in the works of changing the headboard again) I embraced color in my life and the lamp got an upgrade, as well as a few other colorful things on my nightstand.

So while my bedroom is ever changing, it is the one space in my apartment that I love over and over again.

Thanks Marianne for asking me to participate in such a fun series, it really got me thinking about the next direction for my bedroom :)

Thanks again Lindsay! I love all the changes, it keeps things interesting!!!!

Read User's Comments(0)

Love The One You're With- Velvet & Linen

4:35 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

If you have ever read Brooke Giannetti's blog Velvet & Linen, then you know it would be easy to love her whole house! I could spend hours on this blog. I am currently trying to figure out a way to make her weekend home below my permanent home!I'm so excited to be participating in Marianne's series "Love The One You're With"! Our kitchen in our weekend home in Oxnard is a great example of how we turned a room that we really didn't like into a room we love without completely pulling it apart.

This is what our kitchen looked like the first time we saw it (that's our realtor in the kitchen). Although I loved the fact that the kitchen was open to the main living space, I wasn't a big fan of the dark brown cabinets and counter tops.

Here is our kitchen after. We replaced a couple of the upper cabinet faces with inexpensive doors with chicken wire. We also added inexpensive Restoration Hardware knobs to give the cabinets a little more detail. The most dramatic change occurred when we painted the entire kitchen Farrow and Ball "Hardwick White".

In the second stage, we removed the stainless steel hood over the stove (I kept hitting my head on it!). A decorative grill now covers the vent and still does a great job in keeping my kitchen smoke free.

I usually like to use pendant lights over my kitchen island, but the ceilings were too low. Instead, we used table lamps on the island. We drilled holes through the counter for the wires and connected them to a switch on the side of the island.
Now that we have made these changes, I'm definitely loving the one I'm with :)

Thank you Marianne for letting me share my kitchen with all of your readers!

xo,

Brooke

Thank you Brooke, job well done as always! I love how you made the lamps work on the island!

Read User's Comments(0)

Love The One You're With-Paula of Two Ellie

4:45 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

Today I am so excited to have not only a talented blogger guest posting but also a dear friend! Paula is such a genuine person and that comes across not only on her blog, Two Ellie, but also in her house! You have already seen her kitchen on H&H here, and now we get to see another part...
I am so excited that Marianne asked me, Paula of Two Ellie, to share in her series "Love The One You Are With". As I have shared with her countless times on one of our coffee or lunch dates that our home is simply not my dream home. It was purchased as a home we were only going to stay in for two years and then we were going to buy "the one", but of course times changed and now we have been in this house for over 4 years. Ha. Needless to say this series is perfect for me. I had to learn to make this home into "The One I Love". The living room was the room that gave me some trouble. It has a funny layout within the open floor plan. From the entry you walk into this space. The fireplace is in the corner, the kitchen is to the left, the door to right is the master, and the sunroom now dining room is directly behind. There aren't many walls to work with so everything kind of has to float. A standard sofa felt funny in this room. Made it to angular for my taste so when the Mr. and I came across this sofa from Rowe I was smitten. We got a killer deal on this piece so the fabric is not exactly what I would have chosen, but saving over a grand made up for that. This room has evolved over years. The always constant is my antique coffee table. It was my first big home purchase when I was in college. The pillows on the chairs are not really mine. They are from Tracery. Doug was kind enough to let me borrow them when I was shooting my home for a local magazine. My pillows were on back order and I needed something to fill the space. To be honest if I hadn't already bought the others these would have had to of stayed home with me!So this was the room that gave me the most trouble, but I must say it's now one of my favorite spaces. It is perfect for movie watching, greeting clients, and just enjoying family. It holds so many pieces that are dear to me. It also makes for a great pass through for the kiddos when they are riding their scooters indoors. I must say I am now content and this is now home for however long that may be. It truly became the one I love.

Thank you Paula, I can say with first hand knowledge your home is so warm and inviting and full of personal touches!

Read User's Comments(0)

Love The One You're With- Isabella & Max Rooms

4:27 AM | Labels: Love The One You're With

I am excited to continue the Love the One You're With Series today with Janell from Isabella and Max Rooms. I love the bathroom she shared below. In case you haven't yet, you must go check out her master bedroom and office makeover as well.

I love the premise of this series, 'Love The One You're With'. It is so easy to focus on what remains to be done in a home or what we wish to change as opposed to what we are happy with; being content with what we have.

One room I have been completely content with since it received its makeover is our Master Bathroom. With paint, new lighting, seating, a beautiful frame added around the large plate glass mirror and accessories, the room was transformed into a space I simply love being in!