Eclectic Chic Dining Room-Chairish Mix n' Chic Challenge

I am constantly dreaming about making our space pretty-practical and comfortable but still appealing to the eye. As of right now my style is an eclectic blend of traditional and vintage, with a heavy dose of toys.

Sigh....

There's really nothing I can do about that right now. Those bright blue, yellow and red plastic things just keep popping up!

So I dream....and dream...and rearrange, and scour the internet for inspiration, I thrift my way through antique markets and second hand stores and just dream. I love the way that adding in an item that has a story makes a room feel complete and real. It just gives it some depth and love, you know? Weathered wood, galvanized metal, rustic signs, crates...all the goodness of Shabby Chic!

When Chairish contacted me to take part in their Mix n' Chic challenge I knew this was the perfect chance to put my dreaming onto paper! If you've never heard of Chairish-shame on you! Chairish is an exclusive, curator approved, online marketplace for vintage and used furniture. Most styles go in and out of fashion, however; the Shabby Chic-ness of antiques and vintage items has continuously been a decor focus for the last 25 years; The spirit of the style is to work with what you have while mixing in historical elements and pieces with charm. The best part about decorating these days is that the matching look is out - the new look is all about creating a room that seamlessly blends a variety of styles., and that is my style to a tee!

My Eclectic Christmas Home Tour

It's the most wonderful time of the year! On top of that I get to decorate our new house for our first Christmas here....oh, the possibilities! LOL...actually I found it a bit overwhelming this year and haven't been able to settle for where I put things the first time...so ya, I've redecorated my Christmas decor a few times ;) Alas though....welcome to our holiday home.....

Playroom Reveal

It's complete! At least enough that I can check it off the list ;) I can't wait to add some more personal rustic touches to it throughout the years to come...but for now,  I am so happy with the way this came together and the kids love it. Plus, I feel so much better knowing that they aren't playing on a dirty old floor! Let's take a refresher peak at the before (from the old owners)...

And TADA! Love it....For those of you that are IKEA fans, you will notice that most of the furnishings came from there...What can I say-good quality for a good price, and I love the storage ideas!

 One of my favorite focal points in the room is this mountain chalk board wall...so cool!

The dresser where the TV sits (for my husbands gaming issue, lol) is from Westyn's old room-he had to upgrade to something bigger...

And of course, what kid area isn't complete with somewhere to hang artwork?!

So there you have it, our Playoom! The first finished room in the new house! What do you think?

Playroom Inspiration & Progress

Originally the first room I wanted to tackle and get finished was the dining room/office space...so I started that, got it painted and then stopped. LOL...everyone kept telling me to do one room at a time-but how boring is that?! I definitely don't have the patience to wait something out! So I started thinking about the playroom-because what other room in the house aside from the kitchen gets used that much?!

Here's a look at the before pic-this was one of the original photos used in the real estate listing-I totally forgot to take a before pic-pregnancy brain! The first thing to go was the horrible smelly carpet...I think that aside from it being the old owners playroom it was also the cat hang out-urgh...it was so nasty! The carpet was ripped out within an hour of us getting possession of the house, which revealed some lovely blue linoleum of some sort-it was gross too, but we scrubbed the crap out of it and have been living with it for the past 3 months.



And this is what things looked like during the process or painting and installing the floors (for those of you that follow on Facebook they will look familiar!)

Some inspiration I used for the kid's playroom...

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Were almost there...toys are back in place and I just have some finishing touches to add...so stay tuned! Until then, Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Fall Front Porch Inspiration

Happy October friends! We've enjoyed a whole week of warm fall-ish type weather and now it's raining...booo....but that hasn't stopped me from dreaming of crisp fall leaves, warm colors, hot teas and cozy spots around the house..i.e I've been on Pinterest a lot, lol!!! The first item to get a fall makeover on our front porch was the door! It was a rather weird shade of hunter/forest green, that looked like it had been spray painted-yuck! So it go a lovely shade of turquoise to brighten it up :)

I'm not lovin' the gold accents in the window part of the door but unfortunately it's not changeable until the door goes...and that's not happening anytime soon! The whole porch actually needs to be repaired and restructured, but that is next Spring's job...until then we are making the most of it.

Some inspiration for our fall decor on the porch came from these 2 pics....

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Unfortunately some of my lovely mums and corn stalks got attacked by squirrels...grrr...

The final missing piece to the front porch is to recover our very old and ratty cushions on our love seat. I've been ogling over this fabric for awhile now....

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So at this moment I am sitting here staring at a roll of fabric that arrived on my door step yesturday! As soon as I saw it was available at Tonic Living I had to have it! Yippee! It's going to look so good (I hope so anyway-fingers crossed!) I'd also like to add a little glam to the vestibule window with a fancy chandelier...I'm liking this one from Ikea.

So what about you-any plans for decorating or changing things up this fall?

My New Chair

For months (a year?) I've had this boardroom-ish chair sitting in our basement, waiting for an overhaul. I'm not sure what drew me too this chair to begin with, maybe it's simple lines and mix of modern and retro, it reminded me of the chairs that would sit in the office in elementary school...not sure if that's a good memeory or not, haha...

None the less, it caught my attention and I had big plans for it....

G'morning...

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Hello blog friends! Happy Sunday morning...

There's a storm brewing here, but you would never know it by listening to the calming sounds of the morning. Little feet pattering around while mommy and daddy make breakfast, the water pouring from the kettle, the stirring of the spoon in the coffee cup, Christmas music in the background (it's usually Treehouse-but the satelite is down thanks to the snow). Thoughts of pretty paper to wrap gifts in, warm, comforting smells coming from the oven as shortbread cook...these are all plans of a great day to come!
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