front and center, take 2

Yesterday I posted about Emily Henderson's latest design endeavor, pointing out that I simply wasn't impressed. Here's the official after photo of the room:

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Lindsey left the following comment on yesterday's post:

You were right, Lindsey - the other curtains were horrible and did nothing for the height of the room. I definitely think these curtains are different from the ones in the last photo. They must have swapped them out last minute! Here's a close up of the new curtains:

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Even though I really don't like this room, I love that shot - to me it looks like it came out of a different space! But anyway the curtains have a really nice vertical stripe that I think lends itself well to the tall windows. They also don't stick out quite so much as the white ones did in the photo from yesterday.

Evidently the couple she was designing for wanted a "tv-watching living room", so I suppose that's what they got. I still feel like there would have been a better option than making it the focal point!

So what do you think? Do you like today's photo better or still not buy it?

front and center

I haven't gotten to watch her show, but I've really enjoyed reading Emily Henderson's blog. She does episode recaps and posts photos of the spaces she designs. So far this is the only one that made me go "huh?"

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At first glance it looks like something I'd love - casual, light, airy, and comfortable. But something just felt off. I realized pretty quickly that this living room has as its focal point the tv! There's no conversation area - everything but the couch and the tiny green chair in the corner faces the tv. I hate it! Were this my room, I would have ditched the chaise, gotten another chair/ottoman combo to match the white one and flipped them so they were facing the couch. I'm not even going to think about the attention being taken away from what is most likely a beautiful fireplace in the lower right hand corner....

What do you think?

5 things I'm loving right now

1. Pandora's toddler station.  Emma is getting to the stage where she loves music and dancing, and their awesome toddler station has saved me as a mother. We now rock out to hakuna matata and the itsy bitsy spider instead of Your Body is a Wonderland by John Mayer. Their college indie station is a nice break during nap time, too. Thank you, Pandora.

2. Spring Flowers.  Tulips have been a favorite of mine for a long time. It's so lovely having them back in my life for the summer!

3. Project: Simplify.  This week's hot spot was toys and it went great.  I'm definitely not looking forward to when we have to organize the kitchen, though. Mine's a disorganized mess!

4. Martha Stewart Weddings. So many great ideas that I'm going to use for Jen's bridal shower!

5. My growing baby girl. She's a ham just like her dad and I love it.

 

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Taking a break... already!

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I'm taking a break from the de-cluttering marathon this week (they're doing paper clutter which I think will be easy to combine with whatever we do next week). I've been sick with the stomach flu and gave myself the week off. Have a lovely weekend!

It's done!

Organized!

I'm thrilled with how the closet turned out. I even ended up with a place for Bran's boots thanks to some shoe cubbies my mother-in-law was throwing out. They work great and they're white so they look nice, too! 

Bran's things are obviously still on the left with my little collection on the right. I folded up some of my pre-preg stuff that would typically be hanging so it wouldn't take up unnecessary space in our tiny closet. I used the hanger Bran keeps ties on as a purse hanger and have it as the divider between our things. Up top in the middle I folded up my scarves for easy accessorizing, and then folded up a spare blanket (the zebra print) on the left. I love it!

mmm

I am so excited for spring and summer it's not even funny. These

s'mores cookies make me even more excited. Not that there's

anything springy/summery about them. They're just exciting 

in themselves. 

After photos of my closet coming soon! Just as soon as my

camera battery charges....

lonny love

Built ins are the best.

No shame.

Today is the first day of Simple Mom's project:simplify and she could not have picked a better hotspot for me to have to tackle this week.... your wardrobe. I'm being very brave here and hoping I have friends who won't judge me based on my closet, but here's my before photo:

Talk about scary! We really aren't messy people - we just haven't made our closet a priority. I'm looking forward to doing that this week.

My plans include:

• Cleaning out clothes that don't fit/I don't wear.
• Finding a storage solution for pre-preg/maternity clothes.
• Organizing our ugly shoe situation.
• Utilizing the hall closet for more space.

 Here's a shot of our hall closet, featuring Emmaline, my lovely assistant:

I know, right. So now you can see why I'm doing this whole project: simplify thing to begin with - I NEED IT!

But anyway I'm hoping to re-organize this closet and actually remove some shelves so we can move the locker and all the shoes in here. I think it will make a huge difference!

I'm well on my way, pretty labeled laundry baskets for clothes to toss and give away and all!

Alright that's enough embarrassment for one day! Come back on Friday for my after photos!

Family Purpose Statement

{our family purpose statement}

Simple Mom is starting Project: Simplify this week and I'm so excited. I love Simple Mom but haven't done one of their projects yet. I think that with house hunting in full swing, some organizing will do us good!

The first task is to come up with a purpose statement for your family (the project isn't just about organizing stuff - it's about organizing your family life, too!) Stay tuned for my progress!

If only...

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If I had the room for it, this baby would be mine. We're house hunting and I can't wait to have some space to start doing furniture renovation. I'm really interested in learning how to upholster and I think this free couch would be the perfect project. Mostly because since it's free I couldn't mess it up!

*Sorry about the crummy photos - gotta love craigslist pictures!

Love these clothes!

Boden's maternity line is making me swoon... 

LOVE the ruffle dress, and those jeans are adorable.

I miss my sister!

Tuesday Shoesday

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If only these weren't $300, I'd so be wearing them to my sister's June wedding. 

Yellow shoes + navy dress = love.

Did I mention they're called Ballerina Hepburns? Yeah. Love.