Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts

11.22.2016

our kitchen tour

I'm so excited to finally share our kitchen tour! We renovated June to August and it was a huge project. I found out I was pregnant the weekend after we started demo (which was an answer to prayer but also hilarious timing!) and Dustin did the majority of the renovation himself, being that he's a contractor and master licensed plumber. His buddies helped with sheetrock, electric and tile but he took on about 90% of the project, working nights and weekends, while I tried to keep two little girls occupied while feeling miserably nauseous 7 days a week in the hot summer heat. Ha! Sounds fun, doesn't it?! Sometimes I look back and still can't believe we made it through the summer, it was definitely a long one. But once we finished, I couldn't have imagined not doing the renovation and it turned out even more perfect than I envisioned it would.

As for our old kitchen, it wasn't terrible but certainly lacked in storage and function for our growing family. I had next to no cabinet space and everything was so brown...it was by far the darkest and oldest looking room in our home. We removed the soffit (which made such a difference in being able to take cabinets and tile all the way to the ceiling), completely took down the ceiling to replace all the old insulation (that was a mess...I remember coming downstairs and seeing Dustin standing in insulation up to his waist) and took all the walls down to studs, reinsulated and put up new sheetrock. 

The final steps were all new custom cabinets, new appliances, new flooring, a new white window and door. Paint, white subway tile backsplash with dark gray grout, white quartz counters, a white farmhouse sink, the faucet of my dreams (seriously) and adding shiplap to our accent wall (one of my favorite parts)! We hung live edge open shelving above the dishwasher (open shelves are so much fun) and then added additional counter space where our old oven used to be mounted into the wall (our range and oven were separate before). When all was said and done, it was a big undertaking but such an amazing transformation. I still can't believe my dream kitchen exists in our house! This is our first home and we've taken on 5 major renovations over the past 4 years (and 3 pregnancies!) since we bough it, and the kitchen was the final piece of the puzzle to really transform our house into a home and a space we love to be as a family. Enjoy!

Sources are linked at the bottom of the post. 

Sources: Cabinets / Drawer + Door Pulls / Wall Color: Natural Gray by Behr / Ocean Foam Silestone Quartz Counters / Farmhouse Sink / Faucet / Fridge / Combination Oven + Range / Microwave Oven / Dishwasher / Subway Tile Backsplash / Grout in Natural Gray / Open Shelving Brackets / 24x30 Come Thou Fount Canvas c/o Lindsay Letters / Love Letter Canvases c/o Sugarboo Designs / Gather Sign c/o Feather and Birch / Light fixture above sink from local lighting shop, 2014 / Shiplap (painted with Behr Ultra Pure White) + live edge lumber for floating shelves from local lumberyard

Have you done any renovations in your home?! By now I feel like we could do them in our sleep! As much work as they can be, seeing the transformation from start to finish is one of my favorite parts and it's always worth the hard work in the end. Realizing we lived the first 3 years in our home without it (and without a dishwasher and hardly any storage!) really makes us appreciate every part of it! Hope you're having a great week so far! Watch for the first of my 5 holiday gift guides, hitting the blog tomorrow morning! XO

9.09.2021

our week in pictures & friday favorites

We are already over a week into September and it's been nothing short of amazing. We've had temps that feel like Fall for the past two weeks and I even had to pull out my cozy sweaters when I've been outside with the girls cause of the chill in the air. We've been cooking and baking all our fall favorites and burning candles nonstop. I'm pretty sure our house has smelled like leaves + pumpkins for the past two weeks straight. Not that any of us are complaining ;)


This past week was a busy one with Olivia meeting her preschool teachers and starting dance and us finishing up our live edge shelving project in our kitchen. We took a trip to our local apple orchard on Monday as a family (a tradition we started last year, going every year on Labor Day) and have been spending almost every morning out on a walk or having a breakfast picnic with pumpkin muffins & egg souffl矇s at our local nature reserve, just a few minutes from our home. We have just a few days left before Olivia starts school so us girls have been getting out and about together as much as possible. And it's Poppy's birthday eve today so we are finding fun ways to celebrate her and the gift she is to our family!


One of the projects I was most excited for in our kitchen was our open shelving project. We had custom cabinetry put up in the main portion of our kitchen but I knew I wanted something a little different above the dishwasher, not just a single cabinet all by itself looking out of place, so we decided on a set of 3 floating shelves made from live edge lumber to compliment the rustic style of our home.


I am so so happy with how they turned out. I still have some decorating to do on the top and middle shelves but so far I'm loving them. They make the space feel so warm and really bring it all together. That wall sat empty for the past few weeks so now that they're up I feel like my kitchen is exactly how I envisioned it would be. We used these steel brackets to anchor them to the wall. You can get them in any length for your space and can select between lightweight, medium or heavy duty depending on how much you are planning to put on each shelf. If you're thinking of incorporating some open shelving into your kitchen, I highly recommend it!! They are so much fun to style for each new season and holiday and add function while still keeping the space feeling nice and open.

And to kick off the weekend, how about a few Friday Favorites?!


one || This pumpkin souffl矇 candle has been burning all day and night. It's the perfect fall fragrance without being too sweet. It fills the house quickly but isn't overpowering. Plus the jar and gold label is gorgeous.

two || I've shared before that we are all big Chipotle fans over here. I'm pretty sure I could eat Mexican food seven nights a week, especially when I'm pregnant. I craved it with both girls and later found out my mom craved it when she was pregnant with me; this pregnancy has been no different. Olivia requests it at least weekly and even Penelope loves it. Through the month of September, kids can eat free every Sunday at Chipotle with the purchase of an adult entree (burrito / bowl / salad / tacos), up to two kids. So Dustin and I get our meals and then both girls get a free kids meal. We usually pick up Chipotle during the week but after hearing about this promotion we switched to Sundays and will definitely be taking advantage of it again the next 3 weeks in a row like we did last Sunday.

three || I have always wanted to try making homemade applesauce but totally been intimidated. I grew up with memories of my grandpa always making it using apples from our backyard, I lived on it as a kid. It's such a comforting food for me and so nostalgic. We normally buy it freshly made from our local orchard but this year I was determined to make my own. I quickly discovered it is SO easy and so so delicious. I used this recipe & Olivia loved helping.

four || I recently came across this book and the cover immediately won me over. The illustrations inside are equally as beautiful and it's the perfect bedtime story for the girls.


five || Little by little I have begun collecting a few special pieces for baby. I feel like by Baby #3 I have become so selective with what I buy, especially since we have so much of what we need already and I've been waiting to find out what we're having so the items can really be personalized. But this mudcloth bamboo quilt is the coziest thing ever and perfectly gender neutral. The girls discovered it last week hiding in the baby's closet and had so much fun using it before nap time for reading, giving it a little big sister love and breaking it in.


six || I love a good World Market find and this white scalloped dish and these sculpted hand towels are two of my most recent purchases. I can't ever get enough of the green-yellow mossy color in my home, it's so natural and warm and perfect year round. I love the dish for in a bathroom to hold jewelry or a bar of soap or at your kitchen sink for dish brushes and sponges like we have it.

seven || In the hunt to find exactly what I wanted to style our shelves, I knew I wanted to incorporate a fun light that could be programmed on as it begins getting dark, especially that daylight ends much earlier here as Fall nears. I have seen so many fun mason jar solar lights but was looking for something that was battery operated so I didn't have to leave it outside to "charge" all day. I came across this glass cloche with LED string lights yesterday on sale and knew it would be perfect (pictured on our second shelf above, not on). It takes 3 AA batteries and can be set on a timer to stay on for 4 hours, shut off and then turn on 20 hours later automatically. I have ours set to run from 6-10pm each night and don't have to do a thing! I love the soft glow it gives and the ability to light up the shelves safely.


We are taking it easy this weekend celebrating our sweet Penelope as a family before her party next weekend with all our friends, and of course enjoying the weather!! Hope your weekend is the best! 

8.19.2016

kitchen update + our week

This week has been an exciting one, as our backsplash went in on Tuesday and we have been enjoying our new (and almost complete) kitchen! We started demo back in early June and it's been a busy summer of taking on such a major renovation with two kids running around and so much heat + humidity but seeing our vision come to life has been so worth it.

Our goal was to be finished by the end of August and we just have a few final touches (outlet covers, open shelving above the dishwasher and touching up trim) that we're planning on finishing up this weekend before we add some art to our shiplap wall and really make the space ours, so it feels amazing to be ahead of schedule and to have a full kitchen back to cook in again! I'm pretty sure I've made just about every one of our favorite dinners and baked nearly every night since our appliances went in!


This week we spent some time at the local Farmer's Market with the girls and Olivia chose a bouquet of sunflowers to bring home, seriously one of my favorite flowers ever. And these were about the size of Poppy's head!!

On Monday night two of our closest friends dropped off loads of fresh produce from their farm + garden so we've been enjoying making meals out of that...I'm pretty sure I'm going to spend the weekend boiling and freezing sweet corn, because we have oh about 20 ears of it which will last all winter in soups + stews.


My go-to breakfast lately has been a tomato basil scramble with chicken maple sausage, both girls love it as much as I do and I love being able to make us all breakfast at the same time now that Poppy pretty much eats whatever Olivia and I have.

For dinner this week we made homemade gluten free pizzas with applegate uncured pepperoni (we love how big the slices are!) and fresh basil and then BLTs with fresh tomatoes and romaine. I always feel like I'm in a dinner rut because I overthink my meal planning and often tend to make the same meals over and over, but I forget that dinners can be super simple by just utilizing fresh ingredients on hand. 


This weekend we have our annual summer event at our favorite waterpark with a bunch of families from our marriage small group, which is often one of the highlights of our summer. I plan to make homemade caramel rolls to kick off Saturday morning, always a favorite breakfast around here. More kitchen sneak peeks coming soon. Hope you have the best weekend!! XO

8.17.2016

organizational favorites with pehr designs

As the end of summer rolls around and Olivia heads back to school -- and all the other Fall activities we are involved in kick off -- I always get the urge to get super organized and update the girls' rooms with some fresh accessories for the new season. We try to keep our home pretty minimal as far as toys and "stuff" goes, because we love our open space so much with room to move, dance and play. And I've always believed that a clear home = a clear mind. What mama wouldn't benefit from that?!

As each new season approaches, I go through all the girls clothes, accessories, shoes, and mine + Dustin's closets and belongings as well and try to get rid of as much as possible. I almost always find I can give things away to friends or family that we no longer need or use who will benefit from them or resell clothing that we no longer wear or that has become too small for the girls to fit in. It always feels so good to start a new season with less stuff and more space, and with everything we do have, organized!

It seems there are so many options for storage these days, everything from baskets to bins and more. We love using them for everything in our home -- from the girls' books, toys, blocks and blankets to dolls, crib sheets, shoes and more. I love that because they're open, it's always an invitation for kids to play and create. Poppy loves pulling blocks and toys out of bins in our playroom and when we go in the backyard, I just grab a bin of books or toys for the girls to play with on a blanket. They add convenience and make clean up a breeze, since Olivia knows where everything goes and can easily put it back when she's done.

I've partnered with one of my favorite companies for home and children's decor, Pehr Designs to share our favorite storage solutions. Launched in 2010 by childhood friends Jennifer Kelly and Rebecca Perren, Pehr Designs offers a line of classically simple yet modern home accessories. Below are a few of my top picks from their wide variety of beautiful storage items.

We have a set of these grey pom pom bins in varying sizes and I love that they're neutral but still add some fun texture and style to whatever room they're in and versatile enough to be moved around the house as needed. It seems like the girls want to be in different spots to play every 5 minutes so being able to grab our bins with all our toys and move as they do keeps life simple. I love how versatile their sizing is, making them function for all your needs big or small.


Pehr Designs is offering 30% off their entire range of storage items to help you and your family get organized as the new school year approaches, both at Pehr Home & Petit Pehr, their complementary children's collection. To take advantage of this offer, simply enter the code PENCILS at checkout. The promotion is valid today through Sunday August 21st.

To start shopping, visit any of the links above for a specific piece or find all their storage products here. Happy organizing! 

7.22.2016

friday favorites

We started a complete kitchen renovation about 7 weeks ago, which is the 5th major renovation we've taken on since buying our first home (basement, basement bathroom, laundry room & master bathroom). I wouldn't necessarily call our house a "fixer upper," as nothing really needed major updating when we moved in, but over the past 4 years we've really wanted to go room by room and make it our own and transform it to be the most functional for our family. The kitchen was the final piece of the puzzle and almost two months later (with Dustin doing most of it himself given his background), we are nearly done! 

Our cabinets were installed this week, we chose a rustic barnwood flooring and that went in and everything is painted a warm gray. Our appliances are being delivered tomorrow and I am so excited to be able to cook again with our new range and to finally have a dishwasher! We went with white quartz countertops with some light grain in them and we're doing a white subway tile backsplash with a darker grout. We have a mix of shaker style white cabinets, chrome pulls and open wood shelving, and one of our walls is completely shiplapped and painted white, but I still haven't decided if I'll be putting art up on it or creating an open shelving pantry with jars for food.

I shared a look at a few of the kitchens I drew inspiration from back in May in a post here. For the most part we've stuck with our plan but made a few small changes, including a white farmhouse sink instead of a hammered copper one. After looking more into how much upkeep it would need, and knowing white is so classic and pairs with everything, we opted for that instead. And we all know one of the best parts about renovating a room is finishing it and decorating, so to kick off the weekend I've rounded up a handful of my favorite kitchen items for this week's Friday Favorites!
one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten / eleven

Clearly I am drawn to everything white and mint! I have a mint kitchenmaid mixer that was a wedding gift from my parents, and I love the idea of having a retro toaster {3} to match. I love the versatility of latte bowls {2} and how much fun it is to mix and match colors. We use ours every single day. Every kitchen needs a yummy-smelling candle and this one in mercury glass {4} is my absolute favorite. 

For tea drinkers, I love this black and white tea canister {6} and this coffee one that matches. I love the idea of gold or rose gold flatware, a fun alternative to silver and this set {8} is so sleek. We love making pancakes or waffles on the weekend and this handled batter bowl {9} would look just as nice sitting on an open shelf as it would in use.

I think my favorite of all these finds is the modern breadbox {7}. It's inexpensive and I just love the look of it. So many bread boxes I've found are so bulky and take up so much space. I also love this serving tray, another super versatile piece, especially for entertaining.

Have you ever taken on a major renovation?! It's always a rewarding process watching your vision come to life and your old space transformed, but I'll definitely be excited when it's complete and we can start enjoying it! 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! XO

7.20.2016

best of the nest | sugarboo designs

This week I'm thrilled to be sharing one of my all-time favorite brands for gorgeous home decor, Sugarboo Designs. Based out of Atlanta, GA, Sugarboo Designs was founded by artist Rebecca Puig and her husband, Rick, in 2005. Rick and Rebecca are parents to Jake and Sophie, who serve as the inspiration behind many of their pieces as well as the source from which the name "Sugarboo" was chosen, in reference to the nicknames they have for their children.

Rebecca always desired to create products that remind people of the ones they love most and recalls loving to paint and create things since she was a little girl. She attended the University of Georgia and graduated with a Studio Art degree. Her inspiration comes from her family, nature, animals, children's art and folk art. Evident in many of her pieces, Rebecca loves mixing old and new, light and dark and anything with a message. "I believe in putting good out into the world whenever possible," she stated, "My hope is that each Sugarboo piece we send out into the world will add a little good!”

I absolutely love every single piece from Sugarboo Designs, I don't think I could ever choose a favorite. They all have the perfect mix of rustic sentimentality but are versatile to fit in any space for any style. Sugarboo Designs is most well known for their wood signs and coordinating pillows, but they offer a wide range of home decor pieces as well, including wood decor, candles, picture frames, furniture, blankets and more. Many of their signs include their classic cursive script font and often involve repeating words or phrases. Sugarboo signs make the perfect addition to a child's room or nursery, master bedroom or family room, especially with how touching and heart-warming they are. They create so much warmth and comfort in any space.


One of their most recognized collections is the book series, which consists of wood signs ranging in size from 17"x25" to 3'x4' that are designed to look like book pages with famous lines or quotes on them. They also have a beautiful coordinating poetry series. With over 30 different quotes and poems to choose from, each piece is available in cream, charcoal and white and all are incredibly stunning as a focal point in any room. We have the 2'x3' Audrey Hepburn one hanging in Olivia's bedroom, which will eventually become the room her and Poppy share. Olivia has been asking to share a room with her baby sister for several months now and as soon as I saw it I knew it would be the perfect piece to hang up for my little girls.


Hanging it in her book corner seemed like the perfect spot for it, and I love that it is the very first thing you see when you walk into the room and that it makes such a statement. My hope it that it serves as a special reminder to our girls as they grow up and that it plays a part in teaching them about what really matters...about what happiness truly is and always taking time to laugh, cultivating beauty on the inside through their joy, attitudes and perspective and remembering that each day is a fresh start with limitless potential.

Because we love Sugarboo Designs so much, I've partnered with them to offer an exclusive discount for my readers to save each of you 15% off your total purchase from Sugarbooandco.com; simply enter NEST15 at checkout for the discount to be applied. This savings is valid from Wednesday July 20 through Wednesday August 3, 2016. 



And to sweeten your week, I've teamed up with Sugarboo Designs to give away a $100 SHOP CREDIT to one lucky winner to apply toward your own favorite pieces in their shop! To enter, visit my instagram @blessednestblog and find the original post with details. The giveaway will run one week and the winner will be announced there. 

Hope you're having the best Wednesday! Our kitchen cabinets are being installed as we speak so we are all extra happy campers over here!

6.21.2016

our favorite mom hacks

Last week on instagram I asked all of you to weigh in on your top mom hacks, you know...those little things you do on a day to day basis (maybe without even realizing it) that make life with little ones way easier?! I had so much fun reading all of them and of course had to share my favorites plus a few more we love around our home. I created a list below by category; I hope you find a few to add to your own bag of tricks! And of course, feel free to share more in a comment below.

organization
+ Use an ikea rolling cart (here) to organize things you access daily -- set one up in the nursery with wipes, diapers, creams, other toiletries, etc or place bedside if cosleeping or have your newborn in a bassinet beside you; we have this one in Penelope's room that is actually filled with toys, puzzles & blankets that the girls use all the time and this one is in our laundry room filled with all our laundry essentials as well as extra boxes of snack & sandwich bags, garbage bags, dish soap, hand soap, etc. When I run out of something I can just run to the laundry room to grab it instead of making an extra trip to the store! Plus they can be rolled room to room, so convenient!

+ We use a lot of bins and baskets around our house; Olivia's bookshelf is full of matching bins for different types of books and we can easily grab one small bin to bring outside to read or for snuggles in our bed in the morning. Almost all the girls' toys are in bins and baskets (kitchen toys & play food in a picnic basket, all our wooden blocks in a basket, wooden animals in another basket, etc) and it makes clean up for Olivia so easy plus prevents toys from being strewn all over my house, since I can fill a basket and hide it under our coffee table or in the corner of the room where it can still be easily accessed for playtime

+ I roll up crib sheets and swaddle blankets and place them in a decorative basket in the nursery; it saves time when I need them plus makes for pretty and functional decor

+ Use a 3M hook on the back of your high chair to hang bibs

in the car + travel
+ Create a bin for your car with everything you might possibly need; some mamas call this a "possibles bin"...you can find heavy duty black bins that are actually made for the car at Target. In ours I keep extra diapers, wipes, a change of clothes for both girls, pajamas for both girls, first aid kit, toys, books, box of kleenex, bottles of water, non-perishable snacks, small blanket, ziplock bags of different sizes, etc. If I'm running a quick errand and don't feel like lugging my diaper bag or something is missing from it, I have everything I need in my car

+ Pack for trips with ziplock bags: in each bag, fill with every item for an outfit (down to the bow & underwear!) so getting ready on vacation is a breeze

+ Always pack extra ziplock bags for traveling to put dirty clothes in, swimsuits, etc.

+ Use a cereal dispenser tupperware with a plastic grocery bag as a liner for an on-the-road trash bin

+ Put your wrap or sling on before getting in the car while you're still at home, then when you reach your destination you can slip your baby right in instead of having to put your wrap on in a parking lot or in the car

around the home
+ Layer your little one's bedding: waterproof mattress pad, crib sheet, waterproof mattress pad, crib sheet, etc. / I do this and love that I can just take the top layer off on laundry days without having to lift the mattress out of the crib, rush to get it washed and back on before nap time (you can also do this with a bassinet and it comes in especially handy for newborns)

+ Make cleaning up a race: for those with older kids, when it's time to clean up set a timer for 2-3 minutes and see who can clean up the fastest; Olivia loves when I do this, she thinks its a game and it makes a chore seem much more fun

+ We often do bathtime in the morning, since most nights we stay in the backyard or playing at the park until the sun goes down; this makes our bedtime routine quicker with just having to wash faces, brush teeth & get in pajamas before we read books; the girls love baths and doing them in the morning is a great way to get their day started, plus I'm not in a rush thinking about how quickly I need to get them to bed

+ Sometimes ice packs can be a little too cold for babies or young children; make your own by freezing large marshmallows -- soft and not too cold but just enough to reduce swelling 

in the kitchen
+ Meal & snack prep: on days that I do all my grocery shopping, I spend some time prepping food (especially fruits and veggies) so they're ready to go for the week and can easily be accessed when needed; ideas include slicing bell peppers or cucumbers, peeling & chopping carrots, celery or other favorite veggies, slicing strawberries, cutting pineapple, etc. I put each food in a glass container in the fridge and then for breakfasts & lunches, save a lot of time by not having to prep anything

+ Repurpose tools for new uses; we love egg salad and Olivia loves using the egg slicer on the hard boiled eggs; did you ever think of using it on strawberries, bananas, kiwi or mushrooms?! Save time and some effort when slicing fruits & small veggies

+ We make a lot of smoothies for breakfast (especially being that we don't have a kitchen until our reno is over) and instead of throwing out the leftover smoothie, you can fill popsicle molds for a healthier afternoon snack or breakfast on the go; both girls love them and they're great for summertime!

+ Use a foil muffin tin liner underneath a popsicle to prevent dripping onto your little ones' hands (just poke the popsicle stick through it rightside up to catch the drips)

+ Sneak spinach, kale and other veggies into your child's smoothie in the morning

+ Not only is a dishwasher great for dishes, but it's an excellent way to clean and disinfect sponges, toothbrushes, baby toys, pacifiers, bottle parts & more

+ For s'mores, we put graham crackers, marshmallows and hershey bars each into their own large mason jar; it keeps everything fresh, looks cute sitting on your kitchen counter and you don't have to deal with opening wrappers and having extra trash when you're sitting around the fire


laundry
+ Use zipper mesh bags for laundry: perfect for washing socks & tights so they're easy to find and don't get lost in the dryer!

+ One mom shared that to save time folding towels and washcloths, find a cute basket (do you see a pattern here?!) they can sit in; I do something similar in that we have a drawer in our vanity for all our washcloths and towels at Olivia's level; she loves folding washcloths and it's a great way for her to practice folding laundry on a small scale. I throw them in the drawer fresh out of the dryer (without folding) and then when she has a few free minutes (usually before nap time), I find her sitting in there folding them, she gets so excited when she has folded a whole stack and then places them back in the drawer nice and neat.

+ Instead of using traditional dryer sheets (which are usually filled with yucky stuff that can irritate a child's sensitive skin), I use wool dryer balls (our favorite here) and put lavender essential oil on them before tumbling clothing dry; one set of 3 lasts 1000 loads plus everything comes out smelling amazing and I'm convinced it keeps the girls calm on our wildest days!


Do you have any mom hacks I forgot?! Be sure to share them below! 
Hope your week is off to a great start!! 

5.03.2022

kitchen remodel plans

Since moving in to our home after getting married, we have completed a lot of renovations -- our entire basement, our basement bathroom, our laundry room and most recently last Spring, our master bathroom. Four major renovations in less than 3 years through 2 pregnancies, one with a toddler. Looking back I'm not quite sure how we did it, especially since Dustin did a lot of it himself with his background in plumbing & construction and the time he put in to it was on nights and weekends. But we absolutely love how everything turned out and each of those spots in our home are ones we enjoy every single day. It's amazing to think back at how those rooms were before because the transformation was so dramatic.

We've also done lots of little projects here and there and have really spent time making our house a home. I want every single room to be my favorite room in our home and it's been a lot of fun making those changes one at a time, putting our mark on these four walls and bringing our visions to life. The last piece of the puzzle is updating our kitchen to more reflect our rustic style and function for our family and lifestyle. We've been going back and forth at when we want to take the project on and finally decided that June & July are perfect, since most of our time is spent outside anyway and we grill almost all of our meals...the ideal time to be without an oven and stove! Plus warmer weather always makes for easier demo, haul away and less stress when replacing windows, doors, etc.

We have Olivia's birthday party toward the end of May and then plan to get started on our demo shortly after in early June. Below is some inspiration I'm loving for our new kitchen. Find me on Pinterest @blessednestblog to follow along and see all my favorite home ideas.
All images taken from Pinterest.

We are turning one of our kitchen walls into an open shelving pantry with rustic wood shelves, uniform glass jars and shiplap! Dustin has been wanting to do shiplap in our home for quite some time (we are loyal fixer upper fans over here) and our smallest kitchen wall is the perfect spot for it. I love the look of open shelves over shiplap and have always wanted to fill glass jars with food for easy access and a fun, functional decor piece.

 

We also want to get a farmhouse sink and I've always had my eye on a hammered copper one. We found a few we like and can't wait to put that in with a new faucet.



We don't have a dishwasher right now so we will be shifting our sink and kitchen window (which looks in to our backyard) slightly left to fit one in next to our backdoor and then do a smaller open shelving unit above it to tie in with the adjacent wall's open shelving, a lot like the photo above. My plan is to store all our dishes on that shelving unit above the dishwasher and to use the other exclusively for food in our jars. I haven't decided yet if I want to do floating shelves mounted in to the wall or to use some fun antique-looking brackets.


My absolute favorite style of countertops has always been a butcher block so I'm really excited to put that in. Then we'll be getting new white cabinets, putting in a classic white subway tile backsplash and combination oven/range {ours as separate right now} as well as new flooring. Good thing Dustin is so good at what he does...I probably wouldn't know where to start! Other than pinning the dozens of ideas I want to incorporate!


Have you done any home renovations?! They are a lot of work but always worth it in the end. Not only do they greatly increase your home's resale value but really allow you to put your stamp on your home and customize it to best fit your family's needs. Knowing the right people and having the tools or expertise to do some (or all) of it yourself also helps a lot and saves a ton of money. I can't wait to share our progress as we conquer our newest project! 

Hope you're having a great week! XO

4.25.2016

best of the nest | the land of nod

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Ours was low key, mostly spent at home and playing with the girls in the backyard. When the weather is nice, outside is the only place we want to be. Sunday was rainy so we took it easy around the house and got a few things knocked off our to-do list while the girls napped.

To round out the last week of my April series on Creating a Dream Home & Nursery, I've teamed up with The Land of Nod to feature a handful of my favorite products and give away one of them to one of you! The Land of Nod is one of my all-time favorite places to shop for everything baby, child and home related. Based in Northbrook, IL, they specialize in children's furniturebedding & accessories. It was launched in 1996 out of a basement in the Chicago suburbs. In 2000, The Land of Nod formed a partnership with Crate & Barrel to help expand their presence in the United States market. With only a few locations around the country, most buyers shop from The Land of Nod through their online store, which is what we do! 
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11

I had loved The Land of Nod long before I became a mom, but having two little girls just makes it even more of a fun place to shop. I've rounded up a handful of my favorite products, though there are so many it's hard to choose. I love that everything is modern and well made, they have pieces for every age and style and they stand behind each of their products with an 18-year quality guarantee.

One of my favorite lines they carry is their baby & toddler bedding. Their wide selection of crib bedding is so much fun! This polka dot crib sheet is our absolute favorite & they recently released a line inspired by artist Charley Harper and the coordinating bedding {3} is gender neutral and such a neat pattern. I want to scoop up the crib sheet for Poppy, I just love it!

The Land of Nod also offers beautiful toys, like the darling wooden animal shakers {1} that Penelope can't get enough of, this gorgeous alphabet puzzle {8 / on sale!} and fun accessories for creating a dream nursery or playroom. The Be on the Sea activity mat {4} was one of the first things I got for Poppy before she was born and continues to be something we use every single day.


I love their unique and modern accessories and all the different pieces they offer to make organizing a child's room or walls a breeze. We have a handful of these gold bow wall hooks {7} in each of the girls' rooms and I love the origami wall shelf {6} which comes in a variety of colors. Such a fun way to display books or a child's favorite dolls, special keepsakes, blocks and more. Another favorite way to organize books is using a floor book caddy, like this mint one {5}. It's the perfect way to keep a child's books in order but also within reach! Another piece that would be perfect to finish out a playroom are their gallery wall rails {10}. I love the idea of mixing different colors to create a modern place to display all of your child's artwork in your home. Olivia comes home from preschool with 3-4 new pieces of art every week and displaying them on our fridge totally works, but I would love to create her own little gallery wall using the rails.

Another favorite item we own from The Land of Nod is Olivia's Jenny Lind twin bed {9}. I love the character and charm of the intricate woodturnings and how sturdy it is being made out of solid poplar. It was the bed I had my eye on for years, even before having a little girl to get it for and when we started thinking about transitioning Olivia from her crib to a bed last summer, it was the one I immediately knew I wanted. She absolutely loves it and it will be something we use for many years to come; a piece that is not only functional, but equally so beautiful in her room. For her upcoming 3rd birthday, this moses basket with bedding for her dolls is no doubt going to be one of her favorite gifts.


Because we love The Land of Nod so much, I've teamed up with them to give away a Be on the Sea Activity Mat to one of you! If you don't have a little one yourself, it makes a perfect gift for a Mama-to-be. Head on over to my instagram @blessednestblog to enter. For an extra entry, leave a comment below sharing your favorite product from The Land of Nod {be sure to leave your IG name within your comment so I know whose who!} Giveaway runs today through Sunday May 1.
Have a great week!! XO

4.21.2016

gallery wall with minted

In January Dustin and I decided together we would tackle one DIY project per month for all of 2016. It's been so much fun to start knocking out all the projects I've had on my "list" for months now. In January we completed an open shelving project in our dining room and in February we built a rustic kitchen island. In the end of March we put together a gallery wall in our living room + dining room space and I had the opportunity to partner with Minted to add a few favorite prints to it. 

For years I've loved Minted for their stationary -- holiday cards, birth announcements, party invitations and more. It wasn't until recently that I found out they sell beautiful fine art prints of all different styles and sizes. Minted believes that great design lives & thrives in the hands of independent artists and allows consumers to discover creative talent through the products they sell. Minted's community of independent artists and designers are located in 48 states and 43 countries. They are illustrators and textile designs, painters and packaging designers, marketers and even stay-at-home Moms! Some have design degrees and others are participating in Minted competitions to learn design for the first time. I believe one of the reasons their products are so incredible is because each and every one is designed by an independent artist! You get a little bit of everything, making Minted the perfect one-stop-shop for everybody.

Below is some inspiration for Spring & Summer gallery walls with my favorite art prints from Minted. They have me dreaming of warm weather & long days at the beach. Not that I need a vacation or anything...
pining for pineapple / sprayhigh drama 
savannah lands / field of lace 
white hot / timeless II

All of the Minted art prints are offered in a wide range of sizes, most as small as 5x7'' up to 30x40'' and larger, so whether you want to add some new art to an extra small space or fill a whole wall, you can find prints that you can mix and match to create a wonderful gallery. I love combining square prints with rectangular ones because the size and shape contrast, especially when placed next to each other, is so visually appealing to the eye. They also are available framed or unframed, and as a busy Mama I love knowing I can order them with a frame and it will be delivered ready to hang...so much less work for me than going out to hunt for the perfect one.



And because you know I can never get enough hung up in our girls' rooms, perhaps my favorite category of Minted's fine art prints is their wide selection of prints for nurseries and children. I would probably buy them all if I had more wall space but we're quickly running out around here!! These prints would be lovely in any child's bedroom or perfect to finish out a playroom. Below are a few favorites for your little ones. Many can be personalized with your child's name, initials, birth stats & more. Custom pieces make such beautiful gifts and keepsakes. 


Which one is your favorite print from Minted?! I have a hard time making decisions when it comes to wall art so needless to say, we have a lot of it! Hope this gives you some inspiration to update your walls this Spring!! XO

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