let there be light: guest bedroom sconces

One of our guest bedrooms has tiny (like, teeny tiny) bedside tables. Since lamps won't fit very well, I've been looking for some pretty wall mount sconces to go on either side of the bed. I've scoured my the web and as the story typically goes, there were about a million scones I absolutely loved that were waaaay out of my price range. For example the Boston Functional Library light from Circa Lighting.

{ first seen here and I've been in love ever since }

How cool/amazing/drool-worthy are these?!  I thought they would bring a great masculine/industrial touch to the guest bedroom. Until... um, I'm sorry, what's that? 336 bucks, a piece? No, no thank you. Not in my budget. So, the hunt was still on. After more searching, I decided to stick with something a little more traditional, figuring it would be friendlier on my wallet and easier to work with when we are ready to change that bedroom into oh, I don't know... something else. I found these at PB. I really liked the style. The scale is great - they still feel substantial, not too dainty. At $298 for the pair, they were not a complete steal, but combined they were cheaper than ONE of the Circa Lighting sconces.

While hunting for reviews of the PB sconces online (I have a love/hate relationship with user reviews) I stumbled across a pair very similar on copycatchic.com for $19.99 a piece! Yes, that's right, under $20 per sconce. Jackpot. They are from a website called lakeside.com. Thinking I had stumbled across some gem of a website, I browsed around looking for some other mega-bargains. But unfortunately, the rest of the site looks like a Skymall catalog. So unless you're looking for holiday themed compression socks or a giant cat scratching post that a looks like a tree, you should probably just skip the website all together. Not bad, huh?

All things considered I might like the PB sconces a little bit more, but that all goes out the window with about $250 in savings. What do you think? Pretty close, huh? Directly above the bed I am planning to hang six framed egg prints. Something like this,

I think the sconces on either side will create really nice balance. They came in this weekend and I have to say, they look pretty good! We've still got a long way to go before that room is completely finished, but I'll be sure to share a sneak peek of the sconces when they're up.

i {heart} this house: coastal living ultimate beach house

The 2012 Coastal Living Ultimate Beach house is open. It is in Rosemary Beach, just minutes away from where we vacationed last week. As much as I would have loved to tour, I was not willing to sacrifice one minute of beach time. The goal is to soak up as much sun and eat as much seafood as possible, right? If so, mission accomplished. However, looking through pictures makes me the tiniest bit upset I didn't see it in person.

The house was designed by Erika Powell of Urban Grace Interiors. Who I L-O-V-E for so many reasons. 1. She's stinking adorable. 2. Her work is amazing. I die a little inside - in a good way, of course - every time I see a room she's designed. 3. She went to Auburn. 'Nuff said.

So feast your eyes on this ah-mazing home... I'm drooling.

{ the entry }

{ the foyer. the only reason I included this photo was for the light fixture and fiddle leaf figs - LOVE }

{ guest bedroom 1 }

{ guest bath }

{ guest bedroom 2 }

{ sitting room off kitchen }

{ living room + kitchen }

{ living room + dining area }

{ dining area }

{ all the appliances and dishes are neatly tucked away from the living space, which looks amaze, but not practical for folks like BW and me who spend most of our time in the kitchen eating cooking }

{ master bedroom }

{ master bath. DYING over those huge drawers and beautiful pulls }

{ little cozy den }

{ the bunk room }

{ the game room }

{ the most adorable striped ping pong table }

{ guest bedroom 3. love the headboard and wall color. want something similar for our master. am I the only one who has an issue with plates above the bed? I mean... in any other room of the house, it's great, but the bedroom? just me? }

{ media room }

{ perfect place to curl up and watch a movie }

{ movie snacks. where are the rasinets? }

{ little girls' bunk room. hands down cutest room of the house. }

{ loungers + pool }

{ beautiful outdoor cabana }

Isn't it amazing? What's your favorite room?

{ all images via }

i {heart} this house: kristin alber

I spend all day with my eyes glued to the computer, so when quitting time rolls around I usually spring from my chair and sprint out of my office. Which just so happens to be a bedroom in our house, so I don't sprint far... actually, it's more of a fast paced walk to the other side of the house. But the other day while catching up on some reading at The Lettered Cottage, I came across a post about Kristin Alber's home and I literally could not peel my eyes from the screen. This house is ah-mazing! So airy and fresh.  I wanted to soak it up, memorize it and recreate her beautiful little vignettes all over my own home.

{ all images via }

Oh, and apparently Kristin and her hubby own two shops in Mesa, AZ - Domestic Bliss and Found. A to-die-for-house and an incredible shop? It's like something out of the movies. Namely, this movie. And yes, I'm a teensy bit jealous.

how strapping

I LOVE my camera strap. Found here. While I still think mine is just perfect, I about died when I saw these beauties...

{ via }

Sure, they're not very practical and they are a teensy bit out of my price range, but boy are they pretty! Check out more fabulous straps from Bloom Theory here.

And a few other things...

I am obsessed with this blog. She has impecable taste. I'm obsessed.

I think I will postpone several things on my to-do list in order to carve out some time to make these little guys.

crave or save: kelly wearstler imperial trellis fabric

BW and I are so lucky because our house has an amazing outdoor space. Rather than going with the typical outdoor table, umbrella, lawn chairs, yadda, yadda, I wanted to create a second living space with comfy, lounge-y furniture. We finally found pieces we loved - the World Market set below (which we bought on sale!). I've spent the last few weeks trying to find some outdoor pillows to pull the space together. Thanks to Pinterest, I fell in love with the Kelly Wearstler Imperial Trellis fabric and decided I'd order a few yards and whip up some pillows. Until, of course, I noticed that the Kelly Wearstler fabric is $134 a YARD! As someone who thinks $20 is a lot for a yard of fabric I think $134 is absolutely insane. After some searching I found something pretty darn close for $9 a yard. It's from fabric.com and as far as I can tell it's identical. I'm hoping to find a few other patterns and accents to toss into the mix, but the KW inspired fabric is definitely a start.

{ our World Market furniture }

Then, I found theses puppies on target.com. $25 for TWO pillows! I should just order them call it a day, but these are only 16" and I really want something a little bigger.



To wrap thing up, check out some of these beautiful rooms showcasing the Kelly Wearstler Imperial Trellis pattern. Maybe you'll be inspired to order some of the "save" fabric for yourself! Also, I've pulled together an "inspiration board" for the feel I want to create for the outdoor space. I will be sharing that soon!

{ all images via pinterest }