The Heart of our Home ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend !!  And, while I'm sure most of you are tired of hearing the word "snow," we were *snow* excited (har har) to have a tease of it here in Myrtle Beach this past Saturday.  Jax loved playing in it ... building his first snowman and making his first snow angel. 

Well, come on inside for a cup o' hot chocolate or hot tottie while you take a peek in our kitchen.  It's truly my favorite room in the house ... where I wish I was constantly whipping up award-winning meals.  Sadly, the only thing I tend to *whip up* in here is chaos ... constantly changing things around !!  Decorated in a french/wine/bistro theme, we really do enjoy the open flow of this room:

We've also enjoyed adding a few custom touches.

BEFORE: laminate countertops covered every surface (including the island, which I don't have a before pic of).  First, we added Black Galaxy granite to the island:

THEN:  Here's the island with added face panels and a coupla coats of SW Antique White ... eventually I'm going to *attempt* to add a brown glaze, and I'd love to add some sort of stencil or embelishment on the side panels.  Also, the parameter countertops are now fancied up with Golden Beach granite.

BEFORE: plain ol' backsplash:

AFTER:  Neutral tiles and a decorative border now fill the space:

As for the pantry door ... I attempted to give it a little personality by adding a chalkboard to the upper half (had the burch wood cut at Lowe's ... rolled on some black chalkboard paint and added molding). (And, oops, clearly it's time to wipe away the snowflake wishes!)

Annnnnd, of course, I've *futzed* around with the accent table in the breakfast area ... can you spot the little fellas I picked up the other day?

Here's a closer look at them.  Ahhhhh ... bunnies ... aren't they cute ?!  And, now that we got to enjoy a little bit of snow, these ceramic furries have been instructed to hear of no more winter; see no more winter; and speak of no more winter !!  Bring.on.Spring !!

Thanks so much for stopping by !!





I'm linking up with:

Metamorphosis Monday at BNOTP

Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered

Made it Monday at The Persimmon Perch

Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts

Making the World Cuter Monday

Toot Your Horn Tuesday at A Silly Little Sparrow

Make it Yours Day at My Backyard Eden

SYS Thursday at Somewhat Simple

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DIY~ Bulb Plant Holders

Rang Decor reader, photographer and home decor lover~ Meena Sriram from Ottawa, Canada shares with us a simple but beautiful do-it yourself, Bulb Plant Holder.

Meena narrates, "To be honest, I found this bulb in a small but very quaint store called Laras, downtown Ottawa. I picked one up from the store, later tried making many, got my apartment superintendent to help clean out the bulbs, its not something that you can easily do with a kitchen knife (err..realised that after some very painful tries)

Once the inside of the bulb is cleaned out, the rest is fun and easy, decorating it with African beads and shells and anything else that strikes your fancy!"

The bulb plant holder enhancing the beauty of a corner...

Bulb Plant Holder decorated with African beads...

Now, that is something I would definitely try out:-) The bulb plant holders can add a magical touch to any corner of you home.

Do give it a try!

( images by Meena Sriram)

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Monkeys, palm trees and dirty laundry ... oh my !!

Welcome to our mudroom, where you'll find yourselves surrounded by a bunch of monkeys !!  Nooo, not John, Jax and me, silly, but our walls !!  Okay, so YES, I do have one other room decked out in wallpaper.  When I first spotted the fun paper in my hairstylist's studio, I LOVED it ... had to have it ... didn't know where I was going to put it, mind you, but I HAD to have it !!  We decided on the mudroom because I thought this was someplace unexpected for a fun paper such as this.

BEFORE: I took this picture of our mudroom the day after we moved in ... basic white ... wire shelf ... no storage, etc.  It was politely screaming for us to give it a little personality.  So, that's what we did (or attempted to do, anyway).  As always, feel free to click on pics to enlarge them.

AFTER:  Welcome to the jungle !!  Are your eyes going crazy from all of the monkeys and palms?  Well, not only did we add the paper, but we added crown molding, maple upper cabinets and a double base cabinet.  I painted the ceiling SW Blonde, and we replaced the light fixture (oops, sorry you can't see it).  I can't tell you how much I love having the extra storage !!

I recently scored this fun wall clock from Kirkland's:

We found this great mirror w/ hooks at Lowe's.  And, the storage bench's former home was, once again, Kirkland's.  I'm sure it appreciates us throwing our stinky "go to" shoes in there !!

Finally, I recently turned this little area into our "command center." (I'll give you one guess where the precious monkey lamp came from!).  Thankfully, we saved the countertop that used to be on our kitchen island ... our contractors were able to cut it down and use it here !!  I love that the wide drawer below (seen in other picture) serves as our "neat" junk drawer, filled with pads, pens, small "fix it" items, etc.  And, Jax loves calling one of the base cabinets "his," by storing his coloring books, crayons, stickers, etc. there.  Um, did I already mention how much I LOVE the extra storage !! 

So, there ya' have it.  Now, I'd love your honest opinions here ... it's been 3 years since we added this wallpaper.  And, well, you can imagine that I'm getting the itch to redo the walls.  When I look back at the "before" pic, I somewhat miss the light color ... how the washer and dryer blend into the wall, instead of popping out and screaming at you against the red walls.  So ... my wonderful blogging friends ... what do you think?  Paint it back to a lighter color or keep it as is?

Thanks for stopping by,





I'm joining:

Metamorphosis Monday at BTOTP

Make Your Monday @ Twice Remembered

Made it Monday at Persimmon Perch

Make it for Monday @ Cottage Instincts

Making the World Cuter

Toot Your Horn Tuesday at A Silly Little Sparrow

Make It Yours Day at My Backyard Eden

Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage

Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

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Happy Monday!

Here are some cheery yellow flowers from my home to brighten your Monday:-)

I received a beautiful gift, a ceramic incense holder, it was so lovely I decided to float these yellow flowers in them.

Have a great day!

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Hotel Mandawa Haveli.

We chose Hotel Mandawa Haveli, a haveli built in the 18th century by a wealthy Marwari jeweller for our stay at Mandawa, Shekhawati, Rajasthan during our winter break.

Soaking up the winter sun in the outer courtyard of the haveli.

Entrance to the haveli.

The outer walls of the haveli framed by flowering trees.

The haveli has been restored and converted into a hotel by Dinesh Dhabhai. There are beautiful frescos painted all over the haveli and especially in the inner courtyard. The theme is of Lord Krishna and scenes from his life.

The inner courtyard being spruced up for the Christmas Eve celebrations...

The intricate rangoli design painted by a local grandmother & grand-daughter team...

The original intricately carved Rajasthani doors have been restored.

Lovely antique furniture line the courtyard.

The rooms have been named after the various names of Lord Krishna.

We stayed in 'Rasesh':-)

The inner view of the room.

The stunning view of the courtyard all lit up for Christmas eve and the melody of Rajasthani folk music just took our breathe away!

The friendly turbaned gate-keeper at the Mandawa Haveli:-)

Do stay at a restored haveli, when you visit Shekhawati to truly experience the local flavor of the region:-)

(images by Arch)

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Please pass the potatoes ....

May I just say you guys are the best!  You really know how to make a new gal feel welcome here in blogland.  I've loved reading all of your thoughtful comments, of which I do not deserve!  Thank you!  And, I have to give a special "shout out" to Cindy at Cottage Instincts (for highlighting my humble guest "loo" redo), Beth at The Stories of A to Z (for sharing my fireplace/mantle tranformation) and Kim at My Domestic Bliss (for mentioning, and relating to, my admission of my ADD (Attention Decorating Disorder)! 

If you feel like staying for a bit, I'd love to show you our breakfast area, highlighting a few changes we made to it.  As always, feel free to enlarge the pics by clicking on them.

BEFORE: Imagine a big ol' red wall (RL Stadium Red) ... try (AND try) as we did, nothing seemed to work.  ANYthing we put there seemed to get swallowed by the tall wall with vaulted ceiling.  And, as the kitchen cabinets share the same wall (I'll take you there soon), symmetry and balance went by the wayside, which drove me ker-azy!  Sorry this isn't a better pic:

AFTER:  Welcome dry bar (magically built by our friend, Paul)!  We're super pleased with how it turned out ... love how it fills the space.  We wanted it to have a few different features than the kitchen cabs, so we chose rope-accented molding, legs and feet ... a metallic backsplash ... black countertop and glass accent doors.  I love that the center cab is shorter and bumps out (Paul's idea).

We really enjoy the convenience of the wine cooler ... Chardonnay? Shiraz? Champagne? Sparkling Cider? What can I get ya'?

I did a not-so-great job of adding the metallic backsplash (from Lowe's), hoping for a bit of pizazz.  And, when the budget allows, we plan on changing out the counter to Golden Beach granite, which would then match our kitchen countertops:

I cannot tell you how much I've loved having the extra storage, too !!

Aside from the dry bar, we traded the blinds and panels for roman shades (done in a whimsical polk dot fabric) to add a bit of fun coordination to the cornice (both treatments were done by my great friend and neighbor, Christy). 

I recently grabbed this accent table at Kirklands, which I'm still "futzing" with:

And, lastly, I'm lovin' the oversized lazy susan I recently scored at Tuesday Morning ... really like how it resembles the top of a wine barrel and is the perfect fit for our kitchen table. I'm testing out my Southern Living tray on there (which I filled with faux grapes, wine corks and wine glasses, one of which is filled with a small votive *melted* candle).

Well, that's all for now ... it's almost time for football and a hot bowl of white chicken chili, topped with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and Scoops ... yummy !! 

Stay warm and be safe if you are one of the many surrounded by snow and icy roads !!

I'm linking up with:

Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch

Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered

Made It Monday @ Persimmon Porch

Toot your Horn Tuesday @ A Silly Little Sparrow

Do It Yourself Day at A Soft Place to Land

Make it Yours Day at My Backyard Eden

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

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