I am joining The White Buffalo Styling Co, House Seven, My Sweet Savannah and Bliss at Home to share how we Style with Purpose. I am excited to be apart of this ongoing series. I style and design every home with the purpose and try to make it comfortable for those who live in it. We all love to think that everyone we follow on Instagram, see on Pinterest has perfectly staged homes, but that isn't reality. Our homes are not perfect, we have toys, sewing machines out, books upon books stacked in corners, breakfast dishes in the sink while we try to throw together dinner. I had a ... Read More
Connecticut Family Room Tour
We get our moneys worth from this room, actually in a small house every room does. From playroom, family room, movie night room and guest room it does it all. It is upstairs and right off our daughters bedroom. Since it is upstairs they really use this room verses when I had a playroom in my basement in our old home and that thrills me! "Bless This Mess" sign you can find HERE I floated the sofa a quarter into the room to define the playroom space. It helps to hide the doll beds and toys my girls play with. This Lego table used to be a sight for sore eyes. After its ... Read More
New Contributor to City Farm House
I am excited to announce that I am going to be a monthly contributor to Jennifer's blog, City Farm House! She has a gorgeous blog, that is so well put together. It is ranked a top 10 blog by Better Homes and Garden. I had a chance to meet Jen recently at a Lowes event in New York City. She invited me to see all the new product that Lowes was introducing. I loved how Instagram and blogging has introduced me to such a great group of inspiring new friends. I shared my first post on Green Cleaning, you can find it HERE. I clean my house regularly with vinegar and water and wanted to ... Read More
Blogger Home Tours Thanksgiving Setting
I am joining White Buffalo Styling Co along with 31 talented bloggers to share how we decorate our Thanksgiving table. I am honored to join this group of talented bloggers for Blogger Stylin' Home Tours. If you came from Cuckoo 4 Design welcome! Here is how I turned all of those goodies above into a table setting for our little family. I have it easier this year. Not emotionally, we will be missing family, but hosting is easier. For the past 7 years I have hosted thanksgiving at our Utah home with my family and friends who didn't have family close. There was always at least ... Read More
Green Cleaning with Vinegar Water
I shared this image on my Instagram the other day. I had company coming so that means I needed to mop my floors. I snapped this picture of my sink filled with vinegar and cut oranges and lemons to minimize the vinegar scent. It shocked me how many people liked such a simple photo. It shows to me that everyone appreciates finding beauty in the everyday tasks. I received a lot of questions like "I need to know how much vinegar you use" or "you clean your floors from your sink?" and "please tell me your method!" So I thought I would share it with you. Yes, white vinegar is ... Read More
Flower Pot Bread
I had lunch at Shop Terrain in CT and with your meal they bring out these terracotta pots filled with bread. They are just so cute. I have taken people from out of town to eat there and the bread is always a big topic of conversation. I took my mom, sister and niece when they were visiting from Utah. And I set out to make this bread. I want to use it for my thanksgiving dinner and put at every place setting. I think these would make a great neighbor gift too, if you can find a larger flower pot. I found these pots at Home Depot for 70 cents each. ... Read More
Sweet unexpected words…
I found out I was pregnant in a very unexpected way. I think I was meant to find out this way to gain a deeper appreciation for this gift I was given. We had been trying to get pregnant for close to 2 years. Our first two girls came within a few months of trying. So it was a little unexpected when it didn't happen right away. I was not totally anxious for another baby. I had two bad recoveries with both of my girls and even worse with my second so I really needed a lot of time to forgot that pain. After about a year of trying I soon realized how badly I wanted ... Read More
“Pumpkin Pasties” and Potters
We were excited to get our new Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone- The Illustrated Edition. I surprised my girls with it. We had just drove to DC this past weekend, about a 5 hour drive from our house and listened to the audio version on our way home. We were all really into it. My 2nd grader got mad whenever I paused it, she didn't want to stop listening. I had a friend recommend we listen to it, she said they would go sit in the car and listen to it when they were getting near the end. You can find a similar spider I have in my window HERE You can find the Harry Potter and ... Read More
Fall Door Ideas
These flowers were white in the spring and now have turned this gorgeous rusty pink color. They are one of my favorite flowers we have in our yard called Autumn Sedum, how perfect is that name? The rain forced them flat on the ground, I thought I better bring them in to enjoy a little longer. They last forever after you clip them and bring them inside. I also added clippings from my boxwood shrubs. I wanted to keep them alive longer than a day. I filled a Ziploc bag with water and wrapped an elastic around it to keep it secure. Be careful ... Read More
All About Bedding
I recently did two E-design plans for bedding. I thought I would share my guide on the perfect bedding. Too often I go into clients homes or get pictures where the pillows are just too small and they used too many. Another thing I see is flat pillows. Fill them with down or get a full fiber blend, a size larger than the actual pillows. Here are some tips on making the perfect bed. This is my bed right now, it changes often. But the key is the layers and the 26" euro shams. THESE two euro shams are in the back THESE sheets came with two standard shams that are layered in ... Read More
