I have five quick design tips for you today! These are design tips that I live by. Also some very casual pics from the week and some of my favorite things. I talked about this over on my Instagram the other day, I had someone say on FB a comment about my family room. Now I don't share this to have you say "poor Brooke". It really wasn't like that. Another blogger had shared my family room over on her FB page (thank you!) and the comment was... "That room would look so much better with a bigger cocktail table." (You can shop my entire front room HERE) I agree with the design tip- ... Read More
Painted Cement Steps and Top Favorite Painted Patios
I have a little story for you about little porch update we did. I can remember right after I had Finn (my parents were in town and listening to this conversation so they can totally vouch for me) I said to Kevin we should paint our cement steps white and add pebble rocks to the walk up! He said "no, that sounds like a bad idea." Fast forward to one week after that conversation and we are staring at our newly painted cement steps. A man walks by us and says "WOW! What a difference painting your cement steps made!" Thank you Sir! Perfect Timing. All I had to do was look at my husband ... Read More
Front Porch Ideas and Designing the Outdoors
Hello! I thought I would share some fun updates we did to the front porch. Our front porch was looking sad- as I think (or hope!) most front porches do after winter. Our porch still had the little green pine trees on them from Christmas, because I convinced myself they looked "wintery". Needless to say it was ready for some love. Funny how we ignore the front of our home when that is the first impression we make! I can remember going to my friends Denise's house for a party and the entry was SO darling. She had pulled weeds, planted some flowers, added pots of topiaries and soft lighting as ... Read More
Outdoor Casual Dining on our Painted Deck
It finally stopped raining and we pulled out all the furniture from the shed. Can I tell you how excited I am to start eating out here every night? Instead of my normal Friday Favorites post I joined Melaine from My Sweet Savannah and 6 other bloggers to share some outdoor dining ideas today. We really love using our deck- it feels like our 1100 square foot home doubles in size when the weather warms up! We keep it casual around here for dinner and when we have people over to eat. You will really never see me set a fancy table- only at Thanksgiving and even then it is REALLY casual. I ... Read More
Homemade Artisan Bread- The Easiest recipe Six different ways
I have shared my moms favorite Homemade Artisan Bread recipe on my blog before. I had a special sign made for her for mothers day last year with a scripture about bread. My mom made this homemade bread everyday for a year and took it to someone new. She figured it only cost her 24 cents to make and not anytime at all, but I am sure it brightened someones day to know they were thought about. My mom and I came up with 6 different ways to make this bread. It is the easiest bread recipe ever! Seriously you don’t have to knead this bread or any fancy equipment. I personally don’t eat a lot to ... Read More
Sentimental Mothers Day Gifts and DIY Art
I have been thinking of Mothers Day, rare for me to think this far ahead (I guess it isn't that far, 3 weeks away). Maybe because I live far away from my Mom I have to be on the ball and make sure I have time to ship something to her and my mother-in-law. I got a mothers day idea after a call from my Grandma, she was searching for her mothers famous Carmel Popcorn Ball recipe. She couldn't find it and none of her sisters had it either. I had actually written it down for a high school assignment and saved it in my recipe book. I thought a family recipe would make a perfect piece of art! It ... Read More
Friday Favorites starts with Serena & Lily and Bloggers Favorites
The title of this blog post is a mouth full! I have too many favorites to share with you this week. I was invited to preview all the Summer changes at Serena & Lily in Westport CT. I am pretty lucky it is only 20 minutes from my house, I can pop in for some inspiration. We went to lunch at the yummiest spot after (The Cottage if you are local). I typically wouldn't share pictures of a store on my blog, but it doesn't feel like a store. It feels like I toured the most charming home everrrrrr. And it is pretty fun to see the newest and greatest things in season right now in home decor. So ... Read More
Home Tour- Hawkes Landing most Gorgeous White Kitchen
I think that this home I am sharing today is my favorite that I have ever shared and also my favorite home on Instagram. Melinda from Hawkes Landing did such an amazing job of adding charm to a brand new home. Although the house is painted in a bright white, it is not lacking in character. Their home feels eclectic and tells the story of their family. This is exactly what a home should do- tell the story of those who live in it. You are all going to love this home tour. The white kitchen is what dreams are made of and the girls shared bedroom...just too much to handle! Come and see what I ... Read More
Paleo Broccoli Salad- My go-to Party Salad
Do you have a recipe that you get asked to bring to every party you go to? Or you are always assigned to bring the same thing? Well you are talking to the salad girl. Yep that's me. I always get assigned a salad. And typically it is "Brooke bring your broccoli salad". I am proud to say that one of our good friends who isn't a salad eater requests this broccoli salad every time we go to their house. Even my husband will eat this salad and he does not do salads. Actually I take that back- he is "trying" to do salads. But lets be real, this broccoli salad is the only one he ever asks ... Read More
Friday Favorites- starts with EASTER!
We have had Spring Break all week for my girls. We did a little staycation. We went to the Zoo, rode bikes, played at the beach, parks and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. This Easter Sunday it is supposed to be high 70's here in CT and we are thrilled! We have some fun things planned for Easter. Sad to be away from family on Holiday's but looking forward to making some yummy things for my family for Easter dinner and breakfast. I am sharing some Easter Recipes that caught my eye this past week while planning our Easter menu, a new way we tried for coloring our Easter eggs and some other ... Read More