Zara Bedding

Literally, my favorite home trend and European fashion chain have collided.

Feast your eyes on these puppies, courtesy of Zara Home. If only I had seen these before sending Santa my list. 

Merry and Bright

Though we will be out of town for Christmas, I love getting into the spirit of the holiday and celebrating the season.

With a new house to decorate this year, I wanted to feel like we were somewhat "home" for Christmas even if we wouldn't be there the day of.

I love  using fresh greenery this time of year, especially with its heavenly scent that fills the house.

We hosted four couples for a dinner party Saturday and it was so fun working on the tablescape.

I can't tell you how nice it is to use your full leaves all year round in your dining room and not have to store them.

A little dark, but a gold pine cone wreath I purchased after the holidays last year from Home Goods. Our nutcrackers are collected from Germany and given to us by my in-laws.

Fresh greenery is gorgeous and delicious-smelling, but an absolute pain to keep still.

One of my favorite things about our new house is having a banister.Sadly, my domestic skills are limited to bow-making, but my sweet husband was determined to YouTube these things and I have to say, they came out beautiful. 

Our mantle needs some tweaking but it's getting there.

Blurry, but a peaceful and serene morning with my cup of coffee by the tree.

Our poor neighbor Mary Lou got stuck taking our Christmas card photo and Carter did not want his photo taken. Thank God we got a halfway decent one out of the 9495947 we took!

Weekend Finds

We were lucky to have a very low key weekend at home, with a visit to a neighbor's tag sale, consignment shop, and some good ol' fashioned silver cleaning.

One of my favorite things to do is visit tag sales and consignment shops. It makes your home feel warmer, more collected, and part of history. To me, outfitting an entire home in Pottery Barn feels highly manufactured and ordinary. You want the "you-ness" to come out in your home, not the "catalog" feel. I also love the idea of passing these treasures along to my kids, and to their kids. Decorator Alessandra Branca partnered with One Kings Lane to share her holiday style, and she talks about how important it is that your taste be a reflection of your own nostalgia. Khaner and I collect Christmas ornaments and trinkets from all our travels around the world, and I love we share in that collection and memory. When they all come out of their boxes and tissue for the holidays, we can remember where we were, what we did, and how much fun we had. These are the "things" that distinguish your home from being just a house.

My sweet husband woke up early with me and walked down the street to our neighbor's tag sale. He learned very quickly the Early Bird gets the worm as I hastily scooped up beautiful silver Revere and compote bowls. I love collecting silver bowls and trays for entertaining. To me, they are more "collected" and meaningful than registering for a matching set from a department store.

Scooping up these bowls made me realize my own bowls and Mint Julep cups were in dire need of some polishing.

I can't recommend Weiman silver polish and stainless steel cleaner enough. You can see the before and after cups here. It only takes a few seconds and some elbow grease to get these babies back to their shining pewter glory.

It has made me wonder why I didn't bother to clean these sooner.

I have to admit, they sure do spruce up the built ins. 

I hemmed and hawed about this beautiful nativity set I found while shopping in York, England this summer with my Mom. I almost walked away from it and my mom convinced me I would  have them for decades and love them forever. I am so glad I took her advice. The shop owner meticulously wrapped each figurine and they arrived unscathed in my carry on through Heathrow.

I had cabin fever during the NC State game and decided to check out Theives Market, a consignment store my friend Natalie had told me about. For those in Raleigh, totally worth venturing out there. They have a similar setup to Cheshire Cat and Antiques Emporium in Cameron Village - different vendors with booths. I scored this gorgeous and HEAVY silver tray for pennies on the dollar.

Khaner was furious with me for purchasing this brass Ginger jar lamp. I won't repeat what he called it, but let's just say he instantly asked about the return policy. I admit, the lamp shade is terrible and I did replace it yesterday (more to come).  I like it gives off soft lighting and I think the etchings in it are unique and beautiful.

What are some trinkets you collect in your family?

Family Room Built In's

Ever since we moved, I really have not been feeling our family room. Everything we need to do in there feels so overwhelming. We need a huge area rug (the room is 18x24 ft). We need the wallpaper removed and the walls painted ($$$). We need new sofas ($$$). I decided to take off bite-sized chunks of reno tasks, and the easiest and cheapest with the quickest gratification was the built ins.

Let me show you what the builts in looked like before I got my hands on them last night while K was on a business trip:

Sad state. The room is large but so dark. I plan to remove that dark blue wallpaper and paint the walls white, especially with the built ins, trim and molding being french gray. Don't mind my assistant. 

Such a mess..

I decided at least having decent books would help the sad, neglected college-like built ins. I ended up at Reader's Corner on Hillsborough Street. The owners thought I had lost my mind. The entire front of their store are all 0.25 and 0.10 books! I went hog wild, obviously.

I raced home from work and took advantage of the time I had before Khaner would be negotiating all his high school and college memorabilia sustain their home on the shelves. Since when is a fraternity PADDLE appropriate for a young couple's home? Never.

Ta da! Sadly, the 130 books purchased have still left about 6 shelves empty.

Much better. We need a few more photos for the shelves.

 Don't mind my tarnished Revere bowls and Champion cups - they all need some good polishing.

Ladies Lounge

On a very gloomy dark and rainy Monday, something to brighten your day:

Gorgeous hot pink roses from Trader Joe's has made the ladies lounge extra peaceful as well as cheery. I have loved sitting in there with coffee during the mornings and a glass of red after a long work day. 

Around the house

Did I tell you that moving is stressful, exciting and also $$$? Once you complete the actual move, the unpacking and settling in, you then realize all the things that are missing. And then you struggle with the desire to fix it all ASAP but then also purchase only things you LOVE and will not tire of over decades.

Khaner may or may not have sat down with me about the number of purchases going on daily. In my heart of hearts, I do feel that he will look back on these times and realize that our home is our sanctuary. It is a place of comfort, love, rest, laughter, peace and relaxation. It is filled with your loved ones, your precious moments and it serves as the foundation of each milestone and chapter in your life. It should represent who you are, your family, your traditions, and the people and things you cherish most in this world. At least that's been my sales pitch when the pillows, lamps, books and furniture have been arriving.

The ladies lounge, complete with Carter and his rope toy.

I decided against the aztec pillow - it wasn't full enough and was too high for the cushions on this sofa. The verdict is still out on this elephant throw, but I have to try to put more color into my house. How gorgeous did the greek key pillows turn out from Etsy? I am tempted to ask the merchant if she makes drapes.

And in spite of all the purchasing I've been doing, my sweet husband treated me to an early birthday present. My plan is to find a glass maker who can install a second glass shelf on the bottom. You wouldn't believe the price difference in the market for a two shelf coffee table.

Still working on styling the coffee table, but can't go wrong with a Ginger. I know in Chinese the symbols stand for double happiness, and they truly make me feel so happy looking at them. Even though my husband hates them, I know he appreciates the joy I have in collecting them over the years.

Picked up this gorgeous book by Anna Spiro while on a business trip a few weeks ago. She has teamed up with Anthropologie in a book deal and did some signings throughout the States this month. I love her book, advice and style. She has helped me tremendously in just the few short weeks we've been in the new house. And a new friend we've met brought me a beautiful Ella B. candle!

The ladies lounge had a couple of intruders this morning, but I guess I will keep them.

Anna's book talked about how you really need larger lamps for a bedside table. It gives height to your bed, provides more symmetry, and most importantly, better light for reading. I am not sold on the shades and normally swap them out for less trendy ones. We'll see.

Not pictured is the enormous gash my not-so adorable dog created in my Pine Cone Hill coverlet. More to come on the new one.

Pillow talk

During my last business trip I picked up this fabulous book in Anthropologie. I had first read about Absolutely Beautiful Things from one of my favorite blogs here in Raleigh.  Rather than just being another coffee table book, author and renowned decorator Anna Spiro walks you through how to setup house, down to the number of pillows to place on a sofa.

Speaking of pillows, I've decided my beloved recovered sofa needs some additional friends for its current Cheetah pillows.

I love this bright aztec one for the center cushion, courtesy of Target:

Love the tassels, bold red, blue and yellow

And because a little boy in our house has been poorly behaved chewing up Mommy's club chair pillows, two new ones will replace the shredded, loose-filling ones we currently have:

I think the neutral khaki and the gold will tie in nicely with the cream of our club chairs.

And last but not least, cream and gold Greek key ones will be ordered from Etsy. When choosing these pillows, I tried to remember the colors in my area rug, the colors of our painting, pictures, prints and trinkets in the formal living room, as well as how bold the Aztec one will be. This plain Jane is working on incorporating more color, but it's not an overnight process.

Curb Appeal

We finally closed on the new house last week and what a whirlwind it was. The focus is currently on the curb appeal. Eventually we need a landscaper to trim back a Japanese Maple that is blocking the entire front of the house's view.

In the mean time, I scooped up some front porch items that were on a decent Columbus Day Sale.

K was worried we'd have to use a key each time to get the mail, but I saw an Amazon review share that it doesn't need to be locked. Love the unique green color!

K bought me an address lawn plaque at Duplin, and because we sit high on a hill again, I wanted our house number easily accessible.

I am a sucker for an urn planter. Not sure if I will spray paint these black or keep their greenish tint, we'll see!

After a trip to the farmer's market for mums and pumpkins.

Sarah and Zack's wedding

We've had a crazy month. As you remember from a previous post, we sold our house and bought a new one. If you want to see what your marriage is made of, sell your house, buy a new one, and don't have the same closing date, so you are living out of a suitcase for two weeks while your dog is with your parents. Oh, and don't forget business trips that are planned then cancelled due to mechanical failure of the aircraft, on top of a hurricane in the mix.

Needless to say, we needed to have some fun and let loose. One of my best friends got married the weekend after we sold our house, and boy did we have fun.

Bailey and I Friday night with the stunning bride 

Emily, Dalton and me at Selwyn Pub after rehearsal. K was calling us HWC for Hot Wives Club

Enjoying our break from packing, moving and signing paperwork.

No Dalton has no blemish on her face, it's my crappy iphone camera.

Hands down, Sarah and Zack had the best band I ever heard. Party on the Moon did not disappoint!

Sarah's gorgeous dress and bridesmaid ones were all from Nitsa's. She was so happy!

Kitchen Dreamin

Buying a new house has definitely caused a decrease in some work productivity. However, my goal is to knock out several hours of highly efficient and productive output and give myself 45 minutes for "play time."

Dreaming of re-doing our kitchen as the first major renovation at our new house. I am traditionally not a big Pinterest user, but have gotten some inspiration for my plans:

Love these light fixtures and floral arrangement.

These are the cabinets/hardware I am coveting

These cabinets with part glass and part closed would be great to display china or over a bar area with wine glasses ans high ball glasses. Love the hardware.

I think the drawer pulls are unique - I would opt for a more polished brass that's not as yellow and more antique-ish.