Getting It Right: Wedding Style

Getting married is so fun. For those of you who are dreaming of that day, I wish you every second of joy when that comes. Be patient. Singleness is a gift, maximize it (I relentlessly clung to that statement before I wed). For others, you may be far from that.

Regardless of where you’re at, I hope you agree with me that there is an endless amount of special things that surround weddings. One of those being the lovely bridal showers and gifts you receive. It was the one time in my life I could ask for anything I wanted and could hope for most of it. (So cool!) It was fun to choose what we both wanted/needed for our new life together.  Looking back, I’m thankful for most of my choices.

These were all questions that I know funneled through my mind and maybe yours too:

Where should I register?

 How do you know what to register for? 

What if I change my mind on what I like?

How do I get the future Mr. to care about choosing items?

How do I prioritize?

 In my case, my man was a little older but didn’t have matching pieces. (Thank goodness for starting fresh!) I tried to think basics. 

What do I need? 

What colors do I like most?

Tidbits for fiances and fiances to be:

Make sure to register for those things that you will use everyday but don’t forget about your garlic press (if you’re crazy into garlic like us), baskets, fun napkin rings, and shower curtain and liner (you never know when you’ll need that). Be smart on what you choose and it’s price. You do have to think about your audience. What type of people are buying the gifts? Sometimes I’m shocked when I look at registries and see the $800 chair the newlyweds want from Crate and Barrel.  Choose realistically but make sure to have diversity. Don’t forget, you can always return BUT try to not keep that mentality.

Answering the Big Question…Where do I register?

Pros and Cons from what I know or have heard….

	Pros	Cons
Pottery Barn	Beautiful and timeless items.	Higher price points. May not get everything you want.
Crate and Barrel	Reasonable priced items and super cool gifting. No “household” items.	Will gifters pay for shipping if they’re not near one? In my case, they did.
Bed Bath and Beyond	Awesome return policy. Coupons galore! Many locations.	uh.......
Target	Many locations. Great price points.	Crappy return policy. Make sure you have your receipt and I.D. Inventory changes often.
Kohls	Many locations. Great price points.	I don’t think quality is as good but that is just my own opinion!
Macy’s (department stores)	Many locations	Limited selections
HomeGoods/T.J. Maxx/Marshalls	Perfect place for gift cards, lots to choose from and you get more for your money.	Sparse locations
Pier One	Gift cards… cha-ching!	They no longer do registries but have a well-rounded inventory.
Ikea	Gift cards baby! People give them! Don’t doubt.	Location

ooh la la- gift table at our wedding

Personally, The Mr. and I chose Crate and Barrel, Bed Bath and Beyond, and a few things from Target (only things we knew we would keep). A fun part of receiving the gifts were those wedding gifts that were shipped to my house the week or two before. I would run to the door to meet the UPS man and the lovely white Crate and Barrel box. It made my day! Overall, it was such a fun addition to our wedding. Thank you to the lovely people in our life who blessed us with things for our home. (Boy, did we feel SPECIAL!)

the day after...ha...couldn't wait to see our new lovely gifts

For all you married kiddos out there…what was your best item you registered for and your worst?

(This post is in honor of my girls who are tying the knot in T-130 days or so. Bring on the bliss! I'm already thinking about what I'm gifting!)

Home-Made Baby Gift

One of my best friends, Lindsey, just recently had baby #2. I know baby #1 is a bigger deal than all the others but I wanted to find something special for the new babe. 

After almost purchasing these, I decided to make something homemade. I had two days to decide on the project and create it before we traveled to see them. With much doubt and a little looking at Michaels, I came home with a little $6 stool. I decided I was going to paint it and make it personal. I picked up some blue and green acrylic paint and some brushes. I also grabbed a jumbo clothes pin (which I love) and some very cool letters to paint and attach for a picture holder. 

Here’s the 2 day process….

First thing- spray paint it white.

Use masking tape to make lines. I thought I could free hand it. HA!

Stripes have to be done in stages. It takes a while to dry, peel, and repaint.

Almost there!

I made sure to cut out a "G" in the school workroom for a stencil for the monogram.

Oops, I forgot to take an after picture, sorry. In case you were wondering I left the clothes pin white and painted the letters pale green.

I missed some necessary pictures of Railey (baby #1) on the stool. She was getting a little more use out of it than Baby Grant. Oh well! We laughed, it might be the best time-out spot yet! What do you think?

Here are some of my other idea runners up….

Personalize a wooden toy crate. Find it here for $10.99.

Personalize a wooden magazine file and put some favorite books in it for the young'n. (Unfortunately, I saw it in the store but can't find a link for you.) 

Hope these pieces will inspire you to do a little Do-It-Yourself project. You CAN do it!

Tufted Stuff

Through my quest of discovering my new style, I have come across something I truly love. Tufted stuff! Specific, huh? Basically, it is textile that is clumped by weaving. Ok, now that I totally failed you at a definition, you'll have to check out the pieces below.

If you don’t know, I love texture in a room. The more the better.  The tufted favorites I’ve found really give the rooms the wow factor.  (Who doesn't want a room with a wow factor, right?!?!) 

My favorite place to find tufted furniture is Arhaus, the mother of luxury. I dream of one day being able to actually afford the beauties that fill up those walls.  Until that day, I will window shop and admire the rich and elegant pieces. Oh wait, that day will most likely never come. But heck, even better, I’ll make them myself for a quarter the price! Here are some tufted pieces I would easily take off of their hands…

Obviously, I don't want to overdue the tufted pieces in my future "home that awaits us". How do you decide  what furniture pieces you want to make that statement? I guess it takes finding the "right" piece. Well, it takes time and lots of looking. Here are some more affordable pieces that have caught my attention lately...

from World Market

from West Elm

from World Market

from West Elm 

from World Market

from Z Gallerie

And..... this is the piece I loved the most… that I dug in my nasty kitchen trash to (re)find…and the inspiration for this post!

Viola! Do you see that lovely bench! I can't wait to find that shape at an estate sale/Salvation Army this spring or summer to do some tufteding myself! 

(Big thanks to Fossil for the above pic, not that they care. I learned of their cool blog here.)

Images (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Breakfast Nook Beauty

Just recently I shared my awesome steal-of-a-deal dining set story.  If you didn’t check it out, you can here.

Yes, we got a great deal on it and I don’t regret buying it. It met (I guess is still meeting) its functional purpose and has fit nicely with both of our rather small dining nooks we've had. We love that the table leaf can be pulled out to fit six or collapsed to fit four. Let’s just say…it works.

I’m  becoming rather bored of the green tweed upholstery on the chairs, even though it was FREE from my mom. (She was always bringing home rolls of discontinued upholstery from work.) After a recent trip home, I browsed her samplings to see if anything matched the color scheme I had going on in our 770 square feet abode. To wishful thinking, I left with a roll of shimmery gold fabric. I thought it might tie in with my browns and rust colors. After quickly unrolling it I knew it was a NO-GO.

Of course I’m too cheap to buy new fabric for the chairs because I’m dreaming of something a little different. My hope (someday when we meet our home that awaits us) is to sell our dining set and find something a little more modern and fresh. My style is changing and I think that’s ok. Actually, I think it’s exhilarating (in a good, healthy, sort-a-way)!

While I dream of my home that awaits us, I dream of having a dining room AND a breakfast nook. (Can a girl ask for that?!).  The perfect focal point for my someday stunning breakfast nook would be a marble top tulip table. Ok that’s my dream, maybe I’ll end up with a look alike Saarinen table made from fiberboard and steel. What is a marble tulip table you ask….well let me sum it up with a few words for you.

Clean. Simple. Elegant. 

Sounds like a perfect combination doesn’t it? It’s a little mid-century modern but depending on the chairs, it could look luxurious! And that’s exactly what my little dreamland-brain pictures.

Here’s what I have my eyes peeled on…

Maybe once you see these stunning photos you will want one for yourself. Or maybe you think these are way-not-you. Give it some time. Let 'em grow on ya! I have yet to see one (or more like notice one) in a store. I did spend a little time browsing the breakfast nook beauties online here. Of course, you could get the look at lovely IKEA for $179. Maybe a little upcycling and you could create your own little beauty. 

(I have also seen these tables as fabulous bed side tables, coffee tables, and patio pleasers.)

Images (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Diggin-it in Indy

When we rented our first place we were in desperate need of some furniture.

After browsing Craigslist one Saturday, we found a guy advertising affordable household items. He had furniture, couches, artwork, and lamps. We instantly got in the car and drove to the sketch side of town. (Oh wait, we were already living there.) We pulled up to a small warehouse in which furniture was set outside to attract our penny pinching selves. We were immediately excited to walk out with a bang-up-deal (as the Mr. would say). After some serious time with the guy, we made two successful purchases with a little wedding money we had left over.

We purchased our lovely couch for a whopping $199 and dining room set for a mere $185. Was it what we had always dreamed of? NO!  Was it ridiculously affordable and in good condition and some what pleasing satisfying to the eye? YES!

If you’re anywhere in Indy and you don’t have $1,000+ to spend on a couch, we highly recommend checking this guy out. He is only open on Saturday afternoons. We believe he furbishes apartments for business execs while they stay in a temporary location. Afterwards, he sells the babies. I think some of his stuff  might be spankin’ new though. I was not impressed with the hideous mirrors, lamps, or art but the couches, chairs, and dining sets were definitely worth the moola.

Check it out....

Our 1st Hooray:

                                   More pics to come on the living room...

Our 2nd Hooray:

It came with ivory chair covers which I quickly covered with some green tweed my mom had lying around.

Disclaimer: I hereby am not responsible for any gosh awful pieces at the place.

A Gotta Get!

When it comes to the house, there are some objects that I am a total believer in. 
I can’t help but share! Check out today’s “Gotta Get”.

“Gotta Get” Stats:

What: Artificial potted plant

Location: IKEA

Price: $3.99 (makes me melt)

Size: Fits in small areas

Purpose: For use on a book shelf, coffee table, bathroom tray, above kitchen cabinets, office desk, used to cover cords, or whatever your creative mind fancies.

Why’s it so hotttt….

• Come on, really! It’s $3.99. Isn’t the price enough to sell you?! 
• They make decorating easy (something we can all appreciate) and can fit just about anywhere. 
• They work... regardless of your green thumb or lack thereof.

(Wide eyed, I just saw they now have succulents. Can’t wait for my next IKEA trip!) Check them out here.  The IKEA pots work great with the greens or you can be bold like me and just leave them bare. Whatever the case, pick one up or tell a friend. 

Check out my cheap and sexy greens:

Inspiration File

Think back to high school. For some of you that may seem like eons ago and for others maybe just yesterday. Did you ever take Home Ec? What type of class was it? At my tiny little school (yes, I graduated with 47 people), it wasn’t a popular class to take. The main attraction was the teacher. She truly cared and had a relaxed way of teaching. I remember in one of those classes we spent time talking about our future. For some reason, we started a manila envelope of pictures of things we would like to have in our future homes. (Huh, now that I’m writing this I wonder if we really did this in class or if it was just some other weird idea I had at age 15.) Anyways, I can remember filing pictures away just like I had seen my mom do as her and my dad built our house (more on that later).

Almost 10 years later I find myself doing the very same thing but now it’s more of a reality. I have begun my own inspiration file.

Ridiculous things I considered while making an inspiration file:

• Hard cover vs. soft cover
• Lined paper vs. blank paper
• 8 ½  x 11 size paper vs. larger paper
• Inexpensive vs. expensive notebook

Particular about the binding, I choose a sketchbook (I have a weird obsession with sketchbooks, they’re perfect for anything).

 With a little dash of Amy Butler’s (a fave fabric designer of mine) scrapbook paper I began my creation. A delicious latte and few labels later I had myself a little book of inspiration. I use it to keep my ideas that I tear from magazines. I look forward to someday studying the pictures to begin making choices for my home that awaits us.

Final choice: soft cover, larger blank paper, inexpensive sketchbook. (Would have loved this one but figured my $3 one from Target would suffice.)

The inspiration file is just a piece of my dream land. I have my online pictures saved here. Are you ready to start clipping? Maybe you’re a little crazy like me and feel better once something is visually organized. Let me officially give you permission to cut and paste.