HGTV Smart Home

Like I did earlier in the year with the HGTV Dream Home, I'm going to take a peek inside the new Smart Home, which you can sign up to win until the 31st. This time the house is in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, which seems like a lovely place, but I need to tell you something before we get to the pictures: the house is Themed with a capital T. And I bet you know what theme that is.

Let's start with the foyer, since that's the first place most people see. I like the thick trim, the wood ceiling, the floor color... The paint color is a smidge bright for me, but I've seen worse. Not bad, foyer!

Just kidding. Below is the foyer nook that leads to the master suite. See what I mean about things getting matchy? Also, if you're going to do a feature wall, then it should stand out. The lamps and anchor artwork make it too busy in there. Plus, I'd like another color for contrast.

This is the kitchen, obviously. I don't have anything bad to say about the room itself. It's fresh and light, and feels beach-y without being literal. (I hate literal.) I just have one little nitpick about the styling: I don't like the turquoise dishes and pots. Another color would've been a wee more interesting.

Sidenote: look at how different the island cabinets look in this picture. I wonder which is the more accurate color:

There isn't much I don't like in the dining room. The china cabinet is beautiful, as is the chandelier. And the rug! Come to my house, rug. The one weird thing for me is the curtains. I get the point of them (open floorplan with an option to close it!) but they just don't work for me. Maybe it's the stripes? Or the fact that this house has great views, so why would you want to hide them? I don't know.

This is the art above the china cabinet. Kind of theme-y, but for me it's a new way of using seashells and I appreciate that:

Oooookay. The family room. Can we talk about the giant marlin above the doors and that honkin' seashell in the back corner? This will sound harsh, but stuff like that is so cliche to me. Especially since we all know they're fake. If you actually catch a fish that big, cool! Hang that baby up! But this fake marlin that I've seen over and over again? Pass.

As far as seaside decor goes, I actually love the coral on the coffee table. It says "ocean" without screaming it in your face. Plus, it works with other kinds of decor, too, which makes it a great purchase. I think they picked some nice fabrics in here, too, though I do wish they put a different pillow on the side chairs.

[Edited to add: DUH! I forgot the picture of the kid's room!] The headboards are cool, but again with the theme. It's just... sigh. I wanted them to use a different shade of blue at some point.

This is the master bedroom and by far my favorite. I want to get rid of that plant table at the end of the bed (how fast do you think somebody would trip over that in the dark?), and I want a pop of color somewhere, but overall I think it's really pretty and soothing. Thumbs-up for ceiling height curtains, too.

Just to keep us on our toes, they made the guest room a reddish coral that doesn't have any beach paraphernalia. The wall color is nice and the mismatched nightstands are cool, but those curtains overwhelm me. It feels like a small room and that's a lot of look.

Finally, here's the deck. Helloooooo party zone! You could easily have 30 people out there. I have nothing bad to say about this. Hubsey is all over that outdoor kitchen.

Since this is the Smart Home they have all kinds of fancy technology built in. I'm no tech genius, but they have a central command zone for your door locks, lights, pool settings, window shades, security cameras, and entertainment center that sounds pretty snazzy.

So what do you think of this? I like it more than the Dream Home, but that bar was set pretty low, wasn't it? What's your favorite space in here? Are you into this theme? Do you have a deep and unyielding love for fake Marlins and now hate me? (I hope not.)

Dress Codes + Hot Weather = Sadface

A couple of years ago I worked in an office, and among the many things I hated about it was the dress code. We did get to wear jeans everyday if we wanted to, but there absolutely no shorts (even Bermudas),  no sandals without backs (what?), and nothing sleeveless. So. That's a bummer on a really hot day.

I know a lot of people are dealing with those pesky dress codes now that it's officially hot outside, so I put together a couple of outfits that are work-appropriate AND won't give you heat stroke. Everybody wins!

items and pricing

I picked a lot of light colors (bounce that heat back, yo!) and lightweight fabrics, which are excellent even when the breeze is a hot one. The accessories are minimal, too, because I hate it when jewelry sticks to me in the humidity. As usual, I used a lot of solid colors instead of patterns to keep things mix-y and match-y. Pink and coral aren't colors I wear a lot, but both of these kind of make me wish I had to dress like a young professional again. Maybe I can justify those square earrings and leopard flats, since I do have to look like a real person when I sell jewelry face-to-face.

Anyway, if you get tired of wearing skirts or dresses all the time (my limit is three days in a row), here's some inspiration involving pants:

items and pricing

Again with the light colors and flow-y fabric. Because this look was so neutral I chose bolder accessories, and purposely picked a larger necklace that would rest on the front of the blouse instead of the skin. The whole feel is still very soothing, though, which is another plus for a hot day when your brain gets mushy. Also, think of how many ways you could wear that blouse. Score.

So how do you beat the heat at work? Do you have a silly dress code to follow? What's your favorite piece here? I'm torn between the entirety of #3 and those leopard shoes in #1.

FLOORS!

I don't even have an introduction for this except: LOOK AT THE BASEMENT!

Just ignore the holes in the wall and the still-wood trim. THE FLOOR! I just want to lay there and whisper to it. Tell it how beautiful it is. Maybe sing it a song.

Remember how the room looked right after we ripped up the carpet?

Bah! Look away!

Like everything else we do to the casa, this ended up taking longer than we expected. The goal was to have it done last weekend, but, ya know. Life. The main issue was that we never wanted to continue it after a full day of work because we were already tired. So all of it went in on weekends, and if you look at it that way it's not so bad.

It's SwiftLock 25 from Lowes in Fireside Oak. This is actually floating laminate instead of hardwood, which we did just in case more water ever sneaks down here. The planks had a tongue on one side and a groove on the other, so there were no nails or glue to worry about. They just slid together. Aside from the table saw and safety goggles, these were all the tools we needed:

EASY. Seriously, anybody can put down laminate if you have the time. As sore as it made us, we decided that we'd totally do this again. (I'm lookin' at you, shag carpet in the dining room...) Anyway, up next is painting the rest of the trim and patching those giant holes in the wall. And then we'll have to paint the walls. SIGH. #neverendingbasement

Have you ever laid any flooring, laminate or otherwise? Working on any home projects now that it's warmer for good? What'd you do over the weekend? If you saw Star Trek, how was it? (No spoilers!)

Pinterest Picks

Happy Friday! I actually kept thinking yesterday was Friday because I met Hubsey in the city for a Fall Out Boy show (wooooo!) and it totally threw us off. But good thing it wasn't yesterday, otherwise I would've missed this week's Pinterest Picks.

First, this is a gorgeous color. The description I saw said it was a grayed-down robin's egg blue, which is so accurate. We've been looking for the right shade of blue for the main bathroom, and I think this is our winner. Palladian by Benjamin Moore:

A show of hands, who likes to wear maxi skirts in the summer? I do! That is, when I can find them longer than my ankles. I've kind of given up looking in stores and might attempt to make a couple myself. Conveniently, I found a roundup of 16 tutorials yesterday:

I love any kind of spicy Asian noodle, so naturally I'm all over this soba salad with honey soy dressing:

Since I just took a shine to another old, falling apart piece of furniture, I've been looking at makeover ideas. This one won't necessarily work for what I bought, but I thought it was cute, anyway:

And finally, I don't think I really understood the vintage Pyrex trend until I saw this picture. I had only seen a couple of patterns, but the ones in the middle here are much more my speed (hello, blue starburst!).

So what are you up to this weekend? My aunt is flying in from California, so obviously I'll be seeing her, and then I plan to get a little bit of painting done on Sunday evening. Did you find anything awesome on the web this week? Anybody going to see the new Star Trek movie this weekend? I can't go for another few days, but I'm PUMPED.

Wanna follow me on Pinterest? Hop over there.

Look who bought some more old furniture.

It was me! Look at this beauty:

Not that I don't already have another project I need to do first, but I've apparently developed a bit of a problem when it comes to seeing vintage furniture and leaving it at the store. Or in this case, the estate sale.

I love the legs and the lines and wanted it to come live with us, even if it has janky water stains and, um, peeling veneer:

The best part? Just like that coffee table I fixed up in March, this was only $10. The dude just wanted it gone, but hey, that's better for me. I'm not sure what color I'll paint it yet, or if we'll put it in the basement or the artist formerly known as the smurf room, but I'd like to have it done before I go back to school.

Have you scored any crazy secondhand deals lately? What color do you think I should paint this? Do you have any tips on fixing wacky veneer?

Dressing Like A Frenchwoman Part 3

This is the final chapter of my Dressing Like A Frenchwoman trilogy. It's been fun to look at what makes those ladies in France so stylish, all the time. First we talked about wearing fewer (yet more amazing) items of clothing overall, then we looked at investing in quality basics that would last for years, and today we're getting into... accessorizing!

Accessories do a couple of things. One, they make an outfit feel more complete. And two, if you're going to try paring down your wardrobe to just your favorites (which I actually recommend--still doing the experiment from Part 1, though it's probably not an experiment anymore by this point), accessories will help two similar outfits feel different.

Okay, let's look at an example. For this chapter I'm not counting shoes or a bag as accessories, because you can't really leave the house without them. Here's the starter outfit:

Individually, I dig all of these pieces and think they look cute together. There's nothing wrong with this look, per se, but even I think a plain old gray dress is boring. And I LOVE gray. But this makes me want to nap.

Here's the same dress, shoes, and clutch with a little bit of jewelry. Huge difference, right?

It doesn't have to be elaborate. In fact, I don't think it should be, since the whole purpose of this trilogy is to make getting dressed easier. You don't need to have 9,000 things in your jewelry box to do this everyday, either. I purposely picked two items that were simple and versatile (the earrings and ring) and then added a trendier pop of color with the earrings (which also tie in with the clutch). But wearing simpler earrings would also look great, if you don't feel like big and flashy is your thing.

As for that second role of accessories: they can make similar outfits look different. Here's the same gray maxi dress, restyled in a completely new way:

I love that hat. Again, most of this stuff is versatile and will go with a lot of other looks: like the hat, sunglasses, and earrings. The tribal bracelets are a little trendier, but I think the gold and black pattern makes them a little more timeless than the bright designs floating around now. You could definitely wear both of these outfits in the same week and nobody would think you were rocking dirty clothes. (Who washes things every time they wear them, anyway? Please.)

How do you like to accessorize? Do you do it everyday? Has anybody else started paring down their wardrobe? I'm going to miss doing this series. SIGH.

Pinterest Picks

Do you know what today is!? Yes, it's Friday, but it's also my first full day of summer break! (I may or may not have done jazz hands as I left the building yesterday.) As stoked as I am for a breather, it will only be a month long: my next class starts June 11th.

Some of you might be thinking, "Um, didn't your brain turn to sludge for a while because you work full-time while going to school?" Well, yeah. It did. But I've been thinking a lot about what I want for myself, and I want to finish school sooner than later. I've already started to restructure some business stuff that will make my schedule more predictable, and therefore my life less insane. I'll spill the beans about that when we get closer to it.

ANYWAY! It's Friday and that means Pinterest Picks. I'm not sure what's up with me lately, but for the last six months or so I've been weirdly into coasters. Maybe because they're simple enough to make that even I with zero free time can handle it? These are just painted right on the cork:

I'm getting one of my twice-yearly haircuts this afternoon. (I know, I know. Now I have crazy split ends to show for it.) The goal is to leave the salon looking like this, minus the wind machine obviously:

I show you guys a lot of white kitchens, but I just love them too much to keep it all inside. I'm especially drawn to the farmhouse sink and many windows.

Hmm, this week is turning into the blog version of a favorite hits album. Look, more pretzels! But this time with rosemary and sea salt:

Okay, here's something different. Make your own napkins stenciled with quotes from Downton Abbey:

What's on deck for this weekend? I have a show tomorrow that I still need to prep for (pricing, getting cash, etc.). I also plan to sleep a lot because, man, I'm tired. Do you have any big plans? Do you find yourself pinning certain things over and over? Who wants to make those pretzels for me?