Living Room Refresh

Without making any big promises, I'm happy to inform you that I have a few pieces of content lined up that will be making their way to this dusty old blog. The first of which is... my refreshed living room (see photo above)!!! 

It was really time. I mean honestly, we had been living with the same sad taupe couches for like 10 years, and while they were a great deal when I bought them (many many moons ago) they definitely left much to be desired in terms of "style." So after a year of looking for couches that would meet our space and style needs without costing us our full retirement savings... we settled on the Urban Sectional by West Elm and the Sloan Apartment Sofa by Interior Define. 

Check out more photos below. Also a "before" shot for comparison purposes.  

Grey couch from West Elm, blue velvet couch from Interior Define, coffee table from Overstock, rug from overstock. Woven leather accent chair from TJ Maxx. 

This little shelf that my dad made for us is one of my most favorite parts of the new living room. It seems silly but losing an end table was a concern for me, where would people put their drinks when they were lounging in the oh-so-comfy chaise? So we came up with this idea that if we created this small little shelf there would be a place to put your drink and then we could run a little extension cord up so that there was also outlet access in the event you needed to plug in the computer or your phone. Pretty brilliant right? Otherwise it was sort of this dead space where the baby would just throw all of her toys like some sort of cruel game of fetch for mama. 

Oh, oh, oh! I forgot to mention that we also had our stairs carpeted. So I'm usually not the biggest fan of carpeted stairs, especially when the carpet covers up beautiful hardwood. However, the practicality of carpeting is that people don't almost die on your stairs when they walk down in socks... so the possibility of a lawsuit made me rethink my no-stair-carpeting policy and we picked a simple wool style and had it cut as a runner so as not to totally cover the wood stairs. I really love how it came out and it looks great with the bench on the left and then the new couch to the right. 

Nursery #2

Our second baby (yup, we had a second baby) is experiencing the joy that is being a second child. Which means that her nursery wasn't complete until she was about two months old. I started prepping the room before we knew that our she was a she, so I wanted to keep it neutral--but also a little fun. I wanted it to feel adventurous/global, but since the room also doubles as storage for my own clothes, I didn't want it to be too babyish. 

So here's where we landed. The finishing touch on the room was when I ordered the huge print of Tajiri, the beautiful giraffe baby that was born to April the Giraffe back in mid-April. Many of my friends and co-workers are aware that I was glued to the live cam of April and felt a special bond with that giraffe as I approached the end of my second pregnancy. It was only natural that I received a bunch of giraffe-themed gifts when Cori was finally here. Check out more photos from the nursery below. 

A Front Porch that Screams "Sit & Stay A While"

When we first bought our house, I had a vision for my front porch that I shared on this blog. I wanted to create a calm and peaceful sanctuary that would transport me to Charleston or Savannah--where life moves at a slower pace. Well, I'm happy to say that it's finally complete! Just last week, my amazing father installed the pièce de résistance--the ceiling fan. On the most amazing of southern porches, you'll find a ceiling fan or two that provide the required breeze to keep you cool and make you feel like you're not far from the beach.

Since we first bought the house, we've made a bunch of updates to the exterior. We updated our house number, installed a new porch light, added faux shutters and painted all of our exterior trim a glossy black. In addition, my talented father (as previously mentioned) built an awesome planter that helps to create more privacy between our porch and the neighbor's porch. While we love our neighbors, it's always nice to feel like you have a little privacy when you're sitting out there with a glass of wine or cup of coffee. Check out more photos of the porch below!

As seen: Rug - Overstock // Porch light - Home Depot // Wicker chairs, love seat and end tables all scored on Craiglist // Ceiling Fan - Home Depot // House Number - Etsy // Rocking Chair - Overstock // Lanterns - At Home

My First B&E

All my life (okay, since I was nine) I wanted to get into this house. My camera phone doesn't do it justice, but when I was a young kid running around in the woods at the end of my street, It seems like a mansion. Something about it was mysterious but approachable, and I always had the secret desire to peek inside. It wasn't always in this state of disrepair. In it's glory days, it had a perfectly manicured lawn and smoke from a warm fall/winter fire billowing out of the chimney. 

The house sits on a nine-acre estate with another farm house and was owned by the late Judge John E. Holt-Harris. It's been uninhabited for quite some time, and both time and weather have taken their toll on this once stoic residence in the woods. 

Well, the university near my parent's home recently purchased the estate and with that, they are demolishing the homes (there's a barn house on the estate as well.) Upon hearing the news, I saw my childhood dream of sneaking a peek inside, flash before my eyes. So I did what any law abiding citizen might do, I planned a little B&E (breaking and entering, for all of you squares.) 

My living room statement wall

Gallery wall?!? That's so last year. Statement wall? Totally on-trend. So, we had this wall. This big plain white (well actually, Ivory Mist) wall. Our full sofa sits against this wall flanked by two very old and beat up side tables that actually belonged to my father-in-law back when he had a bachelor pad in college. I had it in my mind that this wall needed to be filled with a collage of our most prized and selectively chosen framed works of art and photographs. Well, do you know how hard that is to actually pull together? It's damn hard. I suppose if you're a person that doesn't care about planning ahead you could just nail up your first frame and gradually build it out as you went along. But this girl? Hell to the no. I needed to have all of the pieces picked out and the layout determined before the first screw was drilled into the plaster. So after four months of careful thought and deliberation I have assembled...the living room statement wall. Horray for no more big blank wall! Check out more photos and product info below. 

The baby's "new" room

You might remember the nursery reveal from earlier this year. Well, about three months after the baby was born, we bought a new house! Unfortunately, that meant that she spent very little time in her nursery space in our former house (she basically took like one nap in that room.) However, in the new house, she received a serious upgrade in space and I'm so excited to reveal her new-ish room! I think this room is one of my favorites in the whole house. It gets great light all day long and it is spacious and airy. I loved the color that the former owners had painted the room, so we kept it and it totally worked with all of our existing furniture. 

This is pretty much the one room in our new house that is "finished" for all intents and purposes. All of the other rooms are sort of a slow evolution and need a few pieces of furniture or a project or two. I'll be sure to provide updates as we actually get the other rooms throughout the house more finished. Check out more photos of the baby's room below. 

5 Tips for Shopping on Craigslist

People always tell me, "Wow, you find such great deals on Craigslist! How do you do it?" And it's true, I'm a master Craigslist shopper. I've bought dressers, a dining set, patio furniture, end tables and lots of other awesome stuff through Craigslist. I thought that instead of selfishly keeping all of this wisdom and insight to myself, I should share it with you so that you too can fill your home with beautiful recycled things! Check out five tips for shopping on Craigslist below.

My southern front porch

Remember when I shared some inspirational photos of beautiful Southern porches? Well, mine is coming along quite nicely, if I do say so myself! It's a bit of a work in progress but I scored the two large wicker chairs on Craigslist for $25 each (and they came with the cushions) I just needed to spray paint them a glossy black. Then I found the love seat and coffee table also on Craigslist for $80 (also included the cushion)! I already had the two mismatched small tables, so I threw them out there and then I purchased the rug from Ikea for $50. So basically, I stuck some plants and candles out there and now we have a living room of sorts on our covered front porch. It's the perfect place for a Saturday morning coffee or an evening cocktail. How did I do? Who's coming over for a bourbon cocktail on the porch?!

I thought about providing a tutorial on how to spray paint wicker chairs but there's really not much to it. Buy the spray paint color you like and cover your lawn or driveway with a large sheet of plastic and get to painting. If I recall correctly, it took almost three cans of paint per chair to cover them completely. There are so many nooks and crannies in a wicker chair, so just be prepared to keep looking at it from different angles and finding new spots that need to be painted. 

You might also be interested in: 

- Bathroom Makeover (Before & After Photos) 

- Tips for Finding the Right Real Estate Agent

- We Bought A House (And Painted Lots of Rooms!)

Bathroom makeover

So this is our downstairs bathroom. I love having a bathroom on the first floor because we spend so much time in the living room and kitchen, it's nice not to have to run upstairs every time you have to pee. Except, here's the thing, I hate that bathroom. I dislike using it so much that I actually choose to go up and down the stairs to the second floor bathroom instead of using the one that was just a room away. 

I always told Bry that this bathroom was a down-the-road project for me, but when I found myself not even wanting to step into it, I knew it was time for a change. I went to the hardware store, looked at paint chips for about two seconds, picked one that looked okay and went home and started painting. A fresh coat of paint was all it took to give this room some new life. Check out the before and after photos below. 

Finding the right real estate agent

When BryGuy and I started to get more serious about our house search -- besides just looking at million dollar homes on Zillow and drooling -- we knew we needed guidance. We had never done this before, we were as they say, "Property Virgins" (Sidenote: Can I just say that I love that show and pretty much all shows on HGTV...except Love it or List it and Flip or Flop, they are the worst.) Despite my wealth of knowledge learned from HGTV I actually had zero idea on how to go about the whole thing. Do you just start looking at houses first? Do you meet with your bank? Do you get a real estate agent? All of those questions were so overwhelming to me that I would freeze up and be like, "it's too complicated, we can do it." 

And along came Ana, who not only happens to be one of my very dearest friends, but is also a licensed real estate agent. I started to pick her brain with questions about the process. In all honesty, Bry and I weren't sure about whether or not we wanted our close friend to be our real estate agent. What if we weren't happy with the search process and didn't know how to tell her? What if something went wrong down the road and we felt uncomfortable, would it create tension in the friendship? 

After thinking about it long and hard, we decided that it was better to have a trusted friend on our side than a complete stranger, and it was one of the best decisions we've ever made. Not only did our agent/friend find us the home of our dreams in record time but she provided sound advice, kept us on budget, and made a complicated and overwhelming process feel straightforward and easy. 

Although I'm no expert at buying a home, I can tell you what worked for us and I think that if you're not lucky enough to have a close friend that can be your agent, that you should shop around for someone that's going to be the right fit for you. After all, this is one of the most important decisions and biggest purchases you will make in your life! 

In my opinion, these are the qualities that are most important when looking for a real estate agent:

Southern porch inspiration

Image from: Architectural Digest

I'm living in the wrong place. Please take me away to Charleston and sit me on a front porch that looks just like this and I'll be happy forever. I don't know what it is about a front porch, but I just love them. In my childhood home, it was a tradition on the weekends during the summer to have breakfast and coffee on the porch. Now that we have purchased a home of our very own that just happens to have a front porch, I'm dying to make it charming and cozy so that we can continue the weekend morning porch tradition. As I've turned to Pinterest for some porchspiration I keep being drawn to Southern inspired ones with dark wicker and bright upholstery. I'll need to paint the columns of my current porch white, pick up some wicker seating, spruce up the cement with an area rug and add a ceiling fan. Basically to get the true Southern porch feel, you need your outdoors to look like as styled and beautiful as your indoors. Check out more porch inspiration photos below. What do you think of this style porch in Philadelphia? Am I going to be the odd man on the block?

We bought a house!

Hello there friends! It's been a while. Let me give you a little rundown of what's been hap'nin' since we last chatted. Well, my maternity leave whizzed by and before I knew it, I was bringing my chubby little baby to daycare and rejoining the herds of folks commuting into the city for work. At first, it was so so so so sad (like, all the tears kind of sad), but now it's becoming the norm and every day is a little easier. But let me tell you, my gym time has taken a serious hit because when you come home from a long work day to your smiling happy baby, you really don't want to spend any more time away from her than is absolutely necessary. 

Oh also, we bought a zoo house! (Quick side note - have you seen that move We Bought a Zoo? It's quite precious and every time I start to say that we bought a house...I first think about saying we bought a zoo, which would be much cooler, but unfortunately, isn't applicable.) ANYWAY, I digress. Yes, we bought a house. The most perfect house with a nice front porch, gorgeous wood work, an updated kitchen (my happy place), and a cute little backyard. Here she is, Casa de Williams:

It's a twin home, meaning it's attached to one other property, so we own the left side. Well let's be honest, right now we own like the front door and the bank owns the rest, but in 30 years, this puppy will be ours! The neighborhood is so cute and perfect, we're walking distance to restaurants and shops, close to a couple of parks, but we still have a little yard and some more privacy than our existing spot.

The nursery reveal!

It's finally here! I've received so many questions about the nursery, so I'm excited to finally share it with you! I stayed pretty true to my original nursery inspiration post, and I'm so thrilled with how this little room turned out. Sometimes, on my way down the hall to the bathroom I'll just stop, and flick on the nursery light and take it all in. I can't believe this room will belong to a miniature little person soon. It is my hope that this room will make him or her feel happy, loved, and safe. As you might recall, this room was previously my dressing room (aka my happy place.) So, I begrudgingly moved my belongings out, and moved in a crib and glider and a thousand outfits that are so tiny it's unimaginable that they fit on an actual human being. Check out more photos and links for items below.

DIY Pom Pom Baby Mobile

As you may recall from my nursery inspiration post a while back, there was a mobile on there that looked very similar to the one pictured above. Well the thing about that mobile is that it cost $160 dollars!? For that price, I expect it to not only entertain my infant for hours at a time, but to also feed and diaper the baby as well... But honestly, there are thousands of mobiles out there, surely I'd be able to find something I like for a more reasonable price. The thing is, I just couldn't get the stinking pom pom mobile out of my head. It was perfect -- the gender neutral colors, the softness, the playfulness --I had to have it. 

So, I channeled my inner Martha Stewart and took to the internet to order my supplies and watch tutorials on making your own pom poms. For under $40, I was able to create a close-enough version that I'm really happy with and I'm sure Baby W will love it too! Get full instructions and details below.  

Nursery Inspiration

Nursery Inspiration by marissasays featuring contemporary furniture

So I'm pulling together a post with a pregnancy status update, but honestly, it's still kind of boring. In the meantime, I thought I'd spice things up a bit and share a little inspiration for the nursery. While I'm crazy excited to have a little baby that I can call my very own, at the same time I am grieving because it means my dressing room will no longer be my dressing room. My bright, cheery, feminine and most importantly "mine and only mine" room will be cleared out to make room for toys and diapers and books and little miniature clothing.

Despite my mixed emotions about the room, I figured I should start planning it out. We're not finding out if Baby W is a he or she, but even if we were, I think I'd want the color scheme to be white, grey and, wood tones. Partially because the room is already painted white and the drapes are already grey and white, but also because I think it's so crisp, clean and ethereal... you know, just how I imagine parenting to be (ha!)

My white dresser that was previously in the room will stay and will house the changing pad. Unfortunately, my gallery wall will have to be relocated. The floor will get a soft new carpet and of course, we need a crib! I'm still deciding about a rocker/glider chair but think that I have space to make it work if I can find one I like that doesn't cost an obscene amount of money. Also, I have a little plan up my sleeve for some additional wall decor and a fun mobile substitution. 

What do you think? Think Baby W will enjoy it? I love the idea of a big basket to house blankets, toys, stuffed animals or just the crap that's lying around that you need to hide quickly.