I’m completely enamored with my hydrangea bush, and have been taking lots of photos of it lately. I just love the large bunches of blossoms, how the colors vary from day to day, how they complement any bouquet. They have a casual attitude, yet feel effortlessly elegant.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
As you can probably already tell from some of my earlier posts, I’m a bit of a gardening enthusiast. Now, I’m not a total “Green Thumb” yet, but I sure hope I’m on my way!
My wonderful parents decided to gift us some landscaping to help our house/ front yard look less like a construction space and more like a home! They gave us a budget, recommended a local landscaper and let us do the rest. After an initial meeting at our house, we visited the nursery to choose plants we liked. Then our landscaper incorporated them into a sketch, asked for our approval, and bada-bing – we were on the calendar!
The plants went in a few weeks ago and I love how they add so much more interest and dimension to the front of our house.
BEFORE
no pretty plants yet 🙁
and AFTER!
that’s better!
The plants are still a bit small, but I think they’ll fill in nicely over the next few months and years! Here’s a list of what we chose:
– Green Velvet Boxwood
– Japanese Plum Yew
– Dwarf Blue Spruce
– Knock Out Roses (fuschia/red)
– Rose of Sharon (the small tree at the forefront)
– Snowberry bush
– Mini Penny Hydrangea
– Peony
– Japanese Burning Bush
Here’s a shot of the Hydrangea (one of my absolute favorite flowers!)
One of the things I love about moving is the opportunity to get organized. It’s like having a completely blank slate to start from!
But before I could tackle our post-move-in clutter, I needed some good ole fashioned inspiration. A co-worker of mine turned me on to Jen’s amazing tips over at IHeartOrganizing — her kitchen cabinet organization, in particular. And I was smitten! I went on a bin binge at Target and Bed Bath & Beyond, returning home with stacks of glorious totes, trays, bins, and baskets. I immediately got to work in our master bathroom, emptying the linen closet and cabinet drawers of all their contents. I created piles of like items and tossed/recycled the stuff that needed to go.
Once I had things sorted the way I wanted, I designated containers for them. I can’t stand countertop clutter, but I also have products I need every morning (styling products and tools, face wash, etc). So I grouped these into baskets that I can easily grab each morning, set on the counter while I get ready, and place back in the closet when I’m finished. The items we don’t use every day were separated into stackable drawers. Tom and I each have our own drawer, which contains extra deodorant, shampoo, body wash, etc. There’s a drawer for things like cotton swabs and cotton balls, and a drawer for non-prescription medicine and first-aid items.
Here’s how it turned out!
now it’s neat and tidy!
The small drawers sitting on the floor contain all of our travel-sized items. I love that there’s still plenty of room for our towels, extra rolls of toilet paper, etc!
Then, I moved onto the cabinet drawers that hold my makeup, nail polish, nail file, tweezers, etc. Again, I grouped similar items together: nail polish, small items like bobby pins and tweezers, makeup brushes, you get the picture! I found drawer organizers at Bed Bath and Beyond. They’re meant for the kitchen, but are perfect for small makeup containers and nail polish bottles!
makeup drawer
small compartments for nail polish, combs, and more
Have you had any major organizational successes (or failures?). Any tips to pass along?
Let’s hear it for the second installment of Instagram Friday!
I captured a few night shots of the sidelights that frame our front door. Kind of a cool, somewhat gothic-inspired feel.
sidelight detail
sidelight reflection
You can follow me on Instagram @onuwriter06
**I’m going to start this post off with full disclosure: I don’t sew. I can sew, but I did not sew these pillows. My excellent mother did. While I probably would have been capable of sewing these, I would have needed her expertise/supervision, and then we both agreed it would just be easier for her to do them herself 😉 But, I did “design” these pillows! I will take credit for the “creative vision,” haha!
When we ordered our purple couches (technically – a sofa and a loveseat), we got to choose the fabric and color for the throw pillows. We selected a red, as we thought this would be a cool combination with the eggplanty purple of the couch fabric. Here’s what we ended up with for the 4 throw pillows:
The pillows weren’t as red as I hoped they would be. They weren’t even orange, which I would have liked. Instead, they were a weird middle ground, kind of a rusty red-orange color.
As soon as we signed the contract to build our home (maybe before), I started designing a “mood board” to capture ideas and wish-fors for our new spaces. I knew I wanted to give our family room palette a revamp – centered around our purple couches, of course! – and the rusty red-orange pillows would have to go! Thankfully, they have zippered covers, so I could keep the pillow form inside and just have new covers made.
This is where my talented mother comes in. After plenty of perusing and pinning on Pinterest, I sketched out a few ideas for new pillow covers, and off we went to the fabric store. I was hoping to score a fun purple print or pattern for 2 of the 4, and a solid neutral that I could embellish for the remaining 2. We came home with a black-and-white print, which I have already changed out in favor of a fabulous Waverly print I discovered on a return trip to JoAnn fabrics. The black-and-white covers will make an appearance in my office/library sometime in the future.
Here’s the Waverly throw:
waverly modern essentials luminary in lilac
and the neutral covers with embellishments:
a strip of faux fur for added texture
tulle flowers
And there you have it! A throw pillow throwdown that gives our favorite purple couches a fresh new look!