Current Throw Pillow Collection
A little while ago I had mentioned that I was slowly going to create a throw pillow collection so I thought I'd share what I have so far.... definitely not finished but wanted to share the progress.It's pretty hard to refrain from buying 17 throw pillows all at once, especially if you are a new homeowner but I have found that taking your time with it really helps you collect pieces that you truly love and aren't going to get tired of in two weeks. This actually applies to all interior decor purchases. However, even if I were to get tired of them, all of the pillows are actually pillow covers with pillow inserts so I can change them whenever I want either way so it kind of works out to wait a little longer and spend a tiny bit more.
The covers themselves are not even that expensive, what makes them a tiny bit more pricey is the fact that, for each cover, you need a pillow insert but I guess it's kind of an investment since you purchase the insert once and then switch out the cover whenever you please.
So far my favorite places to purchase pillows are Etsy & H&M home. On Etsy the covers are a bit more expensive but on H&M they are ridiculously inexpensive and actually very nicely made. I purchase most of my inserts on amazon and onlinefabricstore.com and all of my pillow inserts are mostly composed of feather in order to get the perfect shape when I karate chop them lol
As a person who has serious commitment issues with wall decor, I really enjoy decorating with pillows and throws & pretty much anything that doesn't require me committing to something 100%. Don't get me wrong, there are certain things I don't mind putting on the walls but for the most part I prefer being able to switch things around whenever I please. Links to all pillows are captioned on pertaining pictures. Please note that some of the pillows that I've purchased from etsy are one-of-a-kind so I have linked the store which I purchased them from instead of the actual pillow. xx
Friday Five
1. Finally got a chair for my vanity. Scored this little guy off of eBay. There are actually a lot of the same styles if you just search mid-century Hollywood regency chair. I really like mixing vintage with mid-century. I don't like to have the same of one style everywhere so I'm very happy with the way that it looks. I know that urban outfitters makes a similar one but I like the fact that this metal is a more true-gold as opposed to a spray-painted bronze.
I also really love how this one came with a vintage seat cushion, after searching forever for one of these chairs I couldn't find one that had a cushion that I liked or a cushion at all so I'm happy I stumbled across this one.
I kind of feel fancy sitting in it. It reminds me of old Hollywood vanity chairs... all I need is a big glamorous robe and one of those long cigar sticks. " Fetch me some waterrr Stewart!" *in some kind of British accent* ... (Stewart is my fake servant.)
HA, kidding.
But seriously, thats what it feels like sitting here.
2. I've been eyeing this print from society 6 for a while so I finally got it. I think it's the perfect touch to any bedroom since it's, what appears to be, a male and female outline intertwined together. I've mentioned how I love this type of art before so I'm very much in love with this piece. I need to get a frame for it, I'm thinking a simple brass or gold-toned one.
I will be purchasing more of this minimal line-art style soon for other places of the house.
3. You probably saw this post on IG but how pretty are these Halo earrings and necklace?! I'm the type of person who NEVER takes off my earrings or my necklace. I basically find something that I really like and wear it until I can't anymore. I love how minimal and simple these pieces are and I'm really digging circle jewelry at the moment.
4. Testing this mask out this week, tried it for the first time yesterday and so far I really like it. I have tried Drunk Elephant in the past and really love this brand, they are on the pricier side but seriously worth every penny, in my experience.
This mask is a chemical exfoliant, similar to their glycolic night serum but much more potent. In my opinion, I think that if you're going to invest in something this expensive it makes a lot more sense to buy something that is more potent and use it once a week as opposed to something less potent ( that costs more) and is meant to be used every night.
You will not run out of this product as quickly. And you actually get more of this product than of the night serum so I don't really understand why this is cheaper.
Still have to try it out for a longer period of time, if I end up liking it a lot you'll probably see it in my favorites at the end of the month :)
5. Last week I received this beauty of a lens and I am so incredibly happy with it. I finally got a chance to test it out and the hype is legitimate. I realize that this isn't the cheapest lens out there but if you're familiar with Sony lenses or photography in general you know that this is actually a great price for the lens that you are getting. And surprisingly, it is cheaper that my Zeiss lenses and I actually like it a little more than those (for photos). Plus, I am a firm believer in buying things that make you happy... as long as you're eating and paying your bills do whatever the hell you want.
It's my first 85mm and the lowest aperture in any lens that I've every purchased ( I know, I know.. lol where have I been?)... I'm going to have a difficult time putting it down. In love.
If you own a Sony camera & you're on the fence about this one... get off the fence & walk to your nearest tech store.
See you next week! xx
Friday Five
1. Ever since I went to Greece last year I fell in love with the whole flatform trend, everyone over there was wearing them but I just never really found any that I loved that weren't too expensive and last year they were no where near as popular as they are now here in the states. Yesterday, I just passed by forever 21 to get to another store, I had no intentions of purchasing anything until I saw these and instantly knew I had to have them. They are so comfortable and I'm currently really loving espadrilles so these are the best of both worlds. At first I wasn't too keen on the buckles but they have really grown on me and the more I wear them the more I love them.
For some reason I can't find them on their site so I have linked some similar styles down below.
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2. How pretty is this poster from The poster club? They were nice enough to let me choose a print and I had a lot of trouble picking just one poster because they have such a beautiful collection, I will definitely purchase some in the future. Also, I will most likely change the frame that it's in but for now this is what we're working with.
3. This week I re-learned that being lazy and spraying your toner onto your face doesn't really do anything for your skin, or at least it doesn't for me. I use the Boscia balancing facial tonic and I LOVE this stuff, it clears my stubborn texture so incredibly well. However, lately I had been super lazy with it and I would just spray it on at night after cleansing my face as opposed to using a cotton pad.
My skin has been freaking out and as soon as I started using a cotton pad + the toner I woke up a lot better the next day. Point is, when you wipe your "clean" face with the cotton pad soaked with your toner it actually removes the residue on your skin. (Obviously this is just for those of us who use toners that have a spray.) No matter how clean you think your face is, chances are a good toner will lift some kind of residue off post-cleanse.
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4. I'm obsessing over linen lately, these overalls just came in the mail & it fits like a dream. So perfect for summer! Will be styling it soon (:
5. If you're into shrimp creole check out this extremely easy & relatively quick recipe. My first time making this dish myself & you would've thought I was a pro lol. I did make some substitutions though. Instead of white rice I used brown, instead of butter I used a little olive oil & instead of salt I used No-Salt sodium free salt and slightly less of it than the recipe suggests.
Also, wanted to thank you all for the overwhelmingly positive response I got on my kitchen tour video. So many sweet comments, I appreciate all of the kind words.
See you all next week! xx
Kitchen Reveal
I'm so excited to finally be able to share our kitchen with you all. It has been a long process but in the end it was all worth it. This is my first kitchen and I am so grateful I was able to make it my own. It is truly a magical thing to be able to envision something in your head and make it a reality.
Anyone who would've seen this kitchen before would've probably turned around and walked out. Actually, anyone who would've seen this entire house when we first bought it would've probably walked out... but not us. I knew the potential that this little place held and from the moment I walked in I was tearing down walls in my head.
The cabinets before were formica, which is totally fine, nothing a good primer, some paint & new pulls couldn't fix but they weren't exactly in the best shape. Plus, they smelled like death.
I knew from the beginning that I wanted open shelving. I like the idea of owning exactly what you need and not having clutter and I feel as though open shelves force you to maintain that mentality. This was the main reason we ended up getting lower cabinets made, we needed more space.
Since our space is small I didn't want thick/bulky shelves so we opted for 1x12 inch wood which our contractor cut to size & then sanded. I then stained them with wood finish's special walnut stain.
We also didn't want a dishwasher, I'm totally fine with washing dishes myself and we're only two people so it was definitely a waste of space in our small kitchen. So when it came down to designing I ended up closing up the kitchen to make an island... or in this case a peninsula. We also added drawers & a microwave where the dishwasher used to be. I really wanted a range hood so I knew I didn't want to put a microwave above the stove & it was most certainly not going to be taking up counter space so I wanted it to sit nice and flush within the lower cabinets.
We also removed the trees that were blocking the window, why would anyone want a huge tree blocking their window? I don't get it! So much more light comes in now.
We tore down that awkward shelve-type-things which separated the kitchen from the dining room and made that into a bar/island where we could sit and eat. We also made a larger opening into the kitchen in order to make the space appear bigger (space in front of refrigerator.) We've made a lot of changes to this house but this is by far my favorite, the aesthetic when you walk in from then to now is night and day. The kitchen is one of my favorite areas of any house so I really didn't want it to be boxed in, I like to see everything when I'm in it.
Subway tiles were a no-brainer. If you saw my old room tour video you would've probably seen that I had them in my bathroom, I love them. Since I decided to take them all the way up to the roof they really made the kitchen appear much bigger.
We ended up getting our cabinets done at Panda Kitchen & Bath and opted for real wood white shaker cabinets. This was our most expensive purchase but since we only had lower cabinets it wasn't THAT bad compared to quotes that I've heard for people who have upper+lower cabinets. We finished off the cabinets with these handles from amazon.
If you read this Friday Five you would've seen me gush about my new woven shade, if you look at the before pictures you'll notice that our window is different as well. This was actually an unexpected hit to our budget. In order to get a gas stove we needed to get a sealed window. I wasn't happy about it because I was totally fine with the window we had before but I had my heart set on gas over electric so we ended up switching out the window.
One of the first purchases I made for the house, before we even moved in or started fixing the place was this faucet. I had my heart set on a brass faucet and I am so happy with my decision. This is the most subtle color of brass, in some lights you can't even tell its brass. I really feel as though it pulls everything together and it goes well with stainless steal and oil-rubbed bronze.
I searched high and low for the perfect farm sink but LORDDD those things are expensive! So we opted for this one from good ol' IKEA and may I say I am in love with it. Looks so much more expensive than what it was and it is massive!
For our countertop I knew I wanted quartz and not marble because of the durability but I didn't know that the quartz that I wanted was going to be so damn expensive -.- I love this house and I do plan on living here for a while but I know that once kids start coming we're going to have to move so I was not about to spend 2k on countertops... I don't think that I ever will, but I won't say never.
I knew I could find something much, much cheaper so I starting looking into plain white quartz that was going to cost a fraction of the price but the place that was going to give me the best price didn't have it in stock and I would've had to wait a couple of weeks. I had already waited long enough at this point & didn't want to wait any longer... so I went to the warehouse and ended up going with this countertop which kind of looks white from a distance but it has speckles of taupe and beige which give it a little more warmth & it matched the grout we chose perfectly so I really ended up liking how it turned out. If we would've gone with plain white I feel as though it would've been too much white, I like the subtle contrast in this one.
Plus, I must add that for being a relatively cheap countertop it is SO forgiving. I have placed hot things, cold things, spilled everything and nothing has left a stain.
I wanted to give a quick shoutout to my parents because if it was not for them we honestly wouldn't have been able to do half the stuff we have done to our house. Sometimes they seem more excited than we are about this house and they have helped so much, I cannot even express how grateful I am for them. It's hard to take on a fixer upper when it's just two people so I appreciate their help so much.
Our appliances (besides the microwave and toaster) were their housewarming gift to us and again, GRATEFUL. Since they insisted on gifting us this I was not about to pick out the top-of-the-line appliances, I just wanted a certain look and wanted them to be comfortable. Our stove/oven is Samsung, refrigerator is Maytag and range hood is premium.
For lighting I switched out some old white track lights on the roof beam for some new matte black ones and for above the kitchen window I bought two of these and I'm very happy with how they look paired with the brass faucet. I never like too much of any color so even though all-brass or gold detailing in some kitchens look beautiful I wanted to mix it up, I feel as though this fits my style a bit better.
In my "home decor trends I'm loving" post I mentioned how I love vintage rugs in kitchens so this is my little vintage rug from this etsy shop. Not the loudest or most extravagant rug but I really like the subtleness of it.
We got these stools at a very random local shop, some Australian guy who was high as a kite when he sold us these actually makes them lol, I don't care how high you are, you can make a beautiful stool "I'll take two."Originally I wanted these from west elm which are very similar but they were too short for the height of my counter so we needed something taller, which was very hard to find so you can imagine how excited I was when I found that random Australian.I've mentioned my letter board before, which I still need to hang up and cover my breaker with by the way. I really love how letter boards look in a kitchen, whether you want to put a quote or a menu it just makes it feel so much cozier & adds more characters.
I'm most likely going to change the shelves around every now & then but I know that no matter how many times I change them I want them to be practical and not full of crap. For now, on the left side of our range hood I have a plant, my cheeseboard, a casserole dish & some cups all from bed bath and beyond. Crate & barrel canisters, and some bowls which we use every day from Ikea.
On the right side I have my wine glasses next to my cookbooks which sit underneath my small plates. Underneath that is the "coffee section" 😊 I have two large mugs, my espresso maker and these espresso cups that I can't get enough of. Ninety percent of the things on our shelves (including the toaster, drying rack & knife set on the counter) were gifts from family and friends in our house warming party so if any of you are reading this thank you all so much!!!
Soap + lotion are from Murshison Hume in "original fig." I'm absolutely obsessed with the way they smell. Dish towels are from home goods.
Round marble cutting board is from Pier 1 and wooden cutting board was a travel gift from my brother in law.
xx
Don't forget to check out my KITCHEN TOUR VIDEO
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