Spring Bedding

Sharing a home really brings out interesting conversation... For instance, I had never heard of switching out bedding for the seasons. Jeff, on the other hand, couldn't believe that anyone would sleep all spring & summer-long with the same down duvet that they used all winter...

And now that I've seen what my oh-so-green husband keeps our thermostat set at, I'm looking for a nice light, summer option.

For the winter months, we went with the Barbara Barry Poetical duvet cover. Although it looks gray in this picture, it is actually much more taupe and matches well with our chocolate brown upholstered headboard (more on that later).
{not our room; image via Macy's}

The Newlywed Diaries just recently featured this great post on switching out bedding, and I love their guestroom for lightweight, summery inspiration:

Then I found these yellow sheets, from Martha Stewart for Macy's, paired with a simple while coverlet:
But then, of course, I found an image that I've been scouring the internet to replicate - A simple white coverlet with a colorful border:

{image via Two Ellie}
Last in my inspiration to spruce up our bedding for spring, The Newlywed Diaries also featured this great idea for an upholstered headboard, and I'd love to do something similar to our dark brown... Just adding a pretty, patterned fabric over the top:

So what about your households? Will you be swapping out your winter duvets for spring bedding, bumping up the thermostats for your warm duvets, or both?

W²: Easter Picnic Edition

This is one of my favorite Weight Watchers recipes, and for some reason it always reminds me of warm weather days... maybe it's all of the delicious veggies. Either way, I'm planning to make it for my church's Easter picnic on Sunday.

{image via two ellie}

W² Roasted Vegetable & Orzo Salad:
3 sprays olive oil cooking spray
1 small red onion, diced
1 carrot, sliced
1 cup mushrooms, quartered
2/3 cup zucchini, diced
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup roasted red peppers (in water), drained & chopped
6 oz marinated artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
1/4 cup black olives, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
4 tbsp. fresh parsley or basil (or mixed), chopped
1 lb. orzo pasta, cooked & cooled
1/2 cup Litehouse Lite Caesar dressing*

1. Heat large skillet over medium heat, add cooking spray.

2. Add onions, carrots, mushrooms and zucchini. Cook for 5 minutes, or until veggies are tender.

3. Add pepper during last minute of cooking, and remove from heat.

4. Combine roasted veggies, red peppers, artichoke hearts, olives, tomatoes, parsley, green onions, & orzo in large bowl. Add dressing & mix* Refrigerate until ready to serve!

Yields 6 servings for 4 points each.

* If you want to cheat some on the points (and make it a little more delicious, especially when feeding a crowd), add crumbled feta cheese along with all other ingredients in step 4. And/or substitute the lite Caesar dressing with the Good Seasons Italian dressing (the kind you make with the packet) - but be sure to also add a dash of lemon juice.

Possibilities

I just happened to stumble across this settee on Craig's List today for $60. It has a little damage around the corners, but for that price you could afford to make due for awhile, then have it reupholstered!


Wouldn't it look great paired with a kitchen table?

Project Roundup

As usual, we're working on and planning a million different projects right now... This weekend was a nice jumble of them all.

For our home, I'm still working through these ideas for the living room. I made a trip early Saturday morning to the fabric mecca that is Mary Jo's in Gastonia, and I found the P. Kaufmann Suzani fabric I need for living room pillows. A few other places carried it for around $26 per yard (yikes!) and on back order, but MJ's had it in stock for $10 less per yard... My budget thanks you!
Although I almost spent my savings on these fabrics... Until rationality took over, and I realized that I'd have nothing to do with them.


I also picked up this mirror from Home Goods for a grand total of $35. Hopefully it will get a nice coat of 'Safety Red' this weekend, to add a little punch to the dining area in the kitchen.

Finally, we made the trek up to the mountains of North Carolina on Sunday - to Gerton to be specific. My dad is working on a mountain house project, and we've been helping out with some painting, cabinet finishing, and other little details. It's seriously amazing how much difference a coat of paint can make. We're hoping that 1 more day of work will finish up our portion of the project... Then a few before/afters on the blog.
On a sad note, when we made said trip to Gerton I neglected to check the weather... And I left the cute desk (for our bedroom) that I've spent 2 weekends painting outside on the porch. And it rained. A lot. So much, in fact, that the desk is going to need a little more work... lesson learned.

Beverage Carts

I was so excited to see this post on Matters of Style. I'm in love with beverage carts and have been searching for room inspiration with these. I think our sunroom will be the perfect place for one... And my dad happens to have one from my grandparents' home, just sitting in his shed!


{so gorgeous... via Lonny}

I might have to borrow it in the near future... Then top it with some vintage decanters. I've seen several at the Sleepy Poet here in town, but they also pop up on eBay pretty frequently.

Or try these, paired with a lucite tray from the MoS shop:

Who wouldn't want to join us for a drink with this set up?

Weekend Projects

After an incredibly fun time last weekend in Savannah, we're settling in with a long 'to-do' list for this one. Mine is slightly ambitious, so don't fault me if it's not completely finished and ready to post by Monday.

With all of the pending projects for this spring and fall, I decided to focus my efforts on the one section of our house that won't be changing at all... Our bedroom and bathroom.

I have several painting projects, a trip to Ikea and Blackhawk Hardware on the radar. For now, here is some of my room inspiration...


{I'm in love with a house on Charlotte Drive that has a huge master bedroom, divided into 2 smaller spaces like this one... sigh}




Have a great weekend!

Tell It to Me Straight

Here is a glimpse into our current living room thoughts... But we need a little candid feedback. Do all the patterns/fabrics work together? We plan to move the seagrass rug from the kitchen to the living room...

Then add a smaller zebra print rug on top of the seagrass. The suzani fabric by the sofa would be a pair of pillows, coupled with the chevron fabric in a lumbar pillow on the sofa. We'd also have a pillow for the yellow settee in the fabric there.
We felt like we could work in a lot of patterns since the rug, sofa, and settee were all solid (and relatively neutral). But give me your honest thoughts... Is it working? Or is this a pattern overload?

If you're on team overload, any thoughts on what gets the boot? Maybe solid color curtain panels instead of the pattern, sayonara to the suzani, or kick the zebra rug to the curb?

Jeff thanks you all for your help... before I make any more purchases that I later regret.