The Urge to Purge

First of all, it is snowing.  Full fledged snowing.  Giant flakes that while beautiful are no longer welcome in this town. 

Second, last night I suggested to Kip that I might sell all of the furniture we don't really like on Craigslist (by we, I mean me), and then use that money to buy one or two really nice pieces.  This furniture would include everything in my family room.  My suggestion was met with a look of fear that could only be matched by a 16-year-old dude finding out his girlfriend might be knocked up.  Real fear (but then maybe a little hope for an MTV reality show?).  Sorry, I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore.  It's the snow and pregnancy hormones.

So here I am trying to appreciate my family room with an orchid and a nice little iPhone filter app. 

I do love my orchid, especially because it's the one plant I can keep alive.  Yeah me!  Anyway, I'm still in my PJs after spending most of the morning dreaming up a new family room.  Lately, I've really been inspired by Erin Gates' new home (of the fab Elements of Style).  She does such a great job of mixing modern and classic elements and bringing in trends but making them look not trendy, if that makes any sense.  The other day we got a peek at her house when she posted pics from her husband's 40th birthday.  Check it out here. 

This is her living room, and I really love what she's done with it. 

via Elements of Style Blog

Now you can see how much it inspired my own family room mood board that I had absolutely no business spending all morning on.

I know it looks like there's a lot going on here, but our family room is really big.  We need all new furniture because our current furniture is just a little small for the space.  We also have two big blank walls on either side of the large window where I'd love to hang some Griffin & Wong chinoiserie panels.  I need the room to be neutral enough that I can bring colors in and out as I please, and I love the modern touch the Barcelona chair adds to the space.  Also, I snuck in the Susie Pryor painting above the mantel.  I will own one someday, mark my words people.  

So basically, now that my morning sickness is over (finally!), I've replaced it with a new urge to purge.  I did this when I was pregnant with Edward as well, but the force is stronger with this one.  I feel a little bit maniacal about it.

Ok, now I have to go be productive and maybe throw some things away (but also go to Costco and stock up on more things).  Have a lovely day y'all!

Pale Blush Ombre Pillow

I'm back-ish.  We turn around and leave for Charleston in a couple of days so I don't know how much blogging I'll get to do this week (I know, we're insane and lucky).  I'm feeling more inspired about the direction I want to go with things in my house, but I'm also trying to hold off on purchases until we find out whether Little Robertson is of the male or female variety (10 more days!).  Obviously, if it's a girl we will be sitting down and outlining our bankruptcy plans. Haaaaaaaaaa just kidding Kip (not really).  If it is a boy, well, I'm doing the guest room pink and he can enjoy an already beautiful nursery full of blue and white.  

However, I just happened to find this pale blush ombre pillow at Target (because apparently I live there as well).  Here it is in our guest room.  Yes, I got all fancy with the iphone pic, but with the filter it shows the color better.  I love it.  Very simple.  I also have some Audubon prints I plan on framing and putting above the bed.  I'm just trying to decide on the frame.  I'm actually horrible at framing things.  I don't know why, but I just can't figure it out.  I also hate having to spend $1 million dollars getting something framed (that might be my problem). 

So that's all I've got today.  I'm working on a plan to do a big house clean out and possible blog sale for stuff that is nice, but I don't have a place for.  Would y'all be interested in that?  I'm a little nervous The Suze will see it and buy it all and then send it back to me with a note saying, "you didn't really want to sell this, did you?" 

Have a lovely day!

My New Little Frenchie

In the spirit of my 2013 New Year's Resolution to only buy things I love, Kip and I found this pretty French dresser at a local antique shop and decided she needed to come live with us.  She makes me so happy every time I look at her.

I decided to keep her simple and neutral because of what you can't see in the picture, which is all of Edward's toys under the stairs.  But if I turn my back on the mess of legos and cars and dinosaurs, I get this nice little reprieve from bright colors and the stressful realization that at least one part to each toy is hidden under various sofas, dressers and chairs around the house.  I love the simplicity of a white wall with a pretty wood piece.  Eventually, I'd like to replace the sconces.  Maybe something pretty and crystally, but one thing at a time.  Also, I don't know who ate half of the almond Hershey's Kisses in the bowl.  It's a mystery ....

Christmas Decorations in the Christmas House

Morning y'all! I finally had a moment to snap some pics of some of my Christmas decorations - a rare moment where I had both a clean house and a sleeping toddler.  That. Never. Happens.  Since this is the first year in our new house, I decided to focus on the basics.  I'm ashamed to admit that I could easily spend $10,000 on Christmas decorations.  I mean, it's not normal.  So anyway, it's not anything amazing or professional, but I think we have ourselves a good starting point for Christmases to come.


First up, a little vignette in the kitchen.

I love my Hadley plate.  I really want to get the Santa's Cookie's plate.  The rest is just some stray items I had here and there.  

The table decor is left over from Thanksgiving, but I put out some trays to put Christmas cards.  Christmas cards are one of my favorite things ever.  The one you see on top is Edward's future wife, Greta. 

The hearth room mantel.

We didn't have any mantels to decorate in the old house (#firstworldproblems) so I wasn't sure how I was going to do that, but I have to say the mantels are my favorite part.  The picture above the fireplace is a poster-size blow-up of a picture my dad took when they went to France.  I think it's so sweet.  How stylish are the little French kids in their red coats?

Now for my Dr. Seuss Christmas tree in the kitchen.  

 

It's not literally Dr. Seuss themed, but it looks like it belongs in Whoville.  Kip wanted one tree with colored lights because he loved them as a kid.  I decided to use all white ornaments and fun ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

Yes, I made that bow.  I literally googled Christmas tree bow-topper.  It was easy. 

This manger scene is kind of sad.  I need to zhush it up a bit, but it's blue and white so I thought you'd like it.  I tried some grass around it and it just made a huge mess. 

I framed our first Christmas card with Edward.  I didn't love last year's card so I just took one of the pictures from it and put it in a tiny frame.  

This tree is in horrible shape.  It's fake and we probably won't use it next year, but I did what I could with it.  I totally stole the burlap accents idea from Amanda at Dixie Delights.  

I love the mantel in this room.

Obviously, because there's lots of blue and white.  The votive candles and reindeer are from Target and the gold pine cone things are from Hobby Lobby.  The big blue and white ginger jars are from Jennifer at The Pink Pagoda.  They are my favorite thing in my house! 

 This is in our fairly empty living room that we hope to turn into a library.

That black and white picture is from my wedding.  My very silly best friend, Marissa, and her family love to pull the photographer aside at the end of the night and take ridiculous pictures.  They are pretty much my favorite people in the world.

Hey Santa guarding the stairs.

Our first real tree.  Not as high maintenance as I was led to believe.  Filled with all of our special ornaments, including many from my childhood. 

And that's all folks!



P.S. I'm not totally sure I've fixed the computer issues I had yesterday, but I'm pretty sure I can get by.  #bloggernerdproblems 

House Updates and Stuff I like

 New England Home

Hey y'all! That's not my house, but I like it. It's giving me inspiration for our own exterior, specifically, the shutters around the arched window and the potted boxwoods on either side of the door.  I bet this house looks really pretty at Christmas.  That's kind of how I judge houses now - would they be a place I'd like to spend Christmas?  The previous owners of our house loved Christmas so much that they left me a giant 6 foot tall Santa to display in our arched window.  I know, I know, it's rude of me to brag.  But really, 6 ft Santa's should come standard in every home.

Moving on, I have kind of a random post today.  If you are a liker of Belclaire House on Facebook some of this may be redundant so I apologize.  Sometimes it's nice to show the non-likers what they're missing so then they'll come like me.  Also, sometimes I write weird status updates that I later wonder if I should have kept to myself so you definitely don't want to miss out on that. 

So, first, some house stuff:

I'm not totally sure I like this pillow situation.  I spilled red wine on one of my white Pottery Barn jute braid pillows that apparently you can't wash or dry clean.  When I went back to get another one, these blue pillows were on sale for $18 and the white capiz shell pillow was on sale for $8 - all together less expensive than my one white pillow.  So I bought those instead because you know the old saying, "the more pillows, the closer to God."  Yes, it's a saying.  I just said it.  The big sham in the middle is an old Ralph Lauren sham that I already had.  Our sofas are not in the greatest shape so clearly I'm trying to cover them with pillows in an effort to hide them.  Is it working?

I am sure that I love this Erica Heather plant situation happening in front of my sink.  I found these at the grocery store, and they seem to be doing better than the basil and rosemary that I had in there previously. 

The curtains look a bit wonky here (I need to rehang them), but I am very pleased with my new white dupioni silk curtains, also picked up on sale at Pottery Barn.   The need for drapery was semi-urgent.  Our lab has an unhealthy obsession with the neighbor's lab and she sits at the window staring into their living room for hours on end.  I imagine she's sitting there singing Eric Carmen in her head, "when I was young, I never needed anyone ..."

In the spirit of trying to do some things on a budget,  I attempted an almost free Thanksgiving table for my girl's dinner on Saturday using nuts, candles and some yummy scented pine cones from Target.  I'm normally not a fan of scented anything at the dinner table, but these were very light and seemed to compliment the meal. 

pardon the iphone-ness of this photo, but I took it with my iphone

And finally, I painted the front door! We had a gorgeous weekend in Kansas City, and I decided I needed to just go ahead and do it myself. 

Before:

After:

The color is Benjamin Moore Twilight (totally appropriate for this Team Edward house). 

Ignore the sad lonely pumpkin.  It's just sad.  Sad pumpkin aside, I love the color.  I'm excited to zhuzh up the front porch area now. 

Ok, one last thing because I know y'all have more important things to do than read mah babblin', but I'm always looking for gifts for myself for others, and One King's Lane has a ton of fun gifts for friends and family and myself.

Such as,

Mint Julep Cups for $20

Pink Lacquer Keepsake Boxes

A snow leopard throw blanket (I can't get enough snow leopard lately) 

This coral chinoiserie tray (they call it coral, but it looks red to me)

And lots more.  Good hostess gifts, too. 

Just thought y'all would like to know. 

Ok team have a lovely day!!

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And makin' love was just for fun
Those days are gone

All by myself
Don't wanna be, all by myself anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live, all by myself anymore

House Happenings & Halloween Decor

Afternoon y'all! I just woke up.  HAAAAAAAAA! Just kidding.  I did sleep until 8 though, which is amazing when you have a 2 year-old/early-riser.  He's been waking up at 5:30 am every morning and this morning I was all, "oh no you di'n't!" and I gave him some milk and a kiss and he went back to bed.  It's a small but huge victory for this mama. 

Sooo last night I got a very lovely package from Jennifer at The Pink Pagoda.  For those who don't know, she has a gorgeous Blue & White Porcelain online store, and in a ridiculous moment of blue and white kismet, I won her ginger jar giveaway!  Well, yesterday I received not one, but two ginger jars.  I thought it was a mistake, but Jennifer insisted it was a housewarming gift.  It was so sweet and beyond generous of her.  I can tell you they are truly gorgeous in person.  You should all go out and buy a pair right now.  I'm not even just saying that to be nice.  I'm going to try and do all of my Christmas shopping through bloggers' online stores, you know support my peeps, and I will definitely be spending time in all of The Pink Pagoda shops - she sells porcelain, prints and accessories (like my famous iPhone case, and cute mugs and pillows and stamps, oh my!) Definitely a great resource for gifts and blue and white. 

So here are my new ginger jars on the mantle in the family room:

Purdy purdy right!


One more view from the front door.  I'm kind of obsessed.

Speaking of front door, it has not been painted.  I'm totally confident in my painting skillz, but I'm not confident in Edward's, and since he is hell-bent on "helping" me, I decided to leave it to the pros.  Now I just need to call the pros ... 

Here's my new little black and white pillow from the Nate Berkus for Target collection.

I'm not like obsessed with Nate or anything, but I happened to walk past this pillow and then I felt it and sniffed it (I worry about smells) and I was like, "oooh soft" and somehow it ended up on my sofa and I like it.  It feels like cashmere. 

Here's a little display in my entry.  I share this because those pink shells miraculously made it through the move.  I picked them up at the beach in Costa Rica and carried them on the plane in my pocket with a baby and a diaper bag.  They're super delicate so I'm amazed they've lasted. 

Things on the table to remind me to do them:

Bag of silver stuff to polish, tobacco leaf plates to hang (I'm in love with the tobacco leaf pattern), and mini-pot pies to make from the November House Beautiful.  (It's Sandra Lee so it's easy)

And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for .......

my Halloween Decor!  

Er uh hmmm.  I just, well, there's a pumpkin? and a jar of candy?  The Laura Trevey Rooster is going to be framed someday.   Hopefully soon, but ya never know! Anyway, I just can't get in to Halloween this year.  Maybe it's because Edward is terrified of every costume I try to put on him.  I think we're just going to skip it this year.  Except for the candy part.

Okay y'all! I've talked way too long! My posts have gotten way longer lately.  I'm a woman of a few thousand words, I've been told.  Have a lovely day! 

A Door Color is Chosen

duh duh duh. 

I know, y'all were probably sitting around all weekend wondering what color I might choose.  I mean, we have a lot of important decisions to make these days and my front door color is certainly at or near the top of everyone's list.  So after a long and contentious internal debate, where the voices in my head suddenly became New Jersey undecideds, who asked me questions like, "Hey Lady, what do ya really want to do?" and "Hey Lady, make up your mind already and fohgetaboutit!!!" Ok that last one was not a question, but somehow I started channeling Joe Guidice in my inner monologue and then I got scared.  Anyway, we found the perfect color. 

Benjamin Moore Twilight 

It's only the most appropriately named front door paint color ever (Team Edward always and forever). 

We held a giant swatch up to the front door and Kip and were both like, "Oh yeah, that's it.  That's soo it."  And then Kip fell to the ground crying from happiness that we don't have to talk about it anymore. 

It's so close to Hague Blue that I questioned whether I was completely insane and had just picked the same color in a different brand.  It's basically 1/114th of a shade lighter than Hague Blue.  Less black in it.  The reason it works better is because it contrasts with the dark navy shutters more.  The Hague Blue looked a bit like we tried to match the shutters and failed miserably.  It's also a more consistent color.  One of the things I love about Hague Blue is that it changes with the light, but I didn't want such an extreme change with the front door. 

Sooo I'm really hoping to get it painted this week so we can take our freaking Christmas card picture stat.  Having a child has really brought out the "crazy Christmas picture panic" in me.  I remember The Suze would get it around July and then again in December.  Being the awesome teenager that I was, I would roll my eyes and be like, "gah, Mom it's just a Christmas card, stop freaking out about it! It's so lame."  (I know, I was really fun to be around between the ages of 13 and 20).  Anyway, getting the perfect Christmas card becomes an obsession this time of year.  I don't mean perfect in that we have to look perfect, but it has to be what I envisioned or I feel like I've failed. 

Ok, I've veered majorly off-topic.  Here are some libraries painted in a 50/50 mix of Twilight and Gentleman's Gray, both by Benjamin Moore.  They're real pretty.  I thought I'd share so you get a better idea of the color.  Plus I love to see how paint colors look in actual magazines (which are usually nothing like how they look in real life but whatevs)

Ashley Whittaker

The "Prussian Blue" library from Ashley Whittaker is part of a Manhattan apartment makeover featured in House Beautiful probably a while back.  It's totally worth revisiting though.   Go here to see the rest.

via Design*Sponge

Doesn't that look nice and cozy?  The color is so rich and yummy.  This lovely bookcase reminds me that I need to work on the bookcase in the master sitting room today.  Kip keeps threatening to do it himself.  So if I actually get that done today, I'll take some pics for y'all. 

Okay, can't wait to get this door painted!

Have a lovely day!

Front Door Color Help!

I need suggestions y'all! In my last house, I grabbed a color and it ended up being perfect.  I can do that about 75% of the time, but the other 25% I end up trying 100 million different colors and then having a mental break down when I realize I don't really know what I want. 

So here's the deal, our front door is currently bright red.  I don't hate it.  I love a bright red door actually, but I have an awkward relationship with the color red.  I can't live with it.  I love it in other people's houses, but you won't find it in my house.  It's like your best guy friend, who's a great guy, but you could never date or marry because you're not actually compatible in large doses.  Does that make any sense?  Red and I - not lovers, just friends. 

Before we moved in, when I had been stalking driving by our house on the reg as I went to the grocery store, I had decided that my beloved Farrow & Ball Hague Blue would be perfect. 

Remember?

I'd lived with the color in Edward's playroom for awhile, and I really loved it. 

I thought it would be a nice middle ground between this look (which I LOVE):

from this post, but see also Chinoiserie Chic who also has a post on front doors today!

and the way the house looked before it was repainted, when it was more black and white than navy, cream and red.

I took this picture LONG before I ever knew I was going to live in this house.  It was obviously fate. Original post here.

BUT when I put my painted board up to the door, I decided I didn't like it. 

Wamp Wump.

Here it is poorly Photoshopped:

Again, I don't hate it.  I just don't know if I love it. 

I'm kind of feeling something lighter.  So here are some other poorly Photoshopped options I did:

Farrow & Ball Lulworth Blue

Valspar Pillow Mint

Kip didn't like any of them, and I felt kind of "meh" about them as well, although I think the Lulworth Blue is the closest to what I want.

What do y'all think?  Do you have suggestions? Specific paint colors would be awesomer than awesome.   I want something kind of fun and inviting, that is very me (so not yellow).

My only sense of urgency is that I want to take a Christmas card picture in front of the house before it gets too cold so we can send our friends and family our change of address. 

Ok y'all gimme what you got.  PLEASE!!