Friday Favorite: Sarah Richardson

One of my New Year's resolutions was to up the ante of this blog. One of the ways I plan to do that is to add more structure to the blog so that you will have some idea of what to look forward to. So each Friday, I will have a feature called "Friday Favorite." In that post, I will feature a person, room, blog, or object that has caught my eye and is a favorite of mine. My goal is for it to become a favorite of yours!

My first Friday favorite is Sarah Richardson. She is a Canadian designer whose designs and cute outfits always amaze me. Season 4 of her show, Sarah's House, started last week on HGTV and I can't wait to see what she does to her next fixer-upper!

Here is why I love Sarah Richardson...

Speaking of baby rooms, she just finished the baby room in her most recent fixer-upper. Click here to see the photos! Don't you just love her?

Images: HGTV & Sarah Richardson Design

Paula Deen Is At Home!

I'll just start off by saying that I LOVE Paula Deen. I'm a southern girl at heart, so I love her southern recipes, her southern accent, and her southern sense of humor. She has her own cooking show, owns a few restaurants, has several great and entertaining cookbooks, a line of cookware and knives-- and who knows what else! She always seems to be on the move. So one should not be surprised that she now has her own furniture line. If you are in to country, rustic, southern decor, then her furniture should give you some great inspiration.

You can view more pieces and find a dealer on her website, Paula at Home. I wonder what's next for her??

Mid-Week Treat: Mom's 5 Ingredient Peach Cobbler

I know I mentioned in my Holiday Highlights post that I was going to wait until February to share this recipe. But I've been snowed in for the past few days and I'm dying for something sweet! And I thought that you just might want something sweet, too...

My mom made this for our Christmas dinner and it has to be the EASIEST most delicious cobbler out there. This recipe is perfect for a potluck dinner or for the busy mom who wants to whip up a quick dessert for her family. 

Mom's 5 Ingredient Peach Cobbler

•  1 28 oz and 1 14 oz can of peaches, with juice*
•  1 box of moist yellow cake mix, preferably Duncan Hines
•  1 stick of chilled unsalted butter, diced
•  1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
•  2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

*Peaches in "heavy syrup" will make the cobbler more sweet. Peaches in "light syrup" will make it less sweet.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the peaches in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Then sprinkle the entire box of the cake mix over the peaches. Place the diced butter on top of the cake mix. Sprinkle the ground cinnamon and nuts on top of the butter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

How easy is that? Let me know your thoughts if you make it!

Working From Home

It's snowing here in Atlanta and I have the pleasure of working from home today. I'm sitting in a room that is, to me, calm and serene. So I have no problem being here. I'm a firm believer that your surroundings can influence who you are, what your are doing, and how you do what you are doing. Like any job, my job can be stressful at times. So I took the time to make my office calm, comfortable, and most importantly, functional.

Just as a disclaimer-- no DIY projects were involved in my office makeover. I see all these wonderful blogs where people spraypaint this and restore that. I WISH I had the time for that! The trade-off is that I had to work from my kitchen table while I was saving money to get what I wanted. It took over a year to finish the space, but I love it! Here is how I did it...

The first part of decorating any room is to start with what I call the "centerpiece." It's not necessarily something that will be at the center of the space, but something that you can draw inspiration from. It can be a rug, a picture, or a piece of fabric. My centerpiece was my desk. Most offices these days have a modern decor with traditional elements. But I wanted to do the opposite- a traditional base with modern elements. I often have lots of files and paperwork scattered about, so I knew those cutesy little modern desks wouldn't work. So I started with this desk from Bassett Furniture. This picture was also my inspiration photo.

My office is not that big, so I wanted a sturdy, functional desk that would fit in a corner. That would allow me to get the most out of the space. Organization is required of my job and of my life, so I liked how I could customize the pieces to fit my space and my needs.  And yes, it was pricey, but I saved a while for this desk and purchased it during Bassett's 30% off sale.

The next step was to determine the colors I wanted to incorporate in the space. I liked the original neutral wall color, which is Whole Wheat by Sherwin Williams, so I chose not to paint. I liked the cream and the green in the inspiration photo. Those colors were calming, and calm was exactly what I was going for. I started with purchasing a green chenille throw from Restoration Hardware, a cream seat cushion from Pier One, and some picture frames from Target. My home office then evolved... 

Here is what it looked like before...

 Here is what it looks like now...

As you can see, I changed the wall decor. I was in TJMaxx and saw those pictures in the clearance section. I am usually not into flower prints, but they really caught my eye and they ended up working great. All of the accessories on the desk came from TJMaxx with the exception of the lighting. The Bassett desk lamp was a gift from my wonderful mom.

The chair is a custom chair from Bassett. I picked out the fabric, the size of the chair, the arms, and the shape of the back pillow. It's such a treat when you can design your own furniture! The accent pillows are from TJMaxx and the pharmacy floor lamp is from Restoration Hardware. Yes, I got the lamp on sale!

I purchased the floating ledge with 20% off coupon I had from Pottery Barn. The cork board is from the Container Store, which is a place I ONLY go to when I need something very specific. Otherwise, I would be broke!

Needless to say, I am STILL not done with decorating. I need to have some window treatments made for the window.

I think that a roman shade will work perfectly. Hopefully Max will be ok with that, too... I also need to frame my new print that I just received from Made By Girl. Check back later for an update!

Joining Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures!

An Etsy Favorite: Made By Girl

This print reminded me of the Keep Calm prints that I recently discussed. However this print really caught my eye. It's colorful and seemed to have so much more personality than the plain prints. So the moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I recently purchased it from Jennifer Ramos's Etsy store for my home office. It was only $9.50! She sells lots of creative and colorful prints like these that would be perfect for an office, child's room, living area, or dining area.

 I recently discovered Jennifer via her fabulous blog, Made By Girl. She talks about everything from food to art to interior design. If you are an avid reader of my blog, you know that I love white rooms. So I instantly fell in love with her style when I saw pictures of her kitchen that she recently remodeled.

BEFORE

AFTER

Her kitchen screams clean and fresh. The dark floors help illuminate the space and the light fixtures are the perfect accessories. This makeover proves that small changes make a big difference. Painting the cabinets white instantly brightened up the space. The simple, yet stylish hardware adds great texture to the space and compliments the appliances and the backsplash.

She recently added a beautiful dining room table that she purchased from ZGallerie. I think this was the perfect finish to the space.

Click here to see pictures of the rest of her home! Amazing!

Images by Jennifer Ramos

Is Your Closet Organized?

It's the beginning of year and if you are like me, you are working on getting healthy, getting focused, and getting organized. Speaking of getting organized, I ran across these amazing closets via Canadian House and Home that are the epitome organization.

My closet certainly doesn't mirror any of these. However, they do motivate me to work with what I have! So if you would excuse me, I have some organizing to do. :)

I'm Dreaming of the 2011 HGTV Dream Home

If you are like me, you look forward to the premier of the HGTV Dream Home each January 1. The creativity of the designers always blows me away. This year, the home is located in the snowy mountains of Stowe, Vermont. One might think that the decor of a cozy mountain home would be entirely traditional with lots of earth tones. This mountain house is the complete opposite. It is a contemporary oasis flecked with traditional and rustic elements that achieve a very cozy atmosphere. I'd say that interior designer Linda Woodrum did a fabulous job.

 Wouldn't you want to pull up to this everyday?

  

What mom wouldn't want a mudroom like this?? I love the hue of the custom cabinetry and the stone floor. It should hide dirt very well. The black chester drawer is a nice touch, too.

 

 I would never imagine that a home in the mountains would have a kitchen with black cabinetry and white marble countertops, but somehow it works here.

The first thing that caught my eye in this dining area were the light fixtures. They do a great job of warming up the space. I love the fact that they are glass. If they weren't, they would distract the beautiful view.  I'm not sure about the office chairs, though...

The green couch totally works in the living room. The accessories are perfectly placed and tie everything together.

I like the master bedroom. However, I must say that in my opinion, the guest room is a bit better (see below). I like the colors, but it doesn't quite do it for me. But if I won the home, I'd have no complaints!

The master bathroom makes up for my slight dislike of the master bedroom. I love the curtained entrance, the light wall color and the chandelier above the bathtub. It's light and does very little to distract the view.

 I personally think that the guest bedroom should have been the master bedroom. This room is like a breath of fresh air to me. It reminds me of a hotel room, a beautiful getaway.

I would have given anything for my college dormroom to look like this ski dorm.

 And I would have totally been ok with sharing my college dorm bathroom if it looked like this.

What do you think? Leave a comment to let me know!

Click here to register to win this gorgeous home and to see more pictures. 

Out With The Old, In With The New

I love this chandelier by Anthropologie. It would be perfect for my guest room! I want to buy it right now!  But if I bought it, then #6 (and I guess #5), on my list of New Years resolutions would be down the drain. I spent the last week thinking about what I liked, what I disliked, and what I learned during 2010. There are definitely some things that I did for the last time in 2010 and will do for the first time in 2011. That leads me to my list of resolutions for 2011:

1. Have more conversations with God. He's the one person who never gets tired of hearing you talk.  
2. Be more adventurous. Do more. See more. Live more. Period.
3. Re-decorate, or actually decorate my bedroom. See my Bedroom Blues post. Yes, the bedroom STILL looks like that. I did purchase a great duvet over the holidays from TJMaxx, so I do have a head start on this one.
4. I'm a huge planner (i.e. I started this post about a week ago), but I need to savor more moments and not worry so much about the hours, days, months, and years.
5. Do a better giver of time and money and a better saver of time and money.  I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but I know it can be done.
6. Along with #5, focus more on my needs and less on my wants. Gosh I really do want that chandelier...
7. Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Most, not all, of my meals are fresh and natural. And I go to Pilates at this fabulous studio once a week - well most weeks. But I could always eat more fresh meals and up my classes to twice a week.
8. Start using coupons. My friend and author of the blog The Coupon Maximizer has made me realize that I am throwing money out of the window every time I go to to Target or Publix.
9. Up the ante with this blog. I have learned that great blogs take lots of time! But despite my busy work schedule,  I am going to work hard this year to make it more creative and more interesting. I already have some great ideas, so stay tuned!

I'm sure there are more things I need to work on, but my heart is pounding thinking about how I am going to accomplish just these things!

I'll keep you posted throughout the year on how things are going! Happy New Year!