Feeling "at home."

     Last week I had an appointment in a town that I don't get to visit very often, the girls were behaving really well and I saw that we were next to a Garden Ridge.  As we walked into the store I remember my mom taking me to as a child I saw that they were changing the sign out front, Garden Ridge is now called "at home"; I like the new name I feel it fits better with what the store offers it's consumers.

     The girls and I made a quick tour of the store and I snapped pictures on my phone of items that I liked for our home and other design projects that I have in the works.  The first item to catch my eye was this barstool, I loves the mix of leather, wood and metal, they are definitely more modern than my usual style but I liked the warm feeling they gave off. 

We continued walking and found a mock living room set up, these chairs are exactly what I have been looking for for our living room.  The contrast of the charcoal gray and the white really catches your eye  

 

I am really drawn to the rust like finish on this side table an love the glass top so it lets the base be the star of the table. 

These metal baskets would be great in an entry way to hold the days mail or newspaper or school work. They would also be great in a craft room to hold fabric scraps and projects "in progress" (not that I have any of those....)

These metal safety pins are a great industrial touch and would be great mixed into a wall collage. 

I love the amount of drama this canvas has it would be great as a focal point in an entry way or a hallway. 

     I was very pleased with all of the goodies I saw while in the store. I wish I had had more time to look around, but that just gives me an excuse to go back! Who knows maybe one or two of the items will make it's way home to Preston Drive!

Industrial Dreams

      Industrial, industrial, industrial, I am seeing this design concept everywhere, and as much as the traditionalist in me wants to hates it, I AM LOVING IT! I love how minimal it looks while feeling warm and rustic. Today I am going to share with you some industrial pieces that I found all on overstock.com and am pining for.

Vintage Stacking Chairs

Vintage Metal Bench

Handcrafted Table

      Placing four of these chairs around one side and both ends of the rectangular table with the bench on the other side would look great, and allow for at least 3 young kids to sit together. Speaking of kids, clean up would be so easy and fast on the chairs and bench.

Airplane Canvas

Swing Arm Lamp

Glass Top Cable Desk

A home that has a small nook area for a desk that would like to have a big impact could use this desk against the wall with the Airplane Canvas centered above it, and then flanked with one of the Swing Arm Lamps on each side.  The lamps are a great price, I have been looking for some for our master bedroom and these will more than likely be the ones that I go with.

     My neighbor recently asked me to decorate his home and I am having a blast coming up with new ideas to implement in his home, I am hoping to implement some of these industrial concepts, and I will keep you updated as to what I come up with for another home on Preston Drive.

     

Summer Lovin'

    
    
     I know, I know, I don't call, I don't write, I don't blog...enough.  I have been so busy lately that I can barely keep up with life, but I am living it to the fullest and just trying to keep up to my best ability. Now that that's out of the way, let's jump right into today's post.


     Growing up I remember we spent the whole summer outside, with the neighborhood kids we would spend the summer playing tag, riding bikes, catching frogs and swimming in our above ground pool, yeah we were fancy!  We spent our summers growing up together and I knew I wanted that same kind of experience for our kids.  When we decided it was time to move I was looking for a neighborhood that our kids could grow up with too!
     As we were wading through the sea of houses trying to find just the right fit for our family, it was no suprise that a big back patio and backyard were some of the major selling points for us. Our former home had a nice screened in back patio but a microscopic backyard. After viewing Preston Drive I could envision the kids playing in the sprinklers and on the swing set in the backyard.  The neighborhood was also full of kids and built around an elementary school, making my hopes of neighbor friends a reality.
     There is still a lot of work that I would like to do on the back patio, but for now it suits our family just fine!

     The table was made from plans on the deliriously awesome Ana-White, if you have not checked her collection of furniture building plans then you are missing out!  The building was super simple and all together maybe took me a day to build.  I love how big the table is; it takes up less than half of our large back patio, and fits a ton of people around it.  When I had my sister's bridal shower at the house, there were easily 16 women sitting around it enjoying their lunch.

     The armoire behind the table serves so many purposes, for our backyard.  When we have parties or company over, the top serves as an outside food and beverage area, I even installed a beer bottle opener for Mr. Preston Drive and his buds. When the kids are playing outside it is a chalk and bubble center where they can fill up their own bubbles and change out their chalk.  The bottom of the armoire holds our charcoal, wood chips and various grilling items. 

     Currently we have no chairs around the table, but my hopes are to build a bench for one side and find five amazing chairs to put around the other side and two ends of the table.  I hope you enjoyed today’s mini tour of our back yard and patio on Preston Drive.

Dreaming of Design…The Past.

     Today I wanted to show you around the house that we used to live in.  My decorating style is still pretty much the same, but I find myself taking more risks on Preston Drive.  We entered this house starting out as two love birds, who were expecting their first child and left the house as a family of five! We packed that house with memories and a whole lot of love, let’s start the tour.

Our old neighborhood was all Cape Cod style homes; it was a beautiful place to live with a ton of character.

The front porch was large and spacious and a great place to let the kids play so they wouldn’t be near the street.

I always wanted to paint the kitchen cabinets white, but was too scared to take the plunge.  The chalkboard was my favorite part of the kitchen and was so easy to make, just some trim and chalkboard paint and it was ready to go in under an hour and a half!

The breakfast nook was probably the busiest part of the house, many meals, crafts and even home preschool happened there.

Off of the kitchen area was the living room, it took years for me to get this room looking just right for me (the painting was only for staging purposes; otherwise we had our family pictures there.)

.

Another view of our living room from the kitchen.

The master bedroom was off of the living room, it was so long that we often referred to it as “The Bowling Alley.”

I love our headboard that Mr. Preston Drive and I built.  We have it in our new master bedroom, but are making changes to it, so be on the lookout for a post soon.

Our master bathroom was pretty decent in size, and had a huge window letting in tons of natural light.

Outside the breakfast nook and living room was our screened in porch, we loved this part of the house.  In the summer we would put a kiddie pool out there and the kids would be safe from sunburn and bugs, we ate a lot of meals out there too when it wasn’t too hot or cold.

In the kids bathroom we added wainscoting and I made numbered mirrors with door knobs below for the kids and guests to hang their towels on. 

 

I can’t seem to find any pictures of the kid’s rooms and playroom, but that’s more than likely due to the fact that I was always changing them around.  For our first home that place was perfect, but as our family grew we knew that we were on the verge of out growing it.  All three of our babies were brought home from the hospital to this house and it will always have a special place in my heart.

     I’m off to do some yard work. Sorry I haven’t posted much lately, but man we have been non-stop for about 2 weeks! I am ready for summer and to have all of our kidlets home all day! Hopefully I can get some projects and finishing touches done soon so you can see more of Preston Drive.