Monday, January 12, 2015

These are a few of my favorite things

2014 was a huge year of change…2015 is shaping up to be more of the same.

I wanted to share my Top 5 favorite changes of my year long (almost) renovation.

***NUMBER 5***

THIS
 TO THIS

NUMBER 4

THIS:

TO THIS
GAME. CHANGER.

NUMBER 3
THIS:


TO THIS:

NUMBER 2:

THIS:

TO THIS:

I mean come on…how could this be number 2 you ask? Well hold on to your hats because before this month is done, I will finally reveal what our guest bathroom became. 

For your reference it was this before:


Great-goggly-brown tile-oogly. YIKES. Can not WAIT to show off the new one...As soon as I clean it, I do live in this house.
I know there is no way you guys could be as excited about this as I am, but its come such a long long way.

And for a small bonus, I loved decorating our redone house for the holidays so here's quick glimpse at that.







Until next time.

xoxox,
Summer

Thursday, January 8, 2015

A Tale of Two Couches

Spacial planning is really the key to a good functional room and I'm here to tell you, no matter what decor magazines and blogs say, so is reality. We all want our houses to look like they belong in a magazine, but to me, its more important that its functional.


If you remember, I had an inspiration for my living room. It was this:


I still stand by this as awesome…but the couch…well not so much. This one was super itchy. And although I love to entertain, I also like to binge watch Netflix, so I needed a cozy couch.
So I put off my search, until, my parents asked me to host Christmas in my new Casa. That meant 12 humans would be descending. My couch search hit warp speed.

I wandered in to Restoration Hardware (seriously if you live in LA go to the new Melrose Gallery, GOOD LORD). And fell in love with the Belgian Track Arm, 8 feet, Luxe Depth, feather fill. So elegant and cozy.  It wasn't the color I wanted but it was the right size and it was IN STOCK. Amazing. I had some concerns about the linen blend piling. They promised it was not. I ordered it. It was delivered. The second they set it down, I knew it was all wrong.


Size, yes, fabric NO. The linen that looked so elegant when its meticulously cared for in the store just looks like a rumpled shirt. The squishy fabric that felt so ahhhmazing, looks like a slept in bed. AND, surprise, surprise, it was already piling.  It went back in the morning.

So now, what? I needed a couch but now I understood the form and the functionality. I needed something darker because I am NOT meticulous, I needed something firmer because I want it to keep its shape, I needed something I can stretch out on that does not look like a bed. And I needed it fast.

Enter Room and Board and the beloved sectional chaise. I am typically against these because they are a dead space when you have guests. But, the truth is, this fits the way I live. And I am all about living baby!




I can not tell you how comfy that chaise is while I'm binge watching HGTV on a Sunday Morning. At Christmas watching my whole family squish on there to watch the game almost brought a tear to my eye!
With a big dark couch, I don't have to worry about stains. But I do need to worry about levity. So, all the other pieces in this room will have to be light. Like this new console table:


LOVE - print is by Banksy. Not sure its going to stay there, but I like the blue with the reclaimed wood of the West Elm console. This room has far to go. But at least now it has a couch.

xoxoox,
Summer

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot...

No one is forgotten on my new gallery wall!!
I promised the after photo of my wall of fame and drum roll please….here she is…


I call it my #Instagram wall. I LOVE it. I toyed with the idea of doing much larger frames, but this works out perfectly in our tiny foyer.



This was crazy inexpensive too. The frames are Ribba frames from Ikea - like six bucks each.

The least expensive thing I've done in this whole place…and not the last! Stay tuned for my favorite parts of my renovation from 2014.

xoxox,
Summer

p.s. Happy New Year!