Our Home...Before and After (Finally)!!

Here it is...BEFORE
We moved into our first house the last week of March 2009. I was 6 months pregnant and ready to prepare my nest. Thankfully, the interior of the house was move in ready (the previous owner was also an interior designer...we lucked out). This was a must considering my baby bump, and all we had to do was paint a couple of rooms and put new carpet in the nursery. BUT as you can see by the picture, the exterior needed a little TLC. We were going to wait a year or so before we made any improvements, but then Reg got the itch and it was all down hill from there. It all started with Reg trimming a few limbs. Before we knew it, we were cutting down 13 trees and landscaping the back yard. As many of you "houseaholics" (a fellow blogger turned me on to this term..haha) may know, once you do one thing to a house, it's a domino effect.Have you ever seen so many pine trees...they had to go!The mud pit after we cut down ALL the trees...domino effect = much needed landscaping.

Gotta love some new, green Zoysia! This is my husbands new love...minus me and Annie :).The brick on our house was not pretty...it was an ugly, orange color and I was dying to paint over it.
So we did and ta-da here it is!! Hope you like it! I went with Sherwin William Wool Skein for the main color, Panda White for the trim and Hardware for the shutters and doors.

We also redid the front porch and repaved the driveway. Check out the concrete slab and rotten columns on the old front porch...had to go. I wish I had a better pic, but this was all I could find.

We replaced the concrete slab floor with new brick (sorry, my terminology is terrible), and it made a huge difference!!

Here is the finished product with new columns, copper "eye brow", arch, shingles and lanterns to replace the hanging fixture. We saved a lot of money by not having to change the roof pitch.

Once again, the domino effect is coming into play and we now need to landscape the front yard. Unfortunately, the bank account is empty and we are just going to have to wait!!
Last but not least, the driveway before and after.

I'm so glad all the workmen are finally out of our hair and we can now enjoy our new and improved home.

Friends+Food+Flowers=Fabulous Shower

Last Thursday I hosted an Around the House Shower at my house for my oldest and dearest friend, Katie. It was a BLAST! It's kinda hard not to have a good time when you have all of your best friends, yummy food and beautiful flowers all under one roof. This beautiful platter was one of my favorite gifts that Katie received. She is getting married the weekend before Thanksgiving, so the platter was a perfect gift!

My good friend Ansley's mom did these AWESOME arrangements. They are so fun and whimsical...I just love them!

How cute are these cookies with Katie's soon-to-be monogram?! They are from Rhodes Bakery and were sooo yummy!

The bride's favorite food is cheese dip and anything Mexican, so we had Taqueira Del Sol cater.

The food was delicious! Above is a pic of the spread.

I'm in desperate need of artwork for my dining room, so to fill the empty wall space, we had a picture of Katie from her bachelorette party blown up. Hey, it's not fine art but it'll do :).

Anne Bolling Gaines and Mary Delia Poynter of Container Gardening of Atanta, LLC planted this beautiful orchid and the container with coral begonias and greenery on my dining room table. They also planted the containers by the front door and the beautiful flower beds on either side of the front steps and mailbox. They are SO talented and I could not be more happy with the BEAUTIFUL work they did!! I do not have a green thumb at all, so I need all the help I can get.

A sneak peak of the house with my new lanterns! Stay tuned tomorrow for the before and after post.

Check out Anne Bolling and Mary Delia's blog at http://containergardeningllc@blogspot.com/ and be sure to contact them for any of your gardening needs!

Scott's

Can you believe it...the October Scott's show is already here! Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it this month, but I wanted to give y'all a sneak peak at some of the goodies that will be at the show. Both of the booths I'm mentioning are in the North building, so be sure stop there first.
Booth #1
One of my favorite Scott's dealer, Lindy Wright from Millwright, ALWAYS has fabulous finds. If you're ever looking for awesome, one-of-a-kind lamps be sure to stop here! Her booth is under the B-8 sign. She also has a warehouse located off Peachtree Industrial (along with two other amazing scott's dealers, Lisa Burnett from Inner Pieces and Margaret Bostwick from the Silk Purse..they both have booths in the North building as well, but I'm not sure what their booth number is), so if you can't make it to Scotts this month, you can always hit her up there. Contact me if you want more info on their warehouse location. Here are a few pics of some of Lindy's fab finds...

Photos from Lindy Wright's monthly email

Booth #2

Remember the basket lights I saw at Scott's last month? Well, Mary Bairstow is back with even more fun finds (all info from her monthly email)...
1) Some incredible new light fixtures wonderfully priced. You are going to love these!!
2) 10' red ladder
3) Wonderful aged blue cart
4) Old Butcher block workbench
5) Cane back chairs from Paris bistro with vintage linen seats
6) Grain sack upholstered Parsons chairs
7) Bergere sofa in burlap
8) 1930's French sofa with daybed
9) Bakers dough table
10) Vintage linen pillows
11) Jeff Jones photography
12) Tracy Hartley Urban Art
13) Huge Wheel Cog that makes wonderful Sculpture Art
14) Tortoise Shell Sconces these are selling very well.
15) Wonderful old artifacts including wood planters.
16) Chicken coop coffee tables on casters with glass tops - so cute

Be sure to check them out under B-10 in booths 429, 440 and 441. This will be the largest space she's had and I promise she won't disappoint.

If you are interested in any of these items and can't make it to Scott's, contact Mary at mary@marybairstow.com.

Happy shopping!!

**Hopefully before & after pics of the house will be posted by the end of the week. One of the lanterns came in broken, so I'm waiting on it to come in. I'm also hosting a wedding shower at my house tomorrow night, so hopefully I'll have some fun pics from it as well.**

Easily Distracted

Since I've had little Annie Fannie in my life I have been, to say the least, easily distracted. I start a project and then Annie wakes up from her nap...we start playing and I am distracted. The other day I found this hand-me-down coat from her cousin, and we just had to have a photo session. How cute is she...I have never laughed so hard!! By the time I put Annie back down for her next nap I've completely forgotten about my last project and start something new. It is a vicious cycle and by the end of the day I have accomplished nothing...besides taking a few precious pics of Annie. Does anyone else feel this way?? Please say yes!

World Market

I ventured over to World Market yesterday looking for door mats and came home with a rug! Who would have thought....definitely not my husband :)!? When I walked into World Market, there was a huge sign right in front of me advertising a rug sale, and then right next to the sign was this AWESOME 6x9 Suzani Rug. I immediately fell in love and just had to have it. It's all my colors! No, I do not by any means need it, but I knew if I didn't get it, I would lie awake all night thinking about it. So I decided to take it home.
I didn't work in the living room...much too bold. I already have a striped Dash & Albert rug (I just got it back in June) in my sunroom, but the colors in the suzani rug would look just perfect in there. So, I think I've convinced myself and my husband that we need a summer rug (Dash & Albert stripe) and a winter rug (World Market suzani rug). It's the perfect solution and now my new rug has a home!

Scout for the Home

The grand opening party of Scout for the Home was a fabulous time had by all. I can not put into words how proud I am of Nancy and how amazingly AWESOME her new store is! I can't wait for the rest of Atlanta to experience it for themselves. This home decor store, located on 18 East Andrews Drive in the heart of Buckhead, features beautiful upholstery, lighting, furniture pieces, bedding, pillows, accessories and much more. It is a small space, but it is filled with to die for goodies, and fairly affordable ones to boot (compared to the other stores in the area...Pieces, South of Market). Nancy is a very talented (and young at that) interior designer, whose work has been published numerous times in Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, and her exquisite taste and keen eye for detail can be seen in each item she has purchased for the store. Here are some of my favorite pieces, but you MUST check out for yourself all that this new store has to offer.LOVE the concrete top on this dining table, beautiful slipcovered dining chairs, and fabulous chandelier!

These are a few of her upholstered pieces and awesome pillows.

Lovely lighting!

Do you not love this coffee table and how cool is the wicker chair?!!

I would love to curl up in this bed!

Be sure to stop by Scout ASAP and tell Nancy Mary Allison sent you! Happy shopping!!

Lanterns on a budget

One of the many projects that we have been doing to the exterior of our home is replacing a hanging lantern on the front porch with 2 wall lanterns on either side of the front door. I originally wanted this lantern below, The Charleston Lantern, from Carolina Lanterns (minus the bottom scroll), but they were a little out of our price range. They are beautiful and of course, handcrafted but since we are working on a tight budget, I had to find an alternative. So, I went to Vinings Lighting and with the help of Jennifer Bell, I found this lantern below for half the price of the Carolina Lantern. I think it's pretty darn good looking and now I can use the money I saved to beautify the inside of my house (or pay for diapers). I'm getting them in an antique bronze finish. They're coming in tomorrow and the electrician is coming on Monday to install. I'll keep you posted!!Also, stay tuned tomorrow for pics of the exterior paint job! The painters have been busy working all day and it's really looking good. I can't wait to share the 'After' pics with y'all!!!

**Reg and I are hitting up the Grand Opening party of 'Scout for the Home' tonight! My good friend Nancy Duffey (formerly the lead interior designer for Summerour and Associates) is opening up this AWESOME home decor store located on East Andrews right behind Pieces. I'll be sure to take lots of pics. Can't wait!**