Just hanging out

Not too much going on this week. We did get the picnic table and D should be painting and putting it together this weekend. Just in time for my family to come over to celebrate 4th of July!

Guess I'll just share some pics of the babes...and D

House Tour: Living Room

Holy heat wave!

Today is the second day in a row where we have temperatures that feel over 100 degrees! We're trying to keep cool as best we can. Happy first days of summer!

Patio-less

One thing that we don't have at this house is a patio or deck. It was obviously not a deal breaker for us...one could always be added at some point.

back of the house, bay window from dining room

small back entrance to the family room - we never use

If we ever put something, I lean towards a patio right where the adirondack chairs are. Right behind the chairs are my beautiful rose bushes. They were here when we bought the house and I like to think I've taken good care of them. They flower from early spring to late fall...which has been awesome. Unfortunately, I don't have any good pics of them right now but I'll post when I do!

Anyway back to the non-patio. So while we don't have the budget to make a patio at this time, I still want to be able to enjoy these summer nights. That means eating outside, having some beverages, and really just another place to sit while we enjoy the additional day light we have for the next couple of months. So I'm ok with putting something right on the grass.

Here's what I was day dreaming of...

Source: google.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: alifesdesign.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: bing.com via Megan on Pinterest

All delightful right?! Chyeah. But nice teak is really freaking expensive and we aren't baller status yet. So then I started looking for some alternatives but similar in overall style.

Source: via Megan on Pinterest

I found this bad boy in a Christmas Tree Shoppes shopper advertisement. Yeah! Who knew Christmas Tree Shoppes sold teak patio sets for $699!!!! But sadly - still out of our budget at this point. Hoping when we do have the funds that I'll somehow find this again someday. They don't have online shopping so I'll have to luck out somehow in store.

Then I found this image online...

Source: acountryfarmhouse.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

I think its super cute, very cottage-y. I like the mismatched table and chairs. And those chairs actually look inexpensive but still very pretty. 

So then I went where I knew they had outdoor furniture on the cheap, our favorite IKEA!

Source: ikea.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: ikea.com via Megan on Pinterest

Perfect! Table looks nice and those chairs are adorable. So I checked to see if they were in stock in our local IKEA before we schlepped out there...and they're not!! I was starting to feel like this was just not gonna work out this summer.

But then I found one more image

Source: timbarberltd.com via Megan on Pinterest

How did they make a regular picnic table look so pretty?! I love it..I think its a perfect solution for our needs. It's inexpensive dining now....and will be a great kids table for later once we have enough saved and can buy some "real" furniture.

Lowe's has this which I think will work great...

Source: lowes.com via Megan on Pinterest

and at $87.84 it's super affordable. I'll just paint it white to match our adirondack chairs, put some pretty lanterns on top and it will be just as pretty as the other pic! I'll post pictures after we get and paint! 

Happy Father's Day!

We had a delightful father's day yesterday. Just spent the day hanging out at home. D got to do everything he wanted to do which included going for a run outside, organizing the attic (don't ask me - did not sound like my idea of relaxation!) and shopping at Old Navy for a new pair of flip flops.

D enjoying his train massage t-shirt with the kiddos

Hope you had a wonderful father's day as well!

Happy Friday!

Source: instagr.am via Megan on Pinterest

Before Pinterest

I have a strong love for Pinterest. When I first found out about it I was like "Finally, a real way to organize my favorite home inspiration photos!!!" Before I felt like I was pretty ghetto, taking screen shots and saving them into paint lol. But man is Pinterest awesome. Not only do you get to save the pretty image and view whenever you want but it literally brings you right to the original site (for the most part.)

One of my favorite collection of photos from before the days of pinning came from that old HGTV show with Angelo Surmelis "Rate My Space".

Geez I wish I had better saved files of these photos! For the life of me, I can't find them on the actual show's website anymore. 

I love everything about this cottage kitchen. The cute little eating area with white slipcovered chairs. Pretty sure they are these from IKEA. The white cabinets, dark chocolate granite, black accents and that blue grey wall color. Oh and of course the floor! Anyone seen this before?!

English Colonial Floor plans

One of the things that really drew us to this english colonial house was the layout. It has 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths (yes that one full bath is going to kill us eventually with four people living in this house!) Even though it's under 2,000 sq ft, it still feels pretty big.

First floor

We are lucky to have a family room that is primarily used as our TV room, but also doubles as the office with a really pretty built in desk and bookshelves. I also call this room the sunroom because there are literally 8 windows, which is delightful. This is definitely the room we live in and spend the most time. More to come later with pics and all.

Second floor

Our upstairs is fairly roomy as well. Our master bedroom is pretty spacious for such an old house with the dimensions like 17x13 if I remember correctly. And we have a walk up attic which is awesome. Theres potential to have it finished in the future, but for now we use it as some much needed storage space.

Overall a great floor plan for our family's needs today.

House Tour: Foyer

Vintage equestrian hunting print

Another vintage hunting print

Transom window and original light fixture