Summer House Tour 2015

Hi everyone! So thrilled to be here with my very first house tour! If you’re stopping by from Courtney’s blog, A Thoughtful Place, welcome! If you’re new here, I’ll tell you that my posts tend to focus on affordable glamour/DIY posts sprinkled with easy recipes that give me more time to play with glitter.

And again, thanks to the lovely and kind Marty from A Stroll Thru Life for deeming me cool enough to be included–thanks, doll!

It’s kind of odd that a home decor blogger like me hasn’t done a home tour before, but truth be told our house is under constant chaos from projects. Given that we work full-time (10+ hour days), we fit in projects as we can into our ranch style home in South Texas. We’ve lived here nearly five years, and it’s amazing how much we’ve done…and how much we have left to do.

I’ll be upfront that today’s post isn’t a full on house tour, but I am showing you our most used spaces—living room, dining room/parlor, bedroom, and my NEW (nearly finished) home office. The torrential rains last month hampered my outdoor makeover plans, so you’ll have to stick around for those.

I’m usually a gray and white and beige kind of girl, but this season I really wanted to use colors that made me happy, so you’ll see lots of color today.

As soon as you enter my front door you’ll see the dining room to your immediate right, so we’ll start there.

I love, love, LOVE my Home Decorators Collection Aldridge Dining Table. It’s beefy and stunning.

Some brass candlesticks from Hobby Lobby ($4 for the pair) are adorned with some simple floral arrangements I made using Dollar Tree flowers. They’ve really upped their faux florals game. The DIY tutorial is coming up next week.

My dining room is super long and narrow, so at the end we have what Daniel calls “Pee Wee’s parlor.” Pee Wee loves to lounge on the sofa with me while I read magazines. A pink tray from HomeGoods holds a fan that moves from room to room with me—it is so hot in Texas right now.

Now, let’s head over to living room! This is definitely where we spend hours and hours each week. We love to watch TV, and we each have our spots around the room. Recently we splurged and had recessed lights installed, and I am in heaven. I truly wish we had done it sooner– it makes the room feel brighter and more modern. The wood paneling used to be something I hated and painted (tutorial here), but now it’s a trait I find charming. That being said, if someone were to offer to drywall this room for me for free, I’d jump at the chance.

I have been debating what to put over my sofa for over a year now, so it stays blank for now. I’m still waiting to find the perfect art piece or mirror. The black/white stripe pillow covers are from IKEA and the watercolor-ish ones are from Hobby Lobby.

We bought the Kingston recliners from Home Decorators Collection last fall, and they’ve held up beautifully. They were a total bargain and are SO comfy.

I find mantle decor really, really challenging, so I opted for simple. Metallics and creamy white/ivory are set off by bright florals and bold patterns.

My Target bar cart is to this day one of my fave purchases. I snagged it on clearance in 2014, but I am glad they still carry it for anyone else who wants it. The top shelf is now glass in the 2015 version- fancy!

The glassware is from HomeGoods, the lamp is from Target and the various other accessories are gifts and garage sale finds.

The curtains below are beauties from World Market, and those canvases are DIY projects from my Christmas 2014 decor. 

Decorating bookshelves is a challenge for me, but I tried my best. All are accessories I personally love (especially that Lily Pulitzer for Target plate), and I try to just show off items that make me happy. 

Pee Wee truly loves this couch, and I am happy to share it with him. 🙂

Let’s move onto the bedroom…the one place where I despise color and I go for minimal decor and clutter. This is my retreat. I love for a bedroom to have a monochromatic, hotel room feel. It pretty much looks the same as when I did the reveal last year, but I did add some luxurious gray sheets from JCP to our linen repertoire, along with some fancy and uber luxe pillows from Brookstone.

And now onto my MWI corporate head quarters…my almost finished home office.
I am in LOVE with this room. I LOVE IT! Today I’ll give you a sneak peek. If you want to see all the beautiful details and DIY tutorials, those will go live next week. Squee!

These M&M’s have Pee Wee’s ADORABLE little face on them. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat them. They were a very thoughtful gift from Pee Wee for mother’s day. I’m a lucky gal.

Below I have a clearance mug from Kirkland’s, acrylic stapler and tape dispenser, Nate Berkus for Target gold scissors, and a gorgeous Kate Spade telegram gold foiled edged memo pad. The pencils, clipboard and pens are all from the Michael’s Dollar Spot. And that fancy schmancy gold coaster is actually a lid from a holiday Bath & Body Works candle. I am all about upcycling.

And one last sneak peek…I hope this is enough to keep you wanting to come back next week for the full office reveal that will contain oodles of photos.

Thanks for stopping by my house tour! I hope you enjoyed it and got a bit of inspiration. If you’re new here, please subscribe for updates over on the right sidebar. Head on over to Rain On A Tin Roof  as the next stop on this wonderful summer tour of homes!

Monday – June 8th

A Stroll Thru Life

Life On Virginia Street

Thursday – June 11th
A Thoughtful Place
Monica Wants It 
Rain On A Tin Roof
Charming In Charlotte
Remodelando la Casa
Dimples & Tangles 

Friday – June 12th

Simple Details

Tidbits & Twine

Design Post Interiors

Designing On The Side

Peaceful Home Decor 

Talk Of The House

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