Category: our home

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Merry Christmas 2023

Finally getting around to posting some pictures of the house decorated this year.  The color was green and brown with grapevine or twigs scattered.  I ordered most of the grapevine through Michael’s and the ornaments are old and not able to be linked.  

Forgive me for the poor quality of the photos,  they were taken  taken by my phone and it has been so gray  in Michigan it was tough to get enough light in the house.  

We hope you had a wonderful holiday with lots of family time!

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Target finds for the holidays!

This year I picked up a few items at Target (links below) to update my green Christmas decor. This year I will decorate with green as my main color- I usually alternate green and red each year.  Last year was fun pulling out the red ornaments, bright ribbon and colorful Santa’s.  This year will be more subdued with colorations of green with hints of silver and natural twig vines.   Pics of last year’s Christmas here.

Also new this year, Dave and I will make our own craft project.  We will be  creating stars with twigs I ordered from Amazon. Goal is to hot glue the twigs into 6 inch stars and place them on the tree as filler and also on the garland flanking the fireplace.  We’ll see how this works!  I also bought twig garland  (5ft) , I am hoping to also add that to the fireplace garland. I keep thinking the theme might be Woodland…touches of wood tones and green.

Click on images below for shopping details.

Excited to see how the decor turns out. 🙂  We have a few gatherings and one large party to look forward to this Christmas season and I can’t wait to have the house shine and people gather!! 🙂

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Happy first day of fall!

Hello! Can you believe cooler temps and shorter days are on the horizon?  As much as we love the fall, we will miss the warmer nights of summer.  

We have been traveling this summer and we can’t wait to share where we have visited, but you should know, we are still living with chaos at home due to the kitchen renovation/ redo/ improvement…whatever you want to call it. 🙂

Tearing up the old floor and putting down new wood subfloor
New tile going down!
Checking tile with guest bathroom wallpaper and new rug, looks like a winner!
New backsplash and quartz are in!
And we now have a half built island!

I can see the finish line and am so excited to have workmen out of my house!  

More later,

Karen

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Updating our kitchen!

Our kitchen is not bad, I mean it’s functional and everything works, it’s just dark and dated.  So here we go planning on an update and going back and forth on what we need and what we want.  This is a true give and take situation- one that is testing our new marriage!  WE are compromising and continuing to communicate what each of us want and what we can afford.

We know the cupboards have to stay along with all of the appliances.  Too costly to replace at this time.  

Our coffee drinking area is also getting an update. Shiplap on walls, new sconces, new fabric on chairs and a marble table top.

We are considering updating the floor, installing ceiling beams, updating backsplash, installing feature tile on buffet, investing in quartz and removing one full upper cabinet near sink to install open shelving.  I think the idea is farmhouse meets industrial meets comfortable meets greige.  Make sense?  So far, we have agreed on all the finishes- that is a win in my book!

Really considering mixing metals and I think white paint with the focal ceiling will brighten up the space.   The backsplash tiles show whiter/cream tiles in person and the counters are definitely whiter than the picture depicts. 

We are planning on having it all done over the summer months.  I’ll keep you updated often.  

The biggest impact will be the floor and the quartz counters!
This is the color scheme we are trying to achieve, but not this modern. A lighter floor, dark walnut and gray cabinets lighter counter tops with brick backsplash. Buffet will have fun tile with dark cabinets. All appliances are stainless steel.
I created this vignette for Olivia and Zach. They are also updating their kitchen and wanted my thoughts. I love the blue tile with the brass hardware. The Roman shade will look adorable as they have a pretty blue dining room that is right next to the kitchen.

Talk soon,

Karen