Bedroom on a Budget

Hi lovlies!  I hope you all had a fabulous week and are ready for the holiday ahead!  We've been fussing around here preparing for our annual trip to St. Thomas for Thanksgiving, which means LOTS of laundry.  The man went to Baton Rouge for a quick guys trip to LSU and I stayed behind to manage some last minute choices for the renovation projects.  Hopefully we can stay on schedule while we're out of town.  God willing.

So, I got the thumbs up on devoting Sundays to a house and home post, so I will be getting domestic on y'all from here on out.  I wanted to share our bedroom with you because I really tightened up the purse strings on this little makeover.  After the renovation of our home, we didn't really have much left in the budget to decorate. After pulling as much as I could from what we already had, I finished up with some wonderful items from Target, Joss and Main, and even the neighbor's garage sale!  Yep, they were moving out right as we were moving in and I snagged those Restoration Hardware lamps for $30 for the pair.  Major score!

In terms of the renovation, this master bedroom had one of those double entry bathrooms, so we walled one side up to make room for a bigger closet and to open up the space altogether.  I can show you the bathroom in the coming weeks.  New hardwoods and my trusty paint color  (SW Amazing Grey) makes the space much more comfortable and fresh. We spend sooooooo much time in here when we are home and it's definitely my favorite space in the house.

Bed: Joss and Main

Pillows: West Elm (old), Target (old), Ikea Sanela

Duvet Set: Nate Berkus Diamond Checker Set @ Target

Quilt: Threshold Vintage Washed Solid Quilt @ Target

Lampshades: Threshold Burlap Black Lampshade @Target

Sunburst Mirror: Martha Stewart Living Wales Gold Mirror @ Home Depot

Beveled Mirrors: Threshold Starburst Mirror @ Target

Art: World Market (in store)

Rug: Sam's Club

Drapes: Ikea Merete

xoxo,

sarah

A Few Things

Hey chickies!  I apologize for the minimal amount of posts in the past few days.  I've got a full plate for the next couple weeks and am struggling to stay on track.  

1.  In the hubbub of Easter and preparing for the shower I'm hosting this weekend, I decided to make an offer on a home.  Although I'm in the business and have bought a home before, this time it meant a little more than I realized.  I think since it is to be the first house I've purchased on my own, it hit me a little harder than I had planned, so that process has been surprisingly stressful!  I'm also a bit obsessive about immediately remodeling and subsequently in need of a pintervention.

rue

Jew in J.Crew

 decorpad

decorpad

2. I spent the weekend thrifting in preparation for a bridal shower, collecting tons of silver, crystal, mercury glass, and hobnob.  I plan to throw peonies and hydrangeas in for color, plus add some of my treasured Blue Willow for a Southern Chic theme. I can't wait to show you guys how it turns out! Craptastic iPhone pic with poor lighting.  Sorry!

3.  I got a new Tibi dress to wear to tonight's Fresh Event at Neiman Marcus.  Looking forward to a little pampering with products that I absolutely LOVE.  Are you guys into Fresh?  I have extremely sensitive skin and tend to gravitate towards more natural and fruit based products, so I love the fragrance and texture of their products.  These are a few of my favorites from their line:

Buy it here

This stuff is amazing!  I have dry irritable skin and this keeps my legs and arms super smooth and soft.  I use it with my Clarisonic Body Brush and it works like a charm.

Buy it here

It's a tie between Victor & Rolf Flower Bomb and Quelques Fleurs for my favorite perfume, but I go through both of them rather quickly and end up spending about $175 per bottle.  I discovered Citron de Vigne last year at the same event that I'm attending tonight and have been using it ever since.  It's a great day and weekend scent at a great price point.  I have had people stop me and ask me to write down my perfume because they liked it so much.  

Buy it here

Sugar Rose' has taken the place of my trusty cherry chapstik after years in an exclusive relationship.  It has a subtle color but does an amazing job moisturizing dry cracked lips.

As a disclaimer, I have no relationship at all with Fresh brands.  I was unaware of the company until last year and want to make sure that everyone knows about this great brand.

Hope y'all have a great day!!

xoxo,

sarah

Blue and White

I'm in the market for a home, so I am constantly pinning inspiration.  I'm most drawn to all shades of blue against a sharp, white contrast.  Here are a few of my faves from Pinterest this week:

Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo,

sarah

a soft place to fall...

It's been a great holiday, but I am ready to go home.  After five days out of town, cold wet weather, and no puppies, I'm definitely missing Dallas.  As I'm sitting in the airport, all I can think of is the comfort of my own bed.  Loving this bedroom with original artwork by Jen Ramos of Made By Girl, a wonderful style blog that has been on my role since I learned what a blog even was.  She is so super talented and I am definitely looking forward to placing some of her pieces in my space.

Made By Girl

How was your holiday?

xoxo,

sarah

Christmas Dinner Table

I hope Santa was good to each and every one of you and that you had a lovely Christmas.  I wanted to post pics from our dining room table which is where we enjoyed our annual Christmas Eve Spaghetti Bonanza.  Ever since I was a kid, it has been tradition to have spaghetti on Christmas Eve and this year was no exception.  We did tweak the original recipe a bit just to make us feel like we were eating semi-healthy.  We opted for turkey meat and fresh veggies for the sauce, and whole wheat pasta.  After dinner, I enjoyed total domination, as usual, on the Scrabble board.  I think the wine my competition was drinking may have impaired their word-making, but whatever... small victories.

How did you celebrate Christmas?

xoxo,

sarah

How lovely are your branches...

Here she is in all her teal glory!!!  This year we decided to get a new Christmas Tree, since the one we had was on its last leg.  Translation:  I was too lazy to wrap lights around the damn thing.  I had a vision in my head of what I wanted the tree to look like and that included long needles and glitter.  And I wanted it to look like it was snowed on a little, which I have since learned is described as "flocked".  Who knew?  Not me...I scored this one at Garden Ridge and it was exactly what I was looking for.

I used a teal throw that generally goes on the couch as a makeshift tree skirt.

Look!  It's me in the gold ornament!  These are some of the first pics with the new camera.  I didn't even mean to do that, but it's still cool right?

This is a messy tree and there is glitter all over the house.  Famous loves to walk underneath and get it all over her back.  After three days, I'm still finding it in my hair and on my face from her snuggles. 

The first Christmas at White Owl Drive was also the first Christmas that I didn't go home to North Carolina to spend the holidays with my grandparents.  Since I was a little girl, the one thing I remember about Christmas is how beautiful my grandmother's tree turned out year after year.  It has always been decorated exactly the same: in silver, gold, and crystal. Faboosh! It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. 

That year I received a rather large UPS package a couple days after Thanksgiving.  My grandmother had sent me tons of ornaments that she had collected over the years, including these glass and crystal bells.  They had always been my favorite ones when I was little and now they hang on my tree. They are probably 50 years old, but still sparkle like they did when I was a kid.

The tree has pine cones already attached to the branches, but I added the little poinsettias.

Found these little birdies at Michael's last year for .25 after the holidays.

I hope you enjoy your tree as much as we do!  I'm linking with these chicks:

xoxo,

sarah

Christmas Mantle

Yesterday, I had the entire day (except for an hour getting a much needed eyebrow wax... I was channeling Selma Hayek in Frida) decking the halls of White Owl Drive.  I'm not completely finished, but the tree and the mantle are complete.  I took to thrifting Dollar Tree to gussy up the fireplace and found some great deals.  I was able to complete the mantle for about thirty bones and I think it looks anything but cheap! 

The sunburst mirror is a new addition to the mantle as of a few weeks ago.  I have been eyeing it at Horchow and patiently waiting for a coupon to come over my email and it finally did.  Originally $550, I got it for $85!  You can imagine my adrenaline rush that day... 

The crystal candlesticks I have had for years, but they are one of my all-time favorite finds.  They came from Ross about four years ago and I love the way they sparkle.  In Dallas, we have two thrift stores that are sponsored by Christian Community Action, an amazing group that helps poor and needy family by providing food, shelter, essentials, and even education.  These are my favorite thrift spots not only because they always have the best treasures, but also because their volunteers are so wonderful, friendly, and have an obvious passion for their cause. The little gold trees came from big grab bags of holiday decor that CCA put together for the weekend.  For $2 I got a huge bag full of holly, a cute little snowman, four of these trees,  and some other little odds and ends.

The garland and poinsettias came from Callaway's Nursery and were only $.99/ft. and $7.99 a piece.  I will let you know if I can keep either alive...

Finally, all the ball ornaments came from Dollar Tree and were 10 for $1.  I bought about 20 boxes and have a couple more projects to take care of today. I'm sure the anticipation will absolutely kill you ;)

Famous came back from the groomer with a snowflake bandana, so I think everyone is now in the holiday spirit.  Seriously, she is the cutest hound I've ever laid eyes on... Cheers!

I'm linking up with these gals: