Now that I’ve introduced you to my latest project, let’s get into the plan. 

But real quick, we need to talk about our house master plan.  If/when we have kids, the plan is to use the bedroom that I use as my office for the nursery.  Since we don’t have that many overnight guests, we’ll eliminate having a guest room and move the office into the now guest room/dressing room. 
With this in mind, I knew any new office plans/furniture would need to work in the current guest room.  I basically designed my office in the guest room space and then made those pieces work in the current office, that way if we switch it over, everything works!

I’ve been collecting a lot of inspiration, and there are a few common themes.  Here are some that I’ve been pinning for the last year or so.

All of my inspiration rooms are mostly white with accents of black/dark blues and wood.  This is similar to the aesthetic on our main floor, most notably our kitchen, and something that I’ve been wanting to bring upstairs.  I feel like crafting supplies and accessories are colorful on their own, and can be a little overwhelming, so a neutral background is my preference.

Luckily I was able to create a new desk and add a lot more storage options with this in mind.  Here are the pieces that I’ve either bought or planning to bring into the room:

The large items like the shelving unit and desk hail from Ikea and will help keep the room from feeling too heavy.  The butcher block top will bring in the natural elements and provide a large workplace that I’m used to.  The chair is also from Ikea and is something I’ve had for years and love.  I have had both wheeled and stationary chairs and prefer wheeled for quickly moving to grab something on the other side of the room.

The rug is something that’s been purchased and I’m looking forward to adding something a little more comfortable and a lot more stylish/mature in the room.  All while keeping in mind that I share the room with the litter box and loose pieces of litter are just a reality.  This rug will sweep up well (which I do A LOT for the above reason) and will camouflage anything between.

I plan to bring in plants (real) and gold/brass accents (fake) and color with accessories.

My timeline is still very loose on this project.  I have to pare down a lot of supplies like scrapbooking paper which I have a lot of, but surprisingly have never scrapbooked!  Once I clear a lot of it out I can then paint and switch out the large pieces, which is another hurdle since it took 3+ people to bring in some of the larger pieces in the room and it’s just me now!

I shared our front porch refresh earlier this week, and wanted to follow up with a cost breakdown and source list for those looking for a similar look as well as my own resource for when I need to replace something, or just remember where I got it and how much it cost!




Let’s start with the products I bought.  Unfortunately, the furniture set from Bed, Bath and Beyond is no longer available, but I found something comparable and not a thousand dollars.  The rest are all exact products, but some are on clearance, so they eventually may sell out as well.

COST BREAKDOWN
Mirror	$39.99
Pouf	$64.99
Outdoor Rug (5’x7’)	$53.99
4-Piece Conversation Set	$249.99
Gold Planter	$24.95
Black Planter	$39.99
Blue Pillow ($26.99x2)	$53.98
Black Striped Pillow	$33.00
Watercolor Palm Leaves Pillow ($33.00x2)	$66.00
Large Black Lantern	$13.98
Small Black Lantern	$6.98
Concrete Citronella Candle	$8.49
Citron 3 Wick Candle	$13.59
Large Silver Lantern	$31.99
Small Silver Lantern	$23.99
Gold Drum Table	$20.98
Plants (approximate)	$80.00
TOTAL	$840.86

This cost isn’t exactly what I spent.  Some of the items I got a discount on like using a 20% off coupon for the furniture from BBB, and others I already had like the black lanterns which were gifts.  But, it’s a good representation of what it would cost to buy all of these items to recreate this look.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the cost and extremely happy with the results!


We continue to love this space and I’m happy I’ve finally gotten it right after almost 4 1/2 years!
If there are any other questions about specific items, or something you see that I didn’t mention, just let me know!  For see all these items, as well as some that I didn’t end up using or things that I might buy in the future, check out my Front Porch board on Pinterest.

Okay, not really.  That’s a little dramatic, but it was one of the biggest (albeit stupidest) fights we’ve had in a long time. 

It started when I pinned this DIY paper towel holder and thought, “I could do that!”

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Lately I’ve been feeling a little inadequate next to Mike’s mad skills.  Before I met him I was very self-sufficient and anything I wanted, I was determined and figured out a way to do it myself.  Fast forward 6+ years and I wait for Mike to help me hang pictures.  What’s happened to me?!  I’m scared to use half the tools out in our garage.  Something had to change.

So I started small, and set out to make a paper towel holder.  Seemed simple enough.  Some table saw, (really the scariest tool in my opinion), chop saw, and drilling action.

That was until I showed Mike and asked where I could get a solid piece of birch.    

It started simple enough.  We couldn’t find solid birch, so Mike suggested we use plywood and biscuit a simple frame around so we didn’t have the plywood edging visible.  Whoa, we were definitely getting out of the realm of “things Mallory could do on her own”. 

I mentioned this to Mike, there may have been yelling/tears, and he said something like it’s simple enough and I could learn how, which may or may not have included yelling back.  I bought the copper pieces, and weeks went by with this little project over our heads.  We tried to work on it together, but I got resentful that Mike had to show me/do it for me, and he got angry that I was taking it so personally.

Fast forward a month of two, (yeah this thing got dragged out), and it finally got complete.

I eventually came around to Mike’s idea of the edging, and Mike suggested using heart wood since it’s such a pretty wood.  Mike had to cut it down using the table saw and I did get comfortable on the chop saw cutting those little pieces for the edging.  It’s super hard though and it needed a lot of sanding to get smooth and even.  All that sanding wasn’t good for the center plywood and Mike sanded right through the veneer.  It wasn’t the end of the world because the heart wood and birch plywood would have taken the stain differently, so I was already thinking of painting the center.

I chose black and stained the heart wood, then taped off and painted the center.  I added 2 coats of shellac when everything was dry.

Mike screwed in the copper piping after spraying with a sealant to protect it from oxidizing and we added rubber feet to the bottom.

I didn’t stain or paint the bottom, so you can see what the plywood looked like after all the sanding.

While it was not the project I wanted it to be, and I didn’t do it on my own, I’m still really happy with my little paper towel holder.  I like our variation of the original, and in the end we did it together so that’s a plus, I guess!

I’m definitely still thinking I need to do more of these little projects myself so I can get comfortable again, I just think I won’t tell Mike since he’s known for adding a little more work to simple things.  Which is a good thing a lot of the time, just not when I’m the one who wants to figure out how to do the project!

I recently jazzed up a couple cheap planters that I thought I'd share.  Mostly because they were so easy, that anyone can do it.  And, I want to publicly declare the presence of live plants in the house.  Maybe if I say it here, I'll be more likely to feel the pressure of keeping them alive?  This black thumb sure hopes so!


I found a mini orchid plant from Home Depot that was marked down to $4.99.  I figured if I killed it I would only be out 5 bucks and, who doesn't love normal things in miniature sizes? 

I was on a mission to find a cute pot, but couldn't find anything I liked.  As I was purusing Ikea my last trip, I came across their selection of mini orchids.

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The little pots were the perfect canvas for something more interesting, but I already had the plant so I didn't want to spend the $8 for these.  I lucked out when I found a couple dead ones in the as-is section they were selling for something like $2.  It probably looked weird buying a dead plant, but I didn't care!  I also picked up some more succulents, because our Home Depot and Lowes both had pretty sad looking selections.

We had a party at our house recently and I needed something to mask the little orange plastic containers, so I found these nondescript black plastic planters at Target also marked down to $0.72 a piece.

So, to start this thing I had a plain white ceramic cup, and an equally plain black plastic cup.  I knew I wanted to gold leaf the white planter so I used a foam brush to paint on the adhesive in a diagonal shape.  I wanted the edge to be rough, so I didn't worry too much about being perfect.  I followed the directions and let it sit, then gold leafed it until it looked good and then sprayed it with some gold leaf sealer.  I can't wait for it to flower again, it looks a little sad until then.


For the black planter, I had found this pot on Etsy and thought it would be an easy pattern to replicate. 

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I used a white paint pen and free handed until I liked the way it looked.  It took maybe 20 minutes.


I'm not sure that they'll always live together, because I don't really think a (flowering orchid) really goes with a spiky succulent, but while I wait for the flowers to come back they're together.


 Right now they live on the window sill in the kitchen, and I have two more black planters that I may doodle on with different designs.


And, I know it's hard to get a size orientation with close cropped photos, so here's a little wider shot for comparison.


It was such a quick and simple upgrade that I'm excited to do more, but I may have to cool it on the plants right now, I've only kept them alive for a couple months so far.  I don't want to get cocky and have a bunch of planters but dead plants!

Any tips on keeping succulents alive?  Mine always seem to grow up, which makes them look weird.  I also may have a slight tendency to over water them.  I kill them with kindness, literally!

We have a ton more counter space in the new kitchen then we did before, and to make it feel less empty, (and less "morgue like" since that's Mike's favorite new way to describe it), I wanted to add some art.  I knew this space at the corner of the peninsula would be perfect since there is a lot of space, it would be less likely to be in the way.


I remember seeing this pin a couple months ago and thought how appropriate a recipe card would be.  

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I already knew what recipe I would use too.  My grandmother, whom I call TwoMommy, (don't ask), makes a mean Salisbury Steak.  Something we always request when we're in town.  So, I knew I wanted that to be the framed recipe.  A couple years ago, my Aunt gave my sister and I one of my favorite Christmas presents to date, a recipe box of all my grandmother's recipes.  She printed them out on personalized cards with a silly picture of my grandmother.


While I loved the card, I was hoping to find a more "vintage" style recipe card.  So, I put the card back with all the other family recipes and searched google.  I hit the jackpot when I came across this free template from Love vs Design.

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I used photoshop plus a "typewriter" font, (found here), to add the recipe and printed out my "vintage" recipe card.


Awhile ago on an unrelated art hunt, I had been looking for an Etsy artist to paint our house to have custom illustration.  I was getting discouraged because all the ones I really liked were more than I was willing to spend.  I thought I would save this for maybe an anniversary or Christmas gift idea for Mike and sort of forgot about it.

That's until the recent Waterlogue app craze.  I'm pretty cheap with apps and rarely buy the $0.99 ones, so dropping $2.99 on an app seemed crazy, but when I thought that I was willing to shell out over $100 for an Etsy painting, I figured $3 wasn't that much to lose to see if I could make something myself.  I bought the app and used the only exterior shot I have.


30 seconds of digital painting later:


I loved it.  Best $3 on art I've spent in a long time!

Sidenote: After all that internal dialogue over spending a couple bucks, my mom sent me this exact "painting" via text a couple days after I made this.  Turns out she bought the app and was having fun turning everything into a watercolor too!

So, I had my two pieces of art, and I have enough frames in the house to start a shop, the only problem was the matting from the frames, were 1.) two different colors and 2.) no where near the right size for the art I just made.  This is a big problem for me since I buy frames in bulk but then they sit empty because I can't find a photo/art to perfectly fit the matting opening.  That's when I figured out how to solve this on-going issue.  My own mat cutter.

via Amazon

 
I was at Joann's and had hoped to grab a couple uncut mat boards, but it turns out they do not sell them, (must have something to do with the entire department of custom framing), so I was told to get a large piece of illustration board and was reassured it's the same weight of traditional matting.

I'm not going to lie, it was really difficult cutting the mat while holding a straight edge in place, but I have a hundred more frames to fill so, I'll get it down.  Luckily, the mat and the edge of the paper is both white, so it's not that noticeable that my lines are wavy.


After the art, I added the tray I had bought awhile ago, which was part of my original mood board.



I didn't exactly style the tray, it just sat empty for a couple days, then Mike added some liqueur bottles, (he's on a mixology kick), and I saw the cutest mini orchard for $4 at Home Depot one day.

I'm also trying to use more candles, (weird that Mike's the bigger fan in the family), and really fell for this one at Target.  I'm pretty sure it's Black Orchard and Amber.  The little copper pot didn't hurt either!


You may also notice our little techy addition to the backsplash on the right.

We added a usb charger outlet!

Everyone comments on it when they come over, so I definitely wanted to mention it.  We knew we wanted a place to charge our phones in the new kitchen, and figured we should place it on the end of the peninsula so that we can use our phones while we're sitting there.  Mike bought a receptacle from Home Depot, but the usb ports replaced one of the outlets.  We found this bad boy at Menards, which still has two outlets, plus the two usb ports.

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It's actually kind of overkill at this point since you can see there's an outlet 3' to the left, but it's still nice to have!  Also good to mention, is that this didn't require any special wiring, so you can replace any receptacle with this one for your own usb ports!

After I added the frames and everything else, I realized I can "hide" the cords by putting them behind the frames.


We charge our phones every night either on the counter or setting them in the tray.  It's nice to finally have a permanent solution.

It's such a little thing to style a whole 2 feet of countertop space, but I love the personal art as well as the cute factor.  Mike just loves that the whiskey is within reach at any given moment!

Before we did this, I had a bridal shower back in July.  Because I'm insane, I decided to plan and make all the decorations myself.  I also didn't want to burden any of my bridesmaids with the hassle.  My sister hadn't yet got her teaching job, and a couple of the girls are in 3 different weddings this summer!  I picked a modern bee themed shower and went from there.  Since I was doing the decorations, my family and bridesmaids brought the food, helped set up everything, and one even rented the shelter.

It was blazing hot that day, but it was perfect, and everything turned out the way I imagined.  It was also good practice for our DIY wedding!

I chose a brunch, because who doesn't love brunch food, and 11am seems like a good time to hang out with friends, but also to get home with enough time to get stuff done.  We rented a shelter in our local metro parks and it was very cute nestled back in the woods.

It started with the invites which I designed myself and I'm super proud of.  I love bee themes, but didn't want it to be all black and yellow.  I wanted color!  I found a lot of inspiration on Pinterest, but in the end I just added things that I liked.  A couple people suggested selling the design on Etsy, and with all the things that I made throughout the wedding process I'm seriously considering it.


I pinned a lot of ideas on Pinterest, so if you want to check out my Shower board and see how I modified things, go for it.  Otherwise I'll jump right in.

The shelter door had 2 doors, but the first went right into the kitchen, so I wanted to let everyone know that they needed to head to the other side.  I used 2 of the those giant balloons with tissue paper tassels and a chalkboard sign that I made to let them know.

Here's where I should mention that I have only iPhone photos.  I was too engrossed in everything else, that I didn't take any photos, but my lovely bridesmaid, Anna, made sure to grab a bunch of detail shots.


The chalkboard says: 40 days til she's hitched (Please use other door) with an arrow.

Then around the building there was another chalkboard sign with another balloon (funny story - I only ordered 2, since they truly are massive, but they forgot to add that extra additive to make them float longer to one of them so they gave 3.  They might have thought they were doing me a favor, but it was a bitch getting these in the car!).




As you walked in, the first table had a little sign-in of sorts.  I found this really cute idea sold on Etsy, but they no longer offered it, so I made my own using my Silhouette machine.  It's called Dirty Laundry and the guests "air out your dirty laundry" by writing a funny story, memory, or just a hello on the cutout paper clothes.  It was great reading them all when I got home, and just as I thought, some were funny, and others made me cry.


The tables were covered with white table cloths, decorated with tissue paper flowers, (great cheap way to bring in color!) and black and white stripped runners that I made from stripped fabric.  The letter "M" was made by cutting the face off of a paper mache letter and filling with the little tissue paper flowers.


The tables each had a place setting with a pink napkin and a game sheet of "He Said, She Said" that I designed using the background from the invite.  It also had a stripped runner, and some tissue paper flowers. 



The favors at the settings were little honey jars that I added fabric tops to and a little tag.


The banner in the backgound above was made using coffee filters folded and then dipped in food coloring.  I also made a banner with the Silhouette.



Between the words I cut little bees.


I knew there would be a fireplace and so this was where Mike and I set up and opened presents, it was also a cute backdrop for the photos.

"He Said, She Said" was the only game we played and the guests read the questions, then guessed how many Mike and I would agree on.  We did horribly, something like 5 out of 12.  But it was funny listening to us guess wrong.  My sister videotaped Mikes answers and he was so cute and sappy and I looked like the schmuck because I thought for sure his answers would less thoughtful!  The winner was our neighbor and she won a pint of of honey from our hive, (which coincidentally we extracted after I bought honey for all of those little favors), and a bottle of our favorite mead. 

The food was amazing, and I take no credit it for it.  I gave each of the bridesmaids some ideas/recipes, but they did all the hard work.  You really can't go wrong with a spread that includes blueberry muffins, donuts, croissant sandwiches, fresh fruit, and sausage and cream cheese bites, to name only a few.



My mom's friend had a dozen or so cake stands she let me borrow and it made everything look so much fancier!

At the end we had a Kuerig station with a couple Kuerigs set up and coffees, teas, and hot chocolates available.  We don't drink coffee in our house, so I figured this would be a good way to cater to everyone.  I loved the chai latte!  Not pictured, but equally amazing was the flavored water.  My sister's boyfriend, Keith, always makes flavored water with fruits so I borrowed some large drink dispensers and he made a couple different kinds.  I want to say he had a lemon and orange, and a berry and mint, but I was running around too much to remember!

I wish I would have ate more, but like a wedding, the honoree never gets to eat too much.  Everyone said it was amazing though!

Since I had a bridesmaid gift that would be needed to be given before the rehearsal dinner I chose to give them their gifts at the shower.


I found a little make-up bag from Target that I added their initial with vinyl, and the earrings that they would wear for the wedding that I made, a gold bow ring, and a nail file.  I gifted each girl a shellac manicure for the wedding since I do it myself at home, and the nail file was the only way I could think of to present this.  I made all the tags and cards with my Silhouette.  The earrings holder has an M&M, the ring card says, "Thank You for helping me tie the knot!" and the nail file says, "Wedding Shellac Manicure".

Mike surprised me with yellow roses when he came to help me open presents, and I cried.  He's given me flowers exactly once in our 5 1/2 years together and it was weeks into dating and they were yellow roses because I made fun of him on one of our first dates for being very specific and describing something as "canary yellow".  Sometimes he's super sweet.  Only when he wants to be!

Overall I had a great time.  My hair was frizzy from the heat and my feet were bleeding from wearing bad shoes, but it was still perfect.  I had so much fun with all the details and it was fun planning something that I could make as girly as possible!

All my bridesmaids are amazing women and I was so happy to have them all there with me.  Not to mention look how pretty are they all!


I think the real star of the show was Mike though, not only did he not bother me during my marathon crafting nights, or laugh at me when I came home with three 36" balloons stuffed into the back of my car, he also helped set up, clean-up, open presents with me, and even ran home to make a quick sign after a couple people had trouble finding the drive!  Obviously, I said yes, so I knew what a great guy he was, but it made me even more excited to marry him!