(Image borrowed from Pinterest.)
I’m at the beach all week sipping margaritas and catching up on my massive reading list. (Self-imposed reading list, that is.) But don’t fret, I have lots of fun things to share with you all week! A delicious new recipe, one of my all-time favorite clearance finds, a furniture make-over and more! So check back each day for a new post. And don’t worry, I’ll drink a margarita for each of you. Cheers!
In 2010 Justin and I were nomads. I’ve mentioned it before, but we spent the year traveling around the U.S. and took a long vacation to Europe. We loved every minute of traveling. The culture, the adventures, the food…all incredible. We learned a lot that year about who we are as a couple and how we want to live our lives. One of the biggest lessons we learned is that we don’t need so much stuff. That’s right, stuff.
When you pack what you carry in a Honda Accord, you learn really quickly what’s necessary and what’s not. If it wasn’t crucial, it didn’t go. I’ve never been much for clutter, but moving every few months amplified that to the max. Since we’ve moved back, here are a couple rules I try to live by…
Anti-Clutter Rules
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
{ 1 } If it doesn’t have sentimental value and you don’t love it, it needs to go.
{ 2 } Don’t have more than 3 knick knacks on a given piece of furniture. For example, on a side table you could have a lamp, a picture frame, and a little memento from a trip you’ve taken. Any more than that and can’t appreciate the actual furniture because it’s covered with too much stuff. If you have a huge piece of furniture (like a hutch) that needs more than 3 items to look complete, try to keep all the items in a similar color palate. It’ll keep the piece from looking too busy.
{ 3 } Negative space is a good thing. Don’t feel like you have to cover every inch of a wall with picture frames/art/furniture. Most of the time, less is more.
{ 4 } Find creative ways to use paint and fabric to bring color and texture to your space. Keep reading to see a great example of this!
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
When we moved into our apartment earlier this year, I was anxious to bring a lot of our personality to the space without it feeling too cluttered or costing a fortune to decorate. I wanted it to feel cozy, clean and inviting so I decided to make one wall in our living room a feature wall and do something really special there. As for the rest of the walls, I’d leave them neutral and let the fabrics and furniture add the color and texture.
For this special wall, I took inspiration from an Atlanta artist who’s blog I follow and decided to do a faux wallpaper treatment like she did in { this } post. It has the look of expensive wallpaper for a fraction of the cost! Here’s how I did it…
Step 1: Tape paint samples to the wall. Colors look completely different at different times of the day so live with them for a couple days to see if you really are happy with that particular color. Pick a main wall color in a matte finish and a darker accent color in a high gloss finish.
Here ‘s the blank wall in all of it’s glory.
Step 2: Tape off the wall. I like to run a cloth over the tape once it’s on the wall to really make sure it’s stuck on well.
Step 3: Get a handsome man to help paint the wall the lighter matte color.
(Lovely job Mr. Smith.)
Step 4: Pick a pattern as your inspiration. I chose our rug and then drew out a similar design for the wall. If you’re not very artistic, simply skip this step and use a stencil.
Step 5: Tape your inspiration pattern drawing to the wall where you can easily reference it. If you’re using a stencil, pick where you want to start and tape it there.
Step 6: Start painting! I free-handed the design on the wall with a paint brush dipped in paint and then went back and filled in the design with the darker high gloss color. If you want to use a stencil, you can use a colored pencil in a similar shade to the paint color to draw the design on the wall. Then you can fill it in with paint. I would NOT use a regular pencil to draw the design. It will smudge and won’t be easily covered by the paint like a colored pencil will. (P.S. The weird shadows on the wall in the above pic are from our ceiling fan light that we don’t use anymore because of that very reason. Lame.)
The finished product (sans weird light)! I love how cozy it makes our living room.
In person, you can really see the contrast between the glossy design and the matte wall behind.
So much bang for such little buck! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or want help doing something similar in your own home. I’m here to help!
It’s hard to try new vegetables. I get it. Especially when you have picky kids (or husbands!) that are afraid of anything that’s not a chicken finger. Personally, I was afraid of cauliflower for years. I love broccoli, but always thought of cauliflower as the weird cousin of my green friend. I’ve heard too many times to count that cauliflower is good roasted, but I just never could get on the cauliflower train.
Until now.
This recipe is life changing. I’m serious!
I took one bite and I looked and Justin and said “Oh. My. Gosh”.
(It’s no wonder he thinks I’m a bit over-dramatic at times.)
The only way to describe this dish is fantastic, delicious and easy.
Oh, so easy!
It’s forever changed the way I look at cauliflower.
Your kids, your husband…heck even your dog will love this dish!
Just tell them after the first bite it’s actually a vegetable and not mashed potatoes.
(They’ll be so hooked they won’t even care.)
So make it, capiche?
Mashed Cauliflower
Adapted from Tupelo Honey Cafe
{ Serves 4 }
1 head cauliflower
1 TBS unsalted butter
2 tsp. roasted garlic*
1/3 cup monterey jack cheese
2 TBS cream cheese, softened
1/8 tsp. white pepper
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped chives
Steam cauliflower for 10-12 minutes or until just tender. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together remaining ingredients (excluding chives).
Mash steamed cauliflower in a bowl with a fork. Add cauliflower to bowl with cheese mixture. Mix until combined. Serve each portion topped with chives.
* To roast garlic, take one head of garlic and slice off the top (about 1/2″). Discard top and place the garlic head on a piece of aluminum foil, cut side up. Drizzle with 1 TBS coconut oil and two pinches of sea salt and close foil tightly around garlic head. Place in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees or until garlic cloves are soft and light brown. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Squeeze garlic head in a small bowl and the cloves should pop out. Blend cloves in blender with 2 TBS olive oil until thoroughly combined. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
{ Helpful Hints }
If you’re like me and don’t have a steamer, simply place the cauliflower in a bowl with 2 TBS of water. Cover with a lid that is slightly off kilter to allow a bit of the steam to escape, and microwave for 5 minute increments until the cauliflower is just tender.
You can sub cheddar for the monterey jack.
Don’t mash the cauliflower too much. The texture is fantastic when it’s a bit chunky.
If I was going to have a party…
I’d hang pretty lanterns everywhere,
and make sure to have lots of pretty flowers.
There would be a whole table of delicious drinks to try…
and we’d sip them out of mason jars.
We’d dine on these adorable little tomatoes,
and stuff ourselves silly on ridiculously good looking burgers.
And when we’re full on good food and conversation, I’d bring out these cuties,
along with a shot of milk and cookies.
Who wants to come to my party?
P.S. Need help planning a party? I can help with decor, invitations, food…pretty much
every single detail. You have the fun, and let me handle the rest!
{ All images can be found on my Pinterest page. Check out the links to each
of these pictures, there are some pretty talented folks out there! }
Today I’m sharing a project that is so quick and easy, you’ll wonder why you’ve never done it yourself! I’ve talked about my love of re-doing bathrooms a few times before, and this project does just that.
This weekend Justin and I went down to his mom’s house to help clean out a closet full of stuff that he and his brother had accumulated over the years. While the boys sorted through old ninja turtles and loads of hilarious school reports, his mom asked me to help her with a project. Her current hall bathroom looked like this…
She wanted to start updating the bathroom, and decided to start with the mirror. She simply bought molding from a local home improvement store, cut it to size, and stained it a darker color to match the existing bathroom cabinet. All I had to do was help her glue it into place with a product similar to Liquid Nails. Such an easy fix!
She still has plans to re-paint and change out light fixtures, but what a difference this “new mirror” makes! Oh and random fact, I painted the palm tree border you can kind-of see in the reflection in the mirror. About 10 years ago. (I’ve been around the Smiths for a pretty dang long time.)
There you have it, a quick easy project that you could do in less time than it takes to watch a movie! Oh and did I mention how inexpensive it is too? What about you guys…any home projects going on right now?
I’m not a huge fan of blueberries. There, I said it. I feel as weird about not being a berry person as I do about not liking peanut butter and chocolate together. In fact, I’ll only eat peanut butter on bread. No jelly, please. But, that’s a story for another day.
Not really liking berries (except for strawberries) wouldn’t be that big of a deal except for the fact that my husband loves them. Any kind. Fresh, cooked, in pies, on salads. He doesn’t care. And muffins? He loves them. I love him, so I always wanted to make him muffins. I used to buy the quick mix at the grocery store with the dinky “blueberries” in the mix, but when we switched to an organic, whole foods diet I needed to find a recipe I could make from scratch. Enter { Cooks Illustrated }.
If you’ve never heard of Cooks Illustrated, it’s absolutely amazing! A friend of mine introduced me to the website a couple years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. My favorite resource is their { website }, but they also have a TV show and several magazines. They consistently put out flavorful, fool-proof recipes that work every single time. It’s interesting because their approach to food is much more methodical and scientific than most cooking sites. They don’t just tell you how to do something, but why it’s necessary. It’s an excellent resource if you’re learning how to cook!
When I’m looking for a recipe, a lot of times I’ll start with Cooks Illustrated and tweak their recipe to fit my food philosophy. That was the case with this blueberry muffin recipe. They’re called “Best Ever Blueberry Muffins” and let me tell you, they are! In my version, I use whole wheat pastry flour, cane sugar and coconut oil. My mom tried one a few weeks ago and declared it “bakery worthy”. (Let me tell you, that’s a pretty serious statement in our family.) Even a blueberry hater like me couldn’t resist this moist muffin with a crunchy lemon sugar topping. Consider me converted.
Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated
{ Makes 12 Muffins }
1/3 c. cane sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/8 cups, plus 1 teaspoon cane sugar
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt, fine ground
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 c. coconut oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1. Mix together the first two ingredients, sugar and lemon zest, in a bowl. Stir until the sugar has moistened from the zest.
2. Turn oven on to 425 degrees and adjust rack to upper-middle position. Grease the top of a muffin tin with a paper towel dipped in coconut oil. Place cupcake liners in each cup.
3. Place 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar in a small pot over medium-high heat. Simmer for 5-6 minutes, mashing berries to create a thick jam. Continue to cook until you have about 1/4 cup of blueberry jam. Transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10-15 minutes.
4. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk remaining 1 1/8 c. sugar and eggs together until mixture is thick and pale yellow, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.
5. Using a spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)
4. Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, add one scoop of batter to each muffin cup. (It should fill the cup almost to the rim.) Next, add a teaspoon of the blueberry jam on top of each muffin cup. Finally, add another scoop of batter to top each muffin.
5. Sprinkle the remaining lemon/sugar mixture evenly on top of each muffin, pressing lightly to make it adhere.
5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17-19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
{ Helpful Tips }
- If the coconut oil is in a solid state, melt it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds or until it’s liquid.
- These muffins will expand as they cook. I usually run my knife under each muffin top before I remove it from the pan to prevent it from sticking and tearing.
- The muffins will freeze wonderfully. When I make a batch, I leave half of them out to eat and put the other half in a container in the freezer. Whenever we want one for breakfast, I just pop it in the microwave on defrost for a minute or so.
It’s Monday, so I’m feeling more than a little inspired for the week ahead. Here’s a few fun projects that I would love to tackle!
(All images were borrowed from my Pinterest page.)
How clever?! I want to make this mug for my husband who has an unnatural obsession with mustaches. What is it with guys and facial hair?
I love these cute little soap dispensers! I’m keeping my eye out for some vintage bottles so hopefully I can make something similar one day.
I need a cute front door, ASAP. Something fun and a little different like this wreath.
These spoons would look fantastic in my herb garden. Need. To. Make.
So many projects, so little time. Anyone working on anything fun right now?
(Photo borrowed from here.}
Guess where I’m going next week!
I’ll give you three hints,
{1} it’s in the Northeast
{2} I get to eat lots of seafood
{3} the name of the city is the picture above.
Did you guess Boston? Ding, ding, ding!
A friend of mine asked if I wanted to take a short trip to Boston next week and I jumped at the chance. I’ve never been and have always wanted to go. It just seems like it would be such a fun city! I mean, I love architecture and good food, and who doesn’t love to imitate a Boston accent? (I know I do.) Now here’s where you come in, I need your help. I have no idea what to do or where to eat. I’ll only be in town for 2 days and want to make the most out of it. Pretty please, tell me what we should do!
What’s your favorite place to visit in Boston? Best place to grab a bite? Best lobster roll? Anything else?
Thanks you’s guys. (As those Yankee’s would say.)
You really never know who you’re going to meet or how they’ll come into your lives. For instance, I met Heather at a friend’s birthday party. I had no idea then that she would become my client, or better yet, that she would be the sweetest, easiest client you could ever ask for! Seriously. It was so fun to work with Heather to design the kitchen and dining room of her new condo, where she wanted something elegant and 40′s inspired. She e-mailed me these pictures of the space…
And I came up with this,
drumroll…
The design!
1. I suggested she paint all the doors white and add trim to give them an updated look. This is such an inexpensive way to add value to the space!
2. This is the wall color for the kitchen and the color of the kitchen cabinets. The wall color is a pale, icy gray that will look fantastic with the dark cabinets and newly painted white doors.
3. When I found this chandelier, I knew it had to go in the room. Happily, Heather loves it just as much as I do! This is such a statement piece, that it’s well worth the price tag. (Which wasn’t much by the way. It pays to have me find deals!)
4. This is the pattern I suggested she paint (or wallpaper) on the arched wall in the room. (It’s the wall in the photo second from the top on this page.) It’ll make a huge statement in the room, without costing a fortune. In fact, it’ll cost less than that dinner you ate out last weekend! And don’t think it’s too difficult to paint. I gave Heather easy tips for how to recreate this on her own.
5. These are the colors for the painted wall. The same shade as the kitchen, plus a few shades darker for the contrasting pattern.
6. Mirrored furniture can be really expensive, but silver-leafing is a really affordable way to get a similar design aesthetic. I took something that was way over budget, and gave an easy option for 1/4 of the price!
7. Bar stools for the kitchen.
8. Dining room table.
9. I suggested pops of yellow to go in the room for a bit of contrast.
10. A fun, and yet subdued rug like this would be the perfect compliment to the space.
11. These chairs are fantastic. And really, really affordable. When added to each end of the table, they’ll make even the most inexpensive table look like it cost a fortune! It’s all about being smart with where you spend your money.
Well folks, there you have it. My design for Heather’s kitchen and dining room. I LOVE how it turned out and, better yet, so did she! I managed to take a really tight budget and turn it into an elegant space that looks like it cost much, much more. Heather is currently in the middle of translating my design from paper to real life, so I’ll share pictures of updates as I get them.
If you were at all on the fence about e-design, hopefully you’re not anymore. I’ll bet that when you were reading this post, you were thinking about a certain room in your home. Curious as to what I could do with that space? Email me. Chances are, you spend more at the grocery store last week then it would cost for me to give you a space that you’ll love.
P.S. The design information above is pretty basic. Heather actually got a lot more information, drawings and tips. To be fair to her, I’ve left that out of this blog post. If you have any questions about anything you’ve seen (or want to buy), email me for more information!
