the casual side of formal

Our 1910 charmer has 2 rooms that are being used as entertaining areas - one we call the den and the other, more formal room, we call the library or parlah (parlor said in a super Southern accent). The den tends to be more girly and relaxed while the parlah is more formal and manly. Not that we're confining ourselves to those rooms respectfully, but we do tend to split up when certain shows must be watched (The Roosevelts vs. Vampire Diaries).

  vs. 

I digress. After The Fox sold his bungalow, the remainder of his Billy Reid-esque decor met my eclectic, fem-chic head on. The parlah (Southern accent) was where we planned to park his pieces, but my impatience got the best of me and my girly style started to creep into the room bit by bit. After unloading what he brought over, I started to see the styles begin to collide. I decided to think on it for a while (to be honest, we were exhausted and needed a break), but after a couple of weeks, I got antsy and needed to do something.

My parents decided to visit this weekend and since my mom is who I steal a lot of my ideas from, I asked her to help me jazz up the space. Of course, where does one look for jazzy accessories??

IKEA!!!

You may have seen this rug in a few of my past posts...

Gah! I love this thing! And for the price, you just can't pass it up! I purchased it back in June when we first moved in and immediately put it down in the parlah. Once The Fox's furniture arrived, it married perfectly with his leather sofa and coffee table/chest. But even with the fun rug, the room felt like a drab hole. 

We loaded into the deal mobile and journeyed the 1 hour and 45 minute trek to the home decor motherland. And, like expected, this trip didn't disappoint. The (horribly annoying) buggy (anyone who has pushed around one of those things knows what I'm talking about) was loaded with...

Of course, I found many other goodies, but these were the top pieces.

Although not all goodies found were used in the parlah, we did get the best bang for our buck with what we bought.

Between our two styles, we had a lot of great things already, but the parlah was just lacking that pop of color. With the things we found at IKEA, we were able to add that extra dimension for less than $100. Check out the end result!

I'm so happy it's finally together! One more room off the list! Hooray! 

Next on the list is either the office or the dining room, so stay tuned! 

Oh, and happy Fall, y'all!!

the big 3-0 & fall

In 1984, a little girl was born to two free spirits in Hickory, NC. With an abundant name fit for a prince (my mom said "If 4 names are good enough for Prince Harry, 4 names are good enough for my daughter), Ebonn Yvonne Victoria Thomas made her entrance the evening of September 22. The name Ebonn? The jury is still out. The "story" is that it came from a woman on MTV - it had just come out in 1984 - but I've yet to find any evidence of this said "VJ from MTV." If anyone can find proof of this lady's existence, I'd be very grateful. Until then, I continue to keep my public mystified with it's origin...

To celebrate the big 3-0, the fam and I headed to the mountains for some R&R. It's always such a peaceful place no matter the time of year. And I'm lucky enough to have a birthday that coincides with one of my favorite seasons - Fall. As soon as we crest the hill to see a rolling mountain, I immediately become filled with peace and calm. It's one of the most wonderful places on earth.

Our home has zero cell reception, so it's wonderful to disconnect from everyday life. With nothing but a radio, you can talk, reminisce, play games, laugh and just enjoy each other's company without interruption. It's moments like those that are cherished throughout the years.

And what's a mountain trip without a treasure hunt? Umm, not a good one! Lookie what I found!! He will have a new home above either my mantle or in our bedroom... I'm still deciding.

Because we didn't have any TV or internet at the cabin, we ventured out to the local bar to watch that incredible Clemson/Florida State game. My mom is such a fan of football (not), so I thought it only appropriate to take a picture with the woman who gave me life those 30 years ago (and who can't remember where my name came from...). I should have grabbed the other part of the equation (my dad), but he was outside.

Before we left, we harvested some chestnuts from a tree on the property. How pretty are these things?! It's amazing to me that mother nature can produce such beautiful bounty! The polished look of these gems mesmerizes me to no end. Gah!

On the way out of town, we stopped at my favorite roadside stand. We loaded up on fruits, veggies and fall porch decor!! You can't beat produce fresh from the farm. 

And we took some pictures with the pumpkins/gourds :).

The birthday celebration didn't end once we got home. I enjoyed a wonderful day off from work and did nothing but get a massage, eat and scour the interwebs for interior design inspiration. Thanks to The Fox for a fabulously relaxing day. 

So, here's to another 30 years! Wait? I'm still waiting on my teenage dream of marrying (or becoming) a super rich celebrity to come true... 

#winning

As I sit here in anticipation of a {hopeful} Gamecock win over Georgia, I am reflecting on all the recent wins that we've had in our foursquare recently. My visions are finally becoming reality and it's such a great feeling!

You may have read about our year of moves here. Just recently, we sold The Fox's house, so I'm happy to say there doesn't seem to be any addition moves in our future. Hooray! #winning
But! We are still working hard on finishing up the foursquare...

You've seen the guest bedroom, the master and the den/kitchen, but there are still several areas to go.

Like our office...

If you read about our leak in this post, you know why this room is last on the list. We still haven't gotten around to sanding and repainting the ceiling, and who knows if we will, but right now, this is 100% the junk room. I have grand plans for this mess pile, but for now, it's just gotta be what it is. I can't do it all at once! (Although, a nifty magic wand would be LOVELY right now...)

I digress. While this room continues to grow fungi of misc. moving items that have no home, decor and whatever else I can't find a place for, I keep chugging along on the other rooms.

But! Our plans do include something like this:

Stay tuned...way, way tuned. I'm anticipating this to be a Spring/Summer 2015 project.

The Guest Room

In other #winning news, the guest room is now complete! I had one last decor piece to add, but I needed to find the time to paint it. It was my grandmother's mirror. I thought twice about painting it, but it really wouldn't have fit with my decor otherwise. Plus, I'm sure my grandma would have wanted me to make it my own. So, I decided a nice coat of white, buffed with a little gold made it the perfect finishing touch to the room.

Before:

And, after:

It fits just perfectly with the other pieces and pops against that dark wall. I love having a piece of my family incorporated into my home decor. There is also a picture of my grandparents in that room, so it's fitting that something from their home is in there as well. With the guest room complete, it's onto the others!

The Kitchen

When The Fox and I bought the house, we both said the kitchen finishes wouldn't have been our first choice had we renovated it, but because it wasn't taking away from the historic style of the home, and because the cabinets were wood (hallelujah! I LOATHE fake cabinets), we figured the kitchen fell into the "not the best, but we can totally deal" bucket.

Because we aren't interested in a full kitchen overhaul right now, The Fox and I have decided to just do a few upgrades as we are able. 

First and foremost on my list, was painting the island. I've had the island for many years, and although white is a great color that can be used in most every color scheme, I left it. But once we moved into the the foursquare, I had an itch to change it up. During one of Ace Hardware's BOGO paint sales, I snatched up a color that I thought would be perfect. It took me a few months to finally find time, but last weekend, I grab my supplies and gave the center of our kitchen some spunk. 

The island before:

And after:

It's not quite the color of our master, but it's close. This color is a little darker (and to be honest, probably the color I should have painted the master, but that's just my inner decorator's remorse kicking in...). It adds a whole new dimension to the kitchen and I love it. #winning (at least in my opinion :)). 

The other things we'd like to do to the kitchen are:

• Install french doors - but this will most likely not happen for a few years
• Replace the stove with a gas range
• Build a pantry cabinet - details below

We are using a closet in our dining room as the pantry now and boy is it inconvenient. It's a deep closet, so things get tossed to the back. And with no light in there, it's hard to find anything. Right now, there is a corner of our kitchen that is really just dead space. We have a baker's rack there, but the functionality of it nil. 

Exhibit A:

What I'd like to do? 

Or something that looks a little better than my beautiful rendering: 

Having an area INSIDE the kitchen to house all our pantry items would be ideal. Plus, if we plan to upgrade our stove, moving our microwave to another part of the kitchen would be something we'd like to do. I'm not a fan of seeing microwaves, so most likely, we'd put it behind the cabinet. 

We've completed so many projects in the last few months. It's such a relief! But, like I said, there are still lots of things on the "I want" list. And it just keeps growing. But when don't people have house projects??? 

Anywho, Carolina is still in the lead, so here's to beating Georgia's butt and us being a much more consistent team in the future! Go Cocks!!