Screened In Porch Inspiration & Decor

 

  One of my favorite things about our newish house is the screened in porch. Having an extra space that my family can expand to with the comforts of a living room, but all the glorious fresh air.  Especially at the beginning of the pandemic, it was such a fun escape for us. 
So moving into our second year in this house, I wanted to continue to spruce up this space to be special. My inspiration since the beginning, and with the furniture we already got, has been southern Italy. My husband and I took a trip in the Fall of 2019, and I just felt so inspired and in love by the old charm of southern Italy.
With some subtle takeaways from this inspiration board, I have a foundation to my screened in porch, to which I will continue to add to over time as I find things that make sense, are loved and useful. I'm trying to be PATIENT when decorating a room and allowing them to take shape overtime.
But I still wanted to share the space as it is today, the bones and foundation:

Furniture
We LOVE Polywood because it's made from recycled materials, super durable and will last us forever. We chose cushions in "Air Blue" to give us that vacation vibe. We got a 5-piece set to fill our space, but you can get many different variations to individual pieces.

Here is how it's coming together, and as it gets warmer/closer to Spring, I hope to add more Italian-vibe details (accessories, plants, blankets).

Patio Accessories & Decor:

More to come, but hopefully this inspires you to start thinking about your outdoor space(s) for the Spring and Summer that are coming (and I'm so looking forward to that!).

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DIY Make Shift Work Space

  At the start of the pandemic, my company sent everyone home to work for two weeks. Two weeks turned into a month, turned into three, and now indefinitely.  So I've been making a work space do a bit more at a time. 
With my kids doing virtual school at home and my husband also working mostly from home, I'm lucky to have a spot to myself at all. I pretty much called our bedroom and have been evolving it a bit at a time.
I turned the little nook in my room that was my vanity into my working desk, but also had to keep all the other stuff that was there, too. So with some new storage and organization, it's a vanity and work space.
Items making my little nook a vanity + work space:
 

I was able to bring my work chair home - not the cutest - but after sitting my other one for many hours a day, it was a necessary evil. Otherwise, I spiced up the space with a fun rug (and cozy to my typically bare feet) and organized all the work/makeup & skin care items.
I also got an adjustable computer stand/lap desk so I can move about to different locations or stand to work. I've started also working in a new little space on the other side of my room in a more casual chair that is nice to mix things up.
As I work from home longer, I'm sure my habits and space will evolve further, but for now this is working for me.  How are you making working-from-home work for you?

How are you making your at-work-home space work?

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Organization for a Small Bathroom

  Ever since quarantine hit, and we've been spending 200% more time inside our home, I've been nesting like crazy. Plus, my home is still a semi new home, after just moving in a year ago! I like to think that getting all settled takes time, right? 
Then, I, like soooo many others, binged the first season of the Home Edit's new Netflix show last weekend and I've been rapid fire organizing different parts of my house ever since.  I feel like a lot of others are probably in the same boat? So, I wanted to share what I've been organizing and how that's working in my home... 
Starting with my small "master" bathroom:
It's a bathroom in our master bedroom, but definitely not what you think of as a master bath. ;) We live in an old house and a larger, two sink, bathtub AND shower kind of bathroom is one of the things we chose to give up for the area we live in (which we love).
So, I've been trying my hand at maximizing the sh*t out of this little bathroom and organizing it to maximize the space better.  I've found a few game changers I wanted to share so far (but let's be honest, it's an on going process of trying new ways to organize as I use it and learn).

Before

Before wasn't terrible (was it?) - I did have a basket at least, but it was too big and we just threw stuff in it to be buried and never seen again. And the top shelf was getting so crowded and I was knocking bottles down trying to get to what I needed constantly. 
The cubbies on the side of the sink weren't being used well at all (and I don't have a before pic for). Mostly just one item willy-nilly set there. So, I was able to actually find more space with these cubes.

After

I added a lazy Susan turntable to the top shelf to corral all my products. This is a huge game changer, because it holds a lot, but I can easily swivel it around to find the items I used most needed in that moment. 

To the bottom shelf, I added to clear pull out drawers to store items less often used. I chose this so I could use the space above the drawers, too. I actually just ordered a long clear tray to sit across the drawers to play odd sized objects in (see?  a work in progress).

Another look at those cubes on the side of my sink vanity. And then I use the space between the sink and the wall/window to hang my hair tools (blow dryer, curling iron and flat iron).  

I have both my irons in heat resistant holders (with holes at the top so I can stretch them over the hook) so I don't have to worry about waiting until they're fully cooled off to put away. I also use them to lay my iron on while using it.

Every sink/bathroom vanity is different, but if you have space between yours and the wall -  consider adding hooks so you can optimize that space! My sink set up is Ikea, so these hooks came with it and work for its shape. You could get suction cup hooks for the side or hooks like what I have if measurements work.

We also added a floating shelf over our toilet to use that space (but it couldn't jet out too much as we walk in from the right side of the toilet).  I like clear bins because I can see what's in them, but with this being out, I liked the frosted look of this one. We keep our hair brushes and other items used often here.
This is a fake fiddle leaf plant, but want to test out a real one soon (I'm growing a baby spider plant now that I got off my big one to put here eventually). I like greenery for an addition of nature here. 
And that is pretty much it. 

Items Featured

Not Shown:
We have a pretty good size walk in shower that also has space for our dry towels. And we keep the trash can out next to our toilet. 

Not in my Bathroom:
I keep all my skin care and makeup in another space. I use a little area in my bedroom as a vanity for all of that, and I'll be sharing that soon - as I've had to transition that to a work space + vanity for this new world of working/living/everything at home. Stay tuned!
My kids share a separate bathroom, so all there stuff has a separate place to live.
And we use our hallway closet for back stock, extra towels, medicine, etc. 

Here are some other organization posts you can check out:
Organizing your kitchen baking section/cabinet (from my old house which I transitioned to my new one).
One way to organize your makeup in your bathroom (in my old house I didn't have a lot of drawers, so used a different approach that I'm doing in my new house).
5 different ways to store and organize kid toys!
Organize and decorate your shelving. 

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Revealing my #Shelfie!

 
  I moved into my home about 6 months ago, and with it came two, big and beautiful built in shelves on either side the best plant window & window seat there ever was.  But the shelves, as beautiful as they are, have been a beast to bring to life with the right mix of personality and appealing design.
So, I have been playing with the shelf decor ever since moving in... from girlfriends coming over to help me (this was seriously such a good start!), to looking at #shelfie pics on IG far too long for inspiration, to lots of moving items around, stepping back to review, repeat. 
It's been a work in progress and I kept waiting until it was "done" before I shared, but really,  I don't think it'll ever be done.  Home decor is ever changing like our personal style. Seasonal for sure, but unlike how we use fashion to express how we're feeling, home decor allows us to set the stage for how we want to feel. 
So, below if you're interested, I'm sharing my before (more like after my first attempt) and where I'm at today with a few tips I've picked up along the way that are easy to apply to your own style!
Before

The shelves just felt too cluttered. Too many mixed match pieces with not a strong foundation. So I cleared it off and started over...
Currently

{I've linked to my shelf decor at the bottom of this post}
More white space = less cluttered look and feel. I also streamlined most of my frames, opting for the same white frame in varying sizes.  And then forming little vignettes on the shelves helped to create a cohesive design.

A closer look at each shelf:

Tips
1. Texture
Mix textures to add contrast and depth to your shelf! I added two woven baskets (one to each shelf) to breakup my many frames, streamlined my books and added trinkets I found around the house to see a difference.  Plus, the baskets can hide a bunch of small stuff you don't really want displayed! Other ideas: little mirrors in the back can add some fun dimensions, pops of metal (bookends, trinkets, basket), bowls (think about your pretty serving wear you have stored away), plants - faux or real, etc.

2. Color theme or colorful
You can go many ways with this, and ultimately do what pleases you. The two options I toyed around with was either keeping in the same color family (like different hues of blue with neutrals) or keeping neutral with pops of (multiple) colors that work with my room.  I like a lot of colors, and was having a hard time narrowing it down - so I went with a neutral background with pops of yellow, blue, green and pink.  This also allowed me to work with different things I already had laying around my house, and showcase things I really love vs. be filtered by the hue fo the object.

3. Mix up proportions 
Wide, narrow, short, tall - mix it all up. Think about drawing the eye up and over to your most cherished pieces. Layer items to provide more depth by tucking taller objects behind or in front of shorter and wider ones (like a tall vase behind/in front of a wide photo).   This is where you can play with creating vignettes. 

4. Leave open space
Probably the place I struggled with the MOST. I want to fill every nook and cranny, and you really, really need open/empty/white space to keep the shelf from looking too cluttered (like in my before photo).  The best way to avoid stuffing it too full is to start with a blank slate - empty the shelf completely.  Then build slowly one vignette or shelf at a time, taking a step back or lots of breaks to let it digest! Then, be prepared to keep messing with it forever to come... 

Shelf Decor Items
1. Books

2. Baskets & Vases

3. Frames, Trinkets & Trays

Please share your own shelf inspo or design ideas in the comments below!

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The Home Edit: Double Bathroom Renovation Plans (& Pain Points)

 

  We have been talking (and talking, and talking) about remodeling two (of our three) bathrooms since the moment we moved in (9 years ago). We prioritized other things first, and had some other unplanned projects pop up, but this year - this is the year - we were ready to start. After tons of planning (inspiration, product selects and contractor research), I started making call after call - some emails and online forms, too - to local contractors and renovators, which I thought would be the quick part of the process. It isn't.
Not quick at all. In fact, I'm still in that phase.  We've had some visits to review our project with some contractors, but after some bids that were way to high (not just a matter of budget, but a matter of what feels right to pay for what we want) or some low, but lacked proper insurance - we are getting close on a solution of mixed vendors, homing in on what exactly what we need. Overall, it's really a painful process, but I hope we're getting closer to start (and now I want to go to become an apprentice to learn how to tile!).
But in the meantime, I'm tightening our plans for the bathrooms, and pulling product selects and dreaming of when this will all be over (and soon on to the next project... KITCHEN).  I'm sharing some of those plans below, and our inspiration above. We are actually remodeling each bathroom pretty similarly - same floor, tile, vanity counter tops and bath/shower backboards.  There are also no structural changes - just a pull in plug.
Bathroom #1 Our only full bathroom in our home, located in our upstairs hall and heavily used by the kids, a little bit by me, and guests! It's still pretty small (for a full bathroom) at about 5'11" wide and 8'6" deep and we're keeping it a one-sink bath to allow for the counter space.

This bathroom is currently covered in pink tile. Tile that is falling off the wall, so we have one section of the wall in the bath space that is covered in plastic - real classy. ;) 
We would ideally like to get a new vanity - however, our bathroom is so narrow, that nothing out there exists. So we'll either have to custom make something, or refurbish the current one (which is what we're leaning towards).  And, we'll likely move up and frame the current mirror to look like the one in the above plans.
Bathroom #2 Our "master" 3/4 bathroom (just a shower, no bath) in our bedroom with a single sink and small at about 7'11" wide by 3'10" deep.

This bathroom is tiny. It's the one located in our "master" bedroom, so heavily used by my husband and myself.  Keeping with the same black and white theme of the other bathroom, we plan to do a bit more work on our shower, that will involve cutting out some of the wall. :)  Right now, the shower if very enclosed and we want to replace some wall with glass to open it up.

We will be refacing this current vanity in this bathroom, too, as it's made for this small space. But the mirror we will replace with a round one.  Another fun thing about this bathroom is that we'll be replacing the traditional door with a barn door so we can avoid opening the door into the already small and confined space!

Shop both bathroom products, hardware and pieces here:

I will share before pics of the bathroom once we are in demo progress soon!  Until then, any tips, design advice or suggestions - I will gladly take them!

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5 Ways to Store/Organize your Kid's Toys!

I think the worst part about having kids is losing most of your home to little wooden and plastic death traps, and that anything nice you once had has been ruined or had to be put away for fear it might be broken.   And if that's the worst part (despite sleep, of course), than I think we're going to be ok...
Both my kids have birthdays right before the holidays, and then Christmas came around, and our house was literally left looking like a toy store had just been ransacked. If you follow me on Snapchat (user name is: ChasingDavies), you probably saw some of my snaps featuring my mess (I love how real Snapchat is - haha!).  But I'm happy to say that after some Pinterest research (you can check out my organizing board here for some of my favorite finds) and shopping for some useful items, I have developed 5 new toy storage solutions for our home.
Here are our 5 favorite ways to hide/store your children's toys so you can all stay sane:

1. Closet Crate on Wheels: We opted for one large crate (instead of two smaller ones, which we were also considering) so that we could store some of our larger toys that the kids don't play with daily.  We store this crate inside our hall coat closet - and it's easy to roll out so the kids can play with the toys and then roll out of sight when their done!

 2. Decorative Baskets: Since we store our larger toys in the roller crate, we use these decorative baskets (similar ones here) that fit into the bottom shelves of our entertainment center in our living room to store smaller toys, things the kids play with more often and books.  It can get pretty messy pretty fast when the kids have these baskets pulled out the toys dumped all over - but it's easy for them to pick the toys up off the floor, toss into the baskets and put the baskets away all by themselves!

3. Inside Furniture: This might be my favorite - because hello, so convenient! I love anything that can multi-task, furniture no different. This storage ottoman from Wayfair is perfect for our downstairs family room.  It opens up to store lots of toys and it won't slam shut - it has a safety guard in place to slowly shut the top, so no little fingers get pinched!

4. Maximize your Space's Height:  We use the extra space above our fridge to house our kid's craft and art materials in 4 stacking wood bins.  This is a good spot to easily grab or throw back markers, paper, play-dough, etc, but great that it's super out of reach from little hands to grab!

(Instead of using the over the door hooks this shoe organizer came with, we used heavy Command hooks at the top of the door to keep the door shutting properly.)

5. Shoe Organizer: This is definitely my son's favorite one.  When I installed this over-the-door shoe organizer, he was SO excited to place all his superheroes, dinosaurs and race cars.  He is really proud of all his toys in their slots, and therefore, it's really easy to get him to put them back in their "homes" when he's done playing with them and I find them all our our house. 

Here are some of our favorite pieces as referenced throughout this post:

Do you have any great toy storage solutions or organizing tricks that work for your home?? 
I'd LOVE to know, so please share them in the comments!

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