Vintage-Beach Style

After several days of trying to decide what direction I was going in for the house design esthetic I think I figured it out: Vintage- Beach. So far it seems that it will work with the Victorian style of the house and allow for some modern elements as well. A few inspirations:

Doesn't look like the dog in this photo is loving this style-but I think it's pretty cool.

Here are some pieces I found that have that vintage-beachy feel:

1. Vintage Beach Photos (this shop has a ton of great photos like this) 

2. ($1! Great for pillows, napkins, table runners...) beachy & vintage image transfers

3. Wicker Mirror

4. Beachy Pillows

 

5. Vinage Wooden Signs

Happy Hunting!

Hollywood Regency Finds

In between writing articles for work today (YAWN), I was perusing a few different design eras and came across some Hollywood regency-style rooms that were really cool.

I looked around on Etsy and found some great pieces that could bring this element into a room. (click the links to go to the store and item)
1. Recency Mirror

 2.  Yellow Regency-inspired vase

 3.Regency-style zebra chair

 4.  Accent pillows

 

 5. Vintage Chair

 These are just a few of the bits I found.  I like regency for its usability. You can add a single regency-style mirror to a room or go full Lana Turner with it. Either way, a little glamour never hurt anyone (A lot of glamour might have, but whatever blows your skirt up.)

Friday NIghts In

Friday nights are a favorite night of the week in our house, I'm sure we're not alone here.  We do Friday nights in around here, and we almost always order up a bunch of goodies from the pizzeria, have a few cocktails and watch a movie.  Pretty classic, but we like it that way.
This week I'm switching it up though (yesterday we crammed way to many things into our schedule and ended up ordering Friday's dinner last night...).
The cocktail: a cucumber gin "mojito".  I've heard this called an English Mojito, as it is based on the Cuban mojito but uses gin instead of the more commonly used rum.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz gin (I had it with Hendricks), 
• 2 spoons sugar
• 5 lime wedges
• 6-8 mint leaves
•  3 slices of cucumbers
•  splash of club soda

Recipe: Peel cucumber. Muddle mint, limes, cucumber, sugar. add gin. Fill glass with crushed ice, stir, add a splah of club soda if you like it fizzy. Garnish with cucumber peel and mint leaf.
Drink it...carefully.  This stuff is so refreshing it literally goes down like water :P YUM.

Dinner: Homemade basil, prosciutto, and mozzarella pizza.

Ingredients:
Sauce: (or you can save time with a simple canned marinara)

• 1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 large basil leaves, shredded
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Toppings:

• fresh mozzarella, sliced (quantity up to your preference- I had around 12 slices)
• 4 large basil leaves, shredded
• 2 slices prosciutto, chopped into smaller pieces

Directions: I use a store bought crust: dough and I aren't really friends.  Ladle the sauce over the crust, top with prosciutto, basil leaves, and mozzarella.  Bake at 350 until the crust edges are golden and the cheese is all melty.

Can't wait to enjoy this with my favorite Friday night date.

The Writing on the Wall

 You might remember this gem of a bathroom from my first before and after post a month or so back.  To see it in its original condition covered in hunter green and maroon wallpaper check out the pics from the before and after post (and prepare to be frightened). Well, it is almost finished and ready for final details...

Primed walls. Finally. After much spraying with the miracle of vinegar and water (more on that absolute genius liquid later...) and scraping by my dear friend in all things home improvement and blond moments.  

My husband  "happily" assembled this medicine cabinet that came in about 100 pieces.  I am no longer permitted to put furniture together after the move.  It seems several pieces of furniture in our old house that I had put together looked like they were assembled correctly, but, alas, they collapsed when he tried to move them into the truck.

The blank spaces on this wall is what I'm getting my hands on next.  I hung up some art work next to the mirror, but wanted something a little different.  I always love a little irony in my art and decor so I am going to take a cue from the scribbled on stall walls of restaurants and bars to decorate this spot.  Equipped with some lines quoted from my favorite authors and a few different stencil fonts I'm going to get some writing up on these walls.  Stay tuned for more after pics. And if you think of any quotes that just scream "put me on a bathroom wall!" let me know :)

Bedrooms...

I came across these today while researching cottage design for an article I am writing. Planning for bits and pieces of each of these to make an appearance in our home in some way...(AKA: Brain is mushy. Four straight days of renovations with seven month old in tow. Now I know why you NEVER see anybody on HGTV bringing their baby to work. Notice these are all bedrooms. I dream of sleeping...)

I like everything going on in this room, but I really love the letters on the shelf. I know for a fact the ampersand is hard to find though. Let the hunt begin.

I've been seeing a lot of this "door as a headboard" idea. Love the way it looks but have slight fear of wood splinters in bad places. Food for thought.

How can you go wrong when you're bedroom looks like a super cozy bed and breakfast room? Also, if you made the room look like this, check the nightstand for a tip. You deserve one.

WOW. If you remove some of the other antler explosion in this room, this bedframe is kind of amazing.

O.K. husband agrees, I have to do this in the new house. Must put fear of splinters aside...

How realxing does this look? Quite.

And on that note, goodnight :)

When You Just Can't Eat Take-Out one More Time (this week...)

This was one of those weeks where there seems to be no time for cooking. At all.  However, after about four days in a row of fast food and take out for breakfast and dinner, not to mention some serious bloating, I decided I needed some real food. (thank you "home supply store" attendant for bringing the bloat to my attention: "How old is your son? Oh and another on the way?" NO, but thanks for noticing my food baby.)  Here's what I made this week.  I went with two roasted "one dish" meals, which I find to be low maintenance and high flavor and one egg white dish for breakfast.

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Bacon wrapped chicken with Sweet Potatoes,Green Beans, and Rosemary  ready for roasting. Just place peeled and halved or quartered sweet potatoes in the bottom of the casserole dish drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper and toss (I like to add a sprinkle of chili powder on my sweet potatoes at this point, but it's good with or without) .  Next, wrap each chicken leg quarter in a slice of bacon and tuck in a sprig of rosemary and a slice of lemon underneath (you can skip the bacon if you want to reduce the fat here and it will still be good, but the bacon makes it great.) Sprinkle with pepper. Place chicken on top of potatoes, cover with foil and bake for about an hour or until  juices run clear when chicken is pierced.

One hour later, ready to eat

My version of the western omelet: Egg white, red pepper, ham, parsley and cheese frittata, with a side of bacon.  (I use the term frittata loosely as I don't actually finish this in the oven, mainly because all of my pans have rubber handles that will catch on fire and burn my kitchen down).  Cook bacon until desired done-ness and drain on paper towel.  Set aside.  While bacon is cooking, chop red pepper, parsley, and ham.  Discard almost all of the bacon grease in pan, but reserve about 2 tbs.  Heat pan on medium, add red pepper and ham, cook until pepper is tender-crisp and ham is lightly browned. Add in egg white = to 4 eggs. Cook low and slow running spatula around the outside edges occasionally to bring uncooked egg to outside of pan.  When eggs are loosely set, shred in cheddar cheese and sprinkle in parsley.  Let cheese melt, cut into quarters, and serve with bacon.

The frittata recipe above wrapped in a flour tortilla with a side of bacon.  Great if you have to take it to go. You can also reserve half of the frittata in the fridge, heat it and make it into a wrap the following day.

This is my famous pot roast (requested by everyone who has ever eaten it at my house) made with fingerling potatoes, mushrooms, rosemary, red wine and...well, this is a secret recipe! BUT if you leave a message for me in the comment section I will send it to you :)

To Begin at the Begining...

Two monumental things began this weekend.  Our little man started teething and the renovations got underway in our new house. A few other things happened too.  I downloaded a fantastic virus onto my new laptop so I am back to writing on my giant dinosaur computer for now, and somewhere in the past two weeks it seems the entire contents of my house has exploded and now looks like a war ravaged zone had a baby with a looted toys r us.  But back to the two big things.  Both my son's teething as well as the house renovation had me thinking about before and afters.  And since I'm pretty sure little man will have nothing to do with me getting any before and after shots of his gums, I thought I'd share some before pics of the house.

Plantation shutters in the sitting room. One of my favorite details in this house, but desperately in need of a white washing.

The dining room.  The bottom half was primed this weekend. It was a lovely shade of 'ketschup.'

Fireplace in the Sitting Room.  Probably the least offensive color in the joint. Still on its way out though.

Master bedroom. Mustard, Again.  Or as a friend called it 'burned butter.'

Wallpaper removal int the sitting room. How many layers does it take to get to the plaster...

3rd floor office space. More plantation shutters which I love. Baby blue walls and carpet, which I do not love. Buh-Bye.

Main floor bathroom. Where should I start here...plaid wallpaper, plastic mirror, lampshade randomly sticking out of a wall. Enough said for now.