When I think of Greece, this photo represents what I envision.  Husband and I had a deposit on a Greek Cruise for a recent birthday – but as the date approached, I decided I couldn’t leave the kids for 2 weeks so we cancelled.  But SOMEDAY I will take that cruise through Greece.  Or one of thoese photography tours where you follow a photographer around all the great spots.   Don’t you love the bright blue contrasted with the crisp whites in pretty much every photo of Greece?

     Last week I met Mr. Contractor at the Beach House.  Good news – our kitchen has arrived.  Bad news – work has not progressed enough inside to install the kitchen.  Sad face!  We zipped through my list of what needs to be done and stressed how much I want this to be complete in May so we can work on finding a tenant in June.

     Remember when I told you our neighborhood has Greek roots?  Well, I want our home to have that Greek color palette.  One of the Gulf Front homes in our neighborhood has the perfect color scheme.  I told Mr. Contractor this – so we drove to the house and he pulled out this nifty little computertized tool from Benjamin Moore – you point it at the color and it reads the color back to you in a Benjamin Moore color!  Voila!  And better yet – there’s an app for that!  I thought when I found an app that tells you in real-time how long the waits are for each ride at Disney World that I had seen it all.  This will come in handy:

  This home was the color inspiration – and hopefully imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! 

How cool is this little tool?

So what colors did it choose?  (Insert drum roll…)

The main exterior color is a creamy white – it showed up as Benjamin Moore Fog Mist:

And it gave 2 readings for the blue trim – Blueberry and Bermuda Blue:

On the paint swatch I prefer “Bermuda Blue” but I think I will sneak back to the inspiration house and hold up the swatches before I fully commit.

Can you picture the Beach House with new doors, windows, shutters, landscaping AND the new paint colors?  She is not going to look the same!  I met with a landscaper today and they are going to start on Phase I – removing the jungle so we can paint the exterior.  Phase II will be sprinklers, sod and some palm trees.  I also had the glamorous job of shopping for toilets today – Kohler Highline  elongated toilets in case you were wondering.

And a few more pictures from the real Greece…

Click here to read “Picking the Perfect Paint Color“

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Have a great week!

~Kris

     Happy Mother’s Day, Peeps!  A special shout out to some of my favorite mothers…of course my own mom who just drove 3 days cross country by herself, hopefully entertained with the 3 road trip cd’s I made for her. (Yes, we still kick it old-school with cd’s.)   I guess you don’t really appreciate your mom fully until you have kids of your own.  Then you appreciate and apologize.  Profusely.  And for Sister…who has the patience of Jobe with her child and who is raising one of the best citizens of the world that I know.  Kudos for that – it was ALL you.  And for Sister-in-law…who never raises her voice or loses her cool and who is raising three of the best kids that I know.  I love my niece and nephews exactly 1 degree less than my own children.  And for my other relatives and friends – mothering is a tough job and thank you for doing it so well and for being my role models.

XO,

Kris

     Two years ago when Daughter made her First Communion, I hired a professional photographer who did a full shoot of her in her dress and veil and she created custom invitiations for the dinner after.  For Son, I quickly rushed him to the back yard and snapped the world’s fastest photo and then found an invitation online that could ship quickly.  Lucky for me, the picture turned out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself:

 And here are a few photos from the Service:

     After the Mass, the Church had a reception for all - two HUGE cakes with each of the communicant’s names on it (they each got the piece with their name) and lemonade.  After that we went back home for a Cinco de Mayo themed dinner party and the kids all swam like fish in the pool all night.  Here are some party details and recipes:

Sources:  Paper Flowers, Tissue banners and salsa bowls here, tablecloths from Walmart, large beach towels from Target, Tissue Pom Poms from Party City and all ribbon and tulle from Hobby Lobby.

Dinner was a taco bar with beef or chicken and all the fixings.  Instead of plates, I used these foil to-go containers that I bought at the Dollar Store.  If you plan ahead, you can buy these much cheaper at an on-line restaurant supply company.  The downside is you have to buy 200, but only $20!  Everyone loved eating from these and it was less mess with the tacos.

I served individual layer dips and displayed them on top of a sombrero.
I made these the night before and trust me, they were delish.

The dessert bar – yum!  I served lemon cupcakes (on a sombrero), brownies, strawberry pound cake trifle, chocolate chip cookies and sopapilla cheesecake (not pictured.)  The recipe for the amazing trifle is at the end of this post – super easy and you can make the day before!

Water bottle labels and food label table tents from Etsy - awesome, last minute service!

Every single Coronoa was consumed…when in Rome Mexico! 

Make-ahead Mason Jar Margaritas.  I love anything in a mason jar so when I found this reicpe on Pinterest, I had to try it – muy bien!  
See the full recipe below. 

Last but not least – I bought some stick-on mustaches at Party City and hot glued them onto skewers and put them at the head table along with some sombreros – people could then pose for pictures using the mustache and hats – made for some funny pics of our friends!

RECIPES

 Strawberry Pound Cake Trifle

- 1 Sara Lee Pound Cake, thawed (this dense cake works best for this recipe so it doesn’t get mushy)
- 2 or 3 pints of fresh strawberries – sliced and tossed with 1/2 Cup sugar
- 1 1/2 Cup sugar (1/2 cup used above)
- 2 eight oz packages of cream cheese, softened
- 3 cups whole whipping cream, whipped to make 4 cups

1.  Slice the pound cake into 1 inch cubes.

2.  Beat the cream cheese and 1 C of sugar until smooth.  Then add then whipped cream and mix lightly.

3.  Start the first layer of your trifle with pound cake and place along the bottom of your trifle bowl.

4.  Layer the pound cake with the juicy, sliced strawberries.

5. Top the strawberries with a thick amount of the whipped cream mixture.

6.  Repeat layers one more time until top layer is whipped cream.

7.  Garnish with a whole strawberry or even white or dark chocolate shavings.

*You could also add blueberries and make this dessert look patriotic for Memorial Day or 4th of July! 

*This recipe can be made the day before – this will give the pound cake time to absorb the strawberry juices.

Make Ahead Mason Jar Margaritas
I made 3 batches of these margaritas which filled 24  1/2 pint mason jars.  Save your packaging and freeze the jars in it to save freezer space.

- one 12oz can frozen limeade
- 1 C Tequila
- 1/3 C Triple Sec
- juice of 2 limes
- 4-5 cups of ice

In a blender, combine all ingredients except the ice and blend.  Then fill the blender to the top with ice and blendy until slushy.  You do not want any big ice chunks.  Pour into 1/2 pint mason jars and screw the lids on tightly.  Freeze until ready to serve.  The margaritas will thaw to a slushy consistency in about 5-10 minutes.  Do not put them immediately into an icy cooler like I did – the ice will stick the the mason jars and is hard to remove.  I would recommend putting them into a cooler or drink bin without ice until they have thawed. 

Next up – Daughter’s dance recital and her birthday party.  Then I am taking a nap.  A really, really long nap.

~Kris

The Living Room Before:

And the Living Room After:

Wow, what a change!  I love the color pallete Mrs.  C chose – very soothing and beachy chic! 

-Shell mirrors – Homegoods $50 each

-Dining room table and chairs – Factory Direct Warehouse $659 for table and 4 chairs $149 each for wicker chairs

-Barstools – Factory Direct Warehouse – $170 each

-Chandelier – $99 from Lowes

-Pendant lights – $80 a piece from Home Depot

-Rug – Rug Decor $370

 

 

 The Kitchen Before:

 

And the Kitchen After:

 New cabinet hardware, new pendant lights and the barstools make an already remodeled kitchen even better!

 

 

The Master Suite Before:

-Headboard – Pier 1 $500
-Mirrored Nightstands – Kirklands $200 each
-Side chairs – Pier 1 and consignment shop,$200 each
-Painted dresser – consignment shop $700
-Lamps – Homegoods and Pier 1 $125 each
-Bedding – custom made patterned pillow everything else was from Pottery Barn, Target and Bed Bath and Beyond

 

 

The Guest Bedroom Before:

 

And the Guest Bedroom After: 

Mrs. C moved the furniture from the Master Suite to the guest bedroom.  Most renters love having 2 King sized beds in the property they are renting – I can’t stress that enough!  And with decor like this, you can bet they are booking here again next year!

 

Sources and Prices:

Lamps – TJMaxx $40 each

Dresser – Homegoods $200

Chair – Kirklands $170

Bedding – Target, Bed Bath & Beyond

 

 

The Third Bedroom / Bunk Room Before:

 

 And After:

Just adding some nice throw pillows and a dresser makes all the difference in this room!

 

If you are planning a beach vacation to the Destin area,  you can rent this gorgeous condo here!   

 

Here are a few of my tips on what will make your beach property rent to its fullest potential:

 

-Make sure the kitchen is fully stocked.  Consider what you would need if you were on vacation for a week or a month.  Make sure you have quality pots and pans, muffin tins, cookie sheets and even items for cooking seafood. 

 

-Personalize your space – lightly.  Include one or two family photographs.  This makes your renters remember they are renting someone else’s property and not treat it like a hotel.  Leave a guest book with a note to your renters telling them how much you love your condo and you hope they enjoy their time too!  Ask your renters to write about their favorite restaurants and entertainment to share with future guests.  Leave a folder with paper menus from your favorite spots to eat and ask your renters to leave theirs.

 

-Buy high quality mattresses – no one is going to re-book a property that has uncomfortable mattresses.

 

-Consider the children of the renters – leave a pack-n-play and a small high chair in a closet so the renters don’t have to rent these baby items.  Have a video gaming system in the guest bedroom.  Leave a few books and dvd’s in a drawer, all marked with your property name and a note to leave them behind.

 

-People love to rent properties that feel beachy.  I see many condos decorated in a West Indies theme with dark walls and heavy, dark furniture.  Pretty?  Yes.  But renters wants to feel like they are on vacation – and they probably have dark furniture and walls back home!

 

Click here to see more great decorating ideas from the Beach House I spotlighted earlier this year in Crystal Beach.

 

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Have a great week -  I am working on a post from son’s First Communion and our Cinco de Mayo party with some great recipes!

 

~Kris

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Brother, sister-in-law and their 3 little nuggets came to visit for a week during Easter.  We had glorious weather.  But my kids had that pesky thing called school.  We soaked in as much time as we could with the cousins and cried lots of tears when they left.  Daughter actually locked herself in her bathroom when we were saying good-byes.  She was crying so hard that sister-in-law had to knock on the door holding the “Bug” coaxing her out for a hug and a goodbye.   I wish we lived closer.  Actually, I wished THEY lived closer because I don’t do snow.  Here is a picture I snapped of the Bug on the beach in her cute little Janie N Jack swimsuit ensemble.  She is the cutest, smartest 2 year old I have ever met – we have holes the size of Texas in our hearts when they leave.

     We got the new swingset installed!  Its pretty great.  I told the builder I wanted it sized for my tall kids.  Well, he took me to my word and it was so tall that Husband actually had him lop off 3 feet.  Can you imagine this 3 feet taller?  We had to go buy extra chain so the kids wouldn’t need ladders to get on the swings.  Some day if I ever have some free time I need to stain or seal it.  The posts were dug 3 feet deep in the ground – would have gone deeper but we hit water.  Darn sea level.  The swings and hardware are all from Home Depot…the swings can support up to 350 pounds.  Before extra chain:

And the ”after”:

 Things are moving slower than I’d like at the Beach House.  Just like everything there, the walls are schitzophrenic.   Some have beachy wood paneling (not your Grandma’s 1970′s paneling) and some have an almost stucco finish.  So we decided to panel all the walls in the living room and kitchen.  Well, one batch of wood was bad and had to be re-ordered, bringing the work to a halt.  My contractor said the Kitchen might arrive this week – that would be great news.  We are getting close.  Picture it painted the perfect shade of white.

     Yesterday I stopped by Home Depot to pick up some flowers and herbs to plant.  Son is making his First Communion on May 5, so we are having our family and a few of his friends over for dinner after.  Well turns out that day is also Cinco de Mayo so the party is going to be just that.  Mexican food, mojitos, sangria and some fun decorations I ordered from Etsy and an authentic Mexican Fiesta store!  I am planting my own basil and mint, using Miracle Gro soil and fingers crossed it will grow enough to use in time for the party.  Herbs grow so well in pots by my pool – it has a screen so they are protected from bugs and creatures.  The herbs must love humidity because they grow the size of a small tree by July.  I also bought some new cobalt blue pots at WalMart – less than $30 for the largest size.  They look JUST like pottery and then you touch it and its lightweight plastic.  I carried them to my car and I got more than a few stares of wow, that girl is STRONG to be carrying those huge pots to her car. 

And some photos of my Cinco de Mayo Party inspiration, from my Pinterest Parties board:       

 The sangria filled with chopped up fresh fruit like strawberries and apples and yes, basil from my garden.  Grow basil, grow!

I know a margarita would be more fitting, but my fav drink is a mojito.  For the two times a year I actually drink!  I am trying this recipe from the Food Network because it makes an entire pitcher and it gets great reviews.  Grow mint, grow!

Don’t forget to subcribe to my blog and receive e-mails with new posts!

~Kris

    That’s my fancy pants way of saying “chocolate croissant”.  One of my girlfriends had a girl’s-night-out Valentines party and one of her many decadent desserts included still warm from the oven chocolate croissants.  Ooh-la-la.  We were all ga-ga and could not stop eating them.  I assumed they took hours to make but she said they were easy.  So, I asked for the recipe and decided to make them for the family for Easter dinner.   And yes, I served them warm from the oven.

     The good news is they really are easy peasy.  Only 4 ingredients…2 of which you probably already have in your fridge and pantry.  Its almost hard to post this recipe so I can keep it my own little secret,  but really…it is too good not to share.  Now you can wow and amaze your friends and family with your incredible “French” cooking skills!

Recipe for 24 pastries:

-2 sheets puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
-2 large Symphony chocolate bars (you will have extra)
-1 large egg mixed with a splash of water for egg wash
-sugar in the raw for dusting

1.  Spread out the puff pastry and cut into 12 equal squares per sheet (this is the hard part – I had some  long, some short – but that’s ok!)

2.  Cut up the Symphony bars into small pieces.
3.  Line each pastry shell with several chocolate pieces.

4.  Roll the pastry up tightly and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, seam side down.
5.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.
6.  When ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
7.  Brush the tops of each pastry with egg wash and then sprinkle with sugar.
8.  Bake about 15 minutes – tops will be lightly browned and the croissant will have risen to almost double its size.
9. Eat until your button pops!

Bon appétit!

~Kris

     I ordered the beach house kitchen last week – this is likely the largest expense for the Beach House (formerly known as the Short Sale Project) and I had knots in my stomach when I signed the contract.  I am always afraid I’ve missed something or could have done something different/better.  I’m going to show you the CAD drawings – we did make a few changes to these drawings so they aren’t exact, but they will give you a good visual of the new kitchen.

     The old kitchen was hideous.  It had the weirdest cabinetry I have ever seen.  It was painted bright red and each cabinet had its own size and shape.  The hardware was naked people (seriously) and the layout was terrible.  They added a fridge to what once was a linen closet in the hall behind.  It was rigged up for the fridge and icemaker in a crazy way that made our plumber laugh and then we have had to do some serious untangling.  The cabinetry around the fridge had an almost Southwest theme and it was the.ugliest.kitchen.ever.   I can’t believe HGTV hasn’t called.  Maybe they are calling about the landscaping instead?  Fingers crossed!  If anyone wants to call in a favor to John Gidding, I would not complain.

We removed that window on the left so we could extend the cabinetry and add a breakfast bar.  In the CAD drawings you will see some open shelving. I actually ordered some brackets and am going to have some open shelves that will look something like this:

I ordered this farmhouse sink from Overstock and I am mildly upset that the Beach House will have a nicer sink than my house:

 This kitchen from my Pinterest kitchen board shows you the sea blue cabinetry color we chose with a simple Shaker front door – we will be using the $12 faucet I snagged at a Tuesday Morning clearance sale:

 And here she is – the beautiful new kitchen that will be installed in 4 long weeks:

~Kris 

     We took the kids (and 34 of our closest friend came too!) on a cruise to the Bahamas for spring break!  Yes, we are living the life of Riley over here.   Back when I was a kid, we got 2 days off for spring break – we prayed it wouldn’t blizzard – and we drove to the state high school hockey tournaments for the weekend.  Pretty much the same thing, right?  Yep, the kids are spoiled.  But jeez – 2nd and 4th grade are NO joke.  Their homework rivals a lot of what I did in high school.  4th grade math scares me.  I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader –  at least not a 2012 5th grader!  So the kids really deserved a break.  And I deserved a break.  Nothing like all-you-can-eat food 24 hours a day for 5 days – I just wanted a break from packing lunches and cooking dinner.  I mean really…do these kids need to eat 3 times a day EVERY day?  We returned home with the kids in full detox of 24-hour “free” ice cream.  And don’t get me started on the warm chocolate melting cake.  That alone is worth the price of the cruise.

     We stopped in 2 ports – Freeport and Nassau.  When you live somewhere as beautiful as I do – who really needs to take a vacation?  The Bahamas is beautiful, but their beaches were not as pretty as ours.  We are spoiled by our sugar white sand and emerald green Gulf waters.  We were in Nassau for a full 24 hours – so it was nice to not have to feel pressured to get back to the boat – I have an irrational fear of being stranded in a port waving goodbye to my ship.  We did all the usual tourist things – we bought rum cakes, drank rum drinks, sent the kids on a banana boat ride, snorkeled (those brave enough to enter that cold water) and relaxed on the beach (with above mentioned rum drinks.)

     In Nassau we saw this yacht.  Pretty nice.  We guessed it belongs to Michael Jordan, based on the “air” written on the side.  Notice the helicopter and pad at the rear of the ship.  (Our friends who went snorkeling said their boat captain pointed out mansions saying they belonged to Oprah, Tiger, MJ, etc…)

     I don’t think I would enjoy a cruise as much with just with our little family – definitely more fun with a group.  And if your group is 38 people – well, the more the merrier!  Everyone got along great and all of the kids rated our trip a 10 and asked to book again for next year!  If you asked my kids the highlight of their trip, they would most likely tell you the ”towel animals”.  If you haven’t cruised before – your porter makes a towel animal each night when they turn down your bed and the kids get SO excited to see what animal is waiting. 

     All six of us girls/moms got massages one night on the ship.  Our attendants told us to “remain in a constant state of relaxation”.  Pretty funny/ironic thing to say to a mom, right?  Ah ma’am, can you please tell our husbands about this constant state of relaxation?  And of course tell the kids too. Yes, definitely tell the kids.

Two of my favorite/funny cruise memories:

1.  If you’ve been on a cruise you know they have a staff of photogs trying to take some cheesy backdrop photos of you to later sell you a 4×6 for 20 bucks.  One night at dinner, I let daughter go to the bathroom with 2 of her friends. They returned without her. She came back and said “mom, everyone wants to take my photo!!!” Her 8 year old friend said in all seriousness “well she does have the face of a model.”   Note to self….praise daughter less for beauty and more for brains – and a refresher course on stranger danger.

2.  Daughter and her friends are forever putting on shows for us. It usually involves some bad dancing and confusion and even requests for money before these performances. Well daughter’s friend walked up to her mother during dinner to let her know the girls had a show ready and to please alert the Captain so he could make an announcement their show was after dinner!  Note to self…always remember your children’s innocence before it gets mucked up by the world.

     We got back home with enough time to suffer from the “sways” and attempt to do 18 loads of laundry and then pack again because son had a travel baseball tournament in Alabama the next day!  So back on the road we went.  And wouldn’t you know those boys kept winning and went all the way to the Championship game and ended up in 2nd place for the tournament!  We were shocked.  Not that our boys aren’t great – but sports are very serious in the South.  We play full-pads tackle football in Kindergarten. Some of these 8U travel balls teams have kids from 3 states – only the best of the best. I would say most of our boys are average to above-average in size…. UNTIL you compare them to these other teams.  I would like to find these kids wandering around the concession stand and ask them how old they are.  There is almost no way they are 7 or 8 years old!  These kids practically have facial hair and look like they are in middle school.  So 2nd place was great – better than great!  I almost felt bad sending my kids back to school Monday morning after not getting back until late Sunday night.  Son played catcher for almost 5 games this weekend – I can’t imagine how sore his little legs were after being in catcher position for so long.  I would need a wheelchair for at least a week.  My husband mentioned to his real estate coach something about the tournament and his coach said ” the thing about kids this age – the only thing they care about is parental recognition and a snack.”  Point taken.

     Can my little ball player be any cuter?  He is a sweet chunk of boy…I want to eat his dimples with a spoon.  He is an old soul, smart as a whip, fiercely competitive, a perfectionist in many ways (except when it comes to keeping his white basbeall pants clean)…and he is the sweetest, most loving boy a mom could ask for.  He falls asleep at night after telling me I’m the best mom in the world.  I tell him he’s the best son in the world and he says “NO, you are the best momma”.  Swoon…

Now lets get back back to that state of constant relaxation… I highly recommend it…

~Kris

     Last week was crazy – on Thursday my maching machine overflowed – all over the floor…sadface.  On Friday, my fairly new SUV stalled in elementary school car-line…big sadface.  This has always been pretty much my worst nightmare – you do not want to stall in car-line. You do not want to make those carpool moms mad at you.  You also do not want to be wearing your pj’s when you stall in car-line!  So now I’m driving a crappy rental car and I miss everything about my car, especially my music and my ballpark seat cushions.  And then to top off my “pigpen” weekend, daughter’s pierced ears became so infected that we ended up in the Emergency Room over the weekend.  Those sweet little ears are too close to that sweet little brain and those antibiotics cannot work fast enough.  Bless her heart, all this work on pierced ears and now she has to let them close….another sadface.   And while driving to the ER, husband took the time to call me and tell me he locked his keys in his car at the kids’ Little League Opening Day Parade and exhibition games…that daughter and I were missing.  How was your weekend?!?!

     But, on to happier things!   Spring is my favorite time of year – even though winter pretty much forgot to come to northern Florida, I am still looking forward to sunny, warm days!  Here are a few things I’m slightly obsessed with so far this spring.

1.  My new fuschia Tom’s – these are the cutest Tom’s yet – and mesh for spring so they will breathe and the bright fuschia color is just what the doctor ordered!  (The look red in this photo, but trust me, they are fuschia!)  I wear mine with skinny denim capris and a big bunch of mixed color beaded bracelets.

2.  I love this Loreal Collagen face cream - it is so rich and thick and seems like it should cost triple its $10 price tag!  I’ve tried about every face cream on the market and this one is my fav.

3.  Versa Spray Tan - the older I get, the more I want to protect my skin from the sun.  Last summer I started spray tanning.  I loved it, but it had a slight tint of orange (my friends called me Snookie!) and it was very drying on my skin.  The tan sort of settled in and made fine lines more pronounced and my skin was so dry.  Yesterday I tried the Versa and it is awesome!  Pay the extra for the moisturizing treatment.  I got the “medium” colored spray – no  orange, it smelled better that the Mystic tan and my skin feels great!

4.  The top knot – I pretty much did not cut my hair for a year and now its long enough to actually try all the fun hairstyles I have pinned on Pinterest!  My favorite is the top knot.  One of these days I’ll take some photos of the process to show you how I do it.  Most tutorials are for really long hair and mine is more shoulder length.  Its all in the “tease” to get a nice, full top knot.

5.  I’m loving two new shows on TV.   You HAVE to catch up on “Smash” if you aren’t watching it on Monday nights on NBC - its sort of like “Glee” for adults.  The casting is terrif and I love Kat McPhee!  This is my new dvr addiction.  I also love the new show, also on NBC, called “Awake” on Thursday  nights.

6.  I love me some Jeff and Jenni!  This Wendesday is the debut of “Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis” – I’m  not sure if I love to hate, or hate to love Jeff but you know this show will be good with lots of Jeff induced tension so set your dvrs!

7.  I love to read and I love my Nook.  I’m excited to start this book after I finish my current read.  If you haven’t heard of these books, you can start with book #1 and discover a great new author that borders along mystery and comedy.  The author is Lisa Lutz and the first book is the Spellman Files.  Hi-larious!

What are you loving for spring?

~Kris

 The kids are growing like weeds.  I was a 5th percentile kind of kid – always the shortest, smallest and skinniest.  So my vertically challenged self wanted TALL kids and therefore, I semi-jokingly had a six-foot dating requirement!  Well, husband is very tall and little ol’ me ended up with 100th percentile kids.  Be careful what you wish for!   Actually daughter has almost never even been on the growth chart and son is usually in the 85th or higher percentile.  She is now, at 9 years old, wearing the same size clothing that I wore in 9th grade and in 3rd grade her shoe size surpassed mine.  They grew out of their carrier car seats before 3 months.  They grew out of toddler sized clothes and into “big kid” sizes before they turned 3 years old.  So it is no surprise that our backyard swingset is too small.  But daughter still plays on it every single day – her long legs bunched up under her while trying to swing.

So I had an idea – lets tear that little kid sized swingset down and build  one for tall kids!  Just 3 or 4 swings on this structure – no slides or playforts.  At 9 years old, daughter is already well over 5 feet tall and wears a ladies size 9 shoe – we definitely need a swing set with some leg room!

I’m meeting with a builder later today and pulled together some photos I found of some great swing sets:

And because I can never take on one project without expanding it, why  not make this DIY outdoor chalkboard?  So cute!  Hours of fun or minutes?  This one was made with a4x8 plywood sheet and then outdoor paint mixed with sanded grout in a color that looks like a chalkboard.

Swinging is good for the soul.  There have been scientific studies.  And husband, if you are reading this, I might need this more than the kids do!!!

All images via Pinterest.

~Kris 

     I have made plenty of paint color mistakes in my life.  I finally saw the light when a decorator I had hired for the sole purpose of picking out paint colors about 2 houses ago explained paint to me.  All I was looking at was the swatch of the color.  I learned you have to look at the entire swatch – that way you see the undertones of the color you are picking.  I told the decorator my house looked like a big brown blob with light brown cabinets – she showed me that the beige color I had selected had very pink undertones and did not match the tones of the wood in my cabinetry.  We ended up going bold – TANSY GREEN from Sherwin Williams bold – and I promise you, I have never had so many compliments on a paint color in my life.  Tansy Green is the perfect apple green – and actually a very neutral color.  You don’t get sick of it.  My cabinets popped, my ceiling and trim popped and the room was decorator perfect!

     Because the Beach House (aka the Short Sale Project) will be a rental, we need to paint the walls neutral.  We selected blue cabinets for the kitchen (gorg!!!) but the walls and floors will be very neutral.  Picking the perfect netural white or cream can be very, very tricky.  So I’m sharing with you the contenders – the tried and true whites.  White can read very yellow or pink once you get it on the wall.   I’m looking for the perfect balance of white and cream with no yellows or pinks, please!

 First up – Candice Olson’s reportedly favorite whites – Niveous OC-36 and Cloud White OC-130 by Benjamin Moore.  I haven’t personally used these colors and I think they will read more gray than I am looking for, but Candice Olson is definitely more experienced than I and if these are her favorite, they must be great…

 Next up is one of my personal faves – Dover White SW6385 by Sherwin Williams.  This is the perfect creamy white.  I have always used this on the trim in all of my houses and recommend it to our Seller’s when they have to re-paint to sell.  I don’t have a paint swatch for this one, just a photo of a room painted Dover White…

Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17 is a universal white – and also great on trim…

Farrow and Ball Lime White is the perfect off-white…

Benjamin Moore Atrium White…

Pale Oak OC-20 by Benjamin Moore – a great “greige” neutral…

Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee 1812 is lovely…

Now moving right along to my favorite paint color – Blue!  I will have to incorporate some blue somewhere – this is a beach house after all.  Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue is always a favorite – it really is the perfect blue…

And Benjamine Moore Wythe Blue is equally lovely and soothing…

And last but not least, Farrow and Ball Blue Powder…

     As for the Short Sale Project – the kitchen has been demo’d, the 3rd bedroom has been drywalled and the living room walls are being prepared for the paneling we are installing.  We’ve had a few bumps in the road – on the first day of demo, I got a voicemail from the Contractor telling me there were sparks and fire at the meter!  I immediately called the power company and they repaired it before we burned the entire house down!  We had to replace the front door – turns out we also have termites!

Here is a sneak peek of our kitchen cabinetry – it is maple and the color is called “Lagoon” – the color is much more muted in real life:

Here is the new front door and hardware:

The door is by Jeld-Wen and the hardware is Schlage. 

And last but not least – the kitchen after the demo!

~Kris

This custom driveway was poured over a slab on a custom built mold with a drip line spinkler system underneath. 
The owner really wanted mondo grass in between the concrete, but the hot Florida sun had other ideas. 

Here is what the home looked like “before”:

They added this beautiful pool

The backyard has a koi pond, fountain and a covered summer kitchen with grill, sink and even a keg!  The landscaping includes a lemon tree, grapefruit tree, lots of wonderful smelling vines and lots of flowering shrubs.  This photo was taken in December so you can imagine what it will look like in May!

The front entry

Now moving indoors – the living room.  (In all fairness, I didn’t photograph this for the blog, but to help my customers remember their short list of houses. I wish I had taken more!)  This room also has a fireplace and it totally wired for surround sound, infared and even had a baby grand piano!

The kitchen – this Wolf stove has 2 ovens, 4 gas burners, a griddle and a grill – the vent hood has warming lights so you can put your food on the wire shelf and keep it warm.  I think I’d cook at lot more if I had this!  The fridge is on left – it is a Sub Zero hidden behind cabinetry.  It has two refrigerated drawers beneath.

The breakfast nook used to be the screened-in porch.  The nook is flanked by pantry storage on either side.

The other side of the kitchen has the “beverage fridge” and 2 dishwasher drawers that can be run separately or together.

The Master Bedroom is the third floor – it has a balcony that opens to the Gulf, his/her closets and a decadent Master Bath.

The Master Bath features beautiful cabinetry, sparkling knobs, vessel sinks, travertine and marble and every light and sconce is on a dimmer.

This seamless piece of granite was carried up three flights of narrow stairs and cut on site!  The $3,500 bathtub has air jets instead of water - so you don’t get all that yucky mold and gunk in the jets.  The tv/dvd player on a swivel arm is a nice touch, eh?

This is one of the guest bedrooms

 
The guest bathroom

The laundry room and pool bathroom – the dryer is on the left.  Not only is it a regular dryer, but it also has an entire drycleaning/steaming system!

The pool bath

The home office would also be a great play room or bunk room

The outdoor shower is perfect after a sandy day at the beach

The Seller’s took more than a $400,000 personal loss to sell this home – what lucky buyers!!! 

~Kris

     Sister-in-law recently went on a tropical vacation with my brother.  So my mom…most commonly known as “Grammy”….flew back to North Dakota to babysit my 2 sweet nephews (J and K)  and my darling almost 3-year old niece “Bug”.  You already know that Sister-in-law has Victoria’s secret model hair – what you don’t know is she is also very pretty, she has a true blue P90X body (trust me, you do not want to be within 50 yards of her in a bathing suit or pajamas, or a mumu) and she is so kind, sweet and funny that you can’t even hate her for being so skinny and pretty with silky hair!  She is the best writer – I always tell her she should write a novel or start her blog again.  When we text, I realize I am 100% boring with my responses like “cool!” or “fun!” or “awesome!”.  Sister-in-law is witty in a Saturday Night Live comedy sketch writer kind of way.

     So, this sets the stage for this post.  She sent Grammy her kid directions called “Care and Feeding” – the e-mail said:  “Hi Grammy!  Here’s a little something for you to read on the plane.  Really, if nothing else, use it to doodle on, put your abc gum in, or practice your origami.”  My parents thought it was hysterical (of course) so they forwarded it to me, so I asked Sis-in-law if I could post it to the blog and she said yes!  Here it goes:

     Here are a few particulars regarding your charges.  I/We really hate to insult your intelligence/common sense/general Grammy-ness, but perhaps leaving some semblance of proper care and feeding instructions will help us relax a bit easier, with less guilt.  Bwahaha! Also, I’m keeping the teacher flame burning…

 The Bug:

 1. She’s thiiiiiiiis close to getting out of diapers. (And each ‘i’ represents a month or so. Ugh.) Actually, she sits on the “froggy potty” on a regular basis and occasionally, with a good video, snack, and chapter book, she’ll make something happen. Don’t give it much thought. We’ll figure it out someday.

 2.  She usually wakes up just before we have to leave for school; we both enjoy breakfast and deep conversation after we drop the boys.

 3.  Nap time is still around 1:00, just after lunch.  Most days I have to pluck her out of bed when it’s time to head back to the boys’ school at 3:00.  The monitor has fresh batteries, and the other part of it’s always plugged in and on, behind her recliner. 

 4.  We hit the 3 big B’s at 8:00 pm, give or take 20 minutes or so.  That’d be brushing, books, and bed!  Her toothbrush and paste are in the top left drawer of her bathroom, and she hasn’t yet mastered the spit.  Fair warning.  Books are in her closet, under her bed, in her dresser drawers, and pretty much everywhere else she calls “hers.” That’s the entire house.

 5.  Art class is Wednesday morning at 9:30; don’t feel bad if you don’t really want to go.  She gets plenty of art and stories at home, minus a major rush to get out the door, the toddling germs, and nasty looks from the instructor when Mama brings her giant coffee cup.  Our “art cabinet” is the woven brown thing in the office. Pardon the mess.

 6.  Wouldn’t ya know it, she’s getting over a, uh, bug.  She’s on a teaspoon of medicine (it’s in the fridge) twice a day from now until her own version of eternity.  It’s actually quite tolerable to swill, and smells much, much worse on its way out. 

 The Boys:

 1.  You never need to worry about waking them; J’s up at the creak o’ pre-dawn, dialin’ up ESPN.  It’s habitual.  I guess the co-host of Sports Nation is quite blond and quite cute.

 2.  7:45 is when the whisper of the breakfast bell sounds down the stairs.  I’ve got some waffles, sausage, and–as my grandpa would say–”breakast food” in the freezer.  You may have to look under the discount club-sized bag of green beans.  (By the way, those are so good!  Go nuts!)  The cereal is behind the top doors of the pantry; K is our resident cereal hound.  Wait–I hold that honor. 

 3.  We’re usually out the door by 8:30, as school starts at 8:45 and we don’t want to get stuck behind “Malibu Angel.”  The boys can fill you in/provide warning/sing her special song.

 4.  Backpacks are to be emptied with homework completed right after school (unless it’s Waffle Cone Wednesday!). J’s planner will need to be initialed every night.  I’m toying with the idea of actually “signing my John Henry” one of these days, as that seems to be his teacher’s  favorite line (I’m not saying it bugs me, but you can make your own inferences), and I just want confirmation it actually counts for something.

 5.  Reading commences around 8:20 or so.  We let ‘em read for 20 minutes (give or take a handful) before lights out.  Don’t ask me why, but J chooses to read and sleep backwards. Symbolism?  Ha!

 6.  CCD is Wednesday from 4-4:50 at our church.  The Bug loves to see the water and “movie” towers when we drop off the boys.

 7.  The last game for the Blue Devils is Saturday at 9:00.  The boys’ uniforms and shoes are in their rooms, ready for sweat.  Water bottles and shoes are in their bags, on the hook.

 Miscellanea:

 1.  K wants to take birthday cookies to school on Wednesday; he can just take ‘em in the morning and salivate all day long.  If you care to bring balloons/send a barbershop quartet/scream in with spankings, feel free to embarrass to your heart’s content.

 2.  The Odyssey runs like a dream, but if the starter should begin to chirp, just plug it into the cord dangling from the glove box.  The middle garage door opener is the middle HomeLink button just above the rearview mirror. 

 3.  The boys can grab the mail once or twice; the key is in the van.  K will probably get a package from my dad.  He can go ahead and let ‘er rip.

 4.  If you find yourself having issues with the DVR, see #1 under “The Boys.” 

 5.  The Bug’s hair accoutrements are in her top drawer (the tall chest), along with all her jeans.  Why there?  Not sure.  Oh, and her mix-n-match jammies are in the lower left of the other dresser.  If you go right, see #1 under “The Bug.” 

 6.  Sadly, the Keurig has been put out of her misery.  Now begins mine.  Their  customer service reps have grown weary of me, and  I’m sick of being scolded for using tap water and de-scaling every two days.  Ever drunk hot vinegar with a dash of coffee?  Blech… Anyhow, take as many K-cups as will fit in your suitcase (Bug can show you the stash) and I’ll do the same when we head south.  Just a heads-up about the crummy carafe I’m back to cursing (love me some alliteration; see opening paragraph):  I’m no geometry whiz, but the right pour angle can make or break your morning.

 7.  You’ll find ancillary milk, etc. in the garage.  Please, please, please eat and drink as much as you possibly can.  That’s our policy.

 8.  My phone is totally out of commish when we’re out of town, be it Bismarck or Bismark.  It may share a secret spot in the coulee with the Keurig before too long.  Husband’s phone will be on, but we’re not really sure what we’ll have for service.  We’d love to Skype or Facetime with y’all, so we’ll find a way to call and set it up. 

9.  My folks would love to help out if you want to get away to see les girls or need a few moments of quiet.  You’re welcome to drinks in trailer #1254, or in their almost-rebuilt house, too!  Give ‘em a call if you wish!  (Remember they lost their home in the flood and have been living in a FEMA trailer!)

 10.  Bath toys are in The Bug’s bathroom, in the closet.  Wouldn’t it be much easier to keep ‘em by the tub? Well, yes. 

 11.  Do not use the R/O.  It’s so gross.  I should say STILL so gross.

 12.  Flat Stanely will be going home with you!  Feel free (read:  PLEASE!) show him a good time and document it well. I’m kidding, but if you think of something we may have overlooked (a visit with the mayor?), take the reins.

 13.  I bought an unusually large amount of bananas, even though I know Wal Mart’s produce doesn’t keep.  You’ll find flour, etc. in the spice cabinet.  Just sayin’. 

 14.  Have a great, great time. Please, don’t hesitate to lie to us should we ask how much we were missed.

 15.  Understand just how much we truly appreciate your coming back.  We are so excited to get away, and the kids are practically kicking us out the door to get you in! 

I personally hope Grammy did a good job with Flat Stanely – that is son’s school project and he is beyond excited to see what adventures his nephews took him on!

~Kris

Sister and Sister-in-Law do not need to read this post.  You see, they have perfect hair.  They roll out of bed looking like they stepped off the pages of a Victoria’s Secret catalog or a Pantene commercial.  Sister-in-Law always makes fun of her “Britney Bun” – she has a knack for just twisting her hair a few times and voila, she is ready for  a white dress and a veil.  Me?  Not so much.  You would never guess when you see me most days in my ponytail and yoga pants that I spend a lot of time and money on my hair.  And I mean never.

I have fine hair, but lots of it.  It is dry.  It is frizzy, especially in the summer in Florida.  It is curly in the back and underneath and straight on the top and the sides.  It is thick on the top and thin on the ends.  It is schizophrenic.  It is…gray.  I might despise gray hair more than crows feet.  So every 5 weeks, I color the roots darker than my natural color to cover the gray, I highlight it and every other time I get a Keratin treatment.  But those treatments work best for people who don’t wash their hair that often.  And since I roll out of bed looking more like Medusa than a Pantene commercial, I wash my  hair once a day.  I use sulfate free products, I use Keratin protection products, I use frizz abatement products, I use Moroccon oil products…you name it, I have tried it.  But I have finally found a product that actually works!

Dumroll please….Its called “Its a 10“.  My hair dresser used it last week and I walked out with Pantene commercial hair.  It was so sleek and shiny – it felt like silk.  So I bought my own bottle, still skeptical that I could re-create the salon effect and it WORKS!!!!  I tried it on daughter last night – she inherited my hair, except even curlier and frizzier and thicker and she walked into school today with shiny, silky, smooth hair!!!

When I was Googling this to find a photo to share with you, I saw they they also have the product with Kertain in it – I will try that the next time.  If you suffer from any of the hair struggles that I do, invest the $18 and buy a bottle!

 And while on the subject of hair – I will tell you about one more miracle product…the Wet Brush.  It is hands down the best hair brush on the market.  I love this brush.  If I could only take 3 things on a deserted island, I would probably take the brush.  And if you have kids who scream like mine does when I brush her hair, buy this brush.  They are $15 at the salon, but I have started ordering them from Amazon for less.  I have lots of friends and family hooked on the Wet Brush!

Thank you for all of your wonderful e-mails!  I realize that it was impossible to post comments on the blog lately so that should all be fixed now.  Every time I checked my e-mail I was getting 100′s of spam blog comments and it was starting to drive me crazy.  So I called my “guy” and asked him (in my nicest mean voice) to “stop the insanity” and I didn’t realize it was then impossible for you to comment.  So with a new spam filter in place and my fingers crossed, you should now be able to post comments again so please comment away – I love to hear from you!!!

Happy Hair Day!

~Kris 

     When will work begin?  Our contractor just left on a ski trip to Utah.  Seriously?  Seriously!  So I guess work will begin once he is back – hopefully we can get started this week.  Our first project is drywall and fixing all the electrical issues.  All the boring stuff that no one wants to see pictures of.  Did I ever mention that our inspection report summary was 20 PAGES long?  Yes, it would have been easier to list the thing that actually work instead of those that don’t.  And please, let’s not mention again the dead squirrel in the attic.

     I have never showed you a picture of the exterior. I wanted to wait until it was official.  The home is located in a subdivision with Greek roots – there is an old Greek church just down the street and the “diamond” houses all have Greek inspired features and colors – around here we name our houses when they are on short-term rental programs – and most of these houses are named things like “Athena” and “Mikonos”.  So we want to be inspired by all things Greek, including our exterior color palette.  We hired an architect to give us some ideas for the house – the next day he already did a quick rendering of some things that we talked about.

This is the Greek chapel, “Nikolas by the Sea”,  just down the street - its a real church and people have weddings here - 
it always reminds me of the top secret wedding of John Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette! 

Seriously, doesn’t it remind you of this church just a bit?  But I digress…

     John Nitsos moved to the Emerald Coast in 1910 and named his paradise after his hometown in Greece, Frangista.  He built the chapel and called it “St. Nikolas by the Sea”, after his father.  The family owned and operated an Inn on this large Gulf front property and in the early 2000′s, the family decided to develop and build a subdivision, now called Frangista Beach.  And this is where our little “rough in the diamond” resides.  Greece is high up on my bucket list, but until then I’ll have my little slice of Greece right here in Florida!

~Kris

I  know most of you come to my blog to see pretty pictures and get decorating ideas, but I’m going to mix it up a bit and every now and then add my two cents on kids, parenting, grand-parenting, etc.  Even if you don’t have kids, it really does take a village to raise a child and we are all parents in some cosmic sense to all the children of the world.

You see, I have been feeling this tug lately.  Have you ever been tugged?  I think it is someone from up above, (tugging) pointing me to where I need to be.  Well, that tug was more like a push in December.  I took the kids to Grand Boulevard to have their annual visit with Santa.  Decorating the park were a bunch of Christmas trees, each sponsored by a different charity.  That tug pointed me to the Guardian ad Litem tree.  I have always wanted to participate in this program but for one reason or another, never actually signed up.  A Guardian ad Litem serves kids via the courts who have been abused or neglected…and many are in foster care or looking for a home.  I would have to visit them at least once a month and go with them to court – be a voice for them.  Did you know many of these kids navigate this all alone with no one to speak for them?  Or listen to them?  Or help them?

 When I saw the tree, it had letters some of these children had written to Santa.  They can say it much, much better than I can:

I think that tug I am feeling also applies to this blog and what I write about – I’m not writing this to toot my own horn, but rather to spread the tug around.  I haven’t even made a final decision on where this tug will lead me – I am still exploring the many options of how I can help those who can’t help themselves.

 I hope you enjoy these beautiful quotes from Mother Teresa as much I do – these really tug at you:

 “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

 “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”

 “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

 “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”

 “A life not lived for others is not a life.”

-Mother Teresa

Be kind today – someone really  needs it.

~Kris

 One great thing about blogs (in addition to all the great photos and inspiration you can find for just about anything) is the people you get to “meet” and know through their blog.  I have a list a mile long of blogs I follow in my Reader, but there are a few blogs that I always click on and can’t wait for new posts.  I wanted to share two of those blogs with you today – sadly, both of these bloggers have talked a lot lately about not blogging anymore and for me that would be like taking my favorite tv show off the air!  If you are anything like me, when you find a blog that you really connect with, you will spend your time reading their entire blog from start to finish.  So, curl up with your laptop or your iPad this weekend and check these blogs out – I  know you will enjoy them as much as I do!

IN THE MOMENT ~ VALERIE KOOP

This blog follows an amazing photographer.  I actually stumbled on her blog this past summer when I was looking for photography ideas for our summer family shoot in North Dakota.  But her blog is about so much more than photography.  She started her blog around the time her young husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  She has two small kids and sadly he did pass away…now her blog is about “new beginnings”.  It might sound depressing, but it really isn’t.  She is an incredible writer and her blog posts are unique.  Anyone can slap up some decorating photos or a recipe, but Valerie’s blog is personal and touching and she is also an amazing photographer!

SNAPSHOTS – KAREN RUSSELL

I found this blog recently via a post on Valerie’s blog and I was instantly  hooked – still in the process of going back and reading prior entries.  Karen is also a photographer but her blog is also about life more than photography.  Karen has a blended family with a husband who is currently deployed in Afghanistan.  Karen ends each blog post with a one-liner to her husband, John Downs, that starts like this:  And if you’re reading this Josh Downs…    Karen had a recent blog post about feeling inadequate about her blog and that it sometimes feels like all these other blogging moms have perfect lives, perfect hair, perfect kids and serve dinner on perfectly set and styled tables and how she feels even worse when she is still in her pj’s, pulling into McDonalds for dinner.  Yesterday she wrote this:   All of us moms are fighting the same fight.  And sure, the fight may look a bit different, depending upon the mom – but that’s only because some moms are fighting the fight in cute belts and colorful heels while the rest of us are fighting it out in our pajamas.  The link above takes you to the post on her blog that Valerie pointed out – when Josh  Downs wrote down his New Year’s Resolutions.

Its been a while since I have posted a Short Sale Project Update - this has been a tough short sale.  While usually a short sale will take 2-3 months, this one has taken 8 months!  It was tough in particular because the Seller had a huge judgment filed against the property and it was a lot of untangling and truthfully, I am shocked that is has actually worked out and the sale has been approved!  Work will start in February, so I will start posting a lot more about that project and following the renovation process – very exciting!!!

If you have a favorite blog that you follow, please share it in the comment section!

~Kris

Lets start with the laundry room – I think I might even enjoy doing laundry in this room.  And yes, that is two perfect green chandliers hanging in this perfect laundry room.  I’d give it a full TEN if it had two washers and two dryers…hey, a girl can dream, right?  You could easily find an inexpensive chandelier at a big box store, probably in gold or silver, and then spray paint it a fun bright color!

How cute is this? This little table and chair goes to show you that you can make room almost anywhere in your house for a small “home office”.   You could find a table at any consignment or discount shop, paint it with some Annie Sloane’s chalk paint and voila, a chic home office.

And now moving along to bathrooms.  This might be the most unique guest bath I have ever seen.  This house is  for sale in Crystal Beach and a decorating genius must live here – more pics from that house to follow.  This is a custom vanity they designed from glass tile.

This Victoria Albert clawfoot tub is perfect in this beach house rental.  I’ve seen similar tubs on discount sites like Overstock.com.  Sarah Richardson buys old vintage tubs like these at a salavage “yard” and has them refurbished for $200-$300.

I have a lot of dark cabinetry in my own home and now I wish it was all white.  But, if you have dark cabinetry, go light with the paint, the counters and the floors.  And by all means, find the most unique hardware you can.  I’m a little obsessed with the bling on these cabinets again from the Crystal Beach house.  (Which by the way is still for sale if anyone out there is interested!)

I fell in love with this sink that I saw in a foreclosure listing in Watersound Beach!

And now a few kitchens.  I could do an entire post on glass front refrigerators – this one from the cool Crystal Beach house I mentioned earlier. I am not
Type A / Amanda enough to have this in my own home, but I do love it.  Think of all the cool containers you could buy at Crate and Barrel and have a perfectly staged fridge – ready for MTV Cribs to come knocking.  (Speaking of Amanada, if you get the Style Network,  you must tune in starting January 30th for
“The Amandas” and follow this mega Type A organizer and watch how she organizes hoarders people just like me!)

In this same Crystal Beach house, the owner used the red knobs from the Wolf range as an opportunity to use red accents throughout the kitchen.  And notice to the far left is the main fridge in this kitchen, covered with cabinetry.  Maybe even I, Little Miss Type B personality, could keep my glass front fridge looking chic with glass Coca-Cola and Perrier bottles if it was my SECOND fridge in the kitchen! (This kitchen also has a wine fridge)

This is another home I saw in Watersound – loved the brick and the open kitchen.  If your whole kitchen is feeling dark, you could paint your cabinets a creamy white (did I mention Annie Sloane Chalk Paint?) and leave the island dark – it would really transform your kitchen for a fraction of the cost of new cabinetry.  You can also add decorative accents like corbels to your cabinetry to make it look more custom.

If you know me, you know I love a painted ceiling.

And last but not least is this screened porch, complete with outdoor fireplace.  Love!

I hope you have been inspired with some ideas you can use in your home!  Which one is your favorite?

~Kris

I’m a bit off track but in 2012, let’s just be kind.  I tell my kids each morning when they get out of the car at school to be kind to someone that day.  Give someone a compliment. I tell them you just never know if that person hears something nice from anyone else the whole rest of the day.  How easy it is for us to make someone else’s day just by noticing them!  Kindness.  There is a quote I have heard before that has always stuck with me – “there is no one you wouldn’t love if you knew their whole story.”

Looking forward to a great year!!!

~Kris