Wednesday Five - 4

Happy 4th of July! We hope you have a truly wonderful day, full of all the classics - hot dogs and popsicles. Maybe some corn on the cob? Or maybe a few games of corn hole? And, of course, there are the fireworks. My dog is absolutely petrified of fireworks (as many dogs are) and I've recently learned that many veterans are really sensitive to fireworks. I felt quite embarrassed (and a bit ignorant) to have not known. So, firework displays are a mixed bag around my house. But, we do love us some sparklers!!!

We also hope you take a minute to consider how it feels to be an American these days, the good and the bad. And if there's anything in the "bad" column...and there will be because there's simply always room for improvement...both for our country and for our homes (the home projects are never done, never!)...today might be a good day to figure out some big or small way you can be a part of the solution. A little DIY project for the state of our nation. Just like the smallest update to your home, maybe updating a light switch, has a true impact on the way you feel about your home, the smallest act can have a true impact on the way you feel about our country (and yourself). 

Yikes. That got a little heavy. And a little weird..."DIY project for the state of our nation"...did I just parallel home improvement projects to country improvement projects? 

Let's move on. 

1. You know we're huge fans of Cynthia Harper around here. We interviewed her not long ago and shared her pearls of home design wisdom on the blog. This week she shared a super easy (and real) plan of attack for recreating your home without spending a dime. It's a fantastic blog post, check it out - click here.

via Cynthia Harper Living

2. Authentic African mud cloth is still peaking on the trend scale. Mud cloth pillow covers are The. Rage. And, make no mistake, we're totally raging along with everyone else. But, slightly under the radar and just as rage worthy, are pillows made of Chinese wedding blankets. Here are a few from Etsy. They're stunning. I want them all.

Starting at top left (clockwise)  1 / 2 / 3 / 4

3. Did you know that H&M and Moschino are colloborating?! It's sort of old news, but I just found out...so, new to me! The collection comes out on November 8. Mark your calendars.

4. Ever wonder why some chocolate chip cookies are thick and cakey while other are thin and crispy? Being someone that was on a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie for some time, when I saw this blog post I squealed with delight. It's like a chocolate chip cookie dictionary. And it would have been highly useful to me before I discovered the perfect chocolate chip cookie, which I didn't so much figure out how to make, but how to buy...ha. And I buy it from Sugah Butter Flour. This is a local baker (if you're in the Boston area) and her chocolate chip cookie is literally and truly perfect. 

via Sugah Butter Flour

5. With Mother Nature gifting us some gorgeous weather for this holiday week (maybe a bit hot...but hard to complain when winter lasted 8 months this year), my family has been spending as much time at the beach as possible. A few summers ago I learned an amazing, works-every-time trick for getting wet sand off at the beach - baby powder. Take a poof of baby powder in your hands and rub it over the wet, sandy area. It's magic. I promise. It's my kids favorite thing to do. I swear they slather themselves in wet sand just to then slather themselves in baby powder and watch it all dust off. 

Again - I hope you're having an epic 4th! I'm off to eat more popsicles and rub more baby powder on my wet, sandy hands...

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 3

The past week has been a lot of fun over here. There have been beach trips, lots of pool time, sprinkler parties, gardening (aka stepping on things that I planted) and so. many. hot dogs. We've continued to share some photos on Facebook and Instagram from a (nearly completed) family room project we recently installed, make sure you catch those. And we're secretly (not anymore) binging on the Jersey Shore Family Vacation. Okay, "we" is really just "me" and me is Leah. It's always Leah writing these blog posts by the way...just in case you were wondering.

Below is the built-in from the family room. We just love the way it turned out. Modern, clean. Lots of room for plants. 

1. If you follow along on Instagram, you may have noticed that we've been trying to step up our Instastory game. So, when I went strawberry picking with my minis last week, I shared my plan on what to do with all those teeny tiny strawberries. My plan, which is always my plan when it comes to baking, was finding a recipe from Joy The Baker. If you haven't yet discovered Joy, you're in for a treat. Literally and figuratively. She's witty and smart and a fantastic baker. I'm no pro baker, though I love to do it, and I find her recipes to be totally approachable, but a little extra special than the standards. Her books (this, this and this) are serious eye candy (and great kitchen decor!).

I went with the strawberry pie bars (Instastory pics below). Crazy delicious.

2. With summer officially starting, it's time to dive into your summer reading list. If you don't have a summer reading list, I'm here to help. I've been recommended two "beach reads" (aka low brow page turners): 1) When Life Gives You LuluLemons, the youthful cousin of The Devil Wears Prada, and 2) The Selection, a five part series which my friend described as "The Bachelor meets the Hunger Games". Pure gold. For slightly more high brow recommendations, I was sold on NPR's 2018 summer read list when hearing each book described over the radio. There are a couple detective thrillers and even a great book for the kiddos.

3. I made a quick trip to World Market this week, primarily for a client project, but of course I grabbed a few things for myself and I want to share my finds! First, I bought two packs of white buffet napkins (they come in sets of 6). Not an exciting purchase, but a versatile one. I recently got rid of all my white cloth napkins. They were super old and super stained and ready for napkin heaven. These fresh beauties will get great use for the holidays this year. But, also, white, linen napkins are fantastic dining room decor. Rolled up in a basket or tied up with some twine (like in image below), they're so pretty. 

Image source

4. My second purchase from World Market was an outdoor accent table (below). If, like me, you stalled on making some outdoor furniture purchases back in May, there's good news - what's left in stock (and there's not a ton) is on serious sale. 

5. Most of our Instagram feed is full of home design inspiration. No shock there. But we also sprinkle in some other fun accounts, one being Tada Style. Tara, the crazy talented makeup/hair styling guru behind Tada Style, presents some transformations of everyday peeps, gorgeous photo shoots, makeup and hair tips, and (our favorite) product recommendation. She recently recommended a makeup remover that I bought, I use and I'm obsessed with - S.W. Basics Makeup Remover. It removes everything, it moistures my skin, it has 3 real (aka non-chemical) ingredients. 

We're a week away from the 4th of July. Slow down summer! Please. 

Have a fantastic day!

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Wednesday Five - 2

Hi There. It's Wednesday again! That came quick, didn't it?

Around here, we're wrapping up the school year with lots of concerts, picnics and parties. It's been an action packed couple weeks on the home front. We've already consumed our annual limit of hot dogs. Limits are meant to be exceeded, no? AND, we decided to squeeze in an install for a family room we've been working on since January. Our client's kiddos are also finishing up the school year and we wanted to make sure their new space was ready for summer fun.

It's technically not 100% complete because we're missing a gallery wall and window treatments. So, we'll get you truly finished photos later in the summer. Here's a quick look before we dive into the Wednesday Five.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram for lots more photos (until we get around to a blog post!). 

1. How often do you wash your dish towels? Or...let's back up. Do you say dish towels or kitchen towels? I guess I spoiled my answer. Well, turns out you should be washing your dish/kitchen towels EVERY. DAMN. DAY. Thanks Better Homes & Gardens for this article, which sent me into a momentary spiral of all the other things that I should be cleaning for more frequently than I do. 

2. I'm having a kimono moment. I keep seeing all these beautiful open front, cardigan style, floral kimonos and I want one. It's not at all my style. But it's calling me. I can't decide whether I get the one I want (this one) or the budget-friendly option (this one) because I'm probably never going to wear it either way. 

3. We're working on two new projects that both require some temporary art. Personal, meaningful art is the goal, but that's not always possible. You might own an 8x10 piece and the space requires a 20x24 piece. Or what you own isn't room appropriate - the old fruit-bowl-painting-over-the-toilet problem. In these situations we recommend going a budget-friendly, universally appealing route. For this, we've searched high and low and consistently come back to Etsy. We used some beautiful prints from South Pacific (an Etsy shop) for our Homestead living room project. Do you have any favorite Etsy shops where you print shop?

4. Plants are a huge part of our styling. And so, we're always keeping our eyes out for beautiful and interesting planters. We discovered this cutie (below) from World Market and it was love at first sight.

5. Domino had a great article this week on some basic Dos and Donts for decorating your home. For example, DO take scale into account. We think this is fundamental to creating a room that feels comfortable and polished. It also isn't always instinctive and takes some consideration. There are a bunch of gems like this. All with great visual examples, and lots of deep links to checklists and more detailed resources. 

Have a great rest of your week!

- Leah

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