Workin' It: Making Your Home Cozy!

Hey ladies!

It's a Workin' It Wednesday today with Erika and Shay. 

The second Wednesday of each month these ladies share a new topic. 

If you're interested in the topics so far this year or ones to comes, check out the graphic below.

This month we're sharing: 

How to Make your Home Cozy!

I love a cozy home. 

When I think of a cozy home I think of a fall or winter evening with twinkle lights and dimmed room lights. 

My number one tip when trying to make a home cozy is to dim your lights!

I'm so glad that we put dimmers on a lot of our lights when we redid our house. 

I love having the option of making a room bright and making it dim and cozy. 

We're starting to get into some of my favorite months for a cozy evening at home. 

I would have to say that winter is my favorite, especially when the snow is coming down outside, but for now I will enjoy the twinkle lights and a warm blanket and a dimmed light while reading an interesting book. 

Here are a few pictures of the coziness of our home:

Some during the daytime

Got in some good lesson planning while sitting in my reading chair and covering up with a blanket!

Nighttime twinkle lights!

Some more lights atop the unlit fireplace!

So there's a little look at the coziness of our home.
I love burning a good candle too!
Right now I'm obsessed with the Pumpkin Caramel Swirl from Bath and Body Works. 

Dining Room Table: Which Setup Looks Best?

Last weekend I was doing a little cleaning and redecorating when I decided to spice up our dining room table. 

Our dining room table had looked like this. 

I had silver circular napkin rings with a tan and butternut striped napkin in each ring. 

This was more my spring table setup, but I just hadn't taken the time to switch them out. 

I started first by getting rid of the napkin ring and napkin and adding my summer dragonfly holder with some older silverware. 

(Look #1)

I then found some patio dishes that I had bought but not yet opened. 

I traded out my good Longaberger dishes for these light Potterybarn ones. 

(Look #2)

Which look do you like best- Look #1 or Look #2?

The thing about Look #1 is I don't have four plates in the butternut. 

I actually ordered more plates over a year ago. 

Longaberger is more of a local company, and I really do like the look of their dishes, but they've done a horrible job on this order. 

They outsourced some of their work and my pottery has been sitting in China for a long time. 

At first it was they would be here by Christmas, then Easter, now I have no idea. 

I'm really disappointed in the company, but I did get them for a good deal. 

The thing is I now have no clue what I ordered. 

Some day they will show up, and it will be a great surprise!

In Look #2 I bought those dinner plates and salad plates from Potterybarn many years ago. 

They, too, were having a great sale, so I stocked up thinking the style would be a one-year thing. 

Wrong!

They still have these plates, and they're on sale if you like them. 

I rearranged some things and added a few other new touches to the dining room and to the living room and called it a day.

This personalized cutting board came into the dining room from the living room.
The bird's nest was in the dining room but being used differently and the plant was in the kitchen.

Some faux hydrangeas to bring out the summery feel.

I've been having a tough time deciding what to put in this little area on our table in the living room.
So I grabbed a picture from our wedding and put it in a different frame, took the lantern and candle and the greenery and glass bowl under it from the dining room.
Right now I'm pleased with it.

It's just and awkward spot since I have the tray with a candle, coasters, some magazines and remotes at the other end.
Any other ideas on what I could put in that corner?

I love to decorate and re-decorate.
I'm not the best, but it's fun and quickly passes the time.

I can't wait to get out my all of my Christmas decorations in a little over 4 months!
Still working on my Christmas menu.
I'm trying to rework things this year so that it's simple yet yummy. 

Show and Tell: Home Tour 2017

It's Show and Tell Tuesday!

This Tuesday we're sharing a little home tour. 

I think the last time I did this was during the Christmas season. 

Our home is all decked our for Christmas, which I love, but today you will get a little look into how it looks during every other season. 

Welcome to our home!

Kitchen

This is probably the space where I spend the most time. 

I eat breakfast at the little eating space below. 

It's also where we eat dinner since there are only two of us. 

If we have people over we move to the actual dining room.

Living Room

I love our sectional. 

It fits our living room just right.

 Listening to a little HGTV as I work and snap pictures.

The little corner area by our front door.

Bathroom

We completely redid this space when we moved in. 

It was stripped down to the bare boards, and we added the shower, a new sink/vanity, new light fixture above the mirror, new light and fan up top, new toilet, new floors...basically new everything!

It's not the largest space, which means when you use something it has to be put away, but I love how it was all redone by us!

Dining Room

I was a little unsure of how to setup this room. 

The two pieces below are from my grandma's house. 

The one on the right actually holds a stereo system inside. 

It even has a record player!

Our home makes a circle. You can go from the kitchen to the living room to the hallway where the bathroom and bedrooms are to the dining room and back to the kitchen. 

We decided to offset the table so that it's not directly in the center of the dining room. 

This allows for more room to walk through it. 

Bedroom

Our main bedroom isn't big, but it fits. 

One day we would love to have a bigger bedroom with a King bed, but for now this works!

Home tours are my favorite. 

I love to watch HGTV and tell the TV what I would fix and keep. 

At Christmas around here they have a home tour, and it's so fun to see all of the homes decked out with decor. 

Here's a little peak into our home; I can't wait to hop over and take a peak into yours too!

Pots/Planters

Okay ladies, today I'm in need of your suggestions. 

I'm on the search for some new pots and planters. 

Last year we just moved into our house together, and there were plenty of things to do, so I used the same clay pots that my grandma used on her front porch when she lived here. 

I'd like to get something a little more modern and in a different color. 

Pots and planters can be super expensive.

I don't want to spend a fortune on new pots, but I want them to look nice. 

Here are a few that I've found recently that I like.

Kobo Plastic Pot Planter

Valencia Composite Pot Planter

Round Zinc Pot

I think I would like them to be black or off black. 

I plan to purchase two of them for each side of our step up to our front porch.

I was thinking of something a little bit taller, so that I can plant plants that overflow out of them.

I've been looking at Wayfair, Target and Lowe's. 

Where do you shop for your pots?

Let me know your thoughts on the three pots above. 

It's so hard to make a decision when I haven't seen the pots in person. 

I'll keep my eye out for some more throughout the week. 

I hope by Friday that I've either ordered new ones or found some at the store. 

Spring Decor 2017

I'm a bit late to the party, but today I'm going to share some spring/Easter decorations for this year. 

I should have shared this post a week or two ago, but I didn't, so I will show you now. 

 I love having a set dining room table. 

I often find myself wanting to use the dining room table to grade large amounts of papers or to setup my laptop to blog and search online, but I always make the table back to how it was when I'm done. 

There's just something about a made dining room table that makes me happy!

This globe with battery operated candle sits in the middle of our dining room table. 

I filled it with glitzy eggs for Easter. 

On a hutch nearby are a few more glitzy eggs and a birds nest in some greenery. 

Near that is another globe with another battery operated candle and a little bunny. 

I enjoy setting my candles to come on right around dinner time and go off just after we go to bed. 

In the living room we have some more globes with plug-in candles and some more greenery. 

That's our simple and easy Easter decor!