2014 round up

As 2014 comes to a close, I'm taking a look back at all that we have accomplished in a year.

It's easy for me to get caught up in the "I can't wait to change this..." or "we still need to do that" so it's good to reflect sometimes and remind myself of all that we have already done in one of the two years of being in this house.

So, take a walk down this blog's memory lane to re-cap some of my favorite posts from each month of 2014:

(from left to right, starting at top)

January: DIY heart garland
This was a quick and easy project that I was excited to have featured on SMP Living!

February: bedroom art
These framed prints were well worth the wait in the cold and really helped to kick-start our master bedroom design.

March: new dining room light fixture
It felt good to finally cover the gaping hole in our dining room ceiling with this PB light fixture I had been oohing and ahhing over for a long time.

April: DIY island turned kitchen table
I'm glad I saved Chris the headache of making a kitchen table from scratch. Instead, we modified a West Elm kitchen island to fit our needs!

May: completion of Charlie's nursery
Perhaps my proudest project (besides Charlie of course). His room is my happy place!

June: our happy hot mess
We all need a dose of reality every now and then right? I loved reading all of your comments on this post! It is a good reminder we need to cut ourself some slack.

July: our master bedroom reveal
Seeing this room come together was a process but in the end, I'm happy I didn't rush it.
*Update*
Sadly, our fiddle leaf fig tree wasn't very happy with me and has already bit the dust. Another plant that isn't so needy has taken its place.

August: updated coffee table
Gotta love a good Craigslist find! I wasn't totally sold on this table at first but now I'm so happy we found it.

September: art app
A solution to some of our empty frames and bare walls!

October: SMP Living house feature
While it was a bit stressful getting the house ready for this photo shoot, in the end I'm glad I did it and I'm so appreciative that SMP Living took the time to feature the house!

November: holiday DIY door decor
A quick and easy (and cheap) DIY project that I can get done during nap time? I'll take it.

December: outdoor holiday decor
I'm glad I took a more toned down neutral approach to our winter porch decor. Sometimes I need to KISS (keep it simple stupid).


I just want to say thank you to all that take the time to visit this blog! While I had certainly slowed down a bit, I still enjoy sharing the projects we do on our home. Cheers to 2015 and more projects to come!

Happy New Year!
- Caitlin

How about some H&M home?

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

I certainly am, thus the reason for my mini-holiday hiatus from this blog. 

Anyway, if you were the recipient of some gift cards and cash over Hanukah and Christmas and are looking for a place to spend it, I have some ideas. I've been browsing H&M's home line and found a few items I wouldn't mind wrapped underneath my Christmas tree.

Here are a few favorites that just so happen to be under $15!

Cotton Cushion Cover $5.95

Ceramic Cutting Board $14.95

Metal Container with Lid $14.95

Wooden Box $14.95

Paper Napkins $2.95

Hand Towel $6.95

Pillowcase $9.95

Napkin Ring $5.95

Cotton Cushion Cover $12.95

Pineapple-shaped Glass Box $14.95

Happy shopping!

- Caitlin

My Daily Bubble: easy birch log craft

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Check out what craft I did using one of these decorative birch logs on My Daily Bubble.

- Caitlin

Present presentation

Well, I've learned that I'm definitely a creature of habit!

On a recent trip to Home Goods to pick up some Christmas wrapping paper, I found myself immediately grabbing a roll of this gray and white herringbone. Later I come to realize that it is the exact same wrapping paper I purchased and used last Christmas. I guess my taste hasn't changed!

Anyway, this year I've decided to pile my wrapped presents into this decorative suitcase.

To see what I did last year, you can visit here.

Even though my wrapping paper is the same, my finishing touches are a little different.

This year, I've added silver paper doilies that I picked up at the local grocery store to each present and some faux berries (plucked from a wreath I found in our storage).

I've also sealed each present with a personalized sticker gift tag from Tiny Prints.

Just a few more days 'til Christmas!

- Caitlin

Over the counter

Okay, so a little break from all the holiday posts for something non-holiday related: our bathroom counter. 

Exciting, huh? What can I say...sometimes it's the smallest "projects" that give me the greatest satisfaction. In this case, it was re-accessorizing our bathroom counter as I had grown tired of this look. 

Here's what I came up with:

It took me a few tries and re-arranging before I felt happy with what I did in here.

In fact, Chris pointed out that these accessories were the third look the counter had in a week. 

Oops.

Anyway...my mom lent me the glass apothecary jar, the wooden tray is a garage sale find, the soap dish is from a boutique store, the hand towels are Marshalls, and the flowers are Trader Joe's.

Enjoy your night!

- Caitlin

Cozy Christmas cottage

Yes, another holiday post. 'Tis the season, right?

If you've been following, you know I've taken a more muted approach to our holiday decorating in the house this year (to see what I'm talking about, you can visit here, here, here, and here).

I decided though to put a few of our red decorations to use outside in the guest cottage. 

Look, we even got a sprinkle of snow today to add to the festiveness!

Some red and white throw pillows from Home Goods add a pop of color:

By the fireplace, a couple lanterns and faux trees:

And lastly, a throw blanket on this rocking chair I've posted about before:

I think they're simple touches but still helps get the holiday message across.

A quick thank you to Architecture Art Designs for making our DIY wire hampers one of their 22 Most Fascinating 'From Trash to Treasure' DIY Home Projects Everyone Must Know!

- Caitlin

Outdoor holiday decor

Happy almost Friday!

Tonight I'm sharing a look at our covered porch, which has been sprinkled with some holiday cheer.

And in an effort to abide by Chris's request of "let's not make it look like Christmas threw up here", I've taken a simpler approach to decorating this area (to see last year's look, you can go here).

We moved most of our outdoor set that I posted about here indoors for the winter and just left this love-seat:

Both the polka dot pillow and gold metallic one are from Home Goods.

These vintage skis were a garage sale find. 

I had them in the foyer last year (see here) but decided to try something different this time around.

Thanks for dropping by!

- Caitlin

Petite pines

Happy December!

Now that it's officially the first, I don't have to feel funny anymore about starting my Christmas decorating (I may have had a pre-Thanksgiving jumpstart...oops).

 Anyway, like most, I've been using Pinterest a lot to help find ideas for holiday decor around our house.

For example, I'm sure you've seen these cute little trees in tin buckets:

via

via

via

These pins inspired me to try the look out in our foyer this year:

The white tin bucket is from a garage sale and the faux pine tree was actually used as one of the centerpieces at my cousin's wedding a few years back. Thanks Linny for giving me one!

In case your wondering about the sources of the other items in this picture...

mirror - garage sale

lamp - Home Goods

ice chest - local estate sale

Stay merry!

- Caitlin