A peek around my sister's place

Recently my sister and brother-in-law (whose wedding I have posted about before here) bought a house just thirty minutes or so from us. I'm so excited to have them relatively close by especially because most of our immediate family is almost two hours away in New Jersey.

Today I'm excited to show you some of the progress they have made in just two weeks of being first time homeowners! 

In this post you'll find a few before pictures (from the previous owners) and after pictures as well as source lists for most of the furniture/decor. 

So let's start with the dining room and a look at the before and after.

I have dining table envy:

Before...

After...

Dining room source list:

paint - top (Behr's Silver Dust) and bottom (Benjamin Moore's Horizon)

table - Restoration Hardware

chairs - garage sale find but similar here

light fixture - garage sale find (would you believe only $10?!)

table runner - Home Goods

napkins - Ballard Designs

napkin rings - West Elm

plates - West Elm (no longer available)

candle sticks - Pottery Barn (no longer available)

round mirror - Overstock

Here's a small peek at their living room.

I also have sofa envy:

Before...

After...

Living room source list:

sectional - Pottery Barn

rug - Pier 1 Imports (I have the same one but in gray that you can read about here)

trunk coffee table - garage sale find

armchair - Ethan Allen (not available online) 

throw pillows - Overstock

Here's a look at one corner of their kitchen. 

I love how she put this together:

Kitchen source list:

metal wall rack - garage sale find

colored bowls - West Elm

labeled serving pieces - Home Goods

tin bin - garage sale find (they're using this for recycling!)

silver hook - garage sale find

metal rack above refridgerator - garage sale find 

Upstairs we go to look at the guest bedrooms.

A perfect example of the power of paint!

Before...

After...

Guest bedroom source list:

bed - Birch Lane (Warning: she purchased this bed thinking it was an oil-rubbed bronze color. It was not! It is actually a marbled navy. So, she sprayed painted it!)

bedding - Ballard Designs

end table, lamp, and accessories - garage sale finds

mirror - garage sale find

This is the smaller of the guest bedrooms and will hopefully be a baby's room sooner rather than later (no pressure guys!):

Before...

After...

Guest bedroom source list:

ladder - garage sale find

bed - garage sale find

bedding - Lands End (I just ordered the striped sheets for my bedroom)

white cabinet and accessories - garage sale find

That's it...for now!

If this is what they could get done in just two short weeks, I can't wait to see what they can do before the end of the summer!

Thank you Jamie and Brad for allowing me to photograph your house!

- Caitlin

Some steals and decor deals

I've posted before about Decor Steals and some of my purchases from the site including this magnetic calendar in our kitchen...

...and this preserved boxwood wreath that I used as part of my winter decor.

Well today (and probably for not much longer) they have two new steals up that I think are cute.

I'm refraining from purchasing for myself (you know, my whole less is more thing and the fact that I don't need either) but maybe do you!

One of the steals are these wire crates with wood tops.

They'd make great end tables or the pair together could be a coffee table for a small space. These could also be cute in a kids playroom to store books or stuffed animals. 

I really like the color of the wood tops too. The finish has a little driftwood/beachy feel.

The other steal is this clock. 

The price is right and if green is your color, it's kind of perfect for a kitchen or office. 

It's vintage inspired but doesn't scream "I'm fake" to me.

Happy "stealing"!

- Caitlin

Pillow envy

While recently helping a friend pick out new throw pillows for her family room and living room, I've been oohing and ahhing over all the fun colors and patterns in this Etsy shop.

They're a tad over my budget but if you are looking to add pops of personality to a room, this is the shop to visit. In my case, there's no harm in window shopping.

Here are a few that caught my eye:

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Thanks to all that entered the Rug Pad USA giveaway!

I wish we could send one to everyone that entered but the lucky person that won this time is Cindy A! Cindy, please look for an email from me soon!

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- Caitlin

Rug round-up & a giveaway!

I have a love-hate relationship with rugs.

I like how they can pull a room together but I also hate to shell out money for something that is walked on and potentially ruined by our everyday life and accidents.

That said, I have recently managed to find some affordable area rugs for several rooms in our house that have so far held up great despite some abuse in our house.

So here is my home's rug round-up and if you are feeling lucky, a giveaway at the end of the post!

Our master bedroom:

We originally had this rug in here. It didn't last long though. What happened? 

First, Chris watered our fiddle leaf fig tree and excess water seeped onto the corner of the rug leaving a huge ugly stain. So then, we moved it down to our living room and masked the stained part under a chair. Then, our dog brought in a frozen toy from the snow and it melted on the rug leaving another unsightly stain in an hard-to-hide spot. As if that wasn't enough, this winter I spilled an entire glass of red wine on it. That was the end of that rug. I guess you get what you pay for!

So, our bedroom was rug-less and the room just looked bare to me until I found this Pottery Barn one that is currently on sale.

I know it's a light color which will probably show stains but since this is a low traffic area, I feel okay about it. I'll just keep my wine drinking for the first floor.

The rug itself isn't the softest but since it's mostly under our bed, it doesn't bother me.

It's rubber underneath so no rug pad required unless you want it to be extra-cushiony.

Our living room.

This room has undergone a transformation over the last few months, the most noticeable change being the couch that I posted about here.

Since red wine stained rug had been tossed to the curb, this room was also rug-less until I found this gray popcorn jute one.

I'm so happy with it!

It was affordable (currently on sale!) and doesn't really shed like a lot of jute rugs can.

It's nice and thick and will definitely hide any spills that might come its way.

Our family room.

This room is still not complete but the good news is we do have a rug.

I decided on this herringbone one that is also currently on sale!

I think the pattern is fun and it also doesn't shed much at all for a natural fiber rug.

Last, but not least...Charlie's nursery:

I went with this Pottery Barn Kids one and I'm very happy with it.

It's the most expensive out of all of the rugs in this post but PBK always has sales and deals going on where you can probably get it at a discounted price.

This rug has been great for Charlie's first year and I think will last for a while longer.

It is soft for a new baby to lay on and doesn't shed. Also the herringbone pattern hides any spit up stains that might happen (and wow, they definitely happened).

Because it isn't really anchored under any furniture and sometimes our dog Rosie likes to run full speed into the room when I get Charlie out of his crib, the rug tends to move around. 

Luckily, the very nice people at Rug Pad USA offered to send me a rug pad to solve this problem!

Problem solved!

Are you in need of a rug pad too?
Rug Pad USA has pretty much every rug pad option under the sun and together we are giving one away.
Just enter this giveaway for a chance to win one!

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- Caitlin