Dark or light side?

Hello all! Hope you had a great weekend! We took a little road trip to the Chicago area for a couple drum corp shows (for hubby), Legoland (for the kiddo) and IKEA (for me). It was a fun, quick trip!

So now that the powder room is done I’m moving on to a room I’ve been itching to change up for a while – our master bedroom. I made some changes earlier this year using things I already had, and the room got a few other changes a couple years ago.

We have a new addition coming to the room that kind of spurred a new redo on but I’ve been wanting to change some things up for a while – No. 1 on my list is getting rid of the striped wall behind our bed. It’s given me the itches for a few years now.

But my biggest dilemma before I can really get moving is the wall color – I’m torn between the allure of a deep, dark wall color and the light and bright look. I STILL can’t decide. Every time I think I have I see a new picture and it takes me back to the dark side. Or light. Or dark.

You get the idea.

I’m drawn to the moody, comfy feeling of a dark room:

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Did you notice the trim is painted the same color as the walls? What do you think of that?

Although if I went dark I would keep the headboard light like Dear Lillie’s room:

The light bedding brightens up the room and gives great contrast – I’m a lover of contrast you know.

I actually have a sample of a deep navy color like Carmel’s room:

Mine has a little more of an aqua tint to it, if that makes any sense – like a peacock blue. Can I just say how much I LOVE that mirror above her bed too??

In general I think it’s easier to pull in colors with a lighter room, but I love how color was used in this room, even with the dark walls:

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I do love the pop of pink with the dark chocolate walls in this bedroom:

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Just not sure the hubby would go for that. ;)

Here’s a great example of how a darker color completely changes the look of a room:

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There’s plenty of other changes too, but isn’t funny how much bigger it looks in a dark color? You always think it will be the opposite but that’s not always the case.

But here’s the thing – I’m finding I’m loving the power of a neutral wall color. It’s soothing, yes, but it also allows you more options when it comes to decorating with color:

My friend Layla’s old master bedroom is one of my favorites:

I love that the walls and bedding are light but the room is still so warm and colorful.

I think it’s evident by my photos (and recent projects) that I’m loving the wall planks:

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I just adore that room – I think every room can take some black pieces and this looks amazing with the white walls and green accents. Love!

And no, I’m not planking our bedroom walls – I need a break from the painting for awhile. ;)

Of course it doesn’t have to be white on the walls – I don’t think I could do an all white room anyway. This greige-ish space is just beautiful:

I love that you could pull in pretty much any accent color and it would work. It’s that a gorgeous room?

I love this blue color too – and it proves that a lighter color can still offer plenty of contrast against white trim:

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I also love that there are plenty of darker accents in there (rug, chairs, ottomans) that offer some depth without making the room really heavy.

Overall I just love the idea of a calming, serene space:

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But the thing is, our current wall color is darker (Tornado Watch at Lowe’s) and it feels super cozy too:

A dark room feels like a hug to me, a lighter one feels like a big breath of fresh air.

Decisions, decisions.

A few months ago I was getting ready to slap a deep color on the walls, now I’m leaning big time toward a light color. I think I’m ready for a change!

What is your favorite for a bedroom – dark or light? Do/did you struggle with your wall color like me or did you know exactly what you wanted? Do tell!

P.S. I also painted the Bub’s room a dark blue but kept it light with lots of white trim – you can see it here.

My new love

Hello all!! Happy Monday! I’ve already mentioned that I’m slowing down to my normal sloth-like pace on the blog this summer, but this also means my posting times will vary quite a bit. OK…they do anyway, but they will even more so in the summer. I’m not a good blogger that writes posts ahead and has them ready to go first thing in the morning. I wish I was. *Hangs blogging head in shame.* So things will be a little erratic, I hope you’ll hang in there with me. :)

So. I’ve fallen in love with a new city. Well, I should say park. A big one. You all know how much we love NYC – it’s our favorite place on earth, other than home. But now it has some competition, named Disney. ;)

Last week we took a very quick vacation down to Florida. And when I say quick I mean only about three days. And when I say vacation I mean VACATION – this is our first real family vacation (other than to New York) that we’ve ever taken anywhere that didn’t have something to do with work.

I’m serious people – every trip we’ve ever been on as a family (or heck, even as a couple!) has had something to do with hubby’s work. Every. single. one. And now that he’s retired, we were able to carve out a few days to get away. That would have never happened in summer’s past!

So the whole fact that we got away was so special to me, you have no idea. And the fact that my son and I (yes, I was a Disney newbie) finally got to Disney made it even more special.

We spent our first day in Legoland actually – the Bub is Lego obsessed so we HAD to go there. I think he was more excited about that than he was Disney! We had some interesting moments with downpours and tornado warnings and taking shelter in the restrooms with everyone else in the park, but after about an hour the day turned much better and we were able to really enjoy the park without crowds – it was perfect!

That evening we headed to our hotel at Disney and I started falling in love. We stayed at the Polynesian and it was STUNNING:

I wanted to spend about an hour taking pics but we just didn’t have time while there. I will do it next time – the grounds are just gorgeous!

So I totally got the Disney “thing” the second we walked in to the hotel – we were greeted and escorted through the hotel to our building. The squealing started (from me) when we walked in to our room and I saw the cute little touches everywhere:

And it continued when I realized the view from our room:

I almost cried. I almost cried a few times on the trip. It was emotional to finally get there after 37 years – it made me so giddy and happy.

The emotions certainly didn’t stop when we walked in to the park for the first time:

I had an obsession with Cinderella’s castle. I could have spent an hour just walking around that one thing.

It’s magical, of course:

So I mentioned this was a quick trip and I know so many of you experienced Disney folks are freaking out that we only spent two days at the parks. I know. But it was our only chance to get away in June (hubby is retired from teaching but so busy with other obligations already) and I didn’t want to go later in the summer when it was stupid hot, so this is what we got.

And we took full advantage! We rode a TON of rides in the short time we were there:

The Dumbo ride was one that I was especially drawn to – it just screams Disney to me:

The small world ride was one of my favorites too, but Splash Mountain was our family fave hands down. SO. much. fun.

We spent one evening in Epcot where we dined in Mexico:

And it was incredible. ;)

Hubby wanted us to stay for the Illuminations show that night, it gorgeous evening:

The show was AWESOME, we all loved it. Although hubs said it used to be even cooler and was more of a laser light show:

This view was another one of those that made me misty:

It was an amazing trip. I totally get it now. Totally. I am hooked.

I didn’t plan for our first trip like most would – I didn’t ask friends what we should do, didn’t read any blogs, didn’t make any dinner reservations. I’m the kind of person that just needs to figure it out for myself. I didn’t want us to be trying to rush to this or this “must do” while we were there, I just wanted us to experience it as we would.

And we did. And it was perfect. :)

I figured out a few things fast on this trip – here are my tips for any fellow newbies who may be going this summer:

1. Don’t try to look cute. Just don’t. The heat/weather/splash mountain gods will laugh at you.

2. Buy the fan with the water in it that you pass on the way into the park and think, “I’m not so not spending money on that!” For all that is good…BUY IT.

3. Dole Whip is seriously the most amazing, beautiful, delicious thing you will ever, ever, ever eat. Ever.

That’s just about all you need to know. :)

We didn’t even get two full days in the parks – the last day we got slammed with this:

We waited it out for about an hour, then when it calmed down a bit we did a little more, but it was just too intense. We headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap and a great meal.

Usually when we head home from a trip I’m ready. The only time I’m not is when we’re in New York. I felt that this time too – I was SO sad to leave. I wanted to stay for another week – and for this homebody that’s saying something:

We’re already planning our next trip. Hopefully later this year. :) I cannot WAIT!!

Are you a Disney fan? Did you feel like this after your first trip? How many times have you been? When do stop missing it? ;)

**P.S. Early June was a great time to go – I wanted us to go at this time of year on purpose. We were there before so many schools were out for the summer, the weather was hot but not as hot as it gets in mid/late summer and we actually got a hotel discount for staying that week. The only issue was the rain – I hear it’s an especially rainy season for Florida.

DIY Craftsman Garage Door

So…yet again I’m blogging about project that I procrastinated on for weeks months and it only took 30 minutes or so to do. Seriously, this sat in the back of my SUV for forever! And with dark fast approaching last night we got it done in no time at all – after all that waiting.

Here’s the thing…we live in a suburban neighborhood. And I LOVE it. Someday would it be nice to live on more land? Maybe. But for now, with a young one, this is great for us.

But just like the inside, I try to do little things to the outside to change up the appearance a bit, so it doesn’t look just like everybody else’s house on the street. OK, there are no houses that look just like ours on our street, but you get what I’m laying down.

I like a little detail, a little somethin’. And I found it while browsing Home Depot a few weeks months ago. Here’s our garage door as it was:

Boring. Really, it’s fine – it’s been boring for nine years and I haven’t cared. But over the past year or so I’ve been wanting to spruce it up a bit. I may paint it a different color eventually (I was thinking BLUE! Kidding.) but for now this quick change made me happy. :)

Anyhoo, this is what I found for only $10 -- I snatched it up!:

I love the look of craftsman/carriage door hardware – LOVE. I’ve been thinking of adding this type of hardware for a long time. It helps that this totally works with the exterior of our house too. It’s very much a cottage-type look and I knew this would look great! You can get a set online for as little as $25 but that’s the lowest I’ve seen a one till now -- $10 was a steal!

At first I was going to tape them up to see how I liked them, but the tape wasn’t holding, so I just said WHAT THE HECK and drilled them in. Schnikeys. That was stressful.

I mean, holes in the garage door people! That stresses. me. out. And while I was installing them my assistant, AKA, the kiddo, kept laughing and calling them mustaches on the garage.

?? Mustaches?

They are really decent quality – heavy metal and I liked that the screws even came with black ends to match:

I added the handles in the middle and was still stressing about drilling and then the Bub said the garage door now had mustaches and a nose. Still don’t get the mustaches. Still not funny while Mama was sweating.

I stood back and looked and I REALLY loved it!!:

WHY does our driveway look blue? It’s not blue.

Now for a real craftsman/carriage door look we need the windows across the top. I’ve seen that you can do that yourself with paint or purchase some vinyl – when they’re done it really does look like real windows. We’re not that far away from the street though, so I don’t know if it would just look super fake. I may try cutting some black vinyl just to see how it looks.

For now I’m quite happy with the little change. It’s not something you’d notice driving by, but you’d notice something was a little different, you know?:

I love the new garage door mustaches and nose! I think they’re adorable!

I love a simple and inexpensive little change! Have you tried changing up something on your garage door? Added hardware or painted it? Anyone tried those faux windows? Do tell!

Tour of our garden

Happy Memorial Day! How has your weekend been so far? We’ve had a great one and I’m looking forward to more of the same today. I’m hoping to get my vegetable garden planted if the rain holds off – I’m planting late this year so I hope it does well this year!

Speaking of gardens, I have to tell you, I’m SO excited about our backyard right now. We’ve had a ton of rain, the temps have been really mild and the plants are just BOOMING. I love this time of year – I actually love taking the dog out because I’ll take a walk around the backyard to see the progress of the plants. ;)

The older I get the more I truly love gardening, I just have so much to learn. The potential in our backyard gets me excited -- I pour over magazines with gorgeous gardens, trying to figure out what to do with ours. Part of me wants it done right now so we can just enjoy it, the other part of me is excited to do it bit by bit and watch it grow slowly. The latter wins out, mostly because of the pocket book, but I also like to take it slow and enjoy the process.

I thought I’d share how it looks now and hopefully by the end of the summer we’ll see some progress! :)

Our backyard is NOT big – we are in a suburban neighborhood where most of the yards are huge, but we chose a lot that backs up against a field, creek and some woods and the trade off was a small yard. Now before the deck and patio were installed it wasn’t bad as far as size really – it just has such a deep pitch to it, it wasn’t much fun to use just as a yard.

All of the changes we’ve made have made it smaller but much more usable. Does that make sense? We love it -- I would not change this spot for the world!

A couple of years ago we added the patio in the backyard, so we have very little actual grass left back there, compared to how it used to look. But it always cracks me up that our backyard is where the kids on the street come to play so often and they love it – even without a lot of grass and tons of space to run.

Anyway, the tour! I’ve got lost of pics so bear with me! We’ll start around the side of the house and move around the back. Welcome to my backyard! :)

I think this is one of my favorite shots of the back – I just love this view:

You can see my vegetable garden tucked in on the side there (I think I may move it over a bit next year but for now it’s staying). Next to that is my limelight hydrangea that still. won’t. bloom. It is bigger than ever, but no sign of flowers still. Grrrr.

The line of burning bushes on the left wrap around two trees – maples I think? They were actually planted in the front of the house and were growing all umpa-loompaish. Tall but spindly and lots of leaves at the top, but not growing out. We replaced them and replanted them on the side of the house about seven years ago. I babied them for a year or two and now they are HUGE. They still aren’t wide but for being so young they are SO tall now. I love them.

I love the bushes wrapping around the trees and the simplicity of it, but I want to bring in some more color there too. I’m coming up with a plan to add something else, just not sure what all will be there yet.

On the right past the deck stairs is one of my peony plants – I’ve been on “bloom watch” for weeks. Every morning I go out to see if today is the day and…NO. Seriously, slowest dang flowers EVER:

They are so close now though, I think tomorrow may be the day! (I say that every day.)

This area gets morning sun and I’m guessing the peony loves it because this one in particular is doing great.

Remember my hydrangea drama last year? Well, the plants I moved did much better last year, just not fantastic. I trimmed the stalks down last week (just the dead wood) and they are busting out now! One even has blooms on it…I have hope people!:

They are loving all the rain lately – I’ve only had to water them once so far this year.

Just past the hydrangea is my awesome knock out Knockout Rose bush. ;) This one in particular is doing SO well:

Again, morning sun, a bit of afternoon sun and it loves it. I’ve had this one for years and moved it to this spot a couple years ago and it’s doing fantastic:

If you don’t have a green thumb I highly recommend these knock out roses – they are so easy to grow. I do very little and they thrive. I don’t even trim them – are you supposed to? This one hasn’t ever been touched and it’s blooming like mad.

Across from that bush are a couple arborvitaes we had planted for some privacy:

Again, we’re in a neighborhood, so we wanted some “natural” screens. I do have to say though, I LOVE all of the backyards down the street on our side. Nobody has even put up fences because it’s so private and beautiful back there. I love love LOVE our backyard.

Straight ahead is an area I’m totally stoked about – a little spot where we had all the brush cleared away last year:

It’s a mess right now, we still need to mulch it all again and get the hammock put back in (the base is there) – but someday it will be an amazing little shade garden. It could be so cool and I’ve been dreaming it up for years now. I’m kind of obsessed with hostas so I’ve already put two back there, and I plan to add a bunch more.

I don’t know if the hammock will stay or not – I can’t decide if I want that there, or chairs, or a big umbrella or what. Things get…ahem…dirty back there, so I need something easy to clean.

If you turn around you’ll see the back of the fireplace, and I have grand ideas in my head for this area too:

For now there’s my pee gee hydrangea trees, which I love. I got the tiny little boxwoods for like a buck on clearance a couple years ago, and for boxwood standards they’re growing pretty fast. I do want something more substantial there though, so those may move. The tree rose in the middle did great for a couple of years and now it’s almost toast. I have realized I’m not good with a rose that requires much care. ;)

I’m also determined to get some natural coverage going on the back of the fireplace – I planted some ivy and a climbing hydrangea last year and both did nothing. Now they’re both taking off, finally!:

I wondered if the ivy would even grow, with all the morning sun, but it’s doing great now! It’s grown more in a month than it has all of last summer.

One thing I love SO much about the back is all of the huge rocks and pavers we had installed:

They put them in in a really organic way – not perfect, no equal spacing, and I love how they look. I also love the moss that grows on some of them. :)

The back of the patio is looking kind of sad. I got a few more hydrangea last year and they did pretty great at first, but they are slooooow going this year:

I think the one on the left is a goner. I’ve not had a ton of luck with them but I’ve never killed one, till now. :) We planted a version of a birch on the left last year hoping to give those guys some afternoon shade, but the “tree” is still very much a bush – waiting for that one to move upward.

We’re planting a few river birch back here soon and that back area is where I really want one for some shade on the patio.

Here’s another shot as you keep going around, I love the stones as a walkway:

I was a little concerned they would be slick when wet but they aren’t bad at all.

We also had big ones installed as steps off the patio:

And when I say “we” I mean our brilliant landscaper friend who had the idea. ;) He did the patio and hardscaping for us a couple of years ago.

Here’s that same spot from the patio – I’m DYING to get some kind of arbor for over this space:

Wouldn’t that be amazing?

To the side of that area are a couple more peonies:

These aren’t doing nearly as well as the other one. I’m guessing the hot afternoon sun is too much? I don’t know, I thought they loved sun! These only have a few small blooms so far so you know it will be August before they bloom. ;) For real – but everything is blooming late this year here.

Around that corner are three more knock outs:

I just planted them last year so they are small, but doing great.

I planted a few new annuals on the patio and deck already in preparation for the Home Depot shoot – these were just a hanging mixture from HD and they are taking off:

And I can’t remember what these plants are by the fireplace, but they are awesome!:

I thought they were annuals when I planted them last year but they are actually perennials – they lasted all winter. Any idea what these are?

I want to get more to plant in the landscaping:

This spot gets sun all day long so they are great for a sunny yard! I love all the colors in there – I’m going with a red, yellow and a little bit of purple theme on the patio (stealing it from the pillows) and they fit in perfectly. ;)

So there you go, a tour of our garden as it is now. I have grand plans for the space – I want it to be lush and English garden feeling, but not too busy. I think coming up with a plan for the outdoors takes as much finesse as decorating the inside, don’t you think? It takes time and some thought for sure!

What do you have growing that you love? I’m looking for lower ground cover and taller plants as well. I’d love some more color too!