CLOSET ENVY

I don't know about you but I have a thing for closets.  I try to organize and purge our closets seasonally.  I am one of those crazy people who color coordinates and lines things in order of type.  This makes it easy to find clothing items and know what I have.  Also our closet isn't that big so staying organized is a must.  I have always had closet envy of the huge designer closets with ottomans, dressing tables, shoe racks and pretty chandeliers. Who doesn't want a dressing room to display some of their treasures.

The new house has what I call a MASTER closet.  It is huge! A girls dream, at least this girl's dream.  My mouth dropped and I laughed at how much space we would have when I saw it.  It is literally the size of our guest bedroom.  I have room to put a piece of furniture in the center and a floor length mirror to create a dressing room, I was thinking a island dresser with drawers or an ottoman.  I will most likely not go crazy and put a lot of effort into this space, but I will have it organized and make it a nice dressing room and place to store my shoes!

 

 

IMAGES VIA DECOR PAD AND UNKNOWN SOURCES VIA GOOGLE IMAGES

THE GROWN UP LIVING ROOM

I have always been a gal who likes the open floor plan.  That was one of the priorities in the new house, I wanted to have all the rooms living, dining, family, and kitchen without everything feeling so separated.  That isn't always so easy to find.  So one of the reasons we chose the house we did was how open it felt.  I will have my own official grown up living room to design.  Now if you have been in our DC apartment it is pretty grown up already.  When I say grown up, I mean type of furniture and how it is decorated.  Before we were even married when making furniture choices we decided to save and invest in pieces that would last several years.  I would rather go without and save for what I really want than buy something I don't like to save a few dollars.  

This space will evolve over time as I find the right pieces.  It will be slightly feminine and pretty (sorry babe) but not frou frou where you will not want to sit on the furniture.  I want it to feel comfortable and look tailored.  

Actual Space

(not the best photo, but I used my phone0

I really like the art and slipper chairs (sorry they are cut out)

                                                          

Love all of it!

                                                          

Love this chair and table lamp

This space reminded me of how our living room and dining room connect

I also really like the mirror, but the husband thinks I am crazy.

* IMAGES VIA DECOR PAD

DINING ROOM INSPIRATION

I have been furniture shopping lately, well more like browsing and trying to get ideas of what we will need for our next house.  Surprisingly most of the looking has been my husband's idea and he is really enjoying it.  I love visiting the neighborhood boutiques and looking for furniture, but until we know where we are going to live I don't want to get too excited.  It is different when working on a project concept, but when it comes to actual space I need to know what I am working with before making permanent decisions.  One space I look forward to having is a dining room.  We currently have a tiny place for our dining table we can only sit four people.  This makes it hard to have dinner parties which I love to have. 

So for our next home I would like to sit at least six because I know we will have friends and family over.  It will not be until I find a house that I will I really think about furniture pieces.  For now I thought I would share some inspiring images of dining spaces.

* IMAGES VIA DECOR PAD

YELLOW ACCENTS

Yellow is one of those colors that makes everything cheery and bright.  I love yellow, but only when used in subtle moments.  Sometimes it can be overused and make a room feel like too much.  In my house we tend to use yellow in our art, we currently have three paintings where yellow has a strong presence and it is beautiful.  I have yellow on the brain today and have been thinking of using as an accent for a pillow or a fabric on a chair in our master bedroom.  I thought I would share some inspiring photos where yellow is used as an accent.

Kelly Wearstler

via EOS

via Lonny Magazine

* ALL IMAGES VIA DECOR PAD

ELLE DECOR - LEFT BANK LUXE

I love the days when I get magazines in the mail, which is more often then not.  What can I say I have an addiction, it is so bad my friends save magazines for me when they know I am coming over.  My addiction is mostly to design and fashion magazines, with a little bit of room for celebrity gossip....admit it you all look at them while standing in the isle of the grocery store!!

To get to my point, I was very excited when the May issue of Elle Decor arrived in our box yesterday! I love Elle Decor, it is one of my favorites and looking through it brings me a lot of joy.  Well in this issue is a very beautiful Paris apartment owned by a young American couple and the interiors designed by Paris-based designer Jean-Louis Deniot.  It is gorgeous and I want to live there!