In our quest to update our beach condo, we decided to make the little girls room Palm Beach fabulous. This was a difficult task on many levels: 1.) Our Budget. 2.) We are renting the place out a few more years, so it had to be durable. 3.) My sister and I are collaborating on this project (with Dad having overriding approval) and we could not have two more different styles. So, in my search for inspiration, I had to look no further than the Tyson’s Corner Lilly Store. So inspiring– this place is right up my alley; bright colorful and over the top. Love it!
While I pulled HARD for pink, I lost- 2 to 1. The walls are a celery-ish green color. I am not in love with the color, but pink will prevail.. there will be pops of pink throughout the room. I’ll be sure to share some pictures after next weekend.
About 11 months ago, Lou exclaimed that she wanted a Lorax party for her fifth birthday. At the time, she had just turned four, so I thought for sure she’d change her mind. She didn’t. So to celebrate our baby girl’s five amazing years on this planet, we had the Louax party. It was the most perfect day.
Once again, Ryann Colleen Photography took the most amazing pictures. We are so grateful to have them to always remember this special day.
My blog header is ack’ing all cray cray. Anyone know how to fix this?
Anywho… Here’s some snippets of life round here…
Our little Matisse had her artwork featured at Dulles Town Center. We were so proud! Now we are having conversations about healthier food choices.
In an effort to expose these clowns to some culture we saw a tribute to Stephen Schwartz, which was pretty awesome, because he came to the stage and spoke of some of his experiences writing songs for Wicked. (E is obsessed after our trip to Broadway.)
Speaking of clowns…
I can’t stand it, this literally makes my eyes hurt.
I was hoping to have an update for you all on the back porch, but we are at a stand-still. You see, removing the gutters, etc. we realized how warped our siding was…
So we are awaiting the next HOA meeting to get approval to replace it with something MUCH nicer.
We did have our fireplace installed. That ginormous piece of wood sitting on top is the reclaimed barn beam that I found for our mantle. It’s going to be ridic.
And the rough-in for lighting.
However, it’s been so long since we’ve had any movement, this Momma Bird started making other plans for our porch.
Squatter.
These two will make sure that Momma and babies find a safe new home when it’s time to finally finish this project.
A few months ago, E and I scooped up this chair at a consignment shop. I loved it because it is a bit smaller than your typical chair- perfect for a seven year old! While I love zebra, this was not a good zebra print, which was hard to sell E on because she thought it looks like all of the crap she sees in Justice (can we talk about how that store is the bane of my existence?)
So I pulled together a few fabrics that worked in her room and the one I liked best was a bathrobe that I bought at TJ Maxx for $19.99- which E basically stole because she loved it so much.
While I couldn’t use it on the entire chair, we put it on the back and used the leftover ostrich fabric from our dining room chairs on the front (kid-proof) and the fabric leftover from her bench for the piping. I love it, and more importantly, SHE loves it!
I am one of the worst offenders of spreading myself too thin, but last weekend took it to a whole new level. My family has a beach condo in Bethany Beach. Without a doubt, it’s my favorite place on Earth. I used to spend my Summers there with my mom when I was a teenager. My dad would come up on weekends and go back to DC for the work week. I know- I am totally spoiled. I get it. My parents renovated the condo back in 1990 and not much has been done since. After Mom died, my Dad started renting it out, and on top of the pink and seafoam green decor, the place got uber gross, fast. So, we were tasked to renovate the place, but because it is still being rented, we had to stay on a budget.
So, my sister Karen and I have been designing and buying for months only to spend last weekend scrubbing, purging, moving and painting to get this place ready for the rental season. We only had two days, so naturally, we worked through the nights….
.. and rainy days. (I found this old rain coat of my dad’s in the closet, reminiscent of Long John Silver.)
There were many trips to the dump….
as well as two soggy truckloads to a donation center.
Lots of cans of spray paint were used.
To help pull everything together. This picture will give you an idea of what we were working with before. (I swear, these pictures were only taken a few years ago.)
I love my father dearly, but an interior designer he is not. He is also SUPER.. how shall we say???…. Frugal. Dad tried to update the kitchen on his own three years ago…. I can’t convey my level of distaste for the poop colored paint job and this granite combo. (Unfortunately, we are stuck with the granite, but I think we were able to work around it.)
Styling began.
And we designated placement for lighting, which by the way, we got all of our sconces from Home Depot.
But there is still a lot of work to be done, so we will be heading back in a week and a half to finish what we started. CRUNCH TIME. The first renter comes on June 1.
And by 7:30 am Sunday, we were on the road headed home to see our babies for Mother’s Day. This mommy spent her Mother’s Day in bed with the pipsqueaks. In two weeks we will lather, rinse, repeat. I can’t wait to finally enjoy it. I’ll be sure to share some photos of the finished product as well as some really inexpensive decorating ideas!
