Living Room and Library Design Plans – Best Case Scenario

To say that our first month in the new house has been exciting would be an understatement. We hosted a 20-plus-guests birthday party for Isabella, we scrubbed floors, washed windows and painted the living room (before and after the party, not during. We were nice to our guests, haha. We read about these paint parties some people throw to have all of their friends help but we were nice and didn’t hand out paint brushes as party favors). We removed fences and replaced doors and went on this crazy schedule of mowing our back yard every five days (because the soil is wet, the grass grows incredibly fast). And at nearly an acre of land, there was a lot of mowing and raking. I know it sounds cheesy but we also enjoyed every minute of this madness! That being said, I have this thing with mess. I don’t know exactly when or how it started, although genetics may play a role because I remember always being like this, but mess gets to me and I can’t think clearly when my home is out of order (which is most days :)))). I need a clean and uncluttered space to be able to do any kind of work. Mess makes me anxious and it’s not pretty 🙂 So, before I could attempt any design plan for our home, I needed to shake the stress of our recent move, relax and let the ideas come.

A view of the living room from the dining room door
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Design Books to Read This Fall

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but fall is approaching faster than some of us might like, or wish. I love summer and we’ve enjoyed the best weather this past couple of months but we’ve been so busy feathering our nest that we didn’t feel August sneaking up on us. I love summer, yes I do, and although I do not like the thought of it ending anytime soon, we do have quite a few things to look forward to this fall. One of them is the design book launch season! Are you excited? So many great designers have new books coming out this fall that my Amazon cart is bursting! Here are some of my favorite new releases, available to pre-order, as well as a few seasoned ones that I’m coveting as well.

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What Makes a Room Great?

Have you ever thought about it? What makes a room great, to you? Though the answer may be different for each of us, the question is universal when trying to hone in one’s personal style and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…What makes you love a room (and perhaps dislike another)? Is it a successful color scheme or a functional furniture layout? Is it the art and the accessories? Maybe all of the above? 

Nicky Haslam
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What We’ve Been Up To

I apologize for Wednesday’s missing post, we had a special family birthday celebration on the 17th that had my undivided attention – our little love bug turned seven!! I can’t believe it and have so many mixed feelings about it. I thank God every day for having her in our lives, for her happy, funny and curious nature. But with each year that passes I wish I could somehow slow down the minutes and days so we can cuddle a little more, and she can be my little girl a little while longer… I also wanted to thank everyone who left messages after last Friday’s post, I so appreciate your kind words, advice and encouragement. In fact, I’ve gotten Margaret Roach’s revised gardening-primer book – A Way to Garden and I’m smitten and highly recommend it to anyone in a similar predicament – that is having the garden but not a clue what to do with it.

The Exterior – Before
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Our New Home

Happy almost Fourth of July!! Thank you so much for your sweet messages after Friday’s post, you are all so kind! As promised, I’d love to show you a few images of our new home. The house is a little Cape Cod-style cottage sitting on nearly one acre of land. Built half a century ago, it has been well-maintained and cared for, although not much has been updated on the inside. Many (if not all) of the original architectural details have been preserved, which I love!! The windows need restoring and, as you can see from the images below, the rooms need quite a bit of work as well but, we’ve given ourselves a year to tackle most of the projects ourselves. We’ll be working on a budget and will be taking our time to figure out how best to decorate so the house becomes a better version of itself without losing its charm. We love how cozy it feels right now but we’d also love to open it up a bit more to the beautiful backyard. Typical of houses built in the mid 20th-century is a lack of connection to the outdoors and it would be great if we could change that – either by building a deck/patio just outside of the library or by adding more windows in different rooms of the house to bring in more natural light.

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