Isn’t it interesting…

That my last post on here was a flippant declaration of my stance on style over baby-proofing?

Well…

this happened.

And my beautiful mirrored coffee table was banished to the basement and we replaced it with little stools that are covered in fabric, have rounded edges and won’t kill my baby. They are chevron. They are from Home Goods. Obvi.

And then, I saw this:

West Elm’s Faux Mongolian Lamb Pouf.

And I decided that I needed my living room back.

Yes, it is where we as a family spend most of our time, and the mom in me loves days that are spent, all four of us occupied by books and toys and games…

but the decorator in me was sick of looking at toddler-sized trains and mini Fisher Price Houses.

And so I made a decision. We have this sunroom; this great enclosed space with French doors. And because our pottery barn table and chairs were ruined in the flood, I decided to make this our downstairs playroom of sorts.

Which means

that my living room

is mine again.

And that I have a pouf.

#obsessed.

I’m Back!!

My dear friends, it’s been so long. I have been neglectful over here on 511. I’ve been busy with life and work and Mommy.

And also, I had kind of reached a decorating plateau. I literally have no more wall space to cover. I have not a throw-pillow-less-chair. Because decorating was such a huge and integral part of my winter (Home goods was my Home) I kind of did everything that I had to do and was able to do for the time being.

BUT…

I have been squirreling away some stories over here. I have had the honor and pleasure of starting on a big project, my best friends’ new home that I mentioned months ago is coming to life! They made settlement and have been making major changes, like putting on a new roof, staining the floors, and OMG they are painting everything top to bottom. This means that I got to spend an hour with my buddy J and he and I went through every single room in the house holding up swatches, taping electrical tape in strategic spots on the ceiling and arm wrestling over the color taupe. But their home deserves a post of it’s own (or many posts, I should say). so I will get to that. It is so exciting!

When it comes to my house, I have made a few little updates, and am actually planning a new paint job for my very first room of my very first post, thanks to the incredible Paul the Painter extraordinaire. But here’s a tiny little update that made my heart swell a few big sizes.

When I got married, we danced to The Rolling Stones “Sweethearts Together” and walked up the aisle to The Beatles. This week, my mom got me the perfect addition to my gallery wall:

It’s a good reminder. A really good reminder.

And this wall that was once a source of great question and confusion for me has really come to life; it is now a tapestry of our favorite words, photos, songs, lyrics, images…it is us, on one, big, long “White Dove” hallway wall.

All you need is love. Love is all you need.

A litttle 511 Wri-Atus

If you follow me on you know that I have had some major home-related issues this past week.
If you don’t, here is our story.
I am forced to take a bit of a wri-atus, but I assure you that some new things are happening in the 511 world. Like a completely changed master bedroom. After all that.
But here’s a little sneak peak…

The Back Patio–The During.

The back patio before was quite the mess; mismatched clutter, broken pots, rusted furniture; and with a little creativity and spray paint we now have the start of something really good.

I spray painted all of the old green furniture that the previous owners had left behind. I also spray painted many of the old pots in gold to keep the theme of gold, navy and white. You know how I am about color schemes.

I really love this space, now. I just need to find a spot for my peace sign.

The pillows, pot and decorative accents are from Home Goods; the asian looking pieces were silver, but I painted them gold.

Our table is now centered with a decorative planter from Home Goods and the cushions from overstock.

I had some of these blue glass pieces before and re-purposed them, and just painted the rest.

What was once a bit of an eyesore is now becoming a sanctuary I look forward to taking full advantage of this spring and summer.

And I was able to do it all on a dime.