Navy, Yellow, White Bathroom Redo

We've lived here for 3 1/2 years.  And in that time each and every room of this house has been painted...some more than once.  Well, all rooms except for the guest bathroom.  When we moved in, I liked the blue color that it was and decorated accordingly.

But now, I'm ready to switch it up some.  I've done some Pinterest research and tend to be drawn to dark walls, especially considering the wainscoting we have in there.  Like this:
                                              
But I'm a little nervous to go so bold when the rest of our house is decidedly tamer!  Colton's room is across the hall, though, and has lots of navy in it, so I'm hoping it will work!  Just in case, though, I'm thinking I stick with mainly yellow and white accessories.  This way if I absolutely hate the navy wall color, it is an easy switch!  Some possibilities:

via West Elm: trying to stay away from navy, so can't decide between yellow or white...hmm?

Really love this option instead from Urban Outfitters, but then we're committed to navy...

I think this is the shower curtain winner...from Urban Outfitters

although I like this one too from PB Teen (but I'm thinking too much navy!)

or this choice from JC Penney...bonus points because it reverses to aqua which would be the new wall color if navy doesn't work!

can't resist this fun toothbrush holder from Urban Outfitters

And for budget/practicality sake, I'll probably keep our medicine cabinet, but I would like to frame it out somehow to something like this

So that's the basic plan!  What do you guys think?  Any preferences?  

Patriotic Inspiration

Can you believe the 4th of July is only one week away?!?  Ever since my parents moved to the beach a few years back, the 4th of July has become a big celebration for us.  We have a big ole beach party all day and then move the fun up to the porch for dinner and finally conclude with fireworks back on the beach at night.  Good friends, good food (good drinks),fun in the sun (and water)...what more can you ask for, right?
The party itself is pretty casual, but if you know me, then, of course, you know we have to do some decorating.  I'm not usually a fan of patriotic decor (no offense good ole USA), but when decorating for the 4th of July, obviously we're talking red, white, and blue.  I've scoured the Internet and come up with some inspiration.  And since some of you may be needing some patriotic decor, I figured I'd pass along my findings to you...

How cute are those freaking Twizzlers?  And I love, love, love the Mason jars!  They're a definite, but beyond that, I'm still not sure exactly what I'm going to do.  Better get on it, though!  Anybody else have big Fourth of July plans?  Or decorating ideas?

If I Could Do it Again...

This Saturday marks five years of marriage for Josh and I (C.R.A.Z.Y, huh?).  I'm sure it comes as no surprise considering what I am now attempting to do for a living, but I loved every single second of wedding planning.  In fact, I loved it so much that I often joked with Josh that we would have to get remarried every five years just so I could plan a new wedding each time.
And then Pinterest came along and I was even more tempted by the notion of planning another wedding.
But, alas, here we are five years later and there are no plans for a remarriage/vow renewal/etc.  But Pinterest is just a click away, and I thought it may be fun to quickly look through it and find some things that I would use...IF I got to plan another wedding...

We did the whole formal, big, country club wedding the first time around.  It was really nice, but if I got a second wedding I would probably keep it more intimate.  And we would all rent a ginormous beach house like the one below (in Nags Head nonetheless) to hang out in before the wedding...this way it's like a whole week party.  

It doesn't necessarily go with the whole beach wedding vibe (but this is all pretend anyway, right), but I am loving the lace look.  And I'm especially loving the cut-out back!  So pretty.

And maybe Josh and his guys would oblige me and wear something bright and happy like this.

My bridesmaids wore long brown dresses (that sounds so awful, but it was actually pretty).  This time around, though, I love the idea of picking a color...probably something bright like coral or turquoise...and allowing each girl to pick out something that they liked in that color.  Kind of like below, but in a different color.

We didn't have a ring bearer (or flower girl for that matter) at our wedding, but now we would obviously have the two boys.  And they would HAVE to carry a sign like this.  Love. Love. Love.

Oh, and I would totally make sure we got some pictures like this beforehand.

As for the reception, I was totally happy with ours the first time around.  In fact to this day, Josh and I often have people tell us it was the most fun wedding they have ever had at a wedding.  And in researching this fake wedding, I learned that I may have just been a trendsetter because I came across Colin Cowie's (ya know...the mega wedding planner) recommendation of doing a station-style buffet...which is exactly what we did complete with mini grilled cheeses/shots of tomato soup, sliders, and pigs in a blanket at one station, crabcake sandwiches, hush puppies, and shrimp at another, a mashed potato bar at one more, and then I don't remember the last one.  My dad HATED my food selections, but I loved them and was very insistent on them at the time...and would probably repeat the same exact things this time around!

But this time I would also add a dessert bar...

And on that dessert bar, I would have smaller wedding cake, either ombre style

Or even this sprinkles cake that's ombre once cut in to:

The more I think about it it's probably a good thing I didn't get married in the age of Pinterest because I just spent wwwaaayyy too much time on there planning this fake wedding.  I can only imagine how addicted I would become if I had an actual wedding to plan!  So, I guess I'll just stick to living vicariously through others and helping them plan theirs (hint hint sister hint hint)

Party Time, Excellent

A couple of weeks ago I went out on a major limb and made the big announcement that I was going to launch my party planning business.  At the same time, I also put the word out to my Facebook friends and some other people.  Honestly, I didn't know what to expect.  All I knew was that this was an idea I had been throwing around for quite some time (ever since I was pregnant with Colton basically), and that I had to at least give it an honest try or I would always wonder if it could have worked.
Well, lo and behold, I actually got some response and now have a few parties that are in the works for June and a few more for even further out!!!  I have been hard at work brainstorming for the June parties and even though they're only in the planning stages, I am so excited by the stuff I'm working on.
Like this super fun Goldfish bar for an end-of-the-year beach themed party I'm working on:
                              
And this BBQ themed invitation I designed for a summer kick off party:

And these really great sponge balls that I may use at one of the above parties (or both!):

                                            

Who knows...these may be the only parties I end up ever working on, but at least I'm having fun doing it.  In fact, it doesn't feel like work at all, so hopefully it will continue.

On to the Next Room

I made myself a promise that April would be dedicated to some much-needed Spring Cleaning. While it was tough for me, that meant that my precious hours of Colton/Levi nap time have been dedicated to dejunking, organizing, and scrubbing for the past few weeks instead of tackling more fun things like projects. But April is now over (!), so I officially give myself permission to resume with the good stuff.
And what could be more fun than a good room makeover? This time, we're headed to our master bathroom, one of the only rooms that I have yet to get my hands on since moving in here a couple of years ago. One of the main reasons for that is that the bathroom is in pretty good shape.
None of the major fixtures (vanity, mirror, toilet, shower (tile, heads)) need changing. But the room does need some sprucing up, so here's what I'm thinking.
The walls need a bit of sprucing up. I think the tan color may be best with the tile/vanity colors, so I'm thinking instead of painting them, I may try my hand at stenciling for the first time (well, stenciling a wall...I did stencil some curtains successfully awhile back). I'm thinking of adding a cream version of this for a subtle, yet exciting change:

via

One day I hope to add some glass doors to our shower, but that's a pretty major undertaking, so it will have to wait until we have more time/money (mainly money!). For now, then, we'll just have to switch out the shower curtain. I'm really bummed because I had picked out a pretty aqua curtain from West Elm that they no longer have, so now I have to explore some other options.
I like this option from West Elm, but I don't know how that pattern would work with the pattern on the wall. Plus, it's really hard to tell what color those diamonds are:

Or maybe something like this from Target (of course there were a couple options there that I liked better, but they are out of stock...super!):

I'm not necessarily thrilled with either option, so I'm going to keep hunting, but I'd love to go with something aqua because then my existing towels should work. If I don't have to spend money on new towels, I would love to splurge a bit on some better shelving/storage for the room. The only problem is we have a pretty tiny space (about 15 inches) space to work with. Our current option is the exact dimensions we need, but not very pretty and certainly could be sturdier (we have already had quite a few occasions where Colton almost toppled the thing). I'd love to find something like this:

via

And finally, I'd like to replace the cheapy tumblers/toothbrush holders we have with something more classy. I really like these from Pottery Barn (I think!)...I wish I could see the color in person first though because it's hard to tell if they're too blue or not.

And now that the planning is done, it's time to start conquering this little makeover. Yay!

Patio Inspiration

With our first run in with snow (a whole 1/4 inch...that's a lot for us here at the Beach!) this past weekend you would think my mind would be in winter mode.  But, no...I am already gearing up for Spring (and crossing my fingers that the weather goes along with me).
Our back, screened-in porch has been my favorite "room" in our house ever since the day we laid eyes on it, but I have never given it the attention it deserved.  One of my goals for this year was to get it decorated and fully functional, though, and I have decided it is time to start!
So, with snow on the ground quickly melting away, I began perusing the web for inspiration.  To jog your memory, this is what our porch looks like now (well, that was a year ago, but it's close enough):
                              
The first step was to come up with a color scheme, and this is what I've landed on:
                                    
I have always loved the turquoise/green/coral (maybe even a little yellow) combo because it just looks so beachy.  I've never really used it in our house, but I figured there is no where better to give it a go than a porch, right?  Plus, it allows us to utilize some of the green that's already out there.
In fact, I am loving that blue console table so much that I am now scouring Craigslist and thrift stores for one that I can paint blue to add to our porch.
To go along with our color scheme, I found these pillows at Crate and Barrel that I'm loving:
                              
At $35 a pop, that's a bit more than I want to spend, so hopefully I can find something similar elsewhere...or maybe even DIY some???
Speaking of pillows, we will definitely be keeping the seating that is already out there.  But I would also like to add some comfy porch swing or hammock out there sorta like this:
                                  
Aaahhh...I'm already dreaming of warm spring days laying out there reading a book (of course we are temporarily ignoring the fact that I have a toddler and infant that will probably make that impossible, but a girl can dream right?).
As for decorations, we are going to stick with the beach theme.
Maybe a couple fabric canvases in something like this?
                                          
Probably some sort of capiz hanging like this (but without it being a light):
                                         
And I already have something up my sleeve with toilet paper rolls...I know you're curious now, huh?!?
So, there's the beginnings of our porch makeover.  I would really love to have it done in time for Colton's birthday party at the end of March.  Hopefully, it will be nice enough that day that people can take advantage of the porch (although last year it was a balmy 40ish and raining...we can't have that kind of bad luck 2 years in a row, right?).
Now, off to get started...

I'm a Big Kid Now

We are less than a week away from finding out if Baby #2 is a boy or a girl.  To this point, I have exercised considerable restraint and have not allowed myself to get too far in planning a nursery.  True I have picked out a boy color scheme and a girl one, but that has been about the extent of the work.
Luckily, I have had another room to keep me occupied...Colton's big boy toddler room.  Yep, with the baby's arrival, Colton will officially be ushered down the hall to what is currently our guest room (yes, if you're a loyal reader here, you will remember this is the same guest room I spent weeks working on this winter...aaahhh, how the universe laughs at us sometimes, huh?).  For kicks and giggles, let's take a little glimpse of the guest room, so you know what we're working with, shall we?
                                     
                                     
Yep, the teal walls, chalkboard calendar, and yellow details that I worked so hard on are on their way out.  BUT on the bright side, I have a new room to plan, and I have been hard at work on it already!  The brick walls are, of course, there to stay, and I think they will add a lot of character to a little boy's room.  I saw this image on Pinterest, and it immediately became my jumping off point for Colton's big boy room:

I feel like the wood plank wall resembles the brick walls we will be working with, and I am obsessed with the navy and white striped comforter on the bed (in fact, someone would be my hero if you can tell me where I can find one...I have already started searching, and it's not as easy as I had thought!).
Colton's nursery was done in a blue-orange combo as well (more of a teal blue though), and I would like to keep the orange accents to pair with the navy.  One big mistake I made in his nursery, though, was painting the walls a bold color.  I now realize I am much more a fan of painting my walls in more neutral shades and then allowing the accents to pop in those colors.  In that vein, I am debating on painting Colton's walls a color reminiscent of the tan in the picture above or a light blue/gray similar to the color in the Pinterest photo below (opinions welcome as always):

As for furniture, Colton will be transitioning to a big boy bed (with rails of course).  In an attempt to have this bed last us a little longer, I would like to go ahead and invest in a full sized bed.  I really like this bed from Land of Nod, and I even am leaning towards it in the navy blue color, although I worry that unique color may reduce the life of the bed (again, opinions welcome and appreciated):

As for other furniture, I am going to wait on the decision of a dresser until the bed one has been solved (Colton's current dresser will either travel with him or wait for his sibling).  I have decided, though, that Colton must have some sort of cozy corner in his room.  Call me crazy, but I love the idea of a tee-pee:

That's about it for the big elements in the room.  Luckily, the orange accents from Colton's nursery will fill in most of the accessories for this room as well, but I am sure I will find some other fun stuff to scoop up!  

So, that's how I've been filling my free time.  Tell me what you think.  Opinions and recommendations are seriously welcomed and much appreciated!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.  Temperatures around here have finally normalized, so this girl is happy and comfortable!

Pinterest=Love

As if I didn't already spend enough of my free time with the laptop in front of me, last week I took my internet using/time wasting to a whole new level.  I had read various blogs who were mentioning Pinterest and decided to check it out myself.  Yep, it was love at first click.
If you haven't heard of Pinterest, it is basically an online catalog of inspiration.  I am, naturally, most interested in the home decor stuff, but there is food, fashion, travel, photography, parties etc.  You can create your own inspiration boards by repinning items you like from other people's boards.  It is ADDICTING!  Just look at a few of the things I already found

I can't wait to get started on my new projects!
What about you all?  Have you used Pinterest?  Any of the above spark your interest too?