mountain getaway

Last week my entire family spent a week together in the CO mountains!

Our time together was priceless! 

More laughs than I have had in a long time!

Actually, my mom, sister, little man, and I headed up a few days early for a 

girls' + 1 cute little boy trip. 

This was the first time we'd gotten away for time with just us girls, probably ever,

but it definitely won't be the last!

We shopped, dined out, took long walks, played at the park with little man, laughed,

shared great conversations, and loved every moment together.

(we even contemplated cooking and then decided that was a silly idea...)

My dad and hubby joined the party on Friday, 

and the fun just kept on, with an elevation in the adventure category.

example: hiking through the snow

love mountain streams. so peaceful.

  hiking buddies.

If we couldn't find them, we knew they were outside playing!

love you so much, dad!

sweet Mimi and Champ

2nd hike. not through the snow but just as beautiful! 

 the sign says:

"Caution! Swift Current. 

Please keep children at a safe distance from the water."

Hilarious to read it after they'd been playing in the wa-wa and little man was soaked!

Aunt Mags carried him 1/2 way up and all the way down!

whoo hoo!

A truly unforgettable vacation! 

It's always good to be home, though!  These last few days have been spent getting 

used to the 90+ temperatures and cleaning house!

Looking forward to completing some fun projects on this long 3-day weekend!

Run, Running, Runner

One of my 2011 goals was to make some much needed change to our hallway.

As of now it's just wood floors and creamy walls ... with a rather random mirror at the end.

Love the mirror, but it just seems random down there by itself.

It needs a table with some fun items atop, paneling on the walls, 

and large framed photographs above the paneling,

so we can all have something to catch our eye as we walk to and fro.

Pretty much everything that I wrote about here. 

I am just craving some lovely runners to greet my feet 

on each of my many daily trips down the hall.
I do need to find some rather inexpensive because I want 2 of the lovelies.
One for the main hallway and one following the left turn.

Here are a few of my favorites these days...

I have always loved this one 

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An indoor/outdoor rug would probably serve us well,
considering the hallway is a rather high traffic area.
This darling from Dash and Albert might just do the trick!

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Love this Chevron option and all of the following from West Elm, too!

 Here a unique print, and the celery green would pop nicely against the dark floors.

l.o.v.e mustard yellow!

adding a zebra print rug in the hallway would be a fun way to incorporate
animal prints in that space....

hmmm...the jury is still our on this decision but I have plans to stop by
my nearest West Elm store and take a look at some of my favorites in person!

What's your opinion? Do you have a favorite runner design?

Remember those Louis XVI style chairs...

Those chairs I wrote about here.
Are you surprised that they still look the same as they did 3 months ago? ha.

Well, thanks to Lisa @ A Vintage Vine I have found new inspiration!

She just recently wrote a post about creating her own Wisteria Like Furniture.

Her $9 vintage table was transformed into this lovely.

The look she gave her table is exactly what I wanted my chairs to look like...
something like this.

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So now I just need to convince hubby that stripping the stain

 and dealing with the harsh chemicals for me is a great weekend project... 

otherwise I'll have to wait until post baby to check this item of my 2011 goal list.

And I am just really getting sick of the fabric on these chairs!

blah.

and once they're refinished I'll recover the front and arms in a twill chocolate fabric

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and the backs in this plaid, to add a little pizzazz and coordinate with our kitchen stools.

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I love all the inspiration that is around every corner blogland.

Thanks, Lisa, for re-inspiring me to tackle this project!

simplifying.

I'm sure many of you have read Nester's simplifying posts these past few days.

I think they were just what I needed.

Sometimes I look at a space and just have a crazy urge to fill it with something, anything.

Then later I look around and I don't like the flow of all the "randoms" mixed together.

I desire for my rooms to be purposeful.

Which is why I cleared the mantle, the sofa table, and other areas of our family room.

My decorating mind needed to take a deep breath before deciding what I want in each space.

Here are a few things that I know now...

I want to add more natural color to our family room. 

The colors need to come from nature, in plants and colors from botanical prints, for starters.

I would love a boxwood wreath for the side of the armoire.

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Botanical prints in simple gold frames, 2 or 3 on each side of the armoire.

Emily A. Clark found a book full of them and they look fabulous in her dining room!

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That's where I am currently. I love nature and all of its beautiful elements.

My new mission is to incorporate more of it into our home!

And I am sure there will be more to come on this later...

Boy or Girl?!?

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that in October, 

another precious baby boy will be joining our family!

We are so excited and know that little man will be a wonderful big brother!

We're still playing the name game, 

but that doesn't keep me from dreaming up the perfect nursery.

Here are some of the ones that have caught my eye lately...

One of my new favorite blogs is laybabylay.

She created this particular design board, and I just love the vintage car details...

some of the modern elements aren't really my style, but I am definitely dreaming of 

antique car accents in our nursery for baby boy #2!

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Right after we found out we were expecting, I posted a long, long list 

of some favorite nursery ideas. Here are a few that still catch my eye...

framed nursery rhymes

love those navy blue walls...

we have a beautiful white crib that would stand out nicely!

love the clean, fresh, yet warm feeling of this nursery, too!

from that selection of favorites I am clearly still undecided.

sometimes I wonder how I'm ever going to decide!?!

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but I keep coming back to the car idea...
maybe it's because Hubby is crazy about antique cars these days.

and this is a darling car pillow tutorial from noodlehead,
just to keep my mind spinning with the car idea.

Don't you fret, I will definitely keep you posted on all things baby boy!

Sponsor Buttons

Just wanted to pop in and let you know that the Sponsor section

of Peace of Home is up and running!

Check out "The Tarnished Crown's" button on the sidebar, 

visit Rose's blog, and drool over her yummy pillows!

Tiffany Parrott Photography is our newest sponsor!
She's an incredibly talented photographer!
We love using her for all our family photo shoots.
She also uses her brilliant creative skills to design cards for any and all occasions!
Live in the Houston area? Check her out!



Tiffany Parrott Photography

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Click on the "Contact" tab and email me to learn more!

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Our New Outdoor Space

Yesterday I shared with you my inspiration for creating a dreamy outdoor space,

and our rather blah patio before...

Now for the current pictures of our newly designed patio!

We have spent more time outside in the past week than in the past 2 years...

The addition of our Outdoor Space was like adding a room addition to our home!

Our view peeking out the back door.

Our new outdoor seating area under the canopy...

It's much more enjoyable to spend time outside when I'm sitting in the shade!

Hubby designed this brick patio area along with the fire pit & bench,

complete with limestone accents.

Halfway through taking pics we decided it would look great to hang my ferns

from the canopy. Love them in their new spot.

some of my favorite details...

Outdoor pillow from Home Goods!

We found the ferns at Lowe's for only $7.50

and the planters from the Smith & Hawken line at Target!

This is little man's special chair - he loves relaxing there!

ps: his eye looks like it's bruised but it was just still a tad swollen from the mosquito bite :(

We hung these white lanterns for a party, but decided we wanted to keep the 

party feel going - so they're staying!

All of those details tie the space together!

Added a Sunbrella Umbrella for additional shade in the dining area

& repainted the dining set with Rustoleum spray paint...it looks brand new!

landscaping and designing flowerbeds, adding a pirate play place,

and that cute little boy climbing the ladder makes the backyard a much 

more enjoyable venue!

just for a reminder...this is what it looked like before...

We are in the middle of a record breaking drought around here...usually all of my bushes are in 

full bloom right about now...hopefully we'll get a drenching rain soon & make all of them burst with flowers!

I created a rock garden where part of the original patio used to reside...

and the previous owner had all of those rocks scattered around the tree...

a mowing/ weeding nightmare for Hubby.

I'm sure they're much happier here!

We love the view of the plants from our kitchen table.

see that darling bird feeder?

that was my Mother's Day gift from my sweet mom!

I've had my eye on hers for quite a while, so she tracked one down for me!

The view of the entire patio that Hubby built - The combination of brick and limestone is perfect.

I love being married to a smart & determined do-it-yourself man!

In case you forgot...this was the original patio...

I'd say our Outdoor Space has come a long way in the past 2 years! 

Thanks, Hubby, for all the hard work you put into designing the perfect outdoor space for our family!

I'm sharing our space with:  DecorChick

& Savvy Southern Style