Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Just purchased a sweet new vase from TJ Maxx (also known as the place where my paycheck goes to die) made of white shells!

Ever since we got rid of the Christmas tree, the hubs and I have felt that this corner of the living room felt a little lacking. So voila! Enter said vase and fill it with gold branches left over from the wedding.

Just doing my humble part to save Mother Earth.

It's about time.

Just purchased new ikat and burlap pillows from Cost Plus World Market this weekend!

They have found a cozy abode in our home office, which after 6 months of living here I have finally stopped ignoring. No longer shall it be the unspoken room of the house where wedding decorations go to die.

Better late than never, right?

I think this deserves a just reward.

'Tis the end of the season.

If you know me at all, you are well aware of my love affair with those dates that fall between September 1st and December 31st. It really is in my most humble opinion the most wonderful time of the year.

You have back-to-school shopping, colors changing, and the glorious, glorious start to college football.

Beautiful, right?!

You also can start wearing all those thick sweaters, boots, pea coats, and scarves that oh so conveniently hide those extra pounds that you put on by consuming all those delicious apple pies, pumpkin breads, spiced ciders, and caramel corn.

Who needs a Yankee candle when you have fall baked goods?

And of course that means the celebration of the ever under-appreciated holiday of Halloween by visiting the corn maze, watching Hocus Pocus, and making the house look festive. 

I was particularly fond of the mini pumpkins on the candle sticks idea that I stole from Pottery Barn (at the Michael's and Trader Joe's price). Also notice the top left photo was taken prior to Hubs' band mates cleaning us out of candy.

After eating our way through November, the house quickly transitions into the winter season. Hubs has a theory that I decorated the house in dark neutrals, blues, golds, and burgundies so that it would always look like Christmas, but I just think it was a lucky chance ;-) 

Being surrounded by all of this beauty and love couldn't have come at a more necessary junction in our lives. The season, and all that it brought, provided so much comfort and solace during the emotional upheavals of this past month.

And so...

...it might be the end of a season, but hopefully a needed inspiration for a fresh January beginning.

I got it from my Momma.

So my lovely mother is an obsessive collector of all things antique. In fact, in high school my friends called my parent's house the "museum". Now that I am the happy recipient of these treasures, I'm much more appreciative of her decorative choices (which will likely please her after years of telling me, "Just you wait, your tastes will change when you're older!")

Many are family heirlooms with intriguing back-stories and even more are the result of years of trolling estate sales and antique shops, which is still to this day one of my favorite things to do with my momma (besides having hubs-to-be make us many a cocktail).

I have two heirlooms from my great-grandmother, passed down through the women in my family, which are currently in our unfinished guest bedroom. The first is her vanity which still has its original hardware. One thing however, that I did not get from my momma, is the matching vanity stool which she still refuses to give up. Grrr.

The second is a hope chest that I have used before as a coffee table, but currently acts as a linen chest at the foot of the bed (which still lacks a mattress...oops). I just love the raw wood finish of the piece and each one of its historical flaws.

A lot of the lighting in the house also was originally in my parent's and before that, my grandparent's, and before that...well you get the picture.

Aren't all the Hebrew details super funky!? We're not Jewish though, so I'm not quite sure how it ended up in the family...

Here are a few more things I picked up while "shopping" at my parent's:

Sweet antique bookcase/cat tree

Farmhouse style dining table and chairs

Just about everything copper and Japanese Ironstone china

Estate sale music book she picked out

for our piano

(collective "awwwwwwww")

Metallic tray that I plan on reusing to 

pass out programs at the wedding

 Ok, one more. I promise.

So every single square inch of floor in the house, minus the studio, is hardwood. Hardwood means you need rugs. Lots of beautiful rugs. Rugs however are one of those things that ain't cheap and even when they are, they make sure that they're extra ugly to make up for the cost so you're constantly reminded of what a cheap rug you have. 

So anyhoo, being on a budget we didn't see a whole lot of beautiful rugs in our future. *Cue momma to the rescue!* Apparently she was hiding this beaut in storage along with it's brother which is in our dining room.

There is only one downside to receiving a free 75-year-old Persian rug (and yes, there is a downside). Your white, fluffy, neurotic cat loves to rub herself alllllllllll over it, leaving little soft bits of kitty 24/7.

She's lucky she's cute.

Home, Sweet Baño.

So the hubs-to-be and I are finally settled into the new house! It has been a crazy past 3 weeks of moving things out of storage, decorating on a budget, hubs-to-be finishing up performing in a musical, getting the bestie married off, and going on a rafting trip. Phew.

Which means that the only totally completed rooms in the house are the bathrooms. Figures.

The first is the full bath which required the use of not one, but TWO shower curtains for the wrap-around shower. Now let me tell you that locating an acceptable shower curtain is no easy task. They are either one of two options:

1) Absurdly expensive. Like, you're cute and all, but I have to buy TWO of you.

2) Offensively ugly. Like one of my 13 year old, Twilight loving students threw up all over it. Oh, and did I mention that it still isn't cheap.

So after searching high and low we decided on this:

A super vibrant mosaic design from Cost Plus World Market. We wanted something in the sage green family since the cabinet doors and trim were already painted that color. Plus the bathroom is extra retro, so we thought this might spruce things up a bit.

Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

The next bathroom is the half-bath and was an even bigger challenge, stemming from the fact that someone decided it was a prudent idea to paint the cabinet doors and trim citrus yellow. I guess they were going for cheery?

Since the house is a rental and painting is not an option, I decided what the heck, citrus it is. And I ran with it. Lemons, limes and all.

Some of my own black and white photography on the walls add a much needed contrast.

And how perfect is this! The leftover bouquets and boutonniere of crespedia and lavender from bestie's wedding are a match made in heaven.

Last, but not least: doesn't my great-grandmother's antique shoe mold make the most precious door stop?

They grow up so fast.

So the hubs-to-be turned 24 yesterday! I will feel much less like a cradle robber for the next few months until my birthday. Here's a peek at part of what I got him:

This will be a perfect start to our bar at the new house! I'm not going to lie though, the bottle of St. Germain was a totally self-serving present seeing as I fully intend to use that beautiful bottle as a decanter. The end goal is this:

Now we just need to actually move into the new house. Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself?