Our Yellow Love Nest

The Holidays

2014-12-30T20:02:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday and a beautiful 2014! We are blessed to be welcoming two babies into this world in February 2015! We are so excited for the coming year! I will be posting photos of the nursery shortly but til then here was our living room decked out for Christmas...

Sorry for the Abandonment - RH Cabinet

2014-04-15T11:32:00.002-04:00

I have abandoned my blog for a good six months! So sorry. I have not abandoned my house though. There are a few new furniture pieces, newly painted rooms and outdoor updates. Today, I wanted to show you my 30th birthday gift from my husbo. Some girls ask for jewelry, I ask for furniture. Meet my first piece from Restoration Hardware.

It's the French Casement Sideboard. It sits between the kitchen dining area and our living room. Here's the spot before the piece was delivered. We did have a small console there before that we moved to the basement.

I chose the black finish so that all my white dishes would pop. It was too much fun to style it, must have switched things around at least 10 times by now. The white pitchers on the top left corner were the only things I bought for the cabinet. (They're from Ikea.) Otherwise, I had everything already.

We really needed this extra storage in the kitchen to hold all our serving ware and to use as a liquor cabinet on the bottom. Formally, these platters were scattered in different kitchen cabinets or stuffed in drawers in a chest in the living room. It's so nice to have everything on display and easily accessible.

The side panels are also glass so even though it is a large piece, it doesn't feel heavy in the room which I was scared about. So far, I am extremely happy with this piece and would definitely order from Restoration Hardware again, if the budget allows!

Thinking of those affected by the Marathon bombings last year. Boston Strong

Fall's Here and I'm Back!

2013-10-02T17:52:00.000-04:00

Wow, I guess I took the summer off from blogging! Didn't mean to do that but I must have been having too much fun with weddings, bachelorette parties and trips to the Cape. It was a wonderful summer!

Now that New England has turned to fall (well it was 80 degrees today), I'd like to give the inside of my home some attention again. As soon as tiny white pumpkins hit the grocery stores, I bought a lot of them and started thinking about fall decor. I like putting a bunch of them in glass containers, like this.

I love the burlap ribbon around it. I also put a bunch in a glass lamp but those got moldy. I don't think pumpkins should be in a closed container. Lesson learned.

I brought out some of my fake pumpkins too, but haven't brought any Halloween stuff out yet. Now that it's October though, I guess I should get on that.

Leaves are falling all around the pumpkins from the branch above, which is kind of cool but a bit messy.

I did some decorating outside the house as well, some mums and pumpkins on the stairs. I'd rather stick with the potted mums than plant them since they will die in a few weeks. The wreath is from HomeGoods.

I want to hug that weird looking gray gourd! (It's from Whole Foods.) Are you guys decorating for fall?

Happy Pumpkin Season!

Ready for a Patio Party

2013-06-11T16:17:00.003-04:00

Wow, it's been a while! I guess it's been a great start to the summer. I've already been on a few weekend getaways and am so excited for the rest of my trips and some of my best friends' weddings! Today I wanted to share our little patio edition that got completed this spring by my husband and our good friend Tom.

This was the space about a year ago. All marked out for the patio.

And here are some mid-project pictures.

Then the two cuties responsible for the patio, very serious about their work. Tom works for Sculptured Earth so he has layed many patios, most probably 20 times the size of this one.

Now for the lovely afters, with all the landscaping completed around it as well.

We extended the mulch bed out to meet the patio, so I added some ornamental grasses and annuals to fill in the empty space.

We are trying to get moss to grow in between the pavers because I love that look. And we will also be adding a pathway using the same pavers to get to the patio..... A huge THANK YOU to Tom and my hubby for their hard work! I love this space and can't wait to have friends over around a firepit!

Bamboo Shades

2013-04-23T19:47:00.002-04:00

Our bedroom has been shadeless for several months since we took down the broken blinds that came with the house. At first I considered leaving the windows naked with just the curtain panels. But after living with it for a bit, I realized another layer would look nice. I've wanted to incorporate bamboo shades somewhere, so I went for it. I ordered these on Overstock after seeing them suggested in Better Homes and Gardens.

Before the blinds went up, the window looked like this. This is the only picture I could find, forgot to take the before pic!

This is midway through installation, excuse the blurry iPhone picture. Although I didn't do much of the installing, except for handing over a nail or screwdriver, the process was pretty simple. So simple that we didn't even look at the install instructions.

And here is the final look. I love the texture it adds to the room.

They have a bit of a blue/green color in them that didn't show on the Overstock site. However, thankfully I have those colors in this room so they work. These shades also come in a darker bamboo, which I may order for our guest room. Overall, I am very happy with these shades: good price, pretty, and easy to install. Anyone have any other suggestions for good bamboo shades?

Yellow Flowers and Polka Dots

2013-03-21T17:12:00.000-04:00

It's now spring, and there is more snow on the ground than the last days of winter : ( And possibly more to come. Lately, I've been working from home and to distract myself from the white stuff out the window, I buy flowers. This week I went for yellow with forsythias and I'm not sure what the other kind are.

I hung some sequiny eggs from the branches to get in the Easter spirit. I also decorated a little broken creamer I had and use it as a pen holder.

(Wood Finish Marker ready for any emergencies!)

I got the idea from Modern Jane's blog post. Instead of using a sharpie, I used yellow craft paint and a toothpick to put the polka dots on. I think it looks really cute, I just wish the creamer wasn't broken. O well, it does it's job.

Spring and Easter Time

2013-03-14T10:24:00.000-04:00

It's almost springtime, though the lingering snow on the ground suggests otherwise. So it was time to start decorating for Easter/spring. I am loving the longer days and the arrival of lots of tulips and daffodils at the grocery stores. And we’ve even had a couple 50 degree days, gotta love it. Here are some pictures of my springtime décor.

(balloons from my birthday in the back, will probably be around for all of birthday month)

I hung a sparkley egg from my chandelier and the beautiful azalea plant is from one of my best friend's bridal shower a couple weeks ago. The small terra cotta pots on my mantle were also from there, they were the cutest favors.

(on my mantle)

(at the shower, seeds were tucked into the terra cotta pots)

I found these cute tiny little bunnies at a local gift store that closed during the winter. I couldn’t wait to bring them down from the attic and let them play! I love that they are mid-hop! Happy Spring!

New Piece in Our Bedroom

2013-02-23T11:20:00.003-05:00

For the last few months I have been looking for the perfect piece for a small wall in between two doors in our bedroom. Between the molding there is 33 inches and it was a bit tough finding something to fit there that wasn't a tiny nightstandish type of size.

My husbo's plan was to put a tv on this new piece, mine was to decorate it all pretty. Well we both one with this find. It's Wayfair's Paula Deen Kitchen Cabinet Organizer. I originally ordered it from Wayfair and then found it on Joss and Main a couple days later for $500 cheaper! Since they are the same company, they were willing to give me the lower price even though it had already been shipped. Then about a week later, I had this baby!

I just love it, as in sometimes I just go in my room to stare at it. And now, my husband gets to have his tv (hidden) and I get to decorate the top. Plusssss, look at how cute it is inside!

As you can see, I didn't waste any time filling it in! Once we get a tv, we will remove the shelf and I'll have to find somewhere else for those wire baskets (that came with it). I am very happy with this furniture purchase, functional and so so pretty!

Valentine's Decor

2013-02-07T17:56:00.001-05:00

I don't go crazy with Valentine's day decorations, but I love the holiday so I like to do a little. Mostly, I decorate with pink and red flowers. This year I went a little crazy with roses and carnations one day.

Instead of making a couple big arrangements, I made a bunch of small ones, mostly in mason jars and some in little china creamers.

I also added a Valentiney dish cloth that I couldn't resist at HomeGoods. It's hard for me to resist anything with owls on it!

Do you decorate for Valentine's?

HomeGoods Closing

2013-01-31T11:01:00.001-05:00

The HomeGoods closest to me, about 7 minutes away and right next to my grocery store, is closing. : ( Well actually the store is moving to another town, that is not that close to me. It's so sad! The whole store is 25% off, and since I was out of town when I heard about it, there was not much left when I got there. But of course, I did not leave empty handed.

I found this pear print and this separate green frame for my kitchen. Their combined price was under $10. It fits in perfectly with my kitchen and it's the same type of print as the owl print next to it.

Not fitting in too much, is this burlap giraffe with yellow spots. When I saw him, I just had to have him. He will be a nice reminder of my beloved nearby HomeGoods.

He's just hanging out in the living room for now next to the tv. I think he's happy here. We both say farewell to our HomeGoods!

Snow and White Flowers

2013-01-21T13:19:00.001-05:00

When all I see outside is this.....

(actually this was last week, my blogger has been having issues)

It makes me happy to have some pretty flowers inside. I'm glad I stocked up with some white tulips and white mums before the snow hit.

You can get a little peak of our Christmas tree on the deck. That's where the hubs likes to put it after Christmas.

Here are some shots of the mums by the kitchen sink and bathroom sink. I love how a single mum looks in a jar, so simple and cute. And cheap.

Nothing like flowers...

New Year, New Stairs!

2013-01-03T13:42:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Our first almost finished project of the year, is our stairs! It took us weeks to tear off the rug on the stairs and take every last staple out, but we did it! And I love the new look, from the top of the stairs at least.

Let me remind you of what they used to look like with the carpet.

This new look brightens up the staircase, which gets little natural light. Plus it is so much easier to clean. There is still work to be done on them though. If you look from the bottom of the stairs, you can see lots of holes and marks that the staples left on the rise. It's not that noticeable in pictures, but really bad in person. I'm hoping to hire a painter to fill those up, repaint the trim and hopefully the entire basement.

I am definitely happy with our [my] decision to do this. I wish we did it sooner. And so happy the hubby joined in the fun, couldn't have done it without him : )

Still in the Christmas Spirit

2012-12-27T13:16:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday filled with family and friends and good food!

Don't know about you guys, but I am not ready to take down the Christmas tree, so it will stay up for a couple more weeks : )

I just love the twinkly lights, especially during the day!

Our First Nativity

2012-12-18T15:48:00.001-05:00

Last year after Christmas, my mother-in-law gave us a nativity set. It's white ceramic so I love how it looks with our holiday decor. I put it on a bombay chest that greets you when you walk in.

Of course Baby Jesus is hiding in another room until Christmas Day. I added garland above the painting and one fake tree on each side. The nativity set is sitting on a burlap runner.

And since today is vignette day over at A Thoughtful Place, I will add one more Christmas vignette from our living room/kitchen area. This is our small bar cart, liquor on the bottom, pretty on the top!

The sparkly bird and squirrel are from West Elm last year. I found the cute reindeer at HomeGoods. The "Dear Santa, Define Good" sign is an add I ripped out ot Better Homes. So there are a couple holiday vignettes. Hope everyone is enjoying the last week before Christmas!

Project Stair

2012-12-12T21:24:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I started what I thought would be a medium size project. I wanted to rip the rug off our stairs going from our finished basement to our upstairs living area. I knew there was hardwood under the rug, just wasn't sure what condition it would be in. This is me at the beginning, very excited.

I was happy to see that the hardwood underneath looked just as good as the hardwood on the side of the steps. My hubby on the other hand wasn't happy about the spontaneous project. And after 20 minutes or so, I realized that this is going to be a very time consuming and labor intensive project. Pulling up the rug isn't too bad, just requires a little muscle. The time consuming and frustrating part is pulling up the 50 plus staples per step with pliers. No fun.

In two days, I've only tackled 3 steps and I don't think my hands can handle another one. Hopefully, the Mr. will step in and save the day, because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

These babies are going to look good once they are nakey!

I'll end this post with something Christmassy and pretty, the shelves at the end of the stairs decorated for the first time for Christmas!

Our Christmas Tree 2012

2012-12-11T12:44:00.000-05:00

Like last year, I stayed with the rustic sparkle decorations sprinkled with some woodsy animals. I wrapped burlap garland around the tree and added lots of glittery ornaments. I also stuck some branches that I spray painted gold in there.

We cut down our tree for the first time this year. It looked much better in the wild than it did when we got her home. She was filled with holes, but I think I did an okay job filling them in.

Of course I had to sneak an owl shot in here. There's about 20 owls hanging in the tree!

And finally here's some twilight shots.

Linking this up over at Honey We're Home's Link Party.

Mercury Mantle

2012-12-05T19:35:00.000-05:00

This year I am keeping our Christmas decor neutral and sparkly, as usual! I saved the colorful stuff for our basement family room. I used several mercury glass pieces on the mantle. All of them came from HomeGoods, and some were actually Halloween decor that I got on clearance.

I made the banner and my husby drew and colored in the letters. They might be a little too colorful for me and might be making the trek downstairs : ) Here are some more shots.

Notice how I got some beloved chrevron in there on the "Y"? My husband didn't even know what chevron was!

Hope all your mantles are looking very merry!

Chair Nightstand

2012-12-04T17:38:00.001-05:00

While rearranging my furniture to get ready for Mr. Christmas Tree, I found a new spot for this old wood chair that has been living next to our front door. I bought it a couple years ago at a barn sale for $10.

It works perfectly as a nightstand in our guest room. And it adds a different texture in there.

Now, I'm not sure if I did this before or after I read YoungHouseLove's new book with this idea, but either way, it's a great one!

In the Christmas Craft Spirit

2012-12-03T17:32:00.003-05:00

I have been fully into Christmas mode for weeks now and the calendar just turned to December! I love that Thanksgiving fell a little earlier this year. Our tree is up(two trees actually), lights are up outside the house and the decorations are almost done, still a few random boxes sitting around. But, today I wanted to share an easy holiday project that's perfect for a house warming gift.

I stole this idea from a local florist and recreated it for muuuucccchhhhh cheaper. I bought a few different white birch planters from Save-on-crafts (just recently discovered this site and love it). Then I bought some mini trees from the grocery store and I had moss on hand. And I put it all together.

They were perfect to bring for Thanksgiving and will work throughout December as a housewarming gift. I obviously made a couple for myself too, one with the mini tree and one with a white poinsettia. So cute!

O and that's my new pillow from Pottery Barn, love that guy too!

A Couple Turkeys

2012-11-14T18:20:00.001-05:00

As much as I am ready for Christmas time (in snowman pajamas as I type), I have not yet brought out the Christmas decorations. I resisted that urge, and put out some turkeys for now. I don't have much Thanksgiving decor, because it is hard to find after Halloween is over. And, really, that's the only time I think of getting it. So I worked with what I have: a couple turkeys, some dried out hydrangeas, white pumpkins, and a fallish runner.

A couple days later, I added some roses to the hygrangea bouquet, which brings some needed color to the kitchen table. Please ignore the yellow-turning pumpkin.

I also brought some owls to the mix. Owls fit into any holiday, I swear they are taking over the world and I don't mind!

And that's basically all I got for Thanksgivinig. Does anyone go all out for Thanksgiving?

Halloween's Here!

2012-10-31T17:21:00.001-04:00

Halloween's here and Sandy is gone! There's still tons of debris on the streets, but I think Trick or Treating will still be happening!

Last weekend we had a Halloween party to celebrate. Here are some pictures of my spooky table set up.

And here I am dressed as a spider in between the food table and bar set-up, great place to be : ) My spider legs are made out of two stuffed pairs of pantyhose held on by a belt, pretty easy diy costume.

I forgot to take a close-up of the bar area, but I had red wine labeled as blood and white wine labeled as urine, I know, disgustingggg. And my sis made some Vampire Juice that was also up there with some festive chevron straws. Also, forgot to take pictures of all the great desserts, Frakenstein cake, owl cupcakes and graveyard trifle. Oops.

Even though I complain about getting a Halloween costume every year, I do love the holiday. Happy candy eating everyone!

Less Fall, More Spooky!

2012-10-25T18:29:00.004-04:00

After the hubby and I decided to have a Halloween party, I thought I would spook up the house a little bit. I really like the black and white mantle from Hi Sugarplum!, so I went to Michael's to find some bats. And then I got home and went bat crazy.

They are everywhere. I also continued the black and white theme with a striped rug I had bought on clearance from HomeGoods a couple months back. Very Beatle Juice-ish.

Then I put spiders and skeletons wherever I could.

I've had all the party stuff out on the kitchen table for the last week or so. Next week I will show you how it all came out. Happy Halloween!

Fall Time!

2012-10-03T14:42:00.000-04:00

Now that it's October I feel okay about showing my Halloween decor, even though I had pumpkins out weeks ago. My fall mantle this year is a lot cleaner and simpler than last year's.

I also decorated a little in our basement family room. Finally got to put some pretty things in my glass jar lamp!

And of course there are owls sprinkled throughout the house : ) These beautiful flowers from my hubby for our anniversary have also helped bring some autumn into our house. So pretty!

Still working on some little fall projects so I'll be back with those!

Happy 3rd Anniversary Justy!

2012-09-26T10:11:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it has been three years since Our Wedding Day. It has been three great years in our little yellow house. Thank you, Justin, for being a wonderful husband and friend : )

bellophoto.net

I love you to pieces! Muah!

My Brother-in-law's Living Room Redo

2012-09-20T14:33:00.003-04:00

One of the many projects I planned on tackling this jobless summer was to redo my brother-in-law's living room. And I'm so excited to say it is done! I have been buying and ordering stuff for this project for the last couple of months. I had most of the goods piled up in my garage, shown in this post. Yesterday, I was finally ready to put them all together and reveal the final product! I'll start with some before pictures.

It was very masculine, dark and empty. I tried to lighten things up while keeping it masculine. The couch had to stay so I worked with it. And now for the afters!

I especially love this corner of the room. It is what you see when you walk in the front door. I took pictures of meaningful things to my brother-in-law (such as his street's sign, his company's logo on his truck) and then hung them in Ikea frames. I also love the ceramic horse head on that little stool, which eventually got moved to the mantle.

There are some nautical elements going on, but I wouldn't call it a themed room.

There are a couple things left to do. One is to have the room painted a soft gray, but the painter was booked til October. Anyone know of any good Benjamin Moore grays? Been thinking about Moonshine and Stonington Gray. I really like Stonington Gray on the chip but when I tried a sample in this room, it looked very purpley. The last thing I'd like to do is add some matchstick blinds to those windows.

I am pretty happy with how everything came together, and so is my brother-in-law, thank goodness! This was my first redo of someone else's house so it was a little nerve racking. But it was definitely worth it in the end!