Has A Place

Flowers For Fall

2015-10-31T09:49:00.001-04:00

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it. As the long sleeves and boots start to emerge from storage and we begin to stay inside longer the ideas start swirling about the holidays.

As I start to focus my attention indoors and start to prepare for Thanksgiving time my mind always turns to the dining room. Our dining room is not used much during the summer months as we eat outside on the patio.

The table is the centerpiece of the dining room and a beautiful table scape is the main feature. I was inspired to share my ideas on fall tablescapes by flower delivery by BloomNation. If you haven't heard of them, they are a delivery service that supports local florists through their online marketplace. Nothing better than fresh flowers and candles.

I am not traditional when it comes to fall table ideas. Of course there has to be a table and forks but it doesn't have to include orange pumpkins and red mums if you get my drift.....

This flower arrangement really caught my eye when looking through their website. I'm not a huge fan of the vase. My style would gear more towards a white ceramic piece.

Here is the Table I created around this arrangement's inspiration trying to incorporate locally grown and season specific flowers. Hope you enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed my Fall 2015 Fall Tablescape!

Half Bathroom Redone

2014-08-07T14:58:00.003-04:00

So building a house for us was a dream come true. As it should be correct? Well.. Unfortunately when you choose to build everything seems to be more expensive?? If that makes any sense.... We couldn't get everything on our wish list nor could we upgrade everything we wanted to. Because I have a love and passion for DIY and remodels I said, why not just go builder grade on some things we know we can upgrade later. There's not a huge list we weren't able to upgrade, but the half bath was one of those places. Having remodeled (upgraded) 3 bathrooms in my last house I felt paying a premium for a contractor to do it was not necessary. We've been in the house a little over a year and felt this project would be a good one do this summer.

Here are the before shots. Nothing terrible, builder grade is actually not that terrible. Just not my style and doesn't match the rest of the house.

Linoleum counters and basic faucet. We choose not to have the builder mirrors installed because they are a pain to remove and I never know what to do with them once they are down.

Linoleum floor that was nice, still not my "thing".

Here is the after. Not a dramatic change, but upgraded to match the house. The tile came from home depot and was kind difficult to install. The cabinet is from Home Decorators. The faucet is from Lowes. The mirror is also from Lowes. The shelves are from target (already had those from the last house)

Overall I'm really please with the subtle upgrades, didn't cost a ton and was fun getting back into what I love to do on my spare time. I still would like to pain the top of the walls a subtle gray or even try a removable wallpaper. We did also install crown in this room. (can't see from the pictures)

I think it goes a lot better with the house, especially being right off the kitchen and the first room you look at when entering my house from the garage.

Summer Mantle

2014-06-18T22:37:00.003-04:00

Here is my spring mantle this year. Haven't posted in a while. Im finally feeling like I am able to dedicate some time to my blog again. I really love to blog just never can find the time.

Love me some Waterlogue.... :)

2014-02-28T18:26:00.000-05:00

Everyone's doing it and so am I. AND I love this one too!!

Awesome Photo Editor Site.

2014-01-16T12:49:00.005-05:00

So.... I was reading the many blogs I read each day and came across this website I have never seen before.

I was amazed, I'm addicted. I love it. There's so many things you can do with it.

I'm particularly in love with the "color sketch" option. Here's what it does with your own photos.

Here's my photo:

Here's Color Sketch applied.

OBSESSED!!!

Here's the site Foto Flexer. I cant wait to do more with this site. From what I can tell so far its free to use.

2013 Christmas Mantle!!

2013-12-04T08:47:00.004-05:00

Hi All

It's been SOOOO busy around here... I thought building a new house was supposed to make your life easier? Not the case... :)

Here's the mantle this year. Everything pretty much came from home goods.

Have an awesome day!!

Its been a long time coming... New House Photos!!

2013-11-13T11:26:00.001-05:00

Family Room

Powder Room

Mudroom Corner

Kitchen

Office

Foyer

Nursery

Master Bath

Dining Room

All Parenting Dot Com

2013-11-05T18:48:00.002-05:00

Thanks so much for featuring me on your website. I am honored. Can't wait to start documenting the new porch!!!

All Parenting

Dining Project Reveal

2013-05-13T09:35:00.001-04:00

The last couple months I have been working with an awesome family creating a beautiful dining space! It was an awesome project and I am very happy to be a part of it.

Lets get the the pictures:

Before: Great room, awesome size, just lacking some color. Specifically contrasting color. If you look at the before everything seems to blend.

After:

As you can see in the after the floors and furniture lean towards the beige/yellow side of the color wheel. Opposite of yellow is blue. So we decided to make the furniture pop blue was the right choice.

First thing we choose to purchase as a jumping off point was the rug. All the colors, accessories and lighting we chosen based on the style of this piece.

I think it turned out great. I'm happy with the result and I know my clients are as well!!

Construction Progress!!!

2013-04-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

Work as been moving along quickly with our new build project. Of course I wanted to document everything here and that seems to have been lacking.

So here it goes..

Step one in the building process is picking a neighborhood/builder that you are comfortable with. Seems like an easy decision but in reality it's not. Especially if you plan on staying in your house for many many years.

I only bring this up because at the beginning of this process for us we were going back and forth with two builders in two locations, luckily the same school district.

In the end we choose the builder who was most accommodating to our needs and was attentive to the specific requests we had. Some of the bigger national builders are cheaper to go with but may not allow certain customizations that fit your family best.

Second step is lot selection

Usually builders have "standard" lots and "premium" lots. Premium meaning theres a cost you tack onto your base price. Usually pertains to bigger or more private lots. Our lot, I believe, gives us the best of both worlds. Why? Because we have the trees for privacy from the lot behind us, we are on a corner/curve, our house is on a diagonal, its huge (almost 3/4 acre) and it didn't cost a dime extra. :)

Step three is planning and budget. See the bank, get all your financing in order before you meet with the builder to discuss anything. They (almost) always can work around your budget.

Step four is starting the building process. This is the most exciting part and the most stressful. Your trying to create a beautiful home that fits in your budget. You will not get everything you ever wanted, it just doesn't happen that way. However, if your dealing with reputable and professional vendors they will help you with selections that are economical and fit your needs/wants.

After that it starts to get really exciting, something new happens everyday!!!

Who creates the rules!?!

2013-03-09T10:56:00.002-05:00

So I know I have been MIA forever. Alot has been happening in my life the last three months.. like we sold the house :) That was a chore but I will spare you from the horrors of home selling... I am very grateful ours went quick and not to dramatically. Only a few minor rifts (very stupid rifts) got in the way...

With the house gone I haven't had much to do as far as decorating goes and you cant decorate a house your moving out of.. although one trip to homegoods and the mantle changed during the moving process!!

Its not completely out of my head of course.. we are building our next house so the design process is going on full and strong, just not physically at this point. That should be changing in the next few days!!!! :) Here's a sneak peak of the design avenue I'm going down:

I'm super excited.. I can't wait to get started.. In the meantime recently I have been working with a friend trying to come up with a new design plan for her dining room. Its a great space, good size and plenty of wall space.

Challenge is light furniture, light floor, and light beige walls. Contrast is needed. So I've given her two options so far. 1 more dramatic and 1 less. I like both of them..

She is leaning towards the dark which makes me SUPER excited!!

Look for more updates with the new build coming later this week!!

Heres the issue..If we go with a beige wall the furniture belnds into the wall color, there ins't any contrast with a light wall. I love the dark one but the light one gives it a bit of

2012 Christmas Mantle

2012-12-04T08:31:00.001-05:00

Hey Hey..

Sorry for the lack of posts... we are currently selling this house :( It's bittersweet... Our house, our first house gone..

But we are planning to build the next one and that will be our forever home :)

Its very stressful but very exciting, and i'm really not looking forward to moving...

Anyway.. Im hear to show you the Christmas decor I pondered up this year.. Its completely different from last year and I didn't purchase anything new (I have to much crap)..

Here it is:

So.. there you have it the 2012 Christmas mantle.. and the last mantle ever in this house :(.... However the mantle in the new house will be just as beautiful.

Fall Mantle

2012-09-25T08:55:00.001-04:00

Well Hey!!

Thanks for all the awesome comments on the fall tablescape. I really love the neutral colors. Because the dining and living spaces are connected they have to mesh. So I went neutral with that too.

Lets take a look:

Have a great week. Let me know what you think!!

-Alyssa

Fall Tablescape

2012-09-17T16:21:00.001-04:00

Wow, I can't believe its that time of year already. I feel like summer went by sooo fast. However, this is my favorite time of year so I guess I can't complain!

Anyway, I created a simple and elegant tablescape this year. I'm all about tradition, traditional colors and ideas. I always like add a little twist and put my signature touch on it.

This year I went light, green and white instead of orange.

Lets take a look:

So there you have it, my traditional green and white fall tablescape. Let me know what you think!!

Contributing:

Never Forget

2012-09-11T15:46:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that 11 years has passed since that terrible day of tragedies started to unfold. I was a young high school student in art class when the rumblings started. At first I thought what a terrible thing. This would soon turn into the most terrible thing I would have been exposed to in my short lifetime. My life, and the lives of my young classmates would be changed forever. Everything I do, and everywhere I go would in some way be a reflection of the events of that day. As we relive today and let the pain emerge again I can only hope that good comes from the memories and our world can only become a better place. I was a young 16 year old at the time and one of my most striking memories in the days after the attacks was the generosity from people. I worked at McDonald's at the time and they had the Ronald McDonald house bins outside of the drive through window open for donations. I started my shift after school at 3 pm and by then it was so full of money for the Red Cross that it had to be emptied. Every single person donated money that day. It wasn't just 1 or 2 dollars but 20, 50 and 100 dollars. Till this day it still strikes me as amazing. That was the world I wanted to live in everyday.

As the wife of a firefighter I can't help but feel the pain of the other widows left to pick up the pieces that these men left behind. Their legacy is left with every firefighter in the United States in some way. Firemen are a special breed of individuals. Their spirit and bravery is something they all carry with them everyday. Commodore and brotherhood are words often thrown around to describe the bond between firefighters. These, however, aren't just words they are actual symbols of a real family that exists, not by blood but not any less significant.

In 2001 I never knew I would be married to a firefighter and how hard it actually is. Every time the bells go off and I know he is risking his life to take care of another person who needs him. There have been many occasions that have been cut short because of this, many dinners left on the table to get cold, and family events, holidays, left without question. I love my husband for the man that he is and for the sacrifices he makes for others everyday. Special people on this earth, I believe are born for this one and only job, are firemen.

Today is a day of remembrance, sorrow and American commodore. It is a day that everyone will never forget. God Bless America!!!!

Half Bath Reveal!!

2012-08-31T11:13:00.003-04:00

Soooo I know I was supposed to have this done a while ago... but its summer :)

Lets all take a look at the before. Not to bad but my tastes have evolved...

and now the after:

From doodle

to done!!

Let me know what you think!!

Remodelaholic Winner!!!!

2012-08-19T08:42:00.000-04:00

I am so honored to be featured on Remodelaholic as a before and after winner!!! What an AWESOME Birthday Gift!! (It was August 18th) Please go here to read it!!!

However, this stems from a very important cause that One Project Closer/The Better Half does in their annual summer-long Before & After series, to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

Here's the details from OCP's site:

How it Works

If you’re not familiar with the series, here’s the basics: you submit pictures and a story from a home improvement project you worked (no contracted jobs) sometime over the past year. Every week of the summer (June 20 – September 21), a winner is selected and their story is published online. Each winner gets a $50 gift card to either Lowes, Home Depot, or Amazon, and we make a donation of $100 to Habitat for Humanity in their honor! At the end of the Summer, the best submission, as voted on by readers, wins a bonus $150 gift card to one of the three stores above.

How to Enter

If you want to submit a before and after story, email us your submission at beforeandafter@oneprojectcloser.com. Your entry can be in the email itself or attached as a Word document. Make sure to number pictures in order so it’s easy for us to reconstruct the story, and please attach the pictures as JPEGs even if you also embed them inside the Word document.

Or you can go directly here to add your submission.

Please join the fun and add your submission and thanks again Remodelaholic!!!

Updated Half Bath

2012-08-17T15:21:00.001-04:00

So I know I have been MIA these last few weeks but its summer and we get so little of it where I live I try and jam pack every weekend with outdoor activities. Plus my husband and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary in the middle of July! AND my mom's birthday is in August, which always means traveling of some kind!

I am a pintrest stalker, I love it. I'm not addicted like some, BUT I do look at it. A while back I seen this makeover of a rental bath that peaked my interest. For the life of me I couldn't find it, and of course when I first looked at it I didn't pin it, why would I do that?

So, One day I just couldn't get it out of my head. I just went from memory and drew a "doodle" of what I could remember.

Here's my doodle:

HILARIOUS, I know. But seriously this is how I think, down to the TP holder.

Stay tuned for the reveal this weekend!!

Also I have been featured in this really great front porch e-book, there are amazing porches done by other bloggers in there, be sure to get it at the link on my sidebar!!!

Updating the deck

2012-07-05T12:56:00.000-04:00

Hello and Happy Summer!! Where I live nice days are few and far between, weather wise. So I tend to be MIA during this time of year. Spending the majority of my time outside....

Of course that prompts me to "update" out there also.

Its not bad by all means, jut not my style. The sitting set was a gift from family and I love it, just not the colors.

Here's what it looks like now:

Here's what I have purchased already, (im) patiently waiting for them to arrive:

World Market

Lowes

kmart

Stay tuned for the reveal, should be next week!!

Updated Master Bedroom!!

2012-06-09T19:13:00.000-04:00

Well hey there, how are you all, I'm just great. I'm on this new organization kick, stay tuned for that, so I have a daily agenda I go through and this project has bee #1 on my feature in blog list everyday for I don't even know how long.

So I decided to change up my master bedroom for spring/summer. I always seem to change it around a bit with the seasons or anytime I find something interesting! Pretty much everything except for the big stuff like bed, dresser, rug and curtains. I really really like it. Its nice and light for a refreshing spring summer update.

Here's the before, not to shabby I might add:

Now, this next pic outlines for my readers that think it takes a lot of effort to update a room. It doesn't matter what the before looks like, if you update these next five things you can dramatically update a room.

See, it doesn't take a lot to make a big impact.

Here's the update:

Let me know which one you like better!!!

Kitchen Tile Back Splash

2012-06-07T16:36:00.000-04:00

My worst project ever? I don't know about that much but I certainly think its taken me the longest. Its the small cuts they are overwhelming and the mastic is just messy. I hate it, I can't wait for it to be over :(

Pain is beauty right? Yea right...

Anyway, this post is a tutorial, I am famous for these, but hey, I figure if your going to attempt a DIY project let some other schmuck do it first!! Let them screw it all up, face the challenges and learn from them. Then try it out.

We we are the schmucks...

I was so happy with my choice of tile, it was a great price, great looking and 12x12 so it will go up fast right? Like in 2 days fast, right?? Wrong! more like 2 months... well that's us procrastinating a bit, ok A LOT. Whatever...

I did turn out great :)

This is how we started, with thinset and tape. The part that took the longest was the cutting.

On the other side of the kitchen I picked up a SimpleMat from Home Depot. I wanted to try it out.

Very easy to use, not messy at all.

They are 18x9? I think, which was good, because a typical back splash is 18 inches from counter to bottom of upper cabinet.

This stuff was super sticky, but it went up really fast and without a mess.

No the reviews say that once a tile is on you cant get it off, not true they pop back off. However, because they pop back off, some may fall off. They tended to sag a bit as well. But, they were easily adjustable.

After the tile was grouted, I did notice that these tiles can still move, so, before it dries don't push on them or move them at all. I had to place a small board behind the stove to temporally keep them from sagging out of alignment.

All in all I would use the mat again, a lot less messy, just takes care.

Have a great week!!

Kitchen Reveal!!!!!!!!! :)

2012-05-22T12:22:00.004-04:00

Well hey there...

Its been a long time coming, I have been waiting for this day for over 3 years now!!! My tiny kitchen shines like a bran new penny...

Lets get straight to it:

Command central on the side of the fridge...

DAM backsplash, my worst nightmare :(

I'd rather tile the floor twice than do a backsplash...

o yea, if you have dark cabinets, this is a must. They show almost everything, but this little buddy makes everything good again. Thank God!!

Glass cabinet for a little glam. The boob light is getting replace but I can't find anything that I like, I am contemplating a track light system, but I cant make up my mind...

crown moulding...

base of cabinet moulding, makes for a nice finished look...

and lastly the biggest sink anyone has ever seen, I freaking love it, it fits every dish in my house!!

And can we just forget the before? Please???

Thanks so much for sticking with me.. Tutorials on the way!!

Have a great day!!

Please Please Please, join in on this amazing before and after series helping out habitat for humanity over at One Project cCloser!!

Kitchen Remodel Update

2012-04-25T11:40:00.000-04:00

Hey, I have been getting quite a few questions about the kitchen remodel. Sorry I have been MIA. Its just taking a little longer than expected...

A few hiccups, but everything is pretty much done, all I have left is to install the back-splash which WILL be done this weekend!

I'm not leaving my house until it is DONE!

But I wanted to post some pictures of the before (terrible, terrible, terrible) bad photos, but I'm afraid it would have broken my new camera ;)

Here is the before:

My epic fail of trying to paint them, horrible horrible, complete with the boob light in the ceiling :) Dishes in the sink and dinner in the crock pot :) Hey, I'm keepin it real...

View from the other side, the painting went so bad, I stopped :) But after a while the man in brown starting bringing me presents and there was a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel :)

I went to Lowe's for my back splash

Then this began after the demolition finished. My husband did that in all of a couple hours so I don't have any photos of that. It was a messssss, and the dust was the worst. I am neurotic about dust anyway (its my only enemy!). I swear I would clean it all up and turn around it would be back. Not FUN at all!

These are real grainy and ugly but trust me, it was a beautiful site!!

Here is the last picture I took before the counter was installed, before the molding and painting. Again an excellent view (compared to the before ;) )

After the back splash is done, I will do a bunch of tutorials, like converting from a double sink to a single HUGE sink... 10 Things to expect, like possible divorce, lol JUST KIDDING, but seriously fighting happens, which should be warned before attempting to remodel your own kitchen.

Stay tuned the most amazing photos I could every take through a camera will be coming shortly!!!

Any questions please ASK, it was a huge job, I have documented most of the process in my head and I'm sure there is some good advice in there somewhere!!

Pintrest Wreath

2012-04-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

I know I have been MIA the last couple weeks but Spring has sprung in my neck of the woods and I have been trying to purge as much as I can.

But I have been searching pintrest for great spring ideas and I found this amazing wreath, which I'm sure many of you have seen.

However, when you go to the site that published the photo there is no information of where to get it, or how to make it :(. So I am here to the rescue.

It was the cheapest, easiest wreath I have ever made.

The flowers are from Michael's in bunches and I just stuffed them into the wreath so it was full and fluffy. The bunches were 150 and the metal wreath form was 200 dollars, I used 12 bunches of flowers to fill my wreath. Here is mine:

Not quite as neat but I can just pull the bunches out and pop them back in. I also made a purple and pink one for my mom's house... Like this one

Here are some others as well...

Have a great day!

Spring Mantle

2012-03-20T10:14:00.003-04:00

Hey!! Hope you all had a great weekend, mine was good... full of manual labor but it looks great!! Well worth the work, makes me much more proud to have done it myself! I think I have decided to write a "10 Things to Expect when Remodeling your Own Kitchen".... Stay tuned for that...

I have to admit the kitchen remodel has gone pretty well so far (knock on wood). We haven't hit to many snags, maybe some meltdowns (I can be dramatic sometimes), just alot of labor. Like heavy heavy, sweaty labor (too much?)

But today I thought I would share my Spring Mantle. With everything that is going on in my life at the moment I feel the need to minamilize a little. You Know? Like after the holidays are over your so exhausted of cooking and putting chiristmas decor away... you just want to chill :)

So lets get to it:

Spring 2012 Mantle