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I have my mother to thank for my love of plants. If you couldn’t tell by our yard.I love all plants, tall ones skinny ones fat ones. So it’s no wonder why come winter I’m dying to bring a little more green into my home. I just recently bought this fiddle leaf fig bush from Home Depot and couldn’t have been happier with how it arrived.  How beautiful are each of these spaces. The plants almost act as living sculptures. I’m envious, which means I might be adding a few more cheap oakley sunglasses plants to my collection. What do you think? Do you love plants in your space?

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The post House Plant Inspiration for Your Living Room appeared first on Our Lake Life.

Alicia of Cheetah is the New Black looks chic yet comfortable in layered neutrals, a cozy coat with leather accents, gray sweater, jeans and black knee high boots finishes off the perfect casual fall look.

Kimberly of  Penny Pincher Fashion always looks stylish in her affordable fashion finds. Take a lesson from her and break out the plaid, skinny jeans and moto jacket.

Rachel from  Pink Peonies looks perfectly pulled together in cable turtle neck sweater, black jeans and leopard print bag.

Jacie of  Damsel in Dior rocks an untucked plaid shirt, converse sneakers and cropped jeans in her perfectly casual fall look that would work just as well for eating a plateful of turkey.

The post Thanksgiving Outfit Ideas From Our Favorite Bloggers appeared first on Our Lake Life.

The right piece of art can be used as a jumping off point for an entire room or it can be the icing on the cake. Art is one of those things that can take your average nice room room and really take it too the next level. These days it’s easier than ever to but that perfect unique piece of art online. So many reputable places offer unique and inspiring art. Art has always been one of my passions, I love to paint and browse others artwork it’s so inspiring. I browsed threw dozens if not hundreds of sights online looking at art. Here are five great places to buy art online including a few you’ve probably never even heard of.

  number one, number two, number three, number four

Serena and Lily – founded in 2003 and known for collections featuring vibrant and colorful patterns the one time children’s bedding company began featuring art in 2009 from emerging and established artists from around the globe in their online Bazaar. True to their roots you’re always sure to find colorful and eclectic one of kind art pieces that will set your decor apart. The only danger is that you won’t know which one to choose

 number one, number two, number three

One Kings Lane* (affiliate link) – the free members online site continuously curates pop-up shops of designer and vintage items with a smattering of art thrown in. Their collection of art available for sale varies from emerging artists to one of a kind vintage pieces.  You generally have to act fast with their sales. They’re only available for a limited time but boy are they good. If you’re not already a member you can use our affiliate link and join One Kings Lane today by clicking our affiliate link here and receive $15 off your first order of $30 or more*.

 number one, number, two, number three

Tappan Collective – sells limited edition prints, original paintings and photographs from emerging artists, started by 2 Los Angeles natives who noticed a great opportunity for an online platform that would connect emerging artists to the many aspiring art collectors seeking exciting artwork at affordable prices. They’ve tapped into local art scenes across the world to curate a collection of cutting-edge work by the next generation of artists.

  number one, number two ,number three

Daily Painters – founded in 2006 by artist and daily painter Micah Condon is a juried gallery of artists who paint daily. Each day a selection of those artists work is published with links to purchase art directly from the artists Cheap Replica oakleys blog or website. It’s a great way to find new artists.

 number one, number two, number three

Saatchi Online – is a source for  emerging artists to showcase and sell their work. It gives art lovers insider access to new talent from around the world. Launched in 2006 by the Saatchi Gallery in London, Saatchi Online aims to promote new, contemporary talent and bringing great art to a wide audience.

Links with an asterisk contain affiliates, What this means is that if you make a purchase from one of these links Our Lake Life may receive a commission on the sale of the product and does not in any way cost you extra in the purchase price. Got it? Good.

The post Great Places to Buy Art Online appeared first on Our Lake Life.

This week’s one room challenge has been more about sourcing the perfect coffee table to replace our too long one we currently have. Well let me skip to the punch line. It doesn’t exist, or at least I haven’t found it yet. Don’t misunderstand me, there are plenty of beautiful options ut usually it’s a matter of being too long, too wide, too low, too expensive and many other adjectives you can precede with too to describe the predicament.

We had a new and exciting project pop up for the Ray Ban outlet house that has us diverting most of our project money o those areas so needless to say the budget for the coffee table just went out the window.  But, I have a plan. Can you guess what it is?

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Yup, I’m going to build an ottoman. I think it’ll be a good interim solution and if I use some of my fabric hoarding stash I could probably complete it for very little money out of pocket. Isn’t that black and white above from One Kings Lane and the white tufted one below gorgeous?

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The post One Room Challenge – Week 4 (The Living Room) appeared first on Our Lake Life.

The windows in our Living room have a few problems. First they’re original to the house and the fireplace that sits right up against them to the right is not and causes all kinds of awkward angles and makes the window off center in the room. We tackled most of the cMagliette Calcio A Poco Prezzo cosmetic issues with it here.” target=”_blank”>osmetic issues with it a while back. I’m not even going to go into the issues with the fireplace.  But lets just say someone decided it would be a good idea to build it right on top of 70s shag carpet (not the good kind of shag but the old gross gold kind of shag). Instead of taking the extra 5 minutes to pull it up. Next on the other side hiding underneath the curtains is a giant monstrosity of an air conditioner that’s still going strong but is ugly as all get out.

In any event I have been loving black windows for quite some time now. I wasn’t sure how’d they look on double hung windows. I mulled it over for a while, procrastinated buying the paint hung thought about it some more. Then on lunch I popped into the paint store and grabbed a quart of paint and decided it was time to stop procrastinating and just do it.

Honestly it was a little bit of a shock at first, sometimes my eyes need some time to adjust to big color changes and this feels pretty big but I’m really starting to fall in love with it and it’s staying. One casualty of the black windows is the white wood blinds. They do not match in the least. I think some bamboo shades will have to be purchased now.

The blue curtains that were sitting in my drawer on the other hand I’m on the fence about. What do you think? Should I stick with the white panels that I had which sort of blend into the background while hiding the air conditioner or go bold with the blue?

Next on the agenda, trying to figure out what to do about a coffee table. Hmmmm.

Thanks to Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick for hosting another Before and After party.

The post One Room Challenge – Week 3 (The Living Room) appeared first on Our Lake Life.

It’s week 2 of the one week challenge and I’ve done a little bit of sprucing and a whole lot of thinking.

First let’s talk about the sprucing. I’ve collected a few plants and scattered them about the house. It’s already starting to feel a bit more lush and lived in. A tall ornamental palm tree takes up some space in the corner and adds a little natural greenery. as well as a few smaller potted plants that I’ve scattered around the room. The room is really sunny and so far the plants seem to love the spot.

Second, my mom has been rearranging her house and (temporarily) loaning out some pieces of furniture. The console that you can see peaking out  from behind the sofa I snagged maglie calcio poco prezzo from her before anyone else could. It fits great behind the couch, fills up the wall space, adds a little extra storage while still providing ample space behind the couch to get to the door.

Then I got to thinking and have been really standing back and trying to figure out what’s still needed in the room, what’s not working and how I want it all to come together.  Here’s what I’ve come up with:

• The coffee table is definitely too long for the space. I’ve been trying to find a really great new one but I’m struggle with finding something I love at a reasonable price.
• Not sure I’m in love with the white curtains. They hide a gigantic wall AC unit that has to stay for now but I we need some color or pattern on the wall.
• I’ve been drooling over black windows for the longest time and I think painting out the window frame black would add a lot of interest.
• The secretary is great but I might be ready to move away from the very traditional feel of the piece and maybe go with a large scale piece of art in its place.
• The indigo velvet fabric I ordered came and it’s to die for. I can’t wait to replace the striped pillows with velvet ones for the fall.

Finally here are some of the latest rooms that have me turning my head and drawing inspiration from.

image via zinc door

image via desire to inspire

image via Style at Home

image via Desire to Inspire

Click here if you want to start at the beginning and a special thanks to Linda from Calling it Home for setting up the One Room Challenge.

The post One Room Challenge – Week 2 appeared first on Our Lake Life.

It reminded me of all the progress we’ve made on our yard by the lake and I realized I have yet to share our most recently finished projects. We’ve worked hard finishing up the odds and ends with the bulk of the construction happening last summer.

I can hardly believe it looked like this a little more than a year ago.  So many white stones which were only good for reflecting the sun at a blinding rate and creating the maglie calcio poco prezzo perfect habitat for spiders, something had to be done. This was prime real estate. One of the main reasons we bought our home.

My Dad built this stone stairway which was an amazing how it transformed the yard. It completely changed how we accessed the area and we recycled as much of the white stone as we could to make the large stairs.

As you come down the stairs to the left he built a rock wall which we filled with sun loving plants. Sedum and Zebra grass from this angle along with an apple tree and some smaller ornamental grasses fill the top portion.

Further down the path the white stones were replaced with sod and we 2 raised garden beds which housed tomatoes, string beans, cucumbers and cantaloupe. To the right we added another garden in front of the above ground pool which helps to camouflage the not so pretty parts. Some maiden grass, a few iris’ flank either side of the pool. We desperately needed some storage here for life jackets, fishing gear and all the miscellaneous items living by the lake cause you to acquire. Bryan built the shed to house all those things and a great added bonus is at certain times of day it creates some much need shade.

Another favorite area has to be the ground level deck Bryan and my dad built along the water’s edge. I got the idea to create almost a boardwalk right in front of the lake. Originally we had only planned to make it about 6 feet wide but when we priced out the lumber difference to jump to 10 feet wide there wasn’t much of a difference so we went with the wider deck and it has worked out so well.

  I can’t tell you how many barbeques clam bakes and parties we hosted over the summer right here. We love it.

But probably the best addition has all has to be the the outdoor bar they built. It’s perfect for serving up drinks, setting out a buffet for family gatherings or just sitting and relaxing.

All in all it’s been a pretty amazing transformation and there are still a few odds and end that’s need to be wrapped up but we couldn’t be happier with the results.

Thanks to Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick for hosting another Before and After party.

The post Progress on the Yard – 2013 appeared first on Our Lake Life.

I have love hate relationship with Fall. I hate that summer is over and soon the icy winter will set but what I love is the changing leave, less humidity and that certain cozy smell. What I also love is that it’s coat season buying once again. Here in the northeast coats are a must. A fabulous coat is a Cheap Jerseys staple that can make you look polished and put together even if your a mess underneath.

Most of them are moderately priced but I one is a “if money were no object” dream item. Can you guess which one?

The links below contain affiliates

1. Black and White Graphic Print Coat
2. Boiled Wool Military Pea Coat
3. Classic Tan Trench
4. White fleece swing Coat
5. Gray Short Wool Coat
6. Leather Trim Trench

The post Favorite Coats of the Season appeared first on Our Lake Life.

Here’s how it looked just after we rearranged the furniture and painted.

Then I added a few pillows and it kind of stalled there for the summer while I got distracted by the warmer weather.

So here we are October again and I want to finally finish up this room before the Holidays set in and I’m distracted once again.

Here’s the inspiration board I put together originally. It’s very beach with the blues and green tones throughout. All the sources for the board are here.

As you can see I already used some of fabrics from the board for pillows. It’s a really good jumping off point I still love it I just need to tweak it up a bit. I’m thinking of adding cheap oakley some indigo velvet pillows to the sofa and maybe green trellis fabric for the curtains and houseplants. I’ve been dying over Emily Henderson’s abundant use of houseplants, so there’s that. So come back every Thursday for the next six weeks and I’ll share the progress. This should be good…I hope

The post One Room Challenge – Week 1 (The Living Room) appeared first on Our Lake Life.

image via HInkely Lighting

So we have this sliding glass door in the cheap oakley sunglasses kitchen that has a broken seal and we’ve been dying to replace it with a big beautiful window instead. We haven’t used that door in months and there is another sliding door leading to the deck not 10 feet away. We don’t think we’ll miss it in the least. Eventually all the windows in the house will need to be replaced. They are either old or cheap vinyl and do nothing to frame our beautiful view. Of course I keep seeing beautiful black window panes everywhere I look and I think we just might go for it. So what do you say about black windows? Timeless or trendy?

image via houzz

image via Interiors by Studio M

image via Feldman Architecture

image via Feldman Architecture

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