Backyard Inspiration

Daniel and I had a few different priorities when it came to what we were looking for in a house back in January, but we both agreed from the get go we wanted a backyard. We ended up finding the perfect one--not too big, not too small--a place we can definitely see ourselves relaxing when the weather is nice.  Although Daniel has done a LOT of work on it this summer (digging up dead bushes, killing weeds), we've come to terms with saving the more major parts of a backyard reno for the future (maybe next spring/summer).  It's one of those projects we don't NEED to get done before Edie is here, so we've been focusing on other parts of the house.

That doesn't keep us from dreaming about what we could do with the space, however.  One thing I definitely want to utilize is in prettying up the yard is the wooden pergola outside our back door.  Did you know that's what those are called--pergolas? I didn't until recently--I kept calling in the "wooden thing outside" and eventually decided to google it. I've never lived in a house with one, but I do love the way they can look with some pretty greenery growing up the sides, white curtains and a few strands of bulb lights. 

source

source

source

source

source

The second one with all the flowers? I mean, come on--a dream!

-J

Office Chair Inspiration

Our home office is starting to come together, and although it's the tiniest room in the house, I've made it my mission to make it one of the coziest and most inspiring.  I really want to be excited to work in this room.  

This week Daniel and I have been talking about what we want in office chairs.  Because I'm a little obsessive compulsive, I want our chairs to match (our desks match--it just makes sense).  This meant we had to agree on a chair, which prompted a little extra searching and reading reviews.  I was more focused on how cute the chairs were and Daniel wanted comfort and functionality (he's smarter!). He agreed we needed to try to find white chairs to compliment the white accents on our desks. 

We ended up ordering a pair we both liked and they're on their way to us now, but I thought I'd share a few pins I found inspiring throughout our search.

source

source

source

source

Can't wait for our chairs to come in so we can get to work in this space!

-J

Bedroom Tour

I fall more and more in love with our room every day.  This is probably very related to the fact that I become more and more pregnant every day and more and more in need of a nap :) But I also just enjoy working in here--the natural light is awesome and the whole space just feels simple and fresh.  And crawling into bed after I pull our super soft white sheets right out of the dryer--THE BEST FEELING.

Our dressers are Ethan Allen and have been with me since I transitioned out of my nursery into my first big girl room to make space for my baby brother--so about 22 years! They've held up beautifully and I've never thought about looking for new ones.  

The bouquet is mine from our wedding, and the incredible frame with our hand-stitched names and life verses was a wedding gift from our sweet friend Charli.  We were blown away by how thoughtful it was!

Edie's moses basket and rocking stand were both from Amazon. I found the tan sheepskin rug at T.J. Maxx a few months ago (love that place!).

I've loved the idea of white bedding for years now, but I've had Penny (black-haired puppy) since college, and when I lived alone she just HAD to sleep with me.  But now that we've transitioned into a two-story house and started preparing for a baby, we made the decision to keep the dogs downstairs. I could have my white bedding! It's from Target, as are the throw pillows (had to add a little pop of color and pattern).

We picked up our nightstands at Ikea on our babymoon.    

This vanity has also been with me since I was a little lady, and I plan to pass it down to Edie when we transition her out of her nursery. It's a very old piece my grandmother gave me, and I spent a silly amount of hours sitting in front of the mirrors singing Hanson into my hairbrush.

Our area rug is also from Ikea--I LOVE it. 

This is my happy place lately :)

-J

P.S.  I found this post from Camille Styles super inspiring this morning--think I'll try out a few of these ideas next week to start things off on the right foot!

Jordan's Living Room Tour

Hey friends! Sorry for the late night post--our internet has been acting funny today.  But to make up for it, I thought I'd give you all a little break from pregnancy updates and invite you to our house! :)  Daniel and I have been spending most of our free time trying to turn our new house into home, and we started with the living room.  Here's what it looked like before:

And here's what it looks like today!

The first thing we did was get rid of the green walls.  We agreed on a cream color we thought would really cheer up the space, and I think it worked! Daniel added subway tile to the fireplace, which is now one of my favorite parts of the room :) We purchased a couch from a local store here and a little midcentury vintage coffee table from a thrift store--we decided we wanted something that didn't take up all of our floor space, and I'm so happy with what we found.

We ordered the rug online after shopping around for a couple of months, and I love the pop the color it adds. And I added a few happy green plants--they just add life to a home.  I'm a big fan of how everything turned out--Daniel and I say the phrase, "I really love our house," at least once a day to one another.

Thanks for stopping by!

-J

Moving Day!

Yesterday Daniel and I loaded up a big ol' truck and moved into our new house.  This wasn't really the plan--our lease on our rent house doesn't end for four more weeks, but our landlord started showing the house and (if we can be out quickly) if someone wants it earlier than the end of our contract, we might just get a little money back.  So away we went!

Penny freaks out when we pack for anything, so I loaded her up in a box to assure her she was coming with us :) (I didn't leave her in there long, guys).

She actually mellowed out a lot when I put her in there, haha.  She's a strange one.

So last night was our first sleep in the new place.  We still have a long way to go on getting the house done (most of the upstairs is still without flooring!), but it was so exciting to finally stay there after over a month of hard work.  Can't wait to update you on all of our projects!

-J

Bedroom Before & Inspiration

Daniel is busy painting our bedroom while I'm in Tulsa for the weekend, and I'm so excited to see the progress!  He's already torn up the carpet and plans to install new floors after the fresh paint job.  We've been putting in extra hours on the new place this week, and moving in soon will feel that much sweeter because of it.

Here's what our bedroom looked like before Daniel tore up the carpet:

And here are a few ideas I'm swooning over:

source

source

source

source

source

I can't wait to fall asleep here!

-J

House Project Sneak Peek

Tonight Daniel and I finished building this pretty thing. 

When Nataley was here a few weekends ago, she helped us build the top of this table (she built it, really--I just handed her screws).  The hairpin legs arrived yesterday, so Daniel and I added them tonight.  Can't wait to share the whole process with you soon!

For now, I'm exhausted.  We just painted trim for three hours (Daniel bought me a mask and we opened the door for ventilation). I took the trim around the floor of the living room and dining room, and this prego lady's back is not super happy with her.

Happy almost weekend!

-J

Weekend Projects

Daniel and I spent the majority of the weekend running back and forth between Lowe's/Home Depot and the new house, and I'm loving watching our projects take shape! I spent most of my time with a shovel in hand and Daniel hardly put down his paint brush, but we did manage to take a few photos.

As exciting as all of these renovations are, I'm mostly enjoying working side by side with my husband.  We are tackling something huge together, and I love it!

-J

(Almost) April Showers

It's a gray, stormy day here in NWA, but I don't mind at all.  Spring is finally making an appearance after the longest winter I can remember, and with all this rain, I can't stop thinking about planting flowers.  I've always wanted to learn the art of cultivating a garden--both floral and vegetable--and for the first time I'm not a renter, so this shall be the year!

We have some lovely little flower beds in the front and back of our new house that I can't wait to fill.  Funny story actually--the previous owners dug up several of the larger plants in the beds, and I can only assume they took them with them.  Daniel and I were pretty surprised to find fresh big holes in the dirt after we closed on the house, but what could we do? So the plan is to fill them tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited to choose what we'll grow there.

source

source

source

My dad planted a rose bush in our backyard when I was little and I loved watching it bloom every year, so I've been doing a little research on maintaining roses here in Arkansas.  I love the idea of planting something so big and beautiful right when we move into our first house and having it grow alongside us for however many years to come.  

My spring fever is in full swing!

-J

Jordan's Home Renovations: Kitchen Before Photos

I am super excited about our new kitchen--it has so much potential and I have so many ideas! I'm not sure how much renovating we'll actually get done in this room before we move in--painting is first priority--but looking for inspiration is fun :)

We're planning to paint the kitchen white and most likely do something different with the countertops.  We like white counters as well as butcher block, so at this point we're kind of exploring cost options and going from there!  Under normal circumstances we wouldn't be talking about tackling all of these renovations right off the bat, but with this time gap before we move all of our stuff in, getting as much done as we can kind of just makes sense. :)

source

source

source

Can't wait to cook something yummy in this space!

-J