Giveaway

Nicole is at again with a huge giveaway. Her friends are trying to think of a name for their lighting store and our giving aways this chandelier. Go here to have a chance at this pretty light fixture.

Favorites

My favorite blogs change often. Recently, my friend Nicole started blogging and she likes home-y blogs. She often blogs about decorating, her sister-in-laws homes and some of her own projects. I love her kitchen redo. The black look so good! So, it's because of Nicole that I started looking at the decorating blogs. From her, I have found and enjoy:

1. Nesting Place - She's the queen of window mistreatment's and even has a little club to prove it. Her style isn't necessarily the same as mine, but she's got some great ideas. Her sister at Chatting at the Sky chimes in every so often with some of her little projects. I would love to have an office/laundry room like this.
2. Bienvenue - She's been doing a tour of her house. It's fun to see how other people decorate. I found her right when she painted her ceiling and have been enjoying her tour ever since.
3. Joys of Home - I don't know how she has so much time to do all the projects she does. She's a home project machine!
4. Bless Our Nest - I would really love to go shopping with her. She has a great store called Oops by her. How I would love to go to Oops.
5. A Soft Place to Land - Kimba really likes spray paint. She's in the middle of moving and I am excited to see how she decorates the place. I love getting ideas.

And finally, my favorite home blog that I found little ol' self is This Young House. I love their style and their budget friendly ideas. They update daily and it's my favorite indulgence that I save for last kind of like saving the Target ad from the Sunday paper to read last. I would love to get my own mood board done but the problem is that I want it done for every room.

Enjoy and let me know if you like any of them too.

Home Week

I formally declare this week Home Week on my ol' bloggity-blog. For the next week, let's enjoy all things about making a house a home, decorating, decorating links and home-y blogs I enjoy.

Let's start off with the outside. I really want this house to have a nice curb appeal. It's already a lot better than our old house, but it could be soooooo much more. I just don't know how to do it but I am trying.

My mother-in-law gave me these nice planters for my birthday last year. They were planted with pansies that were so beautiful but have now died from the heat of the summer. I was looking for something pre-made to replace them so they would be full to start out. I found these planters at a local nursery for only $5 each. Score! I liked the height and the drapiness of them. I hope that I don't kill them, but for now, it added some much needed greenery.

That petunia basket was only $5 too. I love the fullness and color of it. I was in a hurry and just stuck it up on that hook in the front. I was meaning to hang it in the back, but kind of like the color it adds to the front.

I never did much with the curb appeal at our old house. I really wanted it to look cottage-y but didn't invest the effort. It was a very difficult yard to deal with. I never got past the weeding very often but I do have one picture that I love from the front door. I was taking pictures for listing the house (yet again!) and the kids wanted in on the action. The lighting wasn't the best and you can see my shadow but I just love Jake's boots and his expression and my round cheeked Mia.

Looking back, I wish that I would of added some shrubs and flowers, painted the front door something bold like red or even yellow and added the stone walkway from the carport. It doesn't seem like such a big deal to do now. We did add shutters, installed a new door and hardware, installed a new light and painted the wood fence white. That was a good start at least.