A LITTLE UPDATE || and a sweet treat recipe

So sorry for the leave of absence last week!

It was a busy week with design clients, getting the cottage ready for a long term guest, and life with my two little ladies and one big man!  But, I thought I would post a few photos of the latest happenings here at our home.  And a cream puff recipe that is so easy, you will want to whip up a batch 'just because'!

I finally ordered furniture for the living room!  We have about 4 weeks until it arrives so I am hoping to have the living room painted and ready when the furniture arrives.

Matt is patching cracks and repairing an old ceiling leak.  The bonus of living with a contractor who is also a perfectionist…..the cracks get fixed before painting.

I am more of a 'i-just-want-paint-in-the-walls' kind of girl. I would have this room painted during one nap time.  Now, it wouldn't look nearly AS  good, but I would feel good about having paint on the walls.  Matt's approach is more along the lines of….puddy every hole, patch + texture every crack, cut in perfectly, paint the ceiling…..you get the picture.  I am slowly {after almost 12 years of marriage} learning that his approach is actually better than mine and always results in a great finished product.  So, the living room may actually take me closer to 4 weeks to paint ;-)

There are some built-ins in the hallway.  They provide excellent storage!  They all had brass knobs that were in great shape.  I painted the knobs black and I love how a simple change can make such a big impact!

See what I mean??

The bedrooms are all connected by this great {long} hallway.  I have been busy touching up paint, caulking and scrubbing.

Won't this hall look beautiful with all of our new black doors?!?  Matt is ordering the doors this week, I will keep you posted!  Matt replaced the lights for me and it instantly changed the look and feel of the hallway.

Here it is now with the new lights, painted hardware and some plates on the walls.

I am working on some family photos to hang on another wall in the hallway.

So, as you can see, the list of projects is pretty long.  But, we love having little projects and we really love our new home!

Now, to keep my sweet husband going with the list of projects seems too long, I often bake him something sweet.  A couple of weeks ago I made a batch of chocolate cream puffs.  A friend reminded me how easy {and tasty} they are, so I found an old recipe I had and give them a try.  Sure thing….they are so good!!

Chocolate Cream Puffs

Ingredients

1 cup water 1/2 cup butter (one cube) 1 cup all-purpose flour 4 large eggs Bavarian pastry cream Melting chocolate

Directions

1. Mix the dough.  In a medium saucepan on medium-high heat, place one cup of water and one stick (1/2 cup) of butter.  After the butter is melted, turn off heat and add one cup all-purpose flour all at once.  Stir until the dough forms a ball and flour is absorbed.
2. Place dough ball in your stand-type mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until the dough starts to cool, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the eggs all at once and mix on low speed until the dough absorbs the eggs and the dough becomes very sticky. This will take about 8 to10 minutes.
3. Bake the cream puffs.  With a large spoon or ice cream scoop (1/4 cup), spoon mounds of evenly spaced dough onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and then turn the oven down to 350 degrees for another 10 minutes. You can also use a small cookie scoop as shown in the pictures. You'll just need to lower the baking time to 15 minutes at 400 degrees and then turn down to 350 for another 7 minutes.
4. Fill the cream puffs with Bavarian cream.  If you are using a scratch recipe, make a horizontal slit in the edge of each cream puff and slip a large spoonful of cream into each cream puff.  If you are using professional Bavarian cream, insert the tip of the plastic bag into the edge of each cream puff and squeeze.

Melt the chocolate.  Melt your chocolate in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time until melted.  Do not overheat the chocolate.  You can either dip the tops of the cream puffs into the chocolate or spoon chocolate over the cream puffs.  Let the chocolate set before serving.

Enjoy!

THE HEART OF HOSPITALITY || and it's not all about me

Hospitality has been growing in my heart for the past few months.  Isn't it the ache of every human heart to be known and loved?  I get way too caught up in entertaining and 'putting on a show' {which can be a lot of fun!!} instead of focusing on sweet people around me.

I should be use to the fact that we always have a project going at our home.  Now that we have moved, we have a lot of projects, and no furniture.  It's the perfect storm for me!  I LOVE to create and work on projects, I can easily get lost in them and forget about people outside of my walls.

It's been a about 7 weeks since we moved.  God has really placed on my heart being hospitable.  Opening our home and lives to others.  Loving on people and not being so concerned about having a perfectly cleaned or decorated home.

It's hard on my pride to open up my home to people when my home is not furnished or decorated/designed how I want it to be.  Not that I have always had a perfect home, or one that was perfectly decorated.  But sometimes it's in the least expected times that I realize I am selfish and prideful.  Ugh.

This weekend we had a lovely little family over for dinner.  We have only met a few times.  We really didn't know anything about them, and they didn't know anything about us, other than they are nice and have two darling little girls just a bit older {6 months} than our girls.

That's what it's about.  Opening our homes when they aren't perfect, because really, when are they ever perfect?  Sharing food, and laughter, and stories.  It's about relationships.  I can get so caught up in everything else and forget to focus on the hearts of others.

When our 'new friends' came over, I kept wanting to apologize.  Apologize that I didn't have furniture,  that there were toys everywhere, that I didn't have dinner perfectly displayed…..

But, when we are invited to someone's home, I just love being there.  Talking.  Doing life.  I don't care about their decorations, their furniture, if the food is perfect.

So, this weekend was a bit of a stretch for me.  To open our home to others who don't 'know our story'.  They don't know that we always seem to have a project, or we like to fix things up.  And I don't want my identity wrapped up in that.  I want to love on others.  I want my girls to see that first hand.  I want them to love on others and be hospitable.

As I come up with easy hospitably tips, I will be sure to share them here.  It's so much easier to have people into our homes when we don't feel like it's a big deal.  Don't you think?? If you have tips, I would love to hear them!!

MATT'S HOME OFFICE || the next project

Hello!  I hope you had a fun and restful weekend!

As you may have noticed, I have been tackling the small rooms in our new home.  I feel very overwhelmed at decorating  and furnishing a 4200 s.f. home, especially when we sold 90% of our furniture to our home buyers!

I love, love, love creating and decorating.  But, with little ones, the time I can spend on my own home is so limited…..so, the little rooms are providing me instant gratification ;-)

The next 'little room' on the list is Matt's office.

It's a darling little room right off of the living room.

It's got it's own entrance, a closet and a fireplace.  It's lacking good lighting, but that's a project for down the road.  Until then, I will add lighting with table lamps and a floor lamp.

This is one of my inspiration photos.  I want this room to feel masculine, but still flow with the rest of our home.

Beautiful tufted leather furniture is not in the budget for the office.  But paint and accessories are!  Matt's really pushing for the bear skin…..

We are going to paint the wood shelves white.  See those two little patches of drywall under the windows?  We are going to paint those white too, then the entire wall will look built in.  The walls will be a dark, rich blue, I will post the name of the color when I show 'AFTER' photos.

We are replacing the interior doors with a 3 panel door that will be painted black.  Very masculine….right?!?  Matt is going to build a desk.  We can't seem to agree on what desk will fit, so, he decided to build his own….

I think I am going to get this floor lamp.  Remember when I said I felt overwhelmed at needing to furnish and decorate our new home?  Well, on the flip side, it's really fun to get to buy new items and find used treasures to re-purpose.  If we hadn't sold our furniture, I would be working with what we had.  So I guess it's a blessing {in disguise}.

The new hall lights arrived Friday, I can't wait to show you what we are doing in the hallway!

Until then, I am off to go paint night stands I bought for our bedroom.  I have about 30 minutes left in Savanna's nap time, so I bet get moving ;-)

A QUICK BED TRANSFORMATION || and my baby turns 3

Good morning friends!!

I thought I would show you a quick furniture 'BEFORE + AFTER'.  And a testament to how easy Chalk Paint® is to work with!!

A friend was re-decorating her guest bedroom and asked if we wanted the Queen bed.  Of course I said yes!

I loved the lines of it.  We wanted a Queen bed for the guest bedroom….it was just made to be :-)

I painted it GRAPHITE.  I didn't sand or prime.  Just wiped it down with a clean cloth and started to paint.  It took two coats to get a really nice finish. I applied 1 coat of CLEAR WAX and it was ready to be set up in the guest bedroom the same day I painted.  Talk about instant gratification!

The guest room isn't finished/decorated, but I wanted to show you how the bed turned out.

I am addicted to this paint.  It makes painting so enjoyable and rewarding!

Now I need to find a table and lamp.  I am thinking a red table could look really darling in this room…..don't you think?!?

And, I thought I had some great pictures of my birthday girl.  Turns out, just a lot of videos and phone pictures.  This is a photo of when she crawled out of bed….her room was full of balloons when she woke up.  I got that idea from a friend {fill the bedroom with balloons while they sleep} and she was so excited when she woke up!

We spoiled her with lots of sugar, a new bike, and a trip to see her first movie at the theater.  Did anybody else cry like a baby at the FROZEN movie?  Oh I was a mess!  I think I can thank motherhood for that!

OK, off to {hopefully} finish up my chores at the vacation rental for the week!!

THE NURSERY || savanna's room

Hello and happy Monday!

I finished decorating my sweet baby's room last week.  She just turned 10 months, so before long, we will be re-decorating for a big girl room.

Where does time go? Seriously!  We celebrated Addilyn's {and mine, well, not my 3rd, just my birthday ;-} 3rd birthday yesterday!  3 years old!  I will post pictures later this week.  Until then, here are some photos of Savanna's room….

Her room when we moved in….

and her room now.  One of the many great things about our new home, is the abundance of natural light!  There is really no need for lights during the day, even our dark-gray-Pacific NW days.

I painted the crib 'VERSAILLES' {Chalk Paint®}.  It took two coats.  I lightly sanded the edges and waxed it with a clear wax.

As you already know from here, I painted a chalk board wall in her room.  I love chalk board paint! I love the way that it looks, and it serves a practical purpose.

All of the bedrooms in our new home were already painted this wonderful soft gray.  It's light but softens the room.  It's the perfect backdrop for bright colors!

Matt made this shelf years ago when we were first married.  I painted it 'CHATEAU GREY', lightly sanded the edges and waxed with a clear wax.  I added a few treasures I had lying around the house.

Matt's mom gave me this dresser a few years ago. I sanded it down and painted it with milk paint.  Last week I added some fun and colorful knobs {from our shop} and it adds a touch of whimsy.

And finally, a little wall with hanging plates.  I love adding plates and dishes to walls!  It can be an inexpensive way to decorate walls, and it's a lot of fun.

Well, there you have her little room.

I will check in later this week with pictures of the birthday girl!

Now I am off to take a birthday girl to the doctor for her annual check up, and then meet up with some old friends.  We will be planning the food and decorating for a dear friend's funeral this week.  She passed away unexpectedly, last Thursday.  We know she is in heaven, but if you think of it, please say a prayer for her grieving family….

PROGRESS ON ADDILYN'S ROOM || and moving on to the baby's room

Hello and happy Monday!  I have a really sick babe this morning, so our Monday will involve cuddling and watching a lot of Olympics.  But, I thought I would pop in and show some progress photos of Addilyn's bedroom.

Her room is slowly coming together!  I love this rug {Dash + Albert}.  I can toss it in the washing machine, let it hang dry and it's back and ready for action in just a few hours.

Matt built her a headboard when she starting sleeping in her 'big girl bed'.  Eventually he will build her a bed, but for now this works great.  The headboard was originally painted with green milk paint.  When we moved, I painted in 'Scandinavian Pink', distressed it and waxed it.  I love it because you see the green underneath!

I painted her dresser and the shelf 'Scandinavian Pink' as well.  That's the beauty of Chalk Paint, you can paint virtually any surface and really create fun pieces of furniture!

I would like to add a few more canvases to her room.  The colors match perfectly and she really loves looking at family pictures.

Well, that's all I have time for this morning.  Off to tend to my sick one.

Have a great Monday and I will be back tomorrow with a fun sweet treat recipe!

xoxo~Darci

BLACK DOORS :: and a little bling

 Matt and I have been married 11 years.  It really does seem like we were just married…..time sure flies!  When we were newlyweds, our heated discussions were usually about family, work or money.  Geesh, I was a selfish young bride!  Thank goodness those heated discussions are pretty few and far in between.  Do you know what most of our heated discussions are about now?

Homes and spaces.  

It sounds really shallow.  Like maybe that's the only thing we are passionate about.  But, I assure you that's not the case!  I could really get into boring details here, but I will spare you.

A few days ago, we had heated discussion….it went a little like this.

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Me : What do you think about me painting the interior doors {at the new house} black?  And maybe adding some pretty glass door knobs?

Matt : I don't think you should paint them.  If I have time, I would like to make new doors. INSERT me rolling my eyes.

Me :  When are you going to find time to just widdle up 8-10 interior doors.  I think painting them would look great.

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Matt :  It could look great, or REALLY BAD.  If you don't want me to make them, then I think we should buy new doors.

Me : I think that's a little over kill, do we really need to buy all new doors?  I just wanted to paint them and add pretty hardware.

Matt : What do you mean 'add pretty hardware?'  You started out with wanting to paint the doors.

Me : Yes, but you can't paint them and not add new hardware.

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Matt : OK, well that is going to get expensive.  So, if you don't want to do ANY OTHER improvements, we can buy new doors and hardware.

Me : Are you talking about buying doors made of solid gold? What do you mean we can't do ANY OTHER improvements?

Matt : If we are going to do it, I want to do it right.

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Me : Well, what if we buy 1 door and handle set at a time?  We can change it out as I finish {decorating} each room.

Matt : No, if I am going to have to paint or finish doors, I want to do them all at once.  Plus, I want to change out all of the hardware at once.

Me : How about you don't worry about it and you just let me do my thing.

Matt : Under his breath 'it's going to look like cra*'.

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Me : I don't need your help.  I was just being polite by asking your opinion.  I will do it ALL myself.

Matt : You know how to change out door knobs?

Me : Yes, plus I have my own tools, I can figure it out.

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Matt : You know what?  You are right, we can just do 1 at a time.  You can try painting them, and if you don't like how they turn out, we can just replace them one at a time.

He is a good man.

Pictures to follow, after we move in ;-)

Have you painted your interior doors a color other than white?

A LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT

I have been pretty busy with various design jobs, but not really any jobs that make for good 'before and after' photos.  Offices, bathrooms, material selections, etc., spaces or things that just don't photograph well.  Matt has been busy with drawing plans and various jobs that just don't photograph well either! But, in the next few months I will have some great photos to share with you!!

So today, I just have a little of this and that…..

My goal for the next month is to paint all of the random pieces that I have been collecting, but haven't taken the time to paint.

I must be craving some blue in my life! This morning I realized that the pieces I have been painting over the last few days are all blue.

I have also been working on painting cabinet doors with Chalk Paint®.  It really helps to have a big chunk of color when deciding on what color to use for a project!

My little helper!

I made Pioneer Woman's pretzel turtles this morning.  They are REALLY good!  Mine don't look as pretty as her's, but they sure taste good!

They are perfect little treats for delivering with Christmas cards.

I need to give them away because I am afraid I will eat them all!

We carry DASH & ALBERT rugs at the Studio….I love them!

I am going to use this rug in Addilyn's new bedroom.  I am also going to move the dresser from the master bedroom into her bedroom.  Don't you love the green dresser next to the rug?!? So fun!

I am going to paint Addilyn's bed and night stand 'SCANDINAVIAN PINK'.  I think it will be a fun pop of color!  Pictures coming soon!

Until then, have a great week!!

ADDILYN'S NEW ROOM :: a toddler's room

Hi friends!

Remember this post I wrote last week?  Well, you won't believe what has transpired in the last 7 days.  I will go into more detail in the next few weeks, but for now, just know it has been pure craziness {in a good way} at the Haney household.  My shift has focused from re-decorating our master bedroom, to cleaning/packing/organizing because we are going to be moving soon!

One of the many things I am excited about, is that the girls will each have their own room.  Now, since my head has been whirling with decorating ideas, I figured it might help calm my crazy mind if I start getting ideas on paper. I thought you might enjoy seeing the ideas too!?!

Here is a snap shot of the look I am going for in Addilyn's room.

Bright, fun, bold and a bit eclectic, just like my girl!

When we moved back into our house {almost 2 years ago} I didn't take the time to decorate Addilyn's room.  I just used what we had, and knew in a few years we would start working on built-ins and really take the time to decorate.

I love the bright colors in her room now, but I am going to go even brighter!  I think it will fit her bright and bold personality perfectly!

And, just for kicks, a picture of her darling little Christmas tree.  Please don't mind the tree stand….we found an old pot, filled it with sand and water and it works perfectly ;-)

Next post, ideas for sweet Savanna's room…...

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Matt is working on a remodel for a sweet couple outside of Dayton.  After his first meeting with them at their property {they just bought the home}, Matt started to convince me that we needed acreage. {wink}  Their setting is really neat....private and surrounded by farms.  The front of their property is full of Christmas trees.....

And they were gracious enough to allow us to cut our tree {s} from their property.  Friday {after Thanksgiving} we headed over to pick out our Christmas tree, Addilyn even got her own darling little tree for her bedroom.

Aren't those trees beautiful?

Now, having grown up on a Christmas tree farm, it was never a big deal for our family to get a tree.  My mom would usually just grab one, while my dad was gone at work.

No big deal.

But, since our little family of 4 doesn't live on a Christmas tree farm, it's fun to make a big deal of it!  You know....loud Christmas music, hot chocolate and cookies......

Can you believe it has taken us over 4 days to decorate our tree?  And we still are not done!  See that rogue baby under the tree?  She is one of the reasons it takes so long to decorate ;-)

And there she is again, under the tree skirt.....

Addilyn and I made a paper chain for the tree.  A 10' tree requires a lot of paper chain!!

Our beautiful tree provided extra fresh greens for a little decorating around the house.

I actually snagged the cedar from our of our Cedar trees.  I love fresh cedar!!

A wood crate filled with greens {and a few magnolia sprigs}, flameless candles and a white bird.

A basket filled with greens, books and birds for our outside dining table.

Window boxes filled with greens and ornaments {on Matt's wood shop}.

And a few greens for the front porch!

I have a feeling it may take me all month to decorate for Christmas.....but that is part of the fun!!

A SEASON OF THANKFULNESS

Wednesday night I was hit hard with a stomach bug.  Oh it was bad.  Maybe worse than childbirth?!?  Not sure.  Regardless, it's been several years since I was so sick.  As I laid in bed Wednesday night, I prayed that my little ones wouldn't get sick.

They didn't.

And I was reminded once again that I have so much to be thankful for!

Thankful that I get to squeeze this face every.single.day.

Thankful that I get to tuck this one into bed every.single.night.

Thankful for the luxury of grocery shopping and the ability to fill my refrigerator on a regular basis.

Thankful for a little chunk of earth to grow a garden.....even in the winter.

Thankful for a child healthy enough to play outside.

The door leading to our garage is right next to our kitchen.  I painted part of the door with Chalk Board paint, it's a fun place to right messages and notes.

Every day for the month of November, I have seen this reminder on my kitchen door ~ 'today we are thankful for....'

I often forget that this is the season of intentional gratefulness.  I sometimes have to stop myself in my busy tracks and say thank you.  I take so much for granted.  Motherhood has taught me to be intentional.  To stop and pay attention.    To notice the simple joys in life, because I might not have tomorrow.... 

EASY HALLOWEEN NIGHT MENU :: easy home made dinner

I love to host parties and have friends and family over for any occasion.  Sometimes I have the time to prepare food and decorate, other times I don't.  I always want my focus to be on just spending time together, now how perfect everything looks or tastes!  I have found the more complicated I make food and entertaining, the more I am stressed and tired, and the food typically doesn't even turn out that good! We are having a few friends over for a quick Halloween dinner.  We all have littles to take trick-or-treating, so it will be a quick dinner, a stop in between the Halloween festivities!

I know we all have our 'go-to' easy-peasy meals, but I thought I would share a couple of my favorites!  These dishes have to pass the test of easy, tasty and can-be-made-in-advance!

Here is our Halloween menu ::

home made HERBED RICOTTA with pita chips

This home made herbed ricotta is so good....and so easy!!!  {I use the ricotta for the lasagna.}

EASY LASAGNA

I love this lasagna because it is easy and versatile.  I can make it the night before and just keep it in the refrigerator until an hour before dinner!

CRANBERRY & AVOCADO SALAD

 PW CHEESY GARLIC BREAD {half with garlic and half without garlic for the kiddos}

And for drinks :: HOT COCOA and HOT APPLE CIDER

I figure we won't have any dessert since we will probably be eating too much candy ;-)

I hope have a great Halloween!!

THE 'M' BEHIND MD HANEY & CO.

You all know my sweet husband is the 'M' of MD HANEY & CO.  The master contractor behind the studio's constant renovations.  We have been married for 11 years and we have worked side by side for 10 of those years.

Our first project together was a darling little home in McMinnville.  An old bungalow;  and we added a master suite.  That led to building a new home in the historic part of McMinnville.  It was a new home, built to look old.  Full of character and style.....our favorite!  It was a fantastic example of Matts' technical building abilities, creativities, and eye for design.

We have been so blessed to be able to 'do what we love'.  There are hard days, challenging projects, and really long to-do lists.

But, Matt is able to do what he loves,  I am able to do what I love, and we work hard at supporting each other.

We have some exciting things in the 'works', and I can't wait to see what the future holds!

Thank you friends, family, customers and clients for being so supportive!!

NEXT CHALK PAINT® CLASS :: and a few pictures from this weekend

I hope you had a lovely weekend.  The weather here was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!  Love Fall!!

Just a quick note to say that the next Chalk Paint® {bring your own piece} class is Monday, November 4th.

These classes are a lot of fun!  You get to use our supplies, learn tips and tricks for working with Chalk Paint® {and the wax} and you go home with your own little finished piece of furniture!

I have quite a few 'maybes' for this class, if it fills up fast, I will offer another one towards the end of November.

And, since it's pretty boring to just post about an upcoming class, I thought I would share a few photos from this weekend....

We skipped church Sunday morning {Addilyn had a little cold} and headed up to Saint Honore Bakery.  Have you been there???  It's our favorite!!

Addilyn LOVES pastries....but she REALLY LOVES her daddy.

Sweet.

We also like to go walking around the lake {Lake Oswego} and the fountains.

Costco was also on our list.

We nailed it!

They had good samples and we left with a cart full of ridiculous groceries and spending way too much money.  As soon as we got the car loaded with food, and girls buckled in, Addilyn informed us she needed to go potty.

Oh boy.

Have a great week friends!!

FALL SPECIAL :: the loft {nightly accommodations in wine country}

I hope you had a wonderful Labor day weekend!!  We sure did....we labored, played and rested....it was just perfect!

We have been trying to soak up these last few days of summer.  We went to the Farmers' Market last week and had rain, crazy winds and beautiful, warm sunshine, all within 15 minutes!!

I have been busy with a few different design projects so I just thought I would pop in to say hello and offer a special for the LOFT.

The LOFT has been crazy busy this summer.  A huge blessing as I wasn't sure how travelers would respond to renting just one room, as opposed to the entire house.  While it was great having a couple of our homes as vacation rentals, it was A.LOT.OF.WORK.  The LOFT is much easier to clean/manage/maintain.  As a huge thank you to our wonderful guests, we are offering a free night October 15th-November 15th.  Just mention the 'website fall special' when booking two nights, and you will get a third night free!

I plan to take a few more house photos and post them soon!!  I just need to wrap up my design projects and spend my extra time loving on my little family....

xoxo~Darci

OUR HOME :: living room + kitchen

Hello and happy Tuesday!

I hope you had a great weekend!  Last week Matt and I had a fun interview.  The interviewer asked if I had photos of our home on the blog.....oops.....I realized I don't have many photos of our home!  Soooo, I thought I would post a few over the next couple of weeks.  It's a great incentive for me to tidy up and finish a few projects!

We renovated our home almost 9 years ago. but I will share those photos and details on another post.

Today, I thought I would share our living room and kitchen.

We have a long hallway/entryway.  When you 'round the corner', the space opens up to our living room and kitchen.

My oh-so-talented hubby built the cabinets.  They have held up really well to all of the abuse I give them.  But, we do plan on repainting them this winter...

When we remodeled this home, we were young newlyweds with a small budget.

I would have done things a little differently if our budget had allowed.  Our one splurge in the kitchen, was the 36" dual-fuel WOLF oven.  I use that baby everyday and I am so glad we scraped our pennies for her!

I LOVE my island!  Matt milled down quarter-sawn white oak to make a countertop that can comfortably seat six.

This is a hard working island!

If I am not using it for cooking, we are eating at it, doing crafts on it, or some other ridiculously, crazy project.

You can see the microwave is tucked into the island.  I love that it is out of eye sight, but still easy to use.

When we repaint the cabinetry this winter, I am thinking of painting the island a lighter color.  What do you think?  Stay dark, or lighten it up a bit?

The kitchen opens right up to the living room.  This space truly is the heart of our home!

I am always changing out the pillows.  I have a ridiculous stash!

I usually sew my own pillow covers.  It's less expensive than always buying new, and I can pick the perfect fabric for the look I want.  I found these pillows at Pier 1 and I had to snag them!  Sometimes a girl just wants to buy a pillow and not have to sew:-)

Love fresh flowers in the house, especially sunflowers!

I am always changing out the decorations on the mantel.  As soon as Autumn arrives, I will change everything up again!

This window seat is Addilyn's favorite area.

We keep toys and books in the open cubbies.  Kids can easily get to the toys, and I can easily throw them back in the baskets at the end of the day.

It's a great little 'kids' corner that is tucked to the side of the living room.  It can get messy, but it's out of the main walking path, so it's not a big deal to have books and toys scattered about.

The living room leads to our new covered deck.  I love that the covered deck almost doubled our living space!

And, just in case you thought I was neglecting my sweet-peas during my little photo session, they were right there in the middle of it ;-)

We love us some Sesame Street at our house.  Addilyn gets to watch TV for an hour, and I get some work done...it's a win-win for both of us!

Thanks for taking a peek into our little home.  Come back next week for more photos!  Until then, have a lovely day!

~Darci

A COUPLE OF GIVE AWAYS :: to celebrate Carlton's Walk in the Park

Hello friends,

We are super excited to be participating in Carlton's a Walk in the Park this year!  We have volunteered and attended almost every year, but never participated.  In all honesty, I feel completely overwhelmed at trying to get a booth together, but I know it will all work out.....it always does!  Matt is going to help me at the booth all weekend, and we always have fun together, so I am looking forward to spending some time with my man!!

 We will have some special incentives, gifts and give-aways for you guys, it's going to be great!

Sign up {via the blog} to receive blog posts directly to your inbox, and 'like' us on FACE BOOK, and you will be entered for a chance to win a breakfast picnic basket.

The basket will be full of great breakfast items.....coffee, baked goods, jam, honey and more....a $75 value.

**If you already receive our blog via email, and have "liked" us on FACEBOOK, just leave a comment and I will enter your name in the drawing.**

Come visit us as Carlton's a Walk in the Park.

Purchase $200 work of Chalk Paint supplies, and receive a free FARM BELLE  jam, honey creame or marion berry syrup.

Farm Belle products are locally made and they are sooooo tasty!

We will also have Chalk Paint demonstrations, custom painted furniture {for sale} and all sorts of fun things!  Looking forward to seeing you next weekend!

Oh, and the design studio will not be open next Friday, August 16th.

We will be setting up our booth.  If you need supplies, just call or email and I can meet you at the design studio and get you stocked and ready to paint!

xoxo~Darci

SAVANNA LYNN :: a few photos

 About a month ago, we had some photos taken of our sweet little Savanna Lynn.

Addilyn affectionately calls her 'baby Vanna.'

I never thought motherhood would be so amazing.

It's hard, fun, messy and rewarding...all at the same time.

This little one has captured my heart.

Everyone was right, you have room in your heart to love more than one child.

Some days are harder than others, but I wouldn't change it for the world!

What a privilege and blessing to be able to raise two little ladies.

Oh....and in other news,  Matt just bought a dirt bike....I think it's a coping mechanism for being the only guy in the house :-)

xoxo~Darci

'HOMEMADE' CINNAMON ROLLS :: a sweet {breakfast} treat

 

Every Friday morning, I bake a batch of 'homemade' cinnamon rolls.

I make a big pan for our breakfast, and a mini pan for guests staying at the LOFT.  The guests are always asking for the recipe so I thought I would share it.  You won't believe how easy these are!!

CINNAMON ROLLS

2 loaves of frozen bread dough, thawed (I use RHODES, they come 5 to a bag) 6 tablespoons of butter, softened 1 cup of brown sugar 4 tablespoons of cinnamon 1/3 cup of sugar butter icing glaze (recipe below)

Thaw two loaves of frozen bread dough in the refrigerator or on the counter - I just follow the directions on the bag.  Allow the thawed dough to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm area covered with a damp cloth.  Roll the dough out into a rectangle onto a floured surface.  Spread softened butter on the rolled out dough.  Sprinkle sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon over the dough.  Roll up the dough into a log.  Slice into 2-inch thick rolls.  Place into a buttered pan.  Cover with a warm damp towel and allow to rise 2-4 hours (or overnight) in a warm area.  When the rolls have doubled in size, bake them at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes until they begin to brown.  Top with Butter Icing Glaze.

BUTTER ICING GLAZE

 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of milk

powdered sugar

Melt butter with milk in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Add powdered sugar until the glaze is the right consistancy - it just be perfectly smooth - no lumps.

Enjoy!!

PS ~ I found the recipe here

CANON BEACH :: a 4th of July tradition

Have you been to Canon Beach?

It is one of my favorite beach towns {in Oregon}!  The shops, the food, the houses, the ocean, I love everything about it!

Three years ago, a friend told us that the entire city celebrates the 4th of July.  That they have a darling parade and great fireworks.  She was so right!

It has now become a tradition.....starting with breakfast at the Canon Beach Bakery....

Cheering on the participants in the parade.....

Packing a picnic for the beach.....

The past two years, we also did a lot of shopping.  Funny thing; a 2 year old and 2 month old aren't really into shopping....

So, this year we didn't check out any of the darling little shops, looks like we will just have to make another trip later this month ;-)

Hope you and your family had a lovely 4th....we are so very blessed to live in a free country!!

xoxo~Darci