One wall:: several looks

I originally titled this post 'chill time' because I'm determined to no longer be in worker~bee mode on my house. But, after pulling the post together it became a story on how this one wall in my dining room has changed over the past 3 plus years. Just when I didn't want to/didn't have the energy to change anything in the dining room, the change kindof snuck up on me.

Now that this cute gray wine hutch is in place I'm that much closer to being able to kick up my feet and actually relax around here!

In our never ending struggle to pull our master bedroom together it was decided that this zinc'ified' console was better suited upstairs. The small wine fridges have been dispersed in order to make way for the new wine hutch.

The mirror and botanicals have stayed in place for the past few years, but that's about all.  A view of the zinc table just a few months ago, before the major de-clutter that took place after the kitchen reno. 

Zinc with extra wine storage underneath.

Before it was turned to zinc and with extra dining room seating stored underneath.

When the table was first painted a chalky gray:

And the buffet/server that was here the year before.

EEK, a flashback to the beginning of 2009!  What this wall looked like pre-industrial mirror, pre-toning down the gold botanical frames and pre-neutral decor. The gray server in pic above was shiny and dark just like my dining room table used to be.

Let's leave things on a good and more current note shall we?!  Something new that wasn't handed down and I didn't have to paint it!  Any bets on how long this wall will stay as is?  Don't even go there....  ☺

This is where the 'chill time' theme really comes in:

My girlfriend is headed here for the long holiday weekend and the entire upstairs of the house will be 100% completed (right hubby??!!!!!).  At least I'm hoping that the arrival of my weekend guest on Friday will motivate him to do away with all of the piles of clothing and business invoices within the next day. Not only so my guest can find the guest bed and actually get into it but so I can take photos for YOU to see our great progress!

The guest bedroom and the master bedroom have undergone big transformations and I'm D.O.N.E. for awhile. No more painting. No more reorganizing. No more schlepping furniture around. Everything is as functional and organized as we can get it while feeling updated and fresh.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing girl-weekend! 

xo~
T

The big day!

It's back to school for the public schools here in Houston today.

We made family time a priority this past weekend and snuck in some fun treats like ice-skating, kids movies and swimming.

We were all smiles with butterfly tummies this morning {I totally had flutters in my tummy too!}.

Here's to a great day back for all of our precious little ones and a success-filled school year!

 Hugs~

Tricia

a new blog post

Funny how just when you think the world is too caught up in last minute summer getaways or back to school to read blogs AND instagram/pinterest have taken over the blog-o-sphere ~ you get texts and emails urging you to "update your bloody blog already". 

Well the truth is I have nothing to post but for the sake of satisfying my impatient family and close friends, here is a new blog post. Ha!

There's been a quite the flurry of activity around the casa this past week as we've gotten off our rear ends and started dumping the master bedroom and ridding ourselves of roll racks of clothing and clutter. It's a new day and I can't wait to share it all with you!

Just as soon as I spend some quality time with my little one before she heads back to school on Monday.  ♥

Cheers~

Tricia

Back to school prep :: bedroom makeunder

Another weekend was spent in organization mode but this time the little one got in on the action. Unlike moi, she can't stand clutter and regularly purges her stuff, a bit too aggressively, but nevertheless she like to have clean spaces, closets and drawers.

After she suffered an organization melt down late one night last week we decided that the weekend was a good time to tackle her bedroom.  We transitioned to white, blue and black from the pink princess room 2 years ago but never quite completed it.  I painted her nightstands and commissioned her to paint a new masterpiece with the design and colors of her choice, to be placed above her bed.

Here she is getting some design ideas via google on my ipad Sunday afternoon ~ and voila ~ the finished product.

She is such an artistic girl so we wanted to incorporate her artwork into the room. Her BFF passed on a cute white desk for us to use as a homework station.  She picked out the swivel desk chair at Ikea this weekend along with a pink trash can and some small blue and pink frames. I hope plan to rotate her artwork in/out of these frames throughout the year. We'll hang on to her 'big girl' bed {canopy bed from 2 yrs old} for another year or so along with the princess TV which comes in handy for late night movies during sleepovers {only set up for DVDs, no TV in the room}.

While this may still look cluttered to many of you {yes, YOU La}, this is as good as it gets around here. We hauled doll bassinets and highchairs downstairs {which involved having to re org the game room under the stairs} along with games, toys and just junk! 

Nothing fancy or earth shattering, but a simple clean up before the chaos of the school season is upon us.

I dove in head first without taking any before pics, but it's not likely I would have shared them with you anyway, ha! 

Let's just say that her room looked something like this before we got started:

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This weekend I'm planning to spruce up the guest bedroom as I have a special house guest coming to visit over labor day weekend. 

I'm starting the feel the Sunday night blues about summer break coming to an end. She'll be moving on to another grade, another year passes and time just whizzes on by. I just want to laze around with her these next two weeks and soak up time together! 

Anyone else feeling nostalgic about back to school this year? I'm sure there's lots of mixed emotions out there. ☺

Cheers ~

Tricia

black and white bliss

With the color trends that come and go,  one combo that always works ::black and white:: crisp and timeless.

In Tenka Gammelgaard's (Danish artist) studio the black and white just draws me in.

I could stay here all day. Stripes, splotches, dots, text...it's pure heaven.

You can check out Tenka's blog here, it's a whole world of black and white.

A sweet vignette from the floor to ceiling bookcase in her bedroom.

Tenka's room mimicks her studio, with a few splashes of green.

I came across these images while searching for inspiration for my daughter's bedroom.  We are preparing for back to school by de-cluttering her room this weekend. Out with the stuffed animals and dolls and everything pink ~ and in with a desk, some Tiffany blue nightstands and accents ~ with black and white as the basis. 

Enjoy the weekend!

xo~
Tricia 

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::making waves::

It's no secret that Houston summers can turn the most well-coiffed women into walking frizzballs. 

Heat and humidity + working mom who gives herself 30 minutes to shower and get ready =

hair that looks like this on most days.

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You know I like fashion and I try to dress professional-yet-chic for work. Although I work in a very conservative environment, this messy chignon is no excuse for Monday through Friday hair.

I tried the Brazilian blow out last year and I liked it but thanks to the steep price {dollars and health risks} once was enough for me.

At the beginning of the summer I found a few tools to help get me out of the wet-hair-in-a-low-bun rut that I've been in for the past few years.  

Now on days when I can convince myself to just stop doing 'one more thing' around the house and actually get ready for work, if I use this brush (Olivia Garden Ceramic Ion brush) while drying my hair,

then wrap a few large sections of hair around this (HAI elite ceramic curling wand),

I'll get waves like this.

The wand gets super hot very quickly so it doesn't take long at all.  The best part is that the curl actually lasts all day. Prior to the wand I would use my flat iron with rounded edges to get nice waves, but as soon as I stepped outside they went flat! 

I feel like such a goof taking photos of myself but here's a side by side of my hair at 8am and at 3pm, after having my hair pulled into a pony during a one hour yoga class.

Another great thing about the wand is that you can just wrap the middle sections of hair and avoid damaging the ends.

I've battled with my thick, course hair my whole life but I finally feel like I have a good combination of products and tools. Now if I could just snap my fingers and 'poof' ~ my hair is magically dried and styled in the blink of an eye! Guess there's no tool for that out there. But I will say using a high powered Elchim hair dryer with the Olivia Garden round brush works quicker than anything else I've used. 

 

It feels good to no longer experiment with buying expensive salon stuff only to find that it doesn't even work for me. Organic shampoo, conditioner (sulfate free to protect colored hair) and styling serum from Whole Foods is the right recipe for me these days, with one small splurge from my salon (see links below).

 

I've also learned not to purchase the tools directly from the salon as you can get them for much less online {curling wand is $200 direct from the site but I only paid $69 and my blow dryer was $130 in the salon and I paid $65, both on amazon}.

My favorites with links:

Aubrey organics honeysuckle rose shampoo and conditioner 

Organix Moroccan Argan oil

Shu Uemura Extreme Urushi (splurge but a little goes a long way)

HAI Elite Ceramic Ionic Tourmaline Rod

Elchim hair dryer
Olivia Garden Ceramic & Ion Thermal Brush 

 So now I'm leaving the house with the frizzy wet bun on my head 2 days per week instead of 5.  ☺

Any other secret weapons for managing loads of crazy hair?  What keeps you sane and chic during the dreadful hair months of summer?

xo~

Tricia 

{home alone}

Max and I had the house to ourselves this weekend.
We both got our hair done on Saturday, doesn't he look handsome?

The rest of the weekend was relaxing with some fun outings, some work around the house and in the yard, rented movies, watched the olympics and finished a book. 

After having my breakfast yesterday morning....

.... while the sun streamed in through the windows I walked from room to room and felt the peace and quiet while appreciating the lack of clutter laying around {captured via instagram}.

 

Just me and my lazy pooch on a hot summer weekend.

 

It felt nice having the house to myself for the weekend, but now I'm ready for my peeps to come home. I miss them. I miss hearing them in the house and I even miss the little piles they leave behind in every room.  It's no fun only having myself to clean up after, ha!

Only one more sleep.

Happy new week.  ☺

xo~
Tricia 

Stockholm style

I have a dose of pre weekend chic~ness for you.

It took the owner {artist and designer} 3 years to design this former paint shop/warehouse located in the heart of Stockholm.  She can watch the boats in the harbor from these windows in the contemporary sitting area.

 

The clean kitchen is complete with marble and birch and loads of natural light.  Surgical lamps from the 1930s provide extra lighting above the table.

 

The rotunda holds the library, also known as the 'bubble of reading'. The center chair is a converted wheelchair from the 1930s.

How about that tub?!!  Natural light {with privacy from other buildings I hope!} and simplistic style with necessities stored in baskets.

 

One of two incredible staircases made from birch and metal. This set leads up to the studio.

Check out the etched glass on the closet doors under the stairs.

The studio.  This was formerly a paint shop then a photo studio and the owner tried to maintain the studio set up and feel. 

 

The winding metal staircase leading up to the bath area.

Love the mixture of the new, sleek metal with the crusty blue cabinet.

Show me any home with white walls and light wood floors with endless natural light streaming in and I'm instantly smitten, typically regardless of decor style.

Here's to making it to 5pm today and starting the weekend!

Hugs~
Tricia

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