New Year's Day Project

Britton and I have a big project we will be working on New Year' Day!  Can you tell what it is??

I hope our finished product turns out just as good as these inspiration photos!  Happy Tiling!

Combine Eggs, Milk & "Flower"

Image via Apartment Therapy.

Ten Favorite Design Products of 2009

As 2009 draws to a close, it is time for the countdowns of 2009!  I love countdowns.  Recently I was asked to participated in a survey of interior designers' favorite products for 2009.  I only had to list five, but for this post I have extended my favorites to a Top Ten List. So here it is - completely unscientific and completely biased- my favorite products of 2009.

10.  Affordable Carpet Tiles

9.  Nouveau Tile

8.  Mosaic Glass Tiles

7. Cast Iron Clawfoot Tubs

6.  Black Walnut Butcher Block

5.  Hex Tiles

4.  Murray Feiss Lighting

3.  Reclaimed Heart Pine Floors

2.  Honed Marble or Granite- when sealed honed marble and granite shows less scratches than polished stone does.  Honed Carrera Marble and Honed Absolute Black Granite are my two favorites.

1.  Benjamin Moore Paint has the absolute best colors.

So there it is.  Disclaimer: The links listed are not the only manufacturers that make these products (Except for Murray Feiss Lighting & Benjamin Moore Paint).  I could have listed many more manufacturers but for the sake of time I only listed one.

Christmas Carols

A friend introduced me to the Sufjan Stevens' Songs for Christmas this year.  It has been my favorite Christmas CD for 2009! Even though it is not a new release, it is new to me.  It is going to be perfect for the background music during our family Christmas dinner!

Deck the Halls

Merry Christmas!

 

*Images via Southern Living, Country Living, and A Life's Design.

Living Fireplace

My office Christmas party was last week.  Along with great food and lots of laughs, the Christmas party always offers the highly anticipated Dirty Santa (White Elephant) gift swap.  This year I could not find anything around the house to regift but I found the Living Fireplace DVD from Tuesday Morning. One of my co-workers selected the DVD.  The next morning he infomed me that he got the best gift of the evening.  They had watched it the next morning and the sound from the DVD sounded like a real wood burning fireplace.

The DVD reminded me of the article in the December 2008 issue of Cottage Living.  Lee Kleinhelter's house was featured in the magazine.  I love her style.  In her living room she had a living fireplace on the television when the room was photographed.

While on the subject of fireplaces, Britton and I tested the fireplace insert in our house last night.  While I hope that this insert will not be in our house much longer, we wanted to give it a whirl to see what all the craze was about when these were popular in the 70's.

I have to say that I much prefer being able to see the fire rather than having it behind the doors on the insert.  But there is something wonderful about a fireplace on a cold evening!

I also wouldn't mind having a fire pit like the one in the article in Cottage Living!

* Images via Cottage Living

Sweet n' Sour

Angie found a lemon tonight. She has been throwing it and chasing it around the house. I guess she hasn't realized how sour it is or maybe she has yet to bite into it.

It reminds me of the time our niece Eden came to visit and she was fascinated by the taste of lemons.  Her face definitely said she didn't like the taste, but she kept eating it anyway! I love the face she made after every bite!

PASSED!

As I mentioned in a previous post I took the national professional exam for interior design back in October.  I have been anxiously awaiting the results.  I did not think I would receive the results until after the new year, but I found out Wednesday that I PASSED!  I am so relieved that I do not have to take this two day test again!

I love fireworks... they actually make my list of top three favorite things!  What a great way to celebrate!

Decorating for Christmas and Loading Cabinets

We finally decorated our Christmas tree on Friday night. We we watched one of my favorite Chirstmas Movies, Christmas Vacation, while we decorated the tree and worked on the kitchen.

Angie was intrigued by the movie. Lately we have noticed that Angie will turn her head to watch the TV at night. She is so CUTE! I enjoyed moving all the dishes, pots and pans, and small appliances from our living room cabinets to the new kitchen cabinets.
The doors are not yet installed on the upper cabinets, but we are so close!

12 Hours of Work

After a full day of work on Saturday, we made so much progress on the kitchen. We put the hardware on the drawers, put the doors on the base cabinets, painted the upper cabinet doors, installed the vent hood, mudded, sanded, and painted walls and ceilings, and then we just enjoyed the view.

Sights and Smells of Christmas

I have not yet decorated for Christmas at our house. I don't expect to go all out with the Christmas decorations this year (as you can imagine from the state of the renovation), but I hope to have a few signs of the season around the house. Yesterday I bought a Thymes Frasier Fir Candle. My sister-in-law Whitney gave my mother-in-law one of these candles last Christmas and I loved the smell of a real tree without the mess! Now atleast my house smells like Christmas!

(Photo via Southern Living)