I’m on a big lighting kick right now! We’re in the process of getting a new lighting source for the store and it has me thinking overtime about lighting. Lighting is everything! JK flooring is everything….No lights…no flooring. I can’t decide which is more important…they are both just SO important.

Anyway… We’ve been working on making my boyfriends house “my girlfriend is an interior designer” worthy, (FYI my least favorite thing about my job is how big of an asshole it makes me sound like all the time.) and lighting is up next! We’re just ordering a few lights to start. A dining light, a kitchen table light, and two spare bedroom lights. Wanna see what I picked? Let me start by saying these are not easy decisions for even me to make! Lighting is an investment, and you want to be sure you’re making the right investment. I’ve been really working to be sure that my decisions and designs have longevity these days. So I wanted the lighting to be really cool but also almost classic.

For the bedrooms, I went with two of these.

First and foremost, the price was right. We didn’t want to spend a whole lot for spare bedrooms, but I wanted them to be pretty of course. These feel so classic for me, but also look so clean and fresh in a bright white room.

Pic from Mindy Gayer Design Co

For the dining table I wanted something similar. Something light, bright, and classic, yet modern. I settled on this.

How gorgeous does it look in this kitchen by fellow Indianapolis designer Whitney Parkinson?

I wanted a bit of a statement light for the dining room. Since who really uses formal dining rooms?!!? It should at least be pretty! I went with this guy!

I’m sort of obsessing over this guy. It’s just so pretty!

How freaking gorgeous is it in this project by Chango & co?

Doesn’t it feel like the perfect mix of traditional and classic in a new modern way? Obsessed! I cannot wait to get this lighting in!

Let’s just pretend the dining room looks like this….

And not covered in the metallic and bright teal paisley wallpaper of my nightmares….

Damnit, Oprah!

Leave it to Oprah to get me thinking early on a Monday and still have me thinking on Wednesday. Even if you didn’t watch the Golden Globes Sunday night, like me, you woke up Monday morning and got bombarded by her powerhouse speech of women empowerment. Maybe you’re a women. Maybe you’re teaching a little girl what it means to be a woman. Maybe you have a girlfriend, a wife, a mother, a coworker that’s a woman. Maybe you’re all of those things. Either way, there’s no one not affected by this sudden surge of women empowerment. Perhaps it’s because the trail had already been blazed for me, (I did grow up watching Oprah on TV every day after elementary school) or maybe it’s because I’m not trying to be the CEO of a major corporation, or because I’m not a politician, or an actress, but I don’t think being a woman is too bad. I’m not feeling any major social injustice. Of course, I’m 100% on board with things like better maternity leave AND better paternity leave.  Absolutely, there’s a hell of a lot of men out there who look at women as a tool for their own sexual gratification, but there’s also a hell of a lot of men who don’t. Are there gender inequalities and problems? Of course. We can always improve, but let’s not pretend for one minute that it’s an easy task for any man to become the CEO of a major corporation. It takes knowledge, sacrifice, guts, and grit, and belief in yourself.  I think if Oprah has me thinking about anything, she has me thinking about my own belief in myself. I don’t feel like, as a woman, doors are just closing in front of me, but sometimes I feel that subtle, quiet voice inside of me closing the doors all on my own.

Last week, when the weather was insanely cold, my car battery decided it was done with life. There I was all alone…stuck. It’s not like changing a car battery is hard….but I had never done it. No one ever taught me to change a car battery. I think it’s one of those “You’re a woman. You’ll have a man that will help you with things like that.” Sort of things. Except I don’t have a man at my beck and call all the time, and I have places to be!  I felt so frustrated and trapped, but I did nothing about it. I stayed home all day until a man could rescue me later that evening. I’m fully capable of changing a car battery, but I didn’t. I didn’t even try. For 30 years I’ve been groomed and taught to make things clean and pretty but not how to make them actually work.

Jolie is obsessed with baby dolls. She feeds them, cuddles them, puts them to bed, tells them how much she loves them. It’s the sweetest damn thing I’ve ever seen. I think something inside of her loved baby dolls before I ever encouraged it, but I can’t help but praise her for how good of a “mommy” she is… So now, baby dolls are her life. It’s so easy to fall into encouraging gender rolls, and I really don’t think there’s anything wrong with me encouraging her to play with dolls. Being a mom is the most wonderful, rewarding, challenging, and important job there is. If she decides to be a mother one day, I will be so proud of her, I just don’t want to leave out the rest of the picture for her.

Last weekend, her dad took her rock climbing, and I seriously can’t be more grateful. Mommy plays baby dolls with her, but Daddy takes her rock climbing. Mostly she just dove head first onto the floor mats, because she is 3, but what an important lesson in capability. I want her to know she’s capable of hard things. She doesn’t have to sit at home and wait for a man to come rescue her and change her car battery, or make her laws, or run her company. Maybe we just weren’t taught to believe in ourselves.

I’m glad Oprah has me thinking so much…Last night she fixed my toilet. Well I did, but I promise you, it was because of her. I watched a youtube video, took pieces apart, and fixed it, because I knew I could. I knew I should. I’m capable, and I want Jolie to see that women are capable. I have hope in society. We’re making way for women, for minorities, for everyone. We’re only going to get better, I really believe that. I don’t think society will close doors for Jolie, I just want to be sure she doesn’t end up closing the doors herself.

Ready for some more peeks of Bob’s house? Pretty early on Bob and I tackled a project in his living room. Bob has a gorgeous house with TONS of potential, it just needed some love and attention. His living room is undoubtedly my fav room in the house! It gets the most natural light, has really high coffered ceilings, beautiful big windows to a cute little screened in porch, and a big fireplace.

Below is Bob doing his Vanna White thaaang and showing it off. He makes a cute Vanna, right?!

Except this is the before. It really is a great fireplace! Bob is a tall 6’3” so it’s not one of those tiny little mantles. The tiles sorta left a bit to be desired, though. Down the line I would love to do something really great and modern with the fireplace. I especially love stacked wood like these.

But, with so much to do in the house, that’s just not making the priority list. As usual, a little bit of paint goes a LONG way.

This is the best picture I’ve got. I need to devote some time to really photographing and documenting all the changes happening. It’s such a fresh and clean slate. The whole room got painted white, including the fireplace! We painted tile and all, I really love it. I cannot wait to get the rest of the room into shape! More pictures to come…..someday….when I get my act together.

Well, I’m having about the Monday-est Tuesday ever! It was -12 degrees when I woke up, and my car decided that’s just way too cold to let me leave the house. Stupid car! I had plans of getting this year started right! I was going to head to the gym and then get the work day going. Instead I’m back in bed, under covers, watching a kid’s tv show with my main girl. OK…maybe its not so bad, but uhgg I hate my car.

It’s not a bad day to be stranded really. It’s a new year and all the retailers are rolling out new product, and since I’m in the retail industry, it’s important I keep up! Here are the trends I’m seeing for spring, trends that I think will last a good portion of 2018!

Ceramics EVERYWHERE

We all fell in love with ceramics last year and it’s no different thing year, except in 2018 we’re going to be ceramic happy and just have it everywhere! Case in point, this pendant light from Urban Outfitters. LOVE! I’m a huge ceramics fan AND a huge interesting lighting fan. This is like a dream come true!!

Hollywood Glam

Things are about to get a whole lot more lux and shiny around here. I started to see it happening a little in 2017, but 2018 seems to be the year that’s all about bringing the lux back! Shiny metal finishes, velvet fabrics, and lots of curves are making their way back.

Bet you thought you’d never see a curved sofa again! They’re back! Even Crate and Barrel has a curved couch!

West Elm’s curved settee.

And Urban Outfitters has this Hollywood Glam swivel chair.

More than just marble! 

2017 was all about the white marble! Who doesn’t love white marble? But in 2018 we’re making way for a little more drama.

Like this black marble top table with lots of movement from cb2.

And my personal favorite….terrazzo!

I’m secretly hoping and expecting to see speckles EVERYWHERE. Even the animal hides we choose are going to be more speckled…I think?!

All about the details. 

While clean lines will always be king, I think we will all be looking for just a little more drama this year. We will be trading in our tulip tables for something with just a little extra detail, like this table from CB2.

Distressed rugs.

I think we were all obsessed with vintage or distressed rugs by the middle of 2017, but it’s not going anywhere. Retailers have caught on hard and are giving us more and more distressed options.

Move over neutrals. 

The hardest one for me is….things are going to get more colorful. Pink seems to be the new second option, and I think we’re going to see more jewel tones and pastels this year than last.

Well there it is, the design trends I see happening! We will see which ones really take off, but these are the ones I’m predicting will be hot things in 2018!

I’ve slowly but surely been getting back to blogging, and let me tell you, I needed it. Something about pumping out content for a handful of you (or more likely maybe just my mom) gets me inspired in ways I can’t even explain. It keeps me current and forces me to be a bit more thoughtful about my career, my life, and my passions. I may feel a 2018 resolution coming on……get back to blogging? Maybe? We will see if I can get my act together.

The truth is….I’ve been holding out on you. I’ve been sorta lazy and not sharing with you some major blog content quietly happening behind the scenes. Over the last couple of months, I’ve been helping my boyfriend pull together some rooms in his house. It’s slow moving because we’re busy peeps, but so far we’ve tackled the family room, a half bath, and we’re about halfway done with his bedroom. Next up we’re planning a light kitchen revamp and I’m geeking out hard over it. It’s seriously all I can think about. It will likely be months before it’s done and maybe even a month before we even start it, but I’m digging in deep and working hard to come up with my best budget friendly ideas to make it feel anything but budget friendly.

Here are some befores that somehow doesn’t make it seem quite as bad as it is…. but trust me… it’s not great. That backsplash 🤢🙈

I’m stewing over some ideas and gathering tons of inspiration. So far the plans are painting cabinets, maybe removing some uppers for open shelving, new countertops, and a new backsplash.

I’ve been a black, white, and natural girl for a few years now. I’ve always been so inspired by Scandinavian minimalism, but I gotta have my nature too. I love a kitchen like this, but it feels a hair too modern and cold for my taste and especially the style of the house.

More black, white, and small bits of natural. I adore it, but something like this takes a hefty budget. Who doesn’t want a marble slab backsplash and a waterfall countertop?!? It’s gorgeous AND PRICEY. This one still isn’t marrying modern, earthy, and hints of traditional quite like I want either, and it’s definitely breaking the bank.

I know we’re talking about a kitchen here, but I’m gathering inspiration from everywhere, and I’ve been coming back to this picture for weeks. It’s more black, white, and natural in such a perfectly beautiful mix.

2017 was all about a clean black and white base with natural accessories. I’m ready for something a little different in 2018, though. I think it’s time to bring a bit of the natural to the base. Picture like these get me feeling super inspired. I’m loving a tile and stone that feels a little less crisp and clean and a little more earthy.

I’m still all about my black, white, and natural…I’m just working on reinventing it a bit. Here’s what I’ve come up with.

The cabinets will get a fresh coat of black paint. We will take down these cabinets. and tile the entire wall with maybe a 12×24 earthy textured tile and add open shelves.

That little half wall also goes to open things up just a bit more and make things feel cleaner. I’m thinking some black countertops and black hardware, and of course an earthy vintage rug.  And those poorly placed pendants that aren’t centered with anything have to go! Hopefully in favor of an unexpected wall sconce around the shelves.

Like I said, the plan is sort of a work in progress. I’ll likely change my mind 50 times and might take us an entire year to finish, but man i’m excited about it! Stay tuned…maybe I’ll eventually stop being lazy and show you the other things we’ve done!

What is it about this time of year that just makes us go retail crazy?! I guess when you’re all cooped up inside avoiding 0 degree weather you want a bunch of “stuff” to easy your winter blues…at least that’s what it is for me! Every year I promise myself I’m going to invest in some serious winter gear and get the heck outside. I have yet to do it… maybe next year? In the meantime I’ll just go retail crazy. I’m a HUGE Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Free People Fan! I just love everything they have. They’re running an extra 30% off sale stuff right now, and I have some serious envy. I thought I would share my favorites with you!

This leather/ linen combo has me all heart eyes!! I just can’t decide which I love more… the yellow or the blush! 30% off has these full grain leather and linen chairs down to 266.25!

I adore a unique rocking chair. How sweet would this be in a nursery?! It’s down to $419.30 which you can’t beat for something so cool!

It’s taking about all of my willpower to not buy this beautiful headboard for Jolie’s bedroom. That fabric is seriously gorgeous and it’s down to $140.02.

Have I blogged about this chair before, or maybe I’ve just daydreamed about it enough that it feels like I blogged about it? I’m in love. It’s down to $315.

I love a unique mirror, and this sweet little set is down to $69.30.

I generally love anything that looks sculptural. Therefore, I love this guy! I picture two of them together to make a coffee table.

Love Love Love this dish set! Down to $70.

So much yes to this shower curtain for only $24.50!

So many great wall shelves like this one for $49.

Adore this body pillow for $49.

There it is! The best of Urban and Anthropologie 30% off sale items!

Is it just me or does every room need a leather accent chair? In my book they all do! I love me some awesome leather accent chairs, and I’m obsessed with sourcing some truly beautiful and unique leather lovelies. Check out the lineup of some of my absolute favorites out there right now. Now which one should I get for myself?!?!

1. The Horace Chair 
2. Leather Lounge Available through Shine Design Home
3. Metal Papasan Chair 
4. Atelier Leather Lounge Chair
5. Slouchy Leather Lounge Available through Shine Design Home 
6. Woven Suede Wishbone Available through Shine Design Home 
7. Rhys Chair
8. Black Leather and Wood Chair Available through Shine Design Home