Today, an estimated 2.5 BILLION people will witness the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. And before you ask, yes, I was one of those people who woke up at 4:00 am to watch it live. Greg on the other hand, opted to sleep. I believe his exact word when my alarm went off was, “Why?”. It’s true, I could have recorded it on our TiVo, but that’s like watching the Super Bowl the next day–it just isn’t the same. For us girls (or some of us anyway), the Royal Wedding is the Super Bowls of Super Bowls! I didn’t get too crazy with Union Jacks, Royal Wedding coffee mugs, and Diana ring replicas, but I did begin the morning with scones, tea, Twitter, and switching between tv stations.

Since our topics here on 7HL primarily deal with house-related topics, we thought it would be fun to talk about the “house” that is on the minds of one third of the people in the world today: Buckingham Palace.

Rather than getting all into the Palace history and whatnot, let’s get to what it looks like today as Kate (or Catherine Duchess of Cambridge) walks the halls for the first time as the future Queen of England. Though this isn’t going to be her and William’s primary residence, I’m sure it was a surreal feeling when she walked through the halls of the Palace on her way to the balcony as a part of the Royal family for the first time. Here’s a little glimpse into the halls of Buckingham Palace and the rooms that will probably be seen by the few (few as in 650) guests who are invited to the reception:

The Grand Staircase.

The Grand Reception Room.

The White Drawing Room.

The Blue Drawing Room.

The Green Drawing Room. Through the doors, you can see the Throne Room.

The State Dining Room. I imagine this might be where the private dinner will be held tonight with William & Kate’s closest friends and family.

And lastly, the garage for the Gold State Coach (which looks like a living room with a carriage in it!).

Just to grasp an idea of how big Buckingham Palace really is, let’s talk numbers. There are…

• 775 rooms
• 19 Sate Rooms
• 52 Royal & Guest Bedrooms
• 188 Staff Bedrooms
• 92 Offices
• 78 Bathrooms
• 1 Medical Surgery Room
• 800 Staff Members
• 350+ Clocks
• 40 Acres of Gardens
• 1 Helicopter Pad
• 1,514 Doors
• 760 Windows (which are cleaned every 6 weeks)
• 1 Post Office
• 50,000+ guests every year
• Over 40,000 light bulbs

Whew! No wonder the Palace has 800 staff members! That’s a lot to clean!

What about you? Did you get up early this morning to watch the wedding as it happened, or did you record it so you could get some extra shuteye? Did you attend a watching party or did you (like myself) decide to stay home in your pajamas eating scones and sipping tea?

Royal Wedding photo found here. Buckingham Palace photos found here. Read more about Buckingham Palace here.

Last week, thanks to one of our blogger friends, Rebecca, I found my personal paradise. A place where all things that inspire me are categorized, labeled with my notes, and the sources are automatically tagged… a place called Pinterest.

If you have no clue what Pinterest is, here’s the 411:  It’s basically a virtual pin board where you “pin” things you find online that inspire you or want to make note of. Things like home decor ideas, recipes, DIY projects you want to try out, entertaining ideas… lolcats, schematics for building your own rocket ship… whatever your heart’s desire. The ultra cool part is when you click your Pin bookmark, Pinterest automatically saves the URL so you can easily go back and see more information about the image you pinned! Amazingly awesome.

Another favorite feature is you can follow other people’s pins. Think of it as Twitter… but with photos. Overall, Pinterest is a perfect recipe for a new obsession. Yet again, amazingly awesome.

I encourage non-”pinners” to consider jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon simply because it’s fun and you’ll be suprised how inspirational it is to see all of the things that catch your eye in one place. Note: if you request an invite it can take up to two weeks (I know!) but if you have a friend who already uses Pinterest, they can send you an invite for instant pinning.

I just started “pinning”, so my categories (or “boards” as they call them) are a little on the sparse side, but if you would like to get a taste of what Pinterest is all about, or if you already have a Pinterest account, you can find my page right here: http://pinterest.com/7thhouse.

**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING ENTRIES**

A big thanks to everyone who entered the Rain Chains Direct giveaway! With the help of random.org, we have a winner and the lucky lady is… Mindy! Congratulations, Mindy!

April showers bring May flowers! Even though April is almost over, the rain probably isn’t going anywhere and our new friends at Rain Chains Direct are here to help make those rainy days even more enjoyable. Today, they will be giving one of our lucky readers their best seller, the Hammered Cup Rain Chain. We can already hear the “oooohs” and an “aaaahhs”!

“What exactly is a rain chain?” you ask. Originating from Japan, a rain chain is an alternative to conventional gutter downspouts that is not only functional but also easy on the eyes. You can hang a rain chain above a rain barrel to collect water for watering plants or even washing the car. Who said being “green” had to be boring? You can read more detailed information about rain chains here.

These pieces of art from Rain Chains Direct are 100% solid copper and will form a beautiful patina over time. Their products have been featured in Architectural Digest, HGTV, Fine Gardening Magazine, The New York Times, and Better Homes and Gardens. Here’s how to get one of these beautiful pieces of your very own:

PRIZE: One Hammered Cup Rain Chain (valued at $149.95)
2 WAYS TO ENTER: 1) Leave a comment on this post with the words “RAIN ON ME!”. 2) Leave a second comment telling us your favorite way to spend a rainy day.
NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
PRIZE SHIPS: Anywhere in the US of A 
GIVEAWAY WILL WRAP UP: Friday, April 29th @ Midnight EST. As always, to keep things fair and square, up to two entries per email address. The winner will be selected using Random.org and will be announced right here on Saturday, April 30th. Good luck!!