Before we get to dreaming about our dream house… We thought we were dreaming when we got the email from Jackson Design & Remodeling telling us that we won the Best Remodeling Blog Award!!!! We were seriously floored because there for a while, the race was really tight (even down to the .1%!) and we’ve seen voting like this take a turn at the last minute. So, once voting closed this past Friday, we had no idea what to expect. We couldn’t have done it without you all! We seriously appreciate you taking the time to vote for us. Thank you!!

While we love, love, love our house – even though there’s still much to do and decorate! – deep down, we know this isn’t our “forever house”. We’re not planning to anytime soon, but one day it will be time to move on. Once we’re ready for a change in pace, we’d love to buy a large piece of land with lots and lots of trees and build a house.

With Greg’s line of work and the fact I do freelance work over the World Wide Web, we could move pretty much anywhere. We love the idea of Charlottesville (it’s so gorgeous in the fall) or maybe even Nashville (we’re both fans of Tennessee since that’s where we went to college) and we’ve already talked about our love for California life (ahhh, California) – or we might just end up right down the road in Manakin-Sabot. Who knows! Wherever we end up, Greg wants to be “out in the middle of nowhere”, but I, on the other hand, must be close to a Target. If the powers that be want to be really awesome, a Whole Foods would be nice too… and a Crate & Barrel.

Even though this next chapter will start probably years from now, we’re already daydreaming about the house we want to build. We don’t want anything huge or extravagant that would be hard to maintain, but we have a handful of “wants” at the top of our list, including 10-foot ceilings, lots of natural light, a basement, and (I know this might sound crazy) I really want one of those “tornado rooms”, haha. Dorothy I am not. 

A few weeks ago, I started a Pinterest board called “Dream House in the Woods”. It’s where I collect our inspiration and ideas for our forever house. There aren’t too many photos pinned just yet, but that’s because I’m super picky about what I pin there. It’s like my protected, super-serious lock box of our ideas for our dream house. I thought it would be good to start collecting this stuff so when we do get to the point in our lives, we have a nice collection of thoughtful photos to refer to for inspiration – rather than it taking over a year to make decisions… like we’re doing with this house, haha.

From looking over the few photos I’ve pinned already, it’s quite noticeable that we like a lot of crisp, clean white and tons of windows – something we definitely wish we had more of in this house. There’s also a pretty dominate theme of texture including white-washed brick, planks, and subway tile. Ahhh, I love every bit of it.

So, how about you guys… What’s your daydreaming style? Pinterest? Scrapbook? Cork board? All of the above?

As for our weekend plans, we have a few small DIY projects up our sleeves that I’m excited to cross off the “I really want to try that list”. I also wanted to pressure-wash the carport and patio area to get rid of the cloud of yellow that possesses everything in sight. But, as it is every year around this time in Virginia, it will be yellow again within about five hours – or less. Oh, the joys of Pollen Season.

A while ago, I ordered a baby shower gift from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child. Ever since, I’ve been on their mailing list. Since we don’t have kids, and aren’t planning to anytime soon, I normally just thumb through it then toss it. However, the most recent edition caught my eye and I found myself wishing I was six years old again so I could have a playroom like one of the spaces in the magazine. Specifically this one…

What little girl wouldn’t want to have a tea party in this room? I mean, seriously. Even though this room would cost you well over $6,000 (the bookshelves are $1,149 each), you could still learn a thing or two from the rooms featured in the catalog. For example, the groupings of the silhouette art pack a big punch and the industrial bookshelves and mix matched play chairs give the room a great eclectic storybook vibe.

Even if you don’t have kids, or a bazillion dollars to spend, these rooms have some great decorating trends to take note of. Here are a few of my favorites…

The first thing I noticed about this room was the miniature, estate-looking, leather sofa. I have to admit, even though it’s $1,700 and I would constantly be worried about my kids scratching it, I love it. It’s one of those “statement pieces” you could build an entire room around. The oversized wall art above the sofa, the metal pendant light and the vintage cafeteria table are other definite show-stoppers in this room. So cute!

I think I could get some homework done in this room, couldn’t you? Again, I love the oversized wall art and the vintage schoolhouse chairs remind me of my kindergarten class and Mrs. Mondee.

The miniature wingback chairs are simply adorable. I also like the framed synonym flash cards and the numbered coffee table (both which would be really great DIY projects to get the look for less).

The catalog also has some pretty awesome nurseries too! The floor to ceiling mirrors behind the cribs along with the chandeliers make a big statement. Though I’m sure once the babies were old enough, they would love getting fingerprints all over the mirrors! And yet again, I’m loving the framed vintage nursery rhymes. Genius.

First of all, that’s some chandelier, right?! This nursery looks like it came straight out of a storybook. The decorating tips I noticed from this room is how they made the crib the focal point of the room with layering the chandelier, crib and a huge mirror. They also brought more attention to the crib by flanking it with matching dressers.

Now this is one snazzy looking safari-themed nursery! It all works… the huge art, the netting, the trunk for the side tables, light curtains, the giant pendant light. I also noticed two decorating choices made here I wouldn’t ordinarily think about doing: the art lighting is only on the top pieces and they put a rug on a rug.

This room uses the same furniture as the nursery above but instead of a safari theme, they’ve transformed it into a little more grown up varsity theme. The two hanging pendants over the desk are a great alternative to an ordinary desk lamp. I also like the vintage flags in the shadowbox over the bed.

The layers of bedding makes you want to hop right in. Again with the wall art… they framed pages from a French storybook. I’ve seen book pages framed before but I particularly liked how they hung them so close together. It gives the illusion of one big art instillation.

Last but not least… if I was six, I would SO be asking for one of these tents for Christmas. And the sheepskin sleeping bag to match.

There’s more rooms to be gawked over on their website including ridiculously fabulous play rooms, nurseries, and bedrooms. The room gallery is full of decorating ideas not just for kid’s rooms, but for “big kid’s” rooms too, don’t you think?

Images courtesy of Restoration Hardware Baby & Child. 

I’ve never been good at math. Any kind of math class… let’s just say it wasn’t my cup of tea. However, when it came to my high school geometry class, that was a little more my style. I loved learning about the different shapes and how they work together, lines, angles, formulas… I was all there. Then came calculus. Enough said, right? Yeah, my not-so-good relationship with math class picked right up where we left off.

Recently I’ve been working on a few geometric-inspired prints for our Etsy store. The more I work on them, the more I’ve been noticing geometric designs in random, everyday things. Since we like to let you guys in on what’s going on in our heads, I thought it would be fun to put together a post with some of my favorite geometric-inspired spaces I’ve come across lately on Pinterest. Ahh, the power of Pinterest.

In this mid-century modern room geometric shapes clearly define the overall theme. Even though there are a lot of shapes going on, it doesn’t seem too busy. Image Pinned here.

The first thing that caught my eye in this comfy reading nook is the geometric mirror. Actually, this would be a pretty simple DIY project (just paint a few pre-cut pieces of molding and attach them to an existing mirror with adhesive). The shapes in the mirror mimic the shapes on the gray and white pillow. Image Pinned here.

I’m all about using wallpaper in small bathrooms. Even though you’d think it would make the room feel totally claustrophobic, wallpaper has the potential to make small spaces feel like a little jewel box of detail. This bathroom is a perfect example. Image Pinned here.

I love the combination of the weathered geometric artwork and the sleek teal ceramic lamp. The stack of books is a great way to bring home the pink, teal, white, and yellow color combination. Love it all! Image Pinned here.

This one is a little more on the light and airy side, but this is another great geometric wallpaper. The lines of the door windows really bring out the square shapes in the wallpaper design. Image Pinned here.

I love how the designers of this back yard used every inch of this long, narrow space to make a statement. The square “zones” of shrubbery mixed with the placement of the stone pavers make this backyard space a geometric shape-lover’s dream. Image Pinned here.

I used to fall in the rut of “oh my goodness, bedding has to match perfectly”. But lately, I’m all about mixing and matching, as long as the sheets are white. That’s still one of my must-haves. Anyway, this bedding is the perfect example of a mix match combo that works. First of all, you’ve got the fun combo of orange, green, and blue. Then, the geometric patterns add variation and texture to the already-unique color combination. Image Pinned here.

Greg and I are both big fans of this bedroom. We love how the vertical lines make the room seem so much taller. There are a lot of rectangles and squares  going on but it all seems to come together perfectly. Image Pinned here.

Obviously, I couldn’t round up my favorite geometric-inspired spaces without at least one nod to the popular chevron pattern. This massive rug is to die for, right?! There are many things I love about this lofty dining room… the geometric ceiling details, the clean dining table along with the fun  Jonathan Adler accents, the modern swivel chairs… Okay, I love it all. Greg pointed out that he likes the two huge globe lights and the symmetrically placed trees on either side of the window. I guess this room is a perfect mix of our tastes. Image Pinned here.

So, what about you? Do you dig geometric shapes in home decor?