Sarah Hearts

May 24th, 2010, Kevin and I purchased our first home. We have spent a lot of time making little changes, like painting, hanging curtains, and installing ceiling fans. The home was in great condition, we just wanted to make it our own. The biggest “construction” project (and construction is in quote because we didn’t add or remove any walls) to date was when we removed all the retro wood paneling in our den and put up drywall.

The coffee table is from West Elm. The white mirror was found at Home Goods. The chocolate and light blue rug was also found there. We store all our wine glasses in our West Elm wine bar because our 1966 kitchen cabinets are not large enough to store our glasses. We also keep our outdoor dinnerware and cocktail napkins in it. Unfortunately, both the coffee table and wine bar are no longer available.

Here’s the before photo: wood parquet floors, wood paneling, and wood crown molding. We called it the wood room. During: my amazing dad and husband removed all the paneling and hung drywall. We had someone come in an finish it up with plaster (to give the walls a subtle texture, to match the rest of the house), a coat of Kilz, remove the popcorn ceiling, install crown molding, and paint.

Yes, our Expedit bookcase is still around. It’s probably my favorite, most versitile Ikea piece. The yellow side chairs were in my Grandparent’s Black Mountain home. The are so comfy! The pillows are linen and velveteen and from West Elm.

My father-in-law got us this ceiling fan and installed it for us! It’s from Home Depot. Our white twill sofa is from American Signature. It’s incredibly comfy and is easy to clean. I made dark blue pillow covers with some scrap fabric and the bird pillow is Dwell Studio for Target. The tray and recycled glass vase are West Elm.

The illustration of Kevin and I was a wedding gift by our very talented friend, Rob Dobi. The copper foil print was a gift from my college roommate Jen. The wooden Crate & Barrel bench was a gift from Kevin this Christmas. The seats flip up so you can store things inside. The pillows are Dwell Studio for Target.

The adorable print is by Freya, a talented Etsy artist. The light blue velveteen curtains and silver rods are from Target. The wall color is Behr Ultra in Parachute Silk.

Thanks for taking a peak into our home!

Sorry this is a little late. I had to share these photos of my mom’s beautiful, festive Christmas dinner table. Yes, I know… I said tablescape. She fills the table with some many details that is seems like the perfect word, even it’s a little cheesy. My mom has a great eye for color and texture and is awesome at mixing traditional and modern pieces.

The flourish horse plates are available here.

I know I’m a bit late on this, but I wanted to wait until the first of the year to share Pantone’s color of the year with you. Last year was a beautiful turquoise hue and this year it’s a bright honeysuckle. Do you love it? Or can you live without it? I’m loving it and here are a few great finds in this years hue.

1. Pink Dining Room
2. Haute Pink Top
3. Umbra Oh Chair
4. Lyla Crossbody
5. Belle by Sigerson Morrison
6. Simple Floral Post Earrings

I absolutely love stumbling upon a new blog, it’s like Christmas to me. This week I found Caroline Armelle Drake’s blog, Armelle the blog. I spent a while exploring her posts and was amazed at each click! Caroline is a jewelry designer who creates lovely pieces and also has a stunning home! I couldn’t resist sharing photos of her home office. Isn’t the wallpaper and color palette great?

Since posting my round-up of autumn wreaths, I have fallen in love with yarn and felt wreaths. I think they are a great alternative to traditional pine wreaths. Above are my favorites for this season.

Do you prefer fresh pine or crafted wreaths?

Top row: Red Roses, Be Merry, Mint and Mustard Deer
Middle row: Oysters and Pearls, Home Sweet Home
Bottom row: Burgandy and Bird, Poinsettia, Greens rosette

Yesterday’s fall inspired yellow and orange wedding inspiration board led me to this – a roundup of great, bold yellow and orange rugs. I love this color combo so much! It reminds me of fall and our wedding.

1. Sweet as Honey Rug
2. Facet Cream and Citrine Rug
3. Draper Stripe Rug
4. Whorled Trapunto Rug

Do you bring out the special silverware or heirloom pieces for holidays? I love using our “fancier” serving pieces for Thanksgiving. Here are some beautiful plates and platters you will want to add to your collection.

{Top left: Wilma dessert plates, Bottom Left: Dorata Salad Plate, Right: Sesame Letterpress harvest entertaining platters}

Last week I went down to Miami to visit my family and my awesome mom gave Kevin and I an early anniversary gift! She gifted us twelve sets of the above dishes. They just came out a couple weeks ago and are from West Elm’s David Stark collection. I am absolutely smitten by the metallic triangle pattern that mimics little fabric banners. All the dishes are dishwasher safe porcelain and have an organic shape. And if you prefer warmer metallics, that have gold designs too!

This week I’m loving embroidery hoop art. Who knew a sewing tool could become such great wall art?  I’m thinking this might be exactly what my living room needs… how cool would it be to have 5 or so hoops of various size clustered together. If you are feeling crafty, this would be a great weekend project. If you’re feeling a little less inspired, above are my favorites that are for sale.

{Clockwise from the top right: Personalized Anniversary Hoop, Sophia Clock, Vintage Fabric Patriotic Hoops, Wall Flower and Turquoise Wood Grain}

Shortly after we moved into our home, we painted the foyer and living room. I have always loved wallpapered foyers, however, our walls are a bit too uneven for wallpaper. So I decided to use the paint color we used in the den and paint 10″ horizontal stripes in the entry way. I have to say we absolutely love it and we always get compliments from guests the first time the enter our home!

I’m thinking of replacing the table shown above with this shoe cabinet from Ikea and painting the mirror white. What do you think?

The paint colors used are Behr Ultra Parachute Silk and Ivory Lace in eggshell finish.