Design Daydreaming

I don't have enough rooms in my house to create all the different spaces I dream about. (Nor do I have enough money to buy all the furniture for those imaginary rooms!) However, the internet is a glorious place where I can create imaginary rooms and indulge my design whims.

So when Chairish challenged me to create design boards using some of their colorful accent chairs, I said, "Game on." And then I was having so much fun that I decided to create two different rooms, one for me and one for my little nephew!

This first mood board is a happy, eclectic dining room. The pear green Eames chairs just "pop" with the rustic table, don't you think? I carried the pear green from the table to my pear painting above the blue chest and echoed the same pear shape with the beaded chandelier. Some colorful artwork on the wall brings the space to life, and the graphic rug brings a little "edge" to the space. A shiny gold bowl on the table is the cherry on top!

Happy Dining Room by jgrantham106 featuring whimsical home decor

Click through to Polyvore for the product sources.

I created the next space for my baby nephew, making his grand debut in January. (So excited!) They want a nautical nursery, so I paired some dark grey and navy hues with this bright yellow rocking chair for an adorable little space. The big pieces for the nursery are neutral, so I brought in the nautical features with the rope light and mirror, plus some adorable prints from Land of Nod. The whole space would fall flat without the yellow rocker and red rocking horse; I think they're the perfect compliment to the slate grey walls and blue rug.

Baby Bostic by jgrantham106 featuring canvas wall art

If you were dreaming up an imaginary room starting with a bright accent chair, what would you create?

Chairish is a black hole for vintage furniture lovers like me – don't start shopping around on that website unless you have an hour or so to browse! It's a place where people can buy and sell nice vintage furniture (so basically they weeded through all the lackluster stuff on Craigslist). I could click through those one-of-a-kind pieces for hours, daydreaming up more rooms! Check it out if you're in the market for a really memorable piece of furniture or have some unique pieces to sell.

Visiting "Fixer Upper" Territory

We were on our way back from San Antonio when I convinced the husband to stop in Waco so we could visit the Magnolia Market.

The Magnolia Market is the retail shop of HGTV's newest sensation, the Gaines family. Chip and Joanna Gaines (aka the cutest couple in the world) have made all of us Texans very proud with the success of their show "Fixer Upper," which is currently filming its second season. I pretty much speak for everyone else I know when I say, "We love that show!" We DVR every episode and get really excited to see what house they will tackle next.

I figured these two would be too busy to actually be in the shop when we visited (Have you seen how much stuff they have going on?), but we did get to meet their adorable children, who are also featured regularly on the show. As soon as we walked in, I saw them manning their little farmers market.

Here we have Ella Rose and Duke making faces for the camera while selling eggs, cucumbers, jalapenos and tomatoes from the Gaines family farm. Drake was sitting by the cash register, but I didn't see their youngest daughter (Emmie Kay). Lest you think I'm a major stalker, I found out their names in this Design Mom profile from a couple years ago, pre-HGTV fame. That link has photos of their home before the farmhouse that is featured on the show.

The husband studied the products very seriously.

I really wanted to buy a t-shirt, but they were sold out. The cute sales girl told me I could buy one online, but they are sold out there as well. Bring back the t-shirts, Joanna!

My big purchase? A dozen eggs from the Gaines family farm stand, of course. I really wanted one of the magnolia wreaths below but was feeling a little poor after the trips we've been taking lately. The eggs were better for the budget. :)

Obviously they have more stuff if you're lucky enough to visit in person, but these are my favorites from their online store:

]I was trying to figure out what I like so much about the show, and I think I've narrowed it down to a few key aspects:

1. Joanna and Chip are really cute to watch on screen and seem to enjoy working together. It's great to see a married couple treat each other so lovingly (and be so funny, too).
2. I love that they do a full home makeover in each episode so I don't have to wait for the next one to see the finished product. Instant gratification keeps me coming back each week!
3. They are from Texas, and the homes they work on look like some of the homes we have around Dallas. As opposed to say, the other HGTV shows who are based in Canada, NYC, Los Angeles, etc. It makes their projects much more relatable for us. 

So, do you watch Fixer Upper? Do you like it as much as we do? Why do you like it?

Let's keep supporting them as much as we can so HGTV puts more great shows like this on the air!
 

Happy Feet

We're upgrading our sofa's feet with some high heels, thanks to a special purchase at the flea market in Atlanta!

How pretty are these chunky wooden feet? They are literally double the size of the standard feet that came with our Rooms to Go sofa. I love 'em! At $3 each, I just couldn't resist. (You should have seen me stuffing these into the husband's golf bag for the flight home. Ha!)

I've never switched out sofa feet before, so I hoped it would be easy. It literally took less than 5 minutes to take off the old feet and attach the new ones. It's amazing how much taller the sofa is now. It's like a throne! I think it looks much more expensive and has more presence with this simple $18 upgrade. Plus I like knowing that no one else has the same sofa as we do!

I'm not sure about the finish of the feet, though. I'm thinking about staining them a dark expresso color like the first feet on the sofa. What do you think? I can keep them the same, stain them dark or paint them black. I'd love to have your opinion. I haven't done anything yet because I'm not sure what I want, so I'm totally open to your ideas!