A Beautiful Mess

At Home With Abi Porter

We've really been enjoying this "At Home With..." series. Our next guest is Abi Porter. She is here to share a space in her lovely new home with us! "Just two months ago we moved from a tiny apartment to a larger 1912 craftsman home in northeast Portland. Trying to fill in the extra space has been a little challenging on a limited budget, but we're adding to it little by little and making it work! One of my favorite parts about the house is a little living room we have connected to our bedroom. It's awkwardly shaped but the perfect place to cozy up to read a book and drink tea. We're still working on some renovations (I can't wait to paint that trim white!), so the walls are still bare. But let's be honest. I'm pretty indecisive when it comes to wall decor, so they may be bare for quite some time." "My husband and I have very different styles. I'm a minimalist, and he would prefer to have the wall covered in movie posters. Oh my! The painted black skull was our compromise in this room. It's minimal enough for me and quirky enough for him." "We've lived here just over two months, so it still feels brand new. And we're figuring what works and what doesn't. I'm a compulsive room re-arranger, so it's already been changed about ten different times. I'm really looking forward to adding some more comfy vintage pieces as budget allows. We're also working on painting all the trim white and giving all the walls a fresh coat too, it's amazing how much trim can change the look of a space."  Thanks so much, Abi, for sharing your space with us!  You can stop by and say "hello" to Abi over on her blog, Vanilla and Lace. xo.

Elsie's Locker ReStyle

When we first looked at our current home, my husband and I made a typical pros and cons list. Pros- amazing windows and lighting, original wood floors, plenty of space. Cons: the kitchen. The kitchen was no good. It had its fixable cosmetic problems, but the greater problem was storage. There just wasn't much. So we became determined to find creative ways to add extra pantry storage to our space.

I had these lockers from my retail store(s) I decided to bring home. They are the perfect size for extra non-perishable food storage. I also plan to use them to store extra props for photo shoots. They were painted hot pink, which is cool but not a match for our home. I wanted something neutral. My first thought was white, but then I had the idea to paint the doors and the frame mismatched neutral shades. Fun!Colors I used: (Valspar) Turkish Coffee, Bistro White, Wet Pavement, Madison Avenue, Porcelain Shale. We used regular satin latex paint and then several coats of polyurethane to seal them.I added a few baskets from the flea market to the top. These will probably be used to hold extra kitchen linens and glass bottles (I have too many).I am super happy with the result of this restyle! The lockers are located in our mudroom, just one room over from our kitchen. I'll probably spend some of my weekend organizing the cabinets. Hooray! xo. elsie 

Nesting: Gold Side Table Makeover

Lately, I have been working on finding ways to add extra storage to our next space. For the first few months we lived in this home I had my makeup bag sitting on the couch, near this mirror where I get ready every morning. I knew I had space for a small side table, but sometimes it takes a little while to find the perfect one. Here's how I restyled a secondhand table into something beautiful and useful for everyday life!I started out with this not-so-amazing plain red table that I picked up at a local flea market. I started painting it with mint paint and quickly realized that it wasn't going to work in our bedroom (we have teal couches up there—don't wanna be too matchy-matchy). So I gave it a quick coat of Kilz primer and then painted it with gold craft paint (found in the craft paint aisle at Hobby Lobby). The gold paint was very thin, so the primer coat was essential. Even with that, it took 3-4 coats of gold paint to get an even finish. 

Side note: I never thought of myself as much of gold person, but recently it has been sneaking into my home left and right. I blame Emma's influence for this. She's a crazy gold lady.Next, Emma retrofitted a couple pieces of wood into the bottom section of the table so that it had a second shelf! I ordered three small storage baskets for the bottom shelf. I like the look of the table better with the extra shelf and baskets, but the added storage is the big perk.Now I have a table I love that fulfills an organizational need too. It's the perfect spot for getting ready every morning. I love having all of my daily makeup at my fingertips and appreciate the extra baskets for things like scarves and sunglasses that can be easily misplaced. I'm naturally messy and this set up works really well for me.xoxo. Elsie

At Home With Coury Combs

Our next guest in our "At Home With" series is the lovely Coury Combs. Coury is here to share her living room space with us. "One of the major reasons we moved from Downtown Los Angeles to Nashville about a year ago was to buy a house with some space—space to move around, space for our future baby, space to dance and do cartwheels if we want, and space to store Christmas decorations most of the year (it may sound silly to some, but after living in 500-700 square feet for 7 years it becomes an issue). Even after living here since September 2011, some days I just can't believe this is my house. Sure, the weather in LA is amazing, but it's worth the colder winter to have a house we love."  "The first time I walked into this room with the tall fireplace and 25 foot ceilings, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. I pictured our future child crawling on the floors and the ridiculously tall Christmas tree we would have each year. Now we have been blessed with a gorgeous angel of a daughter called Goldie, and my daydreams are coming into fruition." "Mornings in this room are the best! The sun shines in with gusto! When it gets really chilly, we make a fire and drink our coffee down there. We just love spending time together, listening to Gabe play the piano, and reading to Goldie. It's never too soon for fairy tales."   "Everything in this space is special to me because everything we have collected in our lives together represents a wonderful memory or a place in time. My mom brought me that huge roller skate when I was down with morning sickness during my pregnancy. My brother gave us the yellow vase for Christmas one year, and it's actually from Whoville! My sister made the pink poms for my baby shower, and I kept them and made a heart above the piano. There are a few items from the Pasadena Flea Market, which we used to frequent in LA." Thank you so much, Coury, for sharing your gorgeous space with us!  You can say hello to Coury over at her blog Fancy Treehouse.  xo.