Lovable Friday!

lovablefriday1

1. We are under contract!
1. We are under contract!

I’m happy to report that after 6 months of house hunting, we are finally under contract on a beautiful 3/2 home with a 2-car garage and pool (no, that is not the house pictured)! We got the great news yesterday and I haven’t stopped smiling like a magpie ever since. Granted, we still have to go through the inspection, finalize the application for our mortgage and close – but this is still really exciting for us. I’m not going to post any pictures of the house just yet, but I can tell you that it’s wonderful! I can’t wait to start decorating it and making it our own. Expect many more home decor posts from me in the next coming weeks and months. Best part is: I get to share the progression of our first home with all of you on this blog! Squee!

[Read more…]

Lovable Friday!

lovablefriday1

1. Tim Burton's Installment at the MoMA
1. Tim Burton's Installment at the MoMA

Is it now considered cliche to love Tim Burton? How Hot Topic of me. I am, as always, envious of all New York City residents because now they can see this exhibit at the MoMA until April of 2010. The exhibit includes props from his movies, sketches and amazing designs from one of the most creative minds in Hollywood (in my opinion anyways). I’ve begged the hubs to take me on a weekend trip to NYC just so I can hit up this event. Anyone that has gone or is going, please feel me in so I can live vicariously through you!

[Read more…]

Fu You!

IMG_9260

Earlier this week, I could hear the Target Dollar Spot calling my name as I ran in for some quick errands. I knew I was bound to find something amazing and my hunch was right on target (no pun intended)! I have been searching for a pair of Fu Dogs for a very very long time and although they are relatively easy to find, they tend to be overpriced (at least in my opinion). I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a whole stack of them labeled as only being $2.50! At first, in my fit of joy, I grabbed a whole fist full of the little guys before settling on only a pair. However, I was disappointed. They were this ugly bronze color and everyone knows that Fu Dogs have to painted some sort of vibrant color to really pop in a space. That’s when I decided to undertake a fun little DIY project!

I headed to Pearl’s during my lunch hour and took one of the little pups with me. I asked one of the employees to help me select the best kind of spray paint that would really adhere to the figurine. Because they are plastic, she suggested Krylon’s Fusion, which is specially made for plastic and claims to dry in 15 minutes or less. Unfortunately, their color selection wasn’t all that extensive, leaving me struggling between the bright blue or yellow. Finally, thinking of all our current decor, I swiped the blue and headed back.

IMG_9279

I am so happy with the way they turned out! But what makes the budget shopper in me really swell with pride is that I managed to create a hip and funky look for less than $10 total. I could definitely see myself getting hooked on all these projects when we get our new home. Painting, crafting, and creating in general is such a form of stress relief for me and I have really missed it since I ended my wedding planning (these would have totally fit the theme by the way). I really have to make an effort to be as creative as I can even though life tends to sneak up on me more than I’d like it to.

Until the next project….have a great weekend, everyone! Ours looks like it is going to be jam packed with goodness!

Squee-Worthy: High Gloss White Floors

3592860717_981abc5b96

I would have never thought that I would like white flooring. It gets dirty so easily, it’s boring and…well…it’s white! There’s nothing I love more than a warm wood floor, but now I’m definitely rethinking my design aesthetic. I mean, check out these beautiful floors!

5-14-white-lacquer-1

11-4-gloss

The stunning white floors definitely give an open and brightly lit space that extra kick and have the ability to either pump up the modern factor or play into shabby chic decor. I just may need some of these in our new house (more on that later)!

eken6_47897003

meire_08

Lovable Friday!

lovablefriday1

Big Chill Appliances
1. Big Chill Appliances

The new trend in kitchens seems to be moving away from the modern stainless steel and inching closer to the retro throw back as seen with Big Chill’s colorful vintage appliances. Big Chill offers fridges, ovens and dishwashers in a rainbow of colors at a very hefty price. I, for one, am a huge fan of retro kitsch (I hope to have a checkerboard kitchen floor one day) so I would love to have one of these puppies (in that delicious candy apple red). Too bad I’ll have to win the lottery first so I’ll just admire from afar. Sigh.

[Read more…]

Going steady or breaking up?

This afternoon is going to be pretty exciting for me. I will be deciding whether or not to put an offer on a house!

I know rule number one of house hunting is not to fall in love, but I did. We both did. We couldn’t help it. It needs a lot of work, which is why I decided to bring in the big guns with me this afternoon to give me the rundown as to whether it will be worth it or not. I am going to try my best not to be disheartened if things do not work out in my favor, but it’ll be rough!

It’s so easy to start imagining how we can turn a house into a home, especially with such amazing inspiration surrounding me in the blogosphere, like the following:

15

living-in-penny

1

So wish us luck, readers!

Hunting Season

dec430x300

So I think it’s pretty safe to put it out to the blogosphere now: the hubs & I are actively house hunting! We are excited, being first time home buyers, but I have to admit it’s been frustrating as well. Just recently, we fell in love with what seemed like “the perfect house” – you know those. The ones you can already imagine yourself in, your kids running around, sharing special life moments, etc. That was the one. And unfortunately it had a contract already pending. Just seems like that is always the case with the places we love – someone has gotten to them first!

But we now have our eyes on a definite fixer-upper. I’m having “my people” swing by with me next week to check out how serious the renovations would be and if it would be worth it. Although some people would shudder at the thought, I think both the hubs and I would do great building up a home from scratch. It just has so much potential. I really hope it works out. But, I guess if it doesn’t – there will always be another home begging to be the next Casa Sanchez.

Look forward to more fun house posts as we get deeper & deeper into the hunt & hopefully closer to closing on our very first home!

Weekend Highlights

Is it me or do the weekends seem to get shorter and shorter as time goes by?
I find myself gripping on to Sunday’s, hoping that they will never end, but fail.

Also irritating?
The fact that the weather has decided to be unbearably beautiful on weekdays and overcast & yucky on weekends. What’s up, Mother Nature?

friday1

3396640286_3ea888a82e_b1

I got the opportunity to swing by IKEA Friday afternoon to check out their patio furniture & was bummed to see a lot of the items I posted about last week either would not work or were out of stock (already!). Thankfully, I was able to mix & match some fun pieces I found and am super happy with the way it all panned out. Our patio is still not complete, but it is well on its way! For those of you interested in this look, it is made up of a Bollo folding table, 4 Marius stools in orange, 2 Majallby scented candles, Solig fly swatter and Solig solar operated lighting in white. Also, something that I didn’t pick up but thought was amazing was the Platta decking system, which has the power to turn any patio from blah to chic in two quick snaps! Unfortunately, I don’t know how smart that would be for us Floridians considering we would have to be removing & replacing the pieces with every hurricane threat. I wonder if there is a way to anchor them down?

[Read more…]