Halloween Fun

I hope y'all had a great Halloween!  Ours was pretty low key, just visiting with our neighbors and taking the adorable kids trick-or-treating.  James decided he wanted to be "construction" instead of his pre-planned "circus ringmaster" at the last minute, so we improvised.  

I really adore these kids and they had so much fun going to each door and yelling, "Trick or Treat!" 

I can't believe it's November already!

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Office Decor Updates

Y'all know that I've been working on a few updates to my home office and I'm thrilled with the difference painting the walls made.  I went with Sherwin Williams Divine White- the same color as our trim and cabinets throughout the house.  It's a fresh, blank canvas.

Feeling like I wanted a more sophisticated look for the room, I am going with mostly black and white, a few pops of color in flowers and in the bookcase, with animal print elements for added flair.  I originally planned to buy a leopard print rug, but ended up moving our cowhide rug up there instead.  I love the look, and think it's more subtle than the leopard rug would have been.  But now, I'm thinking the black drapes are too much, so I've got a grey velvet pair on the way to see if I like them better.  Maybe this weekend we can get around to hanging the new chandelier I got from Home Depot.

I knew I wanted a black lamp and lampshade and completely stumbled upon one at Target (lamp base + drum shade).  And it happened to be part of the Nate Berkus line.  I literally had just a few minutes in the store because I was on my way to a nail appointment.  I didn't even grab a shopping cart because I was only getting "one thing".  Yeah, right:)  I ended up with the NB lamp, a pillow (can't find the link), and picture frame.  Still pretty good if you ask me.  I saw the chevron vase and passed on it, but really like it.  It would look great on top of my bookshelf.  

I'm also L O V I N G my desk facing against the window!  And having some cute accessories on the desktop is fun too.

Mikasa Chevron cups // Tory Burch paperweight // Dabney Lee calendar

West Elm owl // vase // cup (can't find link, but similar to this) // Fog Linen Work tray

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Weekend Recap

On Thursday and Friday I got to hang out with two of my favorite girlfriends Cassie (Hi Sugarplum) and Courtney (A Thoughtful Place).  We are long past referring to each other as "mybloggerfriend" and now are simply, friends.  Good ones.  The kind that go shopping at West Elm and end up sitting on one of their couches chatting for way too long, then finally remember to look around. :) This was such a treat because we are all in different cities and it just so happened that Court's husband had to come to Cassie's town for work, so we all decided to meet up.  

Cassie, Courtney, Me

Courtney, Me, Cassie

It was totally surreal to be standing in Cassie's gorgeous home after seeing it in pictures for so long.    I love what she's done with it and am excited to see how the future projects she's planning turn out- especially in the dining room.  

Getting to be in each other's company for two days was awesome.   These women mean so much to me and have been such a support and encouragement.  They are the real deal.  

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Back in Houston, we went to a "dress up" Halloween block party that was so fun.  Our friends hosted their 3rd annual party, complete with bounce houses, hay rides, fire trucks, a movie projected onto the garage with blankets, pillows, and bean bag chairs for the kids to cozy up with.  The food was awesome (with proceeds going to charity) and the drinks were delicious- especially the chocolate vodka:)  

Aren't our friends cute?!

I can't remember the last time I wore a costume!  Unfortunately, James didn't want to wear his costume, so no pics to share- crossing my fingers for Halloween! :) 

Are YOU dressing up this year?!  If so, as what?

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Cozamia Art in the Guest Room

Our guest room makeover lost steam somewhere between summer, changing jobs, updating my home office, working out 5 days a week, and because I got "stuck" with exactly what I wanted to do with it.   My plans to order fabric and make my own drapes didn't work out because I ordered the fabric online and, although pretty, in person it wasn't what I had in mind.  I ended up buying premade drapes from World Market in a dark aqua velvet.  They are very plush and pretty, but I still need to hem them.



I brought home the Cozamia art (Lucid Surf) that hung in my old office and I really like it in here.  The colors are vibrant and playful and go great with the orange and aqua thing I've got going on.

I had the print professionally framed at Aaron Brothers.  Had I bought a smaller size, I could have bought a frame off the shelf for much less, but this size was too large.  

Hopefully, I can finish the rest of the room soon!

Come See Me At Small Shop!

Halfway to the weekend friends!  I'm guest posting at one of my blog crush's blogs today:)  And have you heard, she's celebrating 10 years in the design business?

Congratulations to Erika Brechtel of Small Shop Studio.

Her blog is a daily read for me, and her home is to die for.  This girl has some serious style!

Go here for the full Home Tour.

Erika hosted a baby shower for her sister-n-law and did.not.disappoint!  The grey and orange theme is stylish and sophisticated.  I love how she kept the design simple, yet fun and whimsical with the fish details.  Go here for the full info.

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DIY Showoffs Art WINNER & Nate Berkus for Target

Hi all!  Thank you to everyone who entered the DIY Show Offs Art Giveaway.  The WINNER is:

Congrats Emily!

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I'll be back soon showing you some office progress and a couple Nate Berkus items I picked up at Target over the weekend.  I actually forgot about the launch and stumbled upon the line when I was there to pick up a flat sheet for yesterday's project.  :)

 Did you look?  Find anything?

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Fabric Lined Expedit Bookshelf

Good morning friends!  If you've been following me on Instagram (@honeywerehome), you know I started a new job last week, so by the time you're reading this I'm probably knee deep in legal motions and trying very hard to look like I'm not still nervous:)  

Your input last Friday on what color to paint my home office was very helpful- thank you for weighing in!  The choice was between gray and white and the overwhelming majority of you voted gray, aptly pointing out that my white furniture (desk and bookshelf) would "pop" against a darker color.  I completely agreed with that, but decided to do the inverse- paint the walls white and add dark drapes and a dark color behind the bookshelf to make them stand out.  

For the paint, I used Sherwin Williams Divine White- the color I had left over from when our house was originally painted 2 1/2 years ago.  All of our trim, cabinets, and ceilings are Divine White flat.  My painter didn't prime the office walls, he simply painted one coat over the previous light yellow, so the color may be slightly warmer than if he had primed first.  Divine White isn't stark white anyway, it's more "soft white."  I must say that I'm loving the bright, clean look of the white!

Regarding the bookshelf, I briefly considered painting just the large wall behind the bookshelf dark, but am not usually a big fan of accent walls.  So, wanting the easiest, cheapest, and quickest solution, I simply taped a Twin Flat black sheet to the back of the bookshelf.  It literally took 5 minutes. 

The 5-tier Ikea Expedit measures 72x72 inches at the outer edges, and the Target Twin Flat sheet I got measured 68x96 inches.  I knew it would be just a few inches too short, but figured the contents inside the shelf would cover that part if it was on the bottom.  

I just cut the excess off of the long side.  

Below you can see where the sheet is just shy of covering the entire bookshelf.  

I tried to tape the sheet taught so that it wouldn't buckle. 

Of course, you could use any patterned sheet or color that fits with your decor and change it out when the mood strikes. 

Voila!  It reminds me of our painted kitchen cabinets. 

If you wanted to cover the Expedit completely and not have those couple inches showing, you could easily use the excess you cut off and sew it to the bottom or just buy a larger sheet.  

You can also see that I moved the cowhide rug up here - musical rugs and musical lamps is one of my favorite games:)  Yours too?

Make it a great week friends!

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Today on Honey We're Healthy, I'm talking about time management and the daily routines I use to make the most of the hours in the day.  People ask about this a lot, so if you're interested, head on over! 

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