I’ve been telling you guys for quite some time that I was working on modernizing my kitchen. I guess I picked one of the most popular kitchen tables out there, because when I went to order it, I realized it was majorly on backorder. But it’s the table I’ve been eyeing for over a year, and no other was going to compare… so I set in for the wait.

The table (and new chairs) have finally arrived, and we’re in LUV with the outcome! Over the last year or so, I’ve been slowly transitioning a lot of my home from rustic to more modern. Don’t get me wrong… I LUV to incorporate both styles, but as the farmhouse craze continues, my desire to do things a little differently has kicked in. So, the girl who thought she’d never be a “modern” furniture kinda gal has transitioned to the dark side. And lately, the more modern the better. Maybe it’s the clean lines. Maybe it’s the unique styles. Whatever it is, I’m LUV’ing incorporating modern designs into my transitional spaces. Without further ado… my modern kitchen update…

You may remember I had a farmhouse table in this area. It was a rustic barnwood-look tabletop and I painted the turn legs (with Annie Sloan chalkpaint). You can find the old table here. I decided to go with a round table this time, with hope that it would open the space a little more. Which it has. Plus, I LUV the feel of family sitting around a round table.

I’ve wanted a marble top table for as long as I can remember, but the desire intensified when we renovated the kitchen and put in a marble backsplash. I’m so smitten with the look of this table, without having the maintenance of a real marble table. (If you’d prefer real marble, this table does come in a version with a real marble top.)

The next task at order was to order new lighting. Since I was so happy with the lighting in my dining room, I decided to go back to my favorite lighting source who had just happened to release these new bucket lights, and immediately I knew they were for me. I also added a new runner, and the entire space felt new.

I hope you enjoy the updates and they inspire you in some way! Let me know… what do you think?

Shop the items in my kitchen:

When we completed our renovations last summer, I turned our front “formal living” room into my girly “sitting room”. I replaced the leather sofa and chairs with 4 identical oversized, modern armchairs (which are the one of the best deals I’ve ever found, btw!) and a circular coffee table. Mine has since been discontinued but it was replaced with this one and this one. I added a soft rug and minimal decor, and I’ve been LUV’ing it ever since. I hung my beloved juju hat on the wall and have really enjoyed the fact that the room has felt very minimal and clutter free.

However, the designer in me really felt like the room needed some varying heights, so I’d been itching to test out some height on one of the walls. I decided I would wait until after the holidays, as I was looking forward to my Christmas tree being on that wall, and readdress the desire after I took the tree down. The thought resonated, and soon after taking down my holiday decorations, I bought some shelves.

Needless to say, I’m EXTREMELY happy with the result! I honestly don’t know why I waited as long as I did, because I think the shelves are the perfect completion to the room.

Here are some options of different styles and for all different budgets to get you started:

My main goal of the shelves was to ensure that I didn’t fill them with clutter and create a bunch of noise in a space that felt really serene to me. So, I filled the shelves with touches of nature and neutral designs, like wood decor, white ceramic vases, clear candle vases, my favorite books and of course… greenery.

When styling shelves, the goal is to use objects of varying height, style and texture, but do NOT overdo it. Use pieces that make sense with the space. Don’t just throw a bunch of stuff you have lying around on the shelves and expect a desirable result. It will most likely just feel cluttered. Add simple pieces and try to stick with a color theme. And my suggestion… when you use color, try to be harmonious with it. Stick with a certain color theme and ground that/those colors with lots of neutral pieces. Add framed photos or art of height to break up all of the lower pieces. And always, always, ALWAYS add in some greenery (IMO). My final suggestion is an easy one because it’s something almost everyone has laying around. Find some hardcover books not being used and remove the covers. Face them backward if the color doesn’t work with your design. Books are the best, most accessible form of decor in shelf styling by almost all of your favorite designers.

And here are some of my favorite design books I LUV to read AND style with:

Here are some of my favorite decor items to inspire you in styling your shelves:

Shop the items in my room (or very similar):

I hope this post has inspired you in any way to decorate in your own home! I’d LUV to hear what you took away from this. What did you LUV about this post? What do you want to see more of? Let me know in the comments, and as always, thanks for stopping by.

I’m all about saving a little here and there, so I’m bringing you this tablescape in hopes that it will inspire you to think outside the box, work with what you have when decorating this holiday season & be creative with natural elements wherever you are…

I started by visiting my local Lowes Home Improvement. I went to the natural tree area and asked if they mind if I take some of the extra clippings that were laying around. The staff was extremely kind and even helped me and my daughter round up some scraps. Then I found wooden plate chargers in the $3 section at Target and added my everyday white dishes on top. You can also use your china that probably sits around and collects dust! (You’ll notice I used my wedding china in some of these photos to show you that look as well.) I found the wooden chips at Hobby Lobby, but here are a similar option, and wrote names on them to use them as place markers. You’ll notice I tried using a white paint marker but that didn’t show well, so I suggest black or something metallic. In the end, I just used a Sharpie. I found white napkins (here is another option) and some candles at Homegoods. The silver strand of globe lights I also found at Target for $5 in the Dollar Spot.

First, I placed the tree clippings in a thin layer down the center of the dining table. I also added some white candlesticks that I have from IKEA and placed the strand of lights on top of the greenery. I found bakers twine I had laying around the house. (You’ll see half of it was stained with green marker, so I obviously didn’t use that part.) Then I tied little pieces of twine around the white napkins and added a little scrapping of tree greenery to each napkin.

The wood & marble stands I had in my collection at home. If you don’t have ones just like this, you can also use clear glass or white cake stands you may have laying around in your home. I also have seen little white ones in the Dollar Spot at Target. Finally I added some fur pillows that I already had in my home, and the plaid throw you see on the chair is actually a blanket scarf I had in my closet that I purchased at Target last year.

Listen… The point is- take an inventory of the items you have in your home. What do YOU luv? Incorporate those items. I especially encourage you to use neutral items like white, wood and/or glass. Neutral items can be incorporated easily with almost anything. If you don’t have a set of white dishes already, check out the link I listed in this post. About a year ago, I got rid of all of our colored dishes, and we use the same set of white dishes every day now. They’re appropriate for almost any occasion, affordable, and IMO, there’s no reason to have an over-abundance of dishes laying around taking up cabinet space.

When I used to take clients, I always told them to take an inventory of their items before we started. I told them to go through their items and ask themselves 2 questions with each piece… 1) Does it have a purpose? 2) Do you LUV it? If the answer to both of these questions is “no”, get rid of it. When you do this, it makes decorating SO MUCH easier. And creating a tablescape is no exception. This table setting includes items I use every day, items that I LUV and items from nature. Which made this tablescape cost next to nothing.

I hope you find some kind of inspiration from this post! Let me know what you think! Happy holidays and happy decorating!

Welcome to my holiday home tour! If you’re joining me from Ashley’s blog House of Five, I’m so honored you’ve taken the time to make a stop here as well! If you like what you see, I hope you’ll hit “subscribe” and stay with me a little longer. 🙂 This is my first official holiday home tour, and I’m so excited to show you what I’ve been working on for this holiday season!

My home style is fairly simple and minimal, but I sure enjoyed adding soft touches of Christmas. Of course, anything I can do to make my home feel more cozy, is always considered a win in my book. So, welcome in… Kick off your shoes, and stay a while…

Flowers: Paul & Nate Flowers

First, I’ll take you in my front sitting room… As I said, my home style is fairly simple. However, this room is usually the exception to my style rules when it comes to decor. It’s my “girly” space, where you’ll usually find pops of pink and gold and soft, furry pillows. So, my inspiration in this room this year was a true reflection of this style.

Flocked Tree: King of Christmas

Shop this room:

Now let’s turn around, and I’ll take you right into the dining room…

… just around the corner…

I LUV the simplicity of this space. I created this tablescape with some scrappings I picked up from my local tree farm. (Yes, you can do that. If you don’t have a real tree but want some natural pieces in your home, just go to a Christmas tree farm and ask if they mind if you take some of the scrap pieces. I’m sure they’re happy to oblige.) I threw my white dishes on some basic wood charges I found in the $3 section at Target and used some candles I had at the house. I threw a blanket scarf I had in my closet on a chair for a cozy, Christmas feel. I’ll be sharing more on this super affordable, and possibly even free, Christmas tablescape soon on the blog, so come on back, ya hear?! 😉

Shop this room:

Now onto our family room… This is where we spend the majority of our time, and it’s very important to me that this space feels simple, clean and uncluttered. So this year, I decided to go with a decor theme that just made total sense in this space… simple, black and white, with wooden accents. If you’ve been with me a while, this should be NO surprise to you! 😉

I removed most of the natural greenery I usually have in this space to keep greenery consistent to just the tree, wreaths and natural clippings. But I did plant bulbs of paper whites that I cannot wait to see grow!

The tree in this room is also King of Christmas, and let me tell you…!!! It is so amazing! Yes, a flocked tree is gorgeous. And yes, they are the “it” tree right now. But THIS girl, she has my heart. This tree is completely authentic looking, comes in only 2 pieces, so it’s super simple to assemble AND comes with a free storage bag. Yes, I LUV her. This tree is a winner. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. OK, rant over.

Crazy as it sounds, I actually put FOUR trees up in our home (5, if you include the little one in my son’s room).

Count em… 1- Family Room, 2- Sitting Room, 3- Play Room, 4- My Daughter’s Room, 5(ish)- My Son’s Room

In years’ past, I’ve been very particular with the decorating of the family room tree, just as I have the trees in the other rooms. BUT, it occurred to me that it had gotten to a point where I didn’t have even one tree in this house that I gave the kids free reign over. After all, Christmas is about traditions and family and the actual enjoyment of the process. As a kid, decorating the Christmas tree was one of my favorite things to do. So it pained me when I realized I was robbing them of this activity and this joy of something that we should be doing TOGETHER. So… this year, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought several packs of unbreakable black and white bulbs and some wooden string garland. Simple.

I actually made a cup of coffee, put on my favorite Christmas music and sat back and let the kids place it all on the tree in whatever fashion they found appropriate. Yes, I eventually adjusted the items around (my daughter actually looked at the tree when completed and suggested I do so, lol). But it’s simple and family-friendly, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. And more importantly, I’m happy we were able to do it together instead of me waiting until they fell asleep to meticulously place every ornament without worrying they’d ask to help! I suggest you have at least one tree (if you do multiple) in the house that you let your kids put their stamp on. The joy of the process has given me much greater joy than that of just looking at a pretty tree. But then again, that’s why I put up 4 others.

Shop this room:

Now on to the kitchen…

I have new lighting (you’re getting a sneak peek here) and new chairs, but my dining table hasn’t arrived yet, so I’m trying not to share the entire space until it’s complete. Stay tuned to the blog for more details on this space in the very near future…

Lastly, I wanted to share a few photos from some of the other rooms in our house, so you get to see those 5 trees I keep talking about… 😉

The kids’ playroom (tree #3)…

My daughter Emerson’s room (tree #4)…

And finally, my son Corbin’s tree #5 (or 4 1/2, if you’d like to call it)…

Friends, old & new, thanks again for stopping by! The next stop on this blog tour is at Mollie’s of Design Loves Detail. Mollie is literally one of the most talented people I know and I guarantee her home holiday tour is nothing short of amazing! So head over there now and see what she’s sharing! And if you had fun, don’t forget to hit “subscribe” before you go! Muah!

I’m honored to be sharing this tour with some amazingly talented ladies! After you check out Mollie’s page, make sure to visit each of the participants’ blogs to see their holiday home tour as well!

House of Five

Paint the World White

Remington Avenue

Design Dining and Diapers

Beautiful Treasures Blog

Here are a few of the sales on furniture and home decor that I don’t think you should miss!

World Market has 25% off ALL FURNITURE! As you know, I have several pieces from World Market in my home. I LUV their affordable prices, and I always shop when they do their 25% off because then the prices are even MORE spectacular, obviously. Here are some of the items in my home, items I’ve purchased for clients and some of my favorites all around…

Serena & Lily is one of my favorite stores for furniture and home decor. Though the majority of their items are more of a splurge than some of the other places I typically share, I believe a splurge piece here and again can be majorly impactful to a space. For instance, you could pair an IKEA slipcover sofa, with the most amazing splurge coffee table, and instantly your room is a new level of chic. OR pair a gorgeous, high-quality sofa with a more affordable coffee table, same result. I don’t think every item has to be a splurge. I’m all about saving a few dollars. But I do think Serena & Lily has some wonderfully impactful items that you should definitely check out. Here are a few of my favorites…

Minted has 20% off holiday, gift card and art orders of $150 or more and 15% off sitewide. I LUV Minted art, because it’s an easy way to add instant style to any room, with little thought, really. Here are some of my favorite Minted art prints…

Use code BF2016 through 11:59 p.m. on Friday 11/25.

LexMod  is also a go-to furniture stop for me. Some of my dining chairs are from there. And as you’ve all heard me say a million times, my favorite mattress is from there (that I now have in 2 rooms!) Save 20% off storewide this weekend only! Hint: Perfect time to get that mattress! 🙂 Here are some of the items in my home and some of my favorites pieces they carry…

Pottery Barn has 25% off all bedding, plus free shipping! They also have some Black Friday deals, with sales up to 50% off! So check them out!

Wayfair also has a ton of Black Friday deals, as does Overstock, and you can’t ever forget Target! If you want to see some of the items I have in my own home from these sites, you can follow a lot of links through the photos in my Instagram! Or click the “Shop the Feed” links on the side of the blog.

I know there are tons of deals out there, but hopefully this helps narrow it down for you. Happy Shopping!