House Week - Homes for Sale

Do you love to look on the Internet at homes for sale like me? It's a favorite pastime and one that I try to limit since it eats up a lot of time but is oh-so-fun!

I also love to watch home buying/selling shows. I think I need to get my real estate license so I can buy and sell homes for people and get paid for doing what I love.

Some of my favorite house shows are:
Million Dollar Listing
Flipping Out
House Hunters International

Some of my favorite Houses to look at that are for sale are:
**This little cottage priced at $100,000,000.00. Yep you read that right - pocket change!
**How about this one in Thousand Oaks it's only$29,900,000.00.
**This one is a little more reasonable at $9,400,000.00. It's in New Canaan Ct. I could move right in it has all the colors I love. Yellows, greens and lots of white! The house also has a name which I am a HUGE fan of! "Wisteria Hill" Yes, I could see myself there (except when it snows)
**I could see myself here too. The decorating has got to go but the house and grounds are my dream come true! And it's the cheapest of the bunch! (Only $7.9 million)
**North Carolina is a dream! Have you ever been there? I have and it's on my list of places to live if I ever have to move. This house is calling my name - the eyebrow window sealed the deal.
**Here's a cottage with a guest house so you can come and stay with me! I love it so much and just looking at the pictures makes me homesick for my all time favorite town - Carmel CA!
**Last one for today - Key Biscayne was one of my favorites when we went to visit this year. The view of the ocean from this house took my breath away and made the list. Enjoy!

Why do people travel to Scotland and Switzerland to see the castles? We have them right here in every state! Hope you have had fun looking at these amazing homes. I hope I don't get you addicted but if I do.....send me your favorites! My e-mail is on my sidebar (wink)

House Week - Amberly's Room

This was a labor or love and I had fun doing it
(even though it took a few months)

This little nightstand was at D.I. for $10bucks! I just did a little spray paint job and turned it into Amberly's bed side table. It holds her glass of water and books. it'[s perfect!

Oh and I added a new glass knob!

This room has not been finished but has all the basics done.
Lighting, paint, bedding.
Now I just need to work on the personal touches.

This is where Amberly spends most of her time - her desk. I found it as is at an antique store for $90. The pretty little iron chair was $20 at the same store - different booth. All I had to do is re-cover the seat to match the bedding.

This was my Grandmothers Ballerina Picture.
I love it! it's an original chalk drawing and is another priceless possession.
We all love Amberly's Bed.
I still need to get curtains and fabric for the cornice above her bed.

I know it's pink and pink can get a little much very, very fast. It turned out perfect for this little princess who has always loved the color pink. I felt that I needed to get all the frills in that I can before she grows up and doesn't want it anymore! She loved it and that's all that matters.

House Week - Old and New

I live in a newer home but love older things. I grew up in The Monterey Bay area in a house that was built in the 20's. The whole town was cottage-y and quaint. Period homes - A-Frames, Tutors, Bay and Gables, Bungalow's, Victorians and Craftsman's. I loved them all! Now that I live in a very new town where all the houses look the same and have little personality I have to add my own. That's why this post is titled "Old and New."
I am so happy with the transformation of my entertainment center. I like things simple, cottage and clean - not modern or contemporary. It's always bothered me that this big BLACK thing was in my cottage home. The rule is to have at least one dark piece of furniture and this is mine. I finally like how it looks and fits into the theme of our home. It holds my antique book collection, my old window I got with my Mom in Portland WA and some of my seashell collection. My fiend noticed the jar of sand dollars (there are over 40 in there) and was shocked! I had to remind her that I have been collecting sand dollars and shells my whole life and my Dad was collecting before me. That makes for quite a collection!

The mantle is made up of two corbels that I got at a salvage place in San Fransisco and a cornice piece I got in N.C. I love pieces with history and try and incorporate them into our home. The Halloween decor can be easily changed to fall by removing the scull, crow and tree. I then can add a few fall pieces and a give thanks banner I found at Home Goods -wha-la! Halloween into Fall!
Entry way cabinet. I love the little picture of my Dad and I. I don't have very many of them and this one is a prized possession.
Love how the entry turned out. These are the frames I got for $12 at Kirkland Home and sprayed them black. The pictures inside are 12x12 and can easily be changed whenever the seasons do. It's also the dumping spot for backpacks, shoes etc. Not my favorite spot in the house but we have limited space and this works. (don't mind the fake spider above the 3rd picture. We take spooking people very seriously around here)

**what's your favorite spot in your house?**
**do you like new or old or both?**

House Week - Top Ten Picks

Above my front door that I look at everyday when I leave the house is a saying:

The Most Important Things In Life Aren't Things

This is to remind me of a lot of things, my family, my faith, my knowledge and wisdom, my cute little girls and my sweet husband. All of the things that I get to take with me when I leave this earth. I don't get to take all the "things that surround me, pulling me in every direction."

That said, my Anniversary/Birthday/Christmas is coming up in a month and............

I have made my list of "things"and checked it twice.

Everything happens in one month for me so I have got to plan accordingly.

Don't judge me.
The sign works 11 months out of the year!

Since it's "House Week" I thought you could preview my list of things to fill my house.
It does count...doesn't it???

Top 10 Anniversary/Birthday/Christmas "Things"

1) Love this lip gloss. I tried it on Saturday at the Blissfest and it stayed on ALL day!

That is rare for me. I eat my lip gloss off in about 15 min! Go check it out here I was wearing generosity and wisdom together.

2) This bike - even if it is a little Grandma-ish would be perfect for me and my arthritic body. That way I can take the girls around town for some girly biking fun. I don't know about the color blue - maybe yellow or red or hot pink! 3) I am in D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E- need of some new jeans. I have one pair that I like - ONE PAIR! So embarrassing!

4) Have I told you the story of when I had three couples over for dinner and realized that I didn't have enough silverware? Uh hello!!!! Nothing matched and I can't seem to remember EVER getting a brand new set - EVER. I think what I have in my drawer is my Mothers wedding set, a second set that we bought at the grocery store when I was 10 and a few other random pieces. Even with all those I still don't have enough to feed eight people. Jeez!

5) A new bathtub that will cover every inch of my body in water. Dreamy.

6) I saw these at Anthropology - Thanks Emily for giving me the idea to go there. I want A LOT of things there but stood in front of these measuring/cups/bowls for 20 min. trying to convince myself into buying them. They are $38 but each little cup can measure 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1 cup. I want them - therefore I need them!

7) Love this little sweater from Down East Basics - love it! And I love her make-up too!

8) This would look so pretty over my dining table. Or over my new tub either way................

9) Oprah did a purse and shoe intervention and it made me realize that my shoes are.....LAME! So on my list are these little beauties from Zappos.

10) A wrap dress looks good on......anyone with any body type. (I'm serious! Have you ever worn one?)This one is on my list (Down East Basics). I saw one at Gap that was cute but couldn't find a picture of it.

What is on your Top 10 List today?
Oh and because it's house week - here is my favorite house plan site
William E. Poole

House Week - Pantry's

Who doesn't love a well organized pantry.

We all want one yet never can seem to get it the way we want it.

My house has a nice sized pantry that is uncommon in homes today.

It is one of the reasons why we bought this house.

(that and the flooring and huge pool)

Now who has a pantry like this?

Come on! It would be dreamy wouldn't it?

I guess if you were Monk or Jeff Lewis your pantry would look this good.

Not us Mom's who have a house full of kids - which I wouldn't trade for anything!

This pantry is just too darn cute!

I could see myself having this pantry in my old house.

It would have been perfect tucked into one of my nooks.

This new house doesn't have any wall space.

That's what you get with an "open floor plan".

Ahhh - a dream! Love the shelving for the white stoneware and the blackboard painted door. My friend Christi did that to her laundry room door and it is SO CUTE!!!!

OK - now on to my little pantry project.

Saturday Tom got the project bug and decided the pantry was in major need of a redo. Who am I to argue with that? We decided that one more shelf going all the way around the top would help add the extra space we so desperately needed. So off to Home Depot he went while I started de-junking the scary dark hole.
What a difference! I'm sad I did not take before shots. I didn't think it would be such a dramatic change. I find myself going into the pantry just to look around. It puts a huge smile on my face now every time I walk by. No more closing the door when someone comes over to hide that space!
One of my favorite things that I use for most everything are these P.E.T. containers. They are a lightweight plastic containers that comes in different sizes and can be sealed with oxygen absorbers to keep food fresh. Even if you open and use something out of the containers when you seal the lid the oxygen absorber sucks the air back out and reseals the jar. Pretty nifty. I have used these containers for 10 years and LOVE them!!!
I did organize the pantry into sections:
Canned goods, baking supplies, spices, cookbooks, small appliances (like the rice cooker, jar opener, panni maker, waffle maker etc) and everyday staples like cereal, snacks and breads. I still need to organize my P.E.T. containers into groups. My kitchen cupboard space is limited and the extra cupboard space I have is filled with my Grandmothers and Mothers china so the pantry has to house a lot of stuff!
Do you need help organizing your pantry? I found a wonderful blog that has some easy steps to get you started. An Organized Pantry from The Home Executive
You will have to let me know what the status is of your pantry. Clean and organized? Scary and a big black hole? Non-existent? I can't wait to hear!
What are some of your favorite things in your pantry? (and I'm not talking the chocolate you have hidden from the children - wink)
(scroll down - I finally posted some Halloween Pictures)

Coming soon.............

I've been neglecting the blog.

No worries!

House Week starts tomorrow!

Everything that has to do with houses (including mine)will be posted ALL week long!

I'm so excited!!!

See you then

xoxoxo