BABY V NURSERY

Hello EVERYONE! I am back! I have been debating for the past few months if I want to continue blogging. Part of me wanted to but then part of me felt like it is not making that much of a difference, I am not reaching as many people as I would like, and all these other negative comments. BUT I realized I am not yet ready to give up blogging for good. I enjoy writing too much to stop! So, here I am, back doing something I love and sharing my life, style, and decor ideas with YOU, whoever YOU may be!

If you have not heard through my other social media....WE ARE HAVING A BABY!! It has seemed like a long time coming but we found out in July that we are having a little nugget come March 2017. PRAISE GOD! I am going to write a blog about our whole process and the things God revealed to us during the waiting time, in hopes to encourage others who may be going through the same thing we did for little over a year.

The moment I found out we are having a baby my ideas started racing with what to do for the nursery! Our one spare room is the perfect nursery set up. It has a huge window with a half-moon window above it bringing in TONS of light! It also has wainscoting which I think is darling in a nursery. Immediately....literally I think maybe 2 weeks after I found out we are expecting, I KNEW I wanted to incorporate black in the nursery. My husband on the other hand was not too sure about that one. He wanted grey. I didn't, but I didn't tell him. I am grateful he didn't want blue or pink because I am not a blue or pink paint kind of person. But I still wanted black lol. I did end up getting grey paint samples to look at together and then we both got side tracked and forgot about paint colors hahah! But my desire for black never died. I finally showed B an example of what I was thinking and he was sold...SCORE (cause I was not wanting to budge).

So this is what we have so far:

We made a grey and cream dip dyed woven wall hanging and put it above where the crib is going to go! Not sure our umbrella plant will stay there but it gets great light in the meantime!

We want to get a bold Persian Rug for the middle of the room. 

We have our dresser already (my grandmothers).

I want to get the POÄNG rocking chair from Ikea

And we want the Babyletto Hudson crib (which I LOVEEEEEE BTW)

We are so excited to continue to get the room together and make Baby V's room truly unique and different!

Here is some more inspiration of Baby V's room, hope you enjoy ;)

My dad is going to make me some honey comb shelves like these seen by AMEE.KIM But he is going to make 5 large separate ones that I can hang a few inches apart!

I love the simple and naturalness of this room. It embodies relaxation in my opinion.  I was thinking I wanted to get a funky little floor pouf/ottoman but the more I look at this picture the more I love the simple jute ottoman pictured above! (Photo Source HERE)

I think....NO I know I LOVE this rug! If I could find a rug similar to this just tweak the colors a bit depending on the baby gender I would be OVER THE MOON!! (Photo found HERE)

I would LOVE a mid-mod dresser like the one in LEVI'S NURSERY, but I am obviously in love with the fact that we are going to have an old family piece as part of our little one's room! I also drool over the light fixture in here. Like literally salivate when I look at it. It is STUNNING! Although we are going to be putting a fan in the nursery I do want to incorporate little touches of gold for that touch of modern than it brings!

I am sure my brain is going to continue to race with more ideas within the next 5 months of what to put in the baby room, but until then I am pretty sure we have a  great starting point!!

LET'S REJOICE, TOGETHER!

Dear Mama-To-Be,

I am happy for you! My heart rejoices at the thought of a beautiful child growing within you. I've been waiting a little over a year for my own baby, my heart longs for him/her (or both ;) ) badly, so I can only imagine the excitement and joy you are experiencing in this season. I taste that excitement on the tip of my tongue, knowing soon enough I too will experience that beautiful excitement!

Yet my heart aches because it is a reminder that this month I got my period....AGAIN. It hurts because you told me "we weren't even trying" or "we weren't trying but we were preventing it either. And it took us a few months, so I get it." No, no you do not get it. You weren't with me every month when I took 5 tests because I was late. You weren't with me when I sat in the doctors office swearing I was pregnant only to cry to my doctor because the test came back negative. You got pregnant and it is beautiful but based off your comments to me, you weren't in a season of desperately longing for a child. So you don't REALLY get it. And that is ok.

But you are pregnant! You are about to embark on an amazing journey. Please know despite the little ache I may feel, it does not take away from my pure joy for you and your family. I am proud of you. I am proud that you chose life. I am proud that you are selfless, which you certainly need to be when becoming a parent. I am floored for you! You are going to be a wonderful mommy. 

Please, don't be afraid to talk about your pregnancy with me. Please, share your funny and weird cravings and pregnancy stories with me. Let me know of any concerns and fears so I can pray for you and with you. PLEASE, don't let my longing for a child push you away because you "beat" me to it. It isn't a race. Our stories are just, different. My time is coming and I cannot wait! But in the meantime, lets celebrate YOU! Lets celebrate your baby! Lets celebrate life, TOGETHER! 

Mommy's in waiting. Lets remember to rejoice with those who rejoice! Don't let your season of waiting become a burden. Don't let it be a tool the enemy uses to push you away from loved ones. Love on your mommy friends. Let them know you love them and are praying for them. Sing with them, dance with them, eat pickles and ice cream with them. Buy them an obnoxious amount of baby clothes! And don't forget, God is good and His plan is perfect :)

xoxo Phoebe

backSPLASHIN

It was like Christmas morning for me today! Our backsplash finally arrived.

FUNNY story (well actually no, not too funny). I sent this backsplash to our contractor about three weeks in a document that had ALL of the things we needed to get ordered for the house. Last week he went to go to HomeDepot to pick it up not realizing it was NOT from Homedepot. It had to be ordered through Glass Tile Oasis. Well after that headache was over, our tile finally came in!

Glass Tile Oasis is an amazing company. When we first began looking at backsplashes I stumbled upon this company and instantly fell in love. Not only do they have a large variety of backsplashes like:

Glass Tiles

Metal Tiles

Shell Tiles

Stone Tiles

Ceramic Tiles

Porcelain Tiles

but they also have a deal where you can order 5 samples for $10. You can't beat that! 

I ordered 5 samples and it came down to this one and one similar but the colors were a little more muted. We actually decided on the more muted one, but then remembered that the sq footage where the backsplash was going was small so we figured the bolder the better!

 I cannot wait to show you guys the finished product! They should hopefully have it installed and grouted all by Wednesday WOOT WOOT! 

STAY TUNED!

BEHR MARQUEE REVIEW

OH. MY. GOSH. Let me just begin this post by saying, I do not want to have to paint another room for a LONG TIME! I used to love to paint. To me it is relaxing and therapeutic HOWEVER after painting our ENTIRE house....NOPE I don't want to do it again.

*haha side note, just realized we still have to paint the OUTSIDE of our house. Jesus give me strength.*

Anyway, we decided to paint the WHOLE HOUSE a crisp white. The walls were this tan/yellow gross color. I was not a fan, not to mention they just looked dirty/ were actually dirty haha.

BEFORE: DIRTY WALLS

So we figured, "hey, lets use Behr Marquee. It covers in "one coat" and the walls are light enough already so it will be perfect." We had our contractor order us enough for the whole house and enough for the baseboards and crown molding and doorways and we got to work. 

DAY 1: we began painting the living room walls along with our kitchen and dining room. We did one coat and then came back the next day to see it in natural light so we could see if we missed anything.

DAY 2: I went back to the house with the little girl I nanny, put her in her Pac n' Play gave her a movie to watch and went to work on the SECOND coat. Yes, we had to do more than one coat.

Day 3: Brent went back at night to prime all the ceilings. That took a while!

Day 4: We went back to paint the ceilings and do touch up work which resulted in some walls having to get a THIRD COAT.

Day 5&6 : Brent's awesome dad came to help finish up some painting!

We had over 10 gallons of paint and still then it was not enough with how much we had to touch up and the amount of coats the walls needed.
Even after all that work, we still have to do closets, the utility room and pantry but we figured we can just get that done when we get moved in. After all the painting we did, we need a good little break!


AFTER with BEHR MARQUEE

I still have to polish our floors. I have been itching to do it but I know that when they put the appliances, fixtures, and counters in they are going to make a wee bit of a mess and I just don't feel like being a crazy woman cleaning floors all the time!

Would I use Behr Marquee again? Maybe. I am eager to try it in a darker color to see if it has better coverage. Despite all the work that it took to get the house pained, we are THRILLED with how the walls look with the floors! We had moments where we second guessed painting the whole house white but after seeing it finished we are so happy we stuck with our idea and saw it through.

UP NEXT: Painting our interior doors Valspar New Black! I was going to do a jet black but realized that sooooo many people do that, so we wanted to make it a bit more unique and decided on a super duper dark gun metal grey! Hehe I know more painting? But doors are small enough that I will enjoy it, heck it might make me love painting again ;)

HEY HEY HEY

Hey hey heyyyyyyy, it's Fat Albert! JK it's Phoebe ;)
I wanted to take part in Friday Introductions but I wanted to do it here on my blog for anyone who is new to my page!

SO AWAY WE GO....
As you've probably come to realize, my name is Phoebe! I am a Jesus loving, decor obsessed, free spirited, beach crazy, devoted wife to my husband who I have been married to for TWO YEARS (May 17th) and have known for 6 years now! 
I started this blog about a year ago as a little hobby to document some of my projects. It wasn't until the beginning of fall that I realized I wanted to take my blog to a new level and become more serious about it! I still am not where I want to be when it comes to blogging, but I am learning and growing each and everyday in hopes to make my blog better in any way I can.
I am a firm believer in understanding your tiny decor person that is living on the inside of each and everyone of us. TINY DECOR PERSON? Yes, you read that right heheh! I believe that we all find MULTIPLE design & decor styles appealing and beautiful but they aren't what we belong having in our home. I found farmhouse and industrial very beautiful so I thought that is what I belonged decorating my house in. With time I realized I was not happy with our home, I was not at peace, I did not feel like it was MY HOME.

I took a step back from TRYING to put together a home and I asked myself: 
What is my lifestyle?
What did I grow up loving?
Who am I as a person?

WELL.....
My lifestyle is easy breezy. I go with the flow. I live life at a slower pace. 
I grew up at the beach. We rode our bikes to the beach everyday in the summer. I spent all day in my bathing suit getting brown as a berry. I brought sand home with me and tracked it all the way into the bathroom where I would wash the ocean off of me. I am a beach baby despite now being in inland NC. I did not grow up on a farm. I did not live even close to a farm. Well actually we had a little farm 2 towns over where you could feed goats and a cow hahah.
I am a laid back person. I am not fancy or elaborate. I like sleeping in, being comfy, going without makeup with my hair up.
FARMHOUSE DID NOT DESCRIBE WHO I AM!

Now, I know the TINY DECOR PERSON inside of me is a little California Bohemian (wearing cute gladiator sandals) with a flare of vintage goodness! I like light and airy spaces with BOLD accents. I like bringing the outside in in the form of PLANTS. LOTS OF PLANTS. I like natural elements and different textures. I like cultural pieces. I like rare pieces. I like unique pieces.

I encourage every person who is even remotely interested in decorating their home to take a step back and find who their inner TINY DECOR PERSON is. It will save you time, money, and sanity!

Thank you for coming to my corner of cyber world! I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little more about me, friend.

xoxo Phoebe

EXCITING NEWS

AHHH so much is going on over here! We closed on our HOUSE YESTERDAY so we are OFFICIALLY homeowners!! Construction starts tomorrow *insert happy dance*

We have been finalizing design choices and getting everything in order so the construction process is easy breezy.

Through all the running around and excitement I found out that I was nominated for the Liebster Award! Alexis over at alexisnickcreates thought that my blog was worthy enough to receive the nomination, which is just BEYOND! So thank you, Alexis ;)

The Liebster Award is actually really awesome. It is an award given out through the blogging community. It is given to bloggers BY bloggers as a way to not only let bloggers know they are doing an AMAZING job but also to shed light on different blogs and introduce readers to different material. The blogging world is just getting bigger and bigger so it is great to make blogging friends and uplift, encourage, support, and push each other to do our best!

We are FAMILY!

Once nominated, throw out 11 facts about yourself and answer the eleven questions written by the chic or dude that nominated you, and then create eleven questions of your own for whoever you choose to nominate. So here we gooooo:

1.     I am a Jersey girl. I was born and raised in a small beach town before marrying my husband and moving to NC where I have been for the past 2 years.

2.     I have bachelors in Criminal Justice specializing in Youth Corrections. People usually are shocked at the fact. It makes me laugh when I see peoples faces after they ask me “what did you go to school for?”

3.     I am foodie. I LOVE food so much. I am seriously ALWAYS eating. My grandma used to always wonder why I am not 1,000 pounds.

4.     I am obsessed with olives. My husband thinks its gross, but I will just sit there with a jar of olives munchin away!

5.     I have an adorable Carolina Dog mix named, Rango. We rescued the little nugget. He is pretty rad.

6.     I’m German, Russian, Irish, Italian, Polish, Enlgish and I am not sure what else. Like our dog, I’m a mut.

7.     Hmm what else? My favorite ice cream is chocolate chip mint

8.     Alice in Wonderland is my favorite movie…EVER

9.     I have an obsession with plants

10. I REALLY want to go to Greece one day!

11. I have a fascination with stars. I can sit outside and look at the stars and moon for hours.

11 Questions from Alexis

1.     Where is your favorite place that you have traveled to?

My husband and I went on our honeymoon to the Bahamas. We stopped in Free Port and that was possibly one of the prettiest places I have been to. It was an underdeveloped city but had such a chill vibe. It was so relaxing. Not to mention the water was ice blue!

           

      2.  What is your dream career?

I would LOVE to blog and design homes for a living! I currently nanny and sell home décor which I love but I am starting to get the itch to want to begin designing more spaces for people.

3.     Current favorite artist (musician, designer, painter..)?

My favorite artist of all time is Salvador Dali. He has been my favorite artist for years!

4.     Do you keep your phone on ringer or vibrate?

I am a vibrate kind of girl! That sounds dirty as I type it out, but yeah no ringer for me.

5.     Who is your biggest inspiration?

My biggest inspiration would have to be nature. That sounds kind of strange when I say it out loud but as I sit outside writing this I am looking at my in-laws backyard and I am getting so many different ideas for different home designs.

6.     Why did you start your blog?

I love love LOVE home décor! I love creating beautiful spaces that are budget friendly for the everyday person. I am a firm believer in buying things old and used and bringing them back to life again. That is why I started Rebely. I wanted to show others what they can be capable of doing in their own homes without spending an arm and a leg!

7.     If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

OOOH, good question! Hard question to answer! Hmmm I would have to say sushi. Is that cheating though because there are different types of sushi? I love sushi though. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would say wine but apparently that isn’t a food (booooo).

8.     What social media platform is your favorite?

I really enjoy Instagram! My husband got me a new camera for my birthday and I really like taking beautiful photos of different projects and displaying them for my follower to see. I feel like they give inspiration to others not to mention I get lots of inspiration myself from photos I see on my Instagram feed.

9.     What is your ultimate goal for your blog?

I would really like to have my full-time job be blogging (along with running my own store front). I enjoy it so much and I would love to be solely doing that as a living and following any open doors it may lead me to Lord willing.

10. Do you prefer coffee or tea?

Iced coffee all day long, baby!

11. Where is your favorite place to find blogging inspiration?

Pinterest! It is full of beautiful photos and crafts and unique ideas. I love getting inspiration from there and making it my own!

MY NOMINATIONS

http://crispinteriors.blogspot.com

https://intentionallysmall.com

http://shoeboxdwelling.com

http://www.myfirstapartment.com

http://www.themakerista.com

http://theinspiredroom.net

http://www.abeautifulmess.com

http://stylebyemilyhenderson.com

My questions for my nominees

1.     What is something no one knows about you?

2.     Beside blogging, what is another creative outlet that you enjoy?

3.     Where do you see your blog in the next year?

4.     Who would you say is your  favorite blogger to follow?

5.     If you were stranded on an island and could only bring ONE thing with you, what would it be?

6.     Favorite food?

7.     Margarita or wine?

8.     How would you describe your décor style?

9.     If you could give one piece of advice to someone looking to start a blog, what would it be?

10. Chocolate or vanilla? (I will judge you based off your answer).

11. Beach or mountains?

WHO TO FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM

Social media is taking over the WORLD! Everyone now-a-days is tweeting, Instagramming, Facebooking, Pinning, etc. It can be overwhelming for some to enter the “sub culture” that is social media. I know when I first got Instagram, I was so confused on who to follow. Obviously I followed my friends, but then I wanted to follow users who shared the same passion as me when it came to creating a beautiful and funky home!

I proceeded to follow EVERY home décor account I could find. Soon enough I was following like 200 accounts that were just dedicated to home décor and DIY. After a while I came to find out that those accounts were all pretty cookie cutter. No shade on them, but some accounts were so dang similar you would have no idea that they were separate accounts.  We have all come across those types of accounts.

So who should I follow? Well, I made a short list of AMAZING and UNIQUE accounts that are a MUST FOLLOW and from there you can follow who they follow (cause I know from experience that these accounts don’t follow just any boring Instagram accounts!) and the chain just keeps on going.

Nichol Naranjo @nicholnaranjo

Nichol is probably my FAVORITE instgrammer! Her home is BEYOND beautiful. It is a mixture of boho, modern, coastal, vintage, city goodness. Not to mention she has some pretty adorable pups that like to pop up in her photos like little doggie models! She documents all of her amazing craigslist, thrift store, estate sale finds showing her followers that things do not always need to be NEW to be beautiful and worthy to be on display. Her account is authentic and inspiring, making her truly ONE TO FOLLOW!

Emily K. @crispinteriors

Emily is one of my dearest friends but that is not the reason she made this list! Go to her account and you will see just why she rightfully deserves to be ONE TO FOLLOW. Emily and her husband recently remodeled their gorgeous lakeside home. Her account is filled with photos of her design ideas, breathtaking rugs that she sells in her store, and crazy awesome DIY projects that she documents on her BLOG! (<here).  Emily is one of the sweetest people I have the pleasure of knowing and in my opinion has one of the most beautiful Instagram accounts.

Alexis S. @alexistaylor8

Alexis is one of my friends that I have known since elementary school.  Now, her account isn't necessarily “home design/décor” but she is a designer and social media strategist who has an account filled with beautiful photos BUT also AMAZING tips and advice on how to not only create but grow your brand and social media. I cannot tell you how much she and her wealth of knowledge have helped me out when it comes to growing the REBELY brand. Check out her site to get amazing advice, encouragement, and tips on how to navigate this cyber world at alexisnickcreates.com

Elizabeth Rose @elizabethrosedesigns_

I have been following Elizabeth for a while now and let me just say I am so happy I hit that follow button way back when! Her Instagram account is filled with not just affordable home décor ideas but romantic photos filled with soft pinks and gold. Anytime one of her photos graces my feed I cannot help but stare of the beauty she creates! Her home is the ultimate bachelorette pad!

Tori C. @torilovesvintage

I have had the pleasure of knowing Tori for just about 10 years now! She is friends with my cousin which is how we met but we really connected over home décor and hair heheh. The reason I believe Tori is ONE TO FOLLOW is because her Instagram account is real. She doesn’t sugar coat things. She doesn’t try to take the most perfect photos (even though they are all gorgeous). She is a mama to a toddler and pregnant with baby number two. She is busy running a home; a beautiful home filled with vintage goodness but with having a toddler things can get messy and she isn’t afraid to display that for the world to see. She has amazing design ideas, ideas that are simple yet stunning. Design ideas for the everyday woman/mama!

So head on over to Instagram, I know you all have your phones out anyway ;) and follow these amazing women! I promise you will be glad you did!

happy following