A little front porch update

My front porch has been a work in progress.  So far you have seen the front door, that in itself has made a huge difference.  Last weekend my mother and I planted our hanging flower baskets to add some life to the front and Andy (neighbor and best friend for new readers) and Kelly mulched and weeded the front yard patch.

I thought I would make a quick trip to Home Depot to get the Adirondack chairs I have been eyeing up for $30 each!  They are very lightweight and need assembly but they were super easy to put together, I put three together in less than an hour.  They do come unfinished so that still needs to be taken care of with primer and protective paint with polycrilic, I will show you a tutorial on that later but for now you can really see the front porch taking shape. 

A little update....

I would have already ripped the tan iron posts and railing out myself if I wasn't afraid of having the roof collapse.  My brother has a friend that does contracting work so he will be stopping by to give me an estimate very soon!  I know we all love DIY but this is something I need to hand over to the professionals.

I want to see front porch transformations today, send over some of your ideas or things you are swooning over for your outside entertaining areas!

See you swoon, 

Swoon-Worthy Site: The Love Affair

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Geri Williams, the owner of the cutest little New York City-based boutique called The Love Affair.  She asked if I'd want to give shopping with her a whirl ... and when I took a peek at the amazing selection of swoon-worthy baubles, bags and shoes that she has available, it was a no brainer. 

Geri launched The Love Affair in December 2009 to provide edgy, independent shoppers with unique designer products and same day delivery to Manhattan’s fashionable female professionals. Coming from a long retail and sales career in New York’s fashion industry, Geri decided to create The Love Affair to provide customers with those unique hand-picked accessories and outstanding customer service.  The Love Affair offers customers a variety of accessories from niche contemporary brands such as Foley & Corinna, L.A.M.B., nOir, Tarina Tarantino (one of my personal faves!!), Modern Vintage and Rebecca Minkoff, as well as up & coming and local designers such as the headwear line I Love Factory and handbag line ko.des.  Lucky for us girls outside New York City, The Love Affair now delivers beyond New York!

It was so hard to narrow down my choices, but in the end, I picked out some edgy earrings that I knew my sister would love as a thank you for her help with the new house and found this gorgeous oversized ivory disk ring (no longer available - sorry!) for myself.  Aren't they lovely?

I had a hard time narrowing down my selections.  Here are some pretties that I almost snatched up:

Tarina Tarantino Carved Rose Bracelet

Badgley Mischka Xolani Pumps

Matt and Nat Ashberry Wallet

Cynthia Vincent Brea Sandals

by boe Graphite Mesh Necklace

The entire process from browsing to ordering to receiving the goodies was seamless and easy.  I placed the order on a Saturday and received the package on Tuesday.  Even the packaging is divine!

Take a peek at A Love Affair!  I'm sure you will love it and there are always great sales happening, including a Summer clearance right now!  Geri has even offered a sweet discount code to Swoon readers!  Order between now and July 22 and take $10 off your order by entering the code swoon10 at checkout.  How nice!  

Let us know if you decide to order a few things for yourself or for gifties.  I'd love to see what you choose!

See you swoon,

{Note: A Love Affair has not comped us for this post today.  Geri offered a discount code for my first order and sent a sweet lavender fabric tote as a thank you.  However, the provision of these did not influence my review of her company, products and/or customer service.  The thoughts and reviews herein are my own!}

The hunt for the runner is over

I have been on the hunt for a new runner to go in the front entry way since the day we moved in.  We had a runner that my husband used at his parent's house and it definitely worked for the time being but the colors were all wrong for the light airy feeling we now have going on in our house and especially the hallway thanks to our beautiful new french door!

Here is the hallway with the runner we currently own:

On the one hand it does protect our floor especially since this is a high traffic area, on the other hand though, you MUST see these floors!  I had searched for the perfect runner to go in this area for so long but after staring down this hallway obsessively (really, it cannot be healthy how often I stare at it with my jaw dropped).  Maybe a small 2x3 for the front of the door with the pop of color I was looking for will be just what we've needed here all along!

As a side note, the door is not done yet, some serious trim work is in order.  I will post updates as progress is made on this.



What would you do?  Runner or no runner? I have a couple more ideas to finish off this space and make it feel less stark, those projects will be coming soon!!

See you swoon,

Swoon Worthy Product: Rowenta Hand Steamer

I know this is not nearly as fun as ripping down a door frame but it has almost brought me just as much satisfaction.   I dislike ironing with a passion, however, it is a necessary evil...UNTIL I borrowed the Rowenta hand steamer from our friend and almost did not give it back!  We used it on everything, the couch the curtains, our clothes and it worked like a champ. 

Rowneta Hand Steamer:

Kelly and I were given a big steamer for our wedding shower but have yet to figure that thing out so when we got our hands on this little guy we knew we had to have one.  We did end up giving this one back but one will be coming to live with us very soon.  Now that we have had a taste of life without an iron we cannot go back!

Any fun new products you have come across?  We always want to try new things so send them our way!

See you swoon,

Trash bag transom no more!

Monday I showed you my lovely new french door which is still a work in progress but fabulous nonetheless.  Once the door was installed everyone was too exhausted to do anymore work so Kelly and I crafted a trash bag transom to keep bugs and rain out for the night.  The following day Andy was coming back over to install the transom above the door.  I was not able to take part in this because I had to work but came to home to a beautifully installed window that just increased the light in the hallway, LOVE, there really is no other word.  The hallway is my new favorite place to hang out!  The new door has caused my mind to race with ideas for the rest of the house again so I am trying to rein myself in a little bit and remind myself about the baby steps, I dislike baby steps in case you were wondering. 

This was what I left you with on Monday (kind of scary when I blow the door up this big, lots of trim work to be done!):

So I went to work and came back to this!

Alleluia!  Now for the finishing touches, I am hoping to have that reveal for you next week!!  I told Shanna I would pay close attention to this process so that we can install one of these doors in the back of her new home.  As long as her doorway is newer than 1911 and doesn't require the amount of demo my door frame did to get the measurements to work,  I think we can handle it.    

So what do you think so far?  Happy hump day everyone!

See you swoon,