A nice way to make an entrance

It seems lately that Kelly and I have been making some real progress filling our home with pieces of furniture that we hope will be classic and versatile (and sturdy for kids one day) for many many years to come.  I figured since this week has been about refinished tables and new chairs and I would show you our new entryway bench that I am so happy with! 

We bought this from Target, the cushions are not ideal and are pretty hard but I knew this when I bought it from reading the reviews.  I am OK with either recovering these or getting a new bench cushion.  Did you know how expensive those things are, holy cow!  I was blown away, I have yet to find one less than $60 but I am determined to get one soon.  I am so excited for the day we replace our front door and all of the morning light comes rushing through and brightens up this hallway (oh yes, there will be pictures).

Right now the house is lacking color but on the upside I have at least created a blank canvas to start decorating with accessories.  Trendy accessories are much easier and less expensive to replace than trendy furniture so this is why you see a lot of beige and white right now.  For those of you craving color, I am with you and stay tuned, it will be coming soon.

Here is the bench:





For a better view, here are what the cushions look like against the wood:

This is my idea for the bench cushion, do I attempt to make this?  Eeeek!  Knowing Shanna and myself, we are going to try. If we do, we will show you how it works out one way or another.  Have any of you been successful with making a bench cushion?

Bench Cushion from Pottery Barn:

Are any of you shopping for new furniture this weekend?  Do you have your eye on anything you would like to add to your home?  All I can say is happy shopping and enjoy all the sales!

See you swoon,



Swoon-Worthy Site: Life of a Ladybug

I don't know about you, but this Winter has got me in a gray murky funk.  Sure, the lovely yellow of our gorgeous new blog helps perk me up a bit, but honestly, when I see we are still in February with (probably) more snow and ice on the way, I can't help but feel kind of blah.  One of the ways I feel a little better and pull myself out of the doldrums is to freshen up my make-up.  Who can be down when there are so many beautiful colors?

I admit I get a little overwhelmed when it comes to make-up, and I tend to play it safe and stick to what I know works.  But I'm always on the hunt for something new and pretty.  Enter my good friend Toya and her blog: The Life of a Ladybug.  Toya has been blogging for years and has amassed a blog chock-full of tips, product reviews and musings of her own.  She even did a guest post here at Swoon on summer wedding make-up tips!  Toya is a professional make-up artist (not to mention a  professional belly-dancer, a full-time worker and the mom to a sweet 7 year old daughter), but she is also a gifted writer.  Even if you're not into make-up, you can't help but just love the way she works the English language.  In fact, she was featured on NPR's amazing series, "This I Believe" for an essay that she wrote about natural hair.  Love it ... and love her!  Here's a picture of the lovely Toya:

Give Life of a Ladybug a whirl! I guarantee you'll learn something and find some eye-candy that might help hasten Springtime!

See you swoon,

{make-up image found here}

A Nice New Place to Rest Our Fannies

Our new chairs from Overstock have arrived!  My husband put these together while I was at work, and just so you are all aware, when they said assembly required they meant screw the legs on and cover with the chair with slipcovers.  After he put them together he sent me a picture from his phone to show our sparse front sitting room starting to take shape starting with these two lovelies below.  I have been shopping for chairs going on four months now, they are darn expensive which is why it took me so long to actually pull the trigger on this purchase!  When I came across these at $398.00 for both and shipping I jumped on it.

This is a shot of the material, so, so soft.  Keeping the cats away from it has already become a challenge.  Any cat lovers out there who have ideas on how to do this please let me know.

At first I was not so sure about them.  The chairs in my mind were a tad larger than these and MUST be soft and cushy.  Kelly (my husband for any new readers who are not sure who Kelly is) knows me better than I know myself sometimes, he just asked me to come home and try them out before I had him packing them back in their boxes and shipping them out.  I did this and he was right, they are amazingly soft and actually pretty deep.  Now that you have heard the long story, the short of it is that we kept them. 

My plan for this room is to make it a comfy sitting room with not even an ounce of formal to be seen.  Everything right now is a work in progress but these chairs are our small victory for now.  I will be sure to keep you updated on how the room comes together piece by piece. 

Now that the chairs are in place I would love to hear any ideas you have for the rest of this room, I am open to all advice you have!  Are you working on filling your home with furniture?  What are some of your favorite furniture stores? 

See you swoon,

February Closet Challenge {Week 2}: Hall Closet

Last week, I bared all and posted my master bedroom closet  and how I organized and cleaned it up.  Up today is my hall closet downstairs.  This is our only storage closet on the main living level in the house, so it needs to be really functional and hold coats, cleaning supplies and anything else that we need handy.  Honestly, the "before" wasn't that bad ...

As you can see, it's already pretty neat and tidy.  We've pared down our coats and these are ones we actually use.  The vacuum has to live here, and the little plastic shelving unit helps keep things organized, too.  I used to have the kids' boots, hats and gloves and vacuum bags in it.  On the shelf above the coats are two baskets (from IKEA many many years ago), and I had more hats, gloves and scarves in one and our mini-vacuum attachments in the other.  It was fine, but I knew I could do better.

My first step was to clear out the closet.  I put the coats back first and then the vacuum.  Next, I decided to tackle the plastic storage unit.  There are three drawers: (1) the kids' boots were a little big for the drawer (meh, that means they are getting bigger ...) so I put them in the baskets by the front door; (2) the vacuum bags stayed put; and (3) the hats and gloves moved to the IKEA basket on top of the shelf.  In my two now-empty drawers, I put our mini-vacuum attachments, which freed up space on the shelf up top and our Swiffer dusters and sweeper pads.

Next, I went through our hats and gloves and pared down a bit.  I was able to consolidate them into one of the IKEA baskets on the shelf.  Since the other basket was now empty, I removed it and reused in another closet (the one in the basement!).  Because I am *obsessed* with magazines and refuse to throw out the ones with some great eye-candy, I decided to get some magazine holders to keep in the closet.  We already have a basket for magazines in the living room, but it just isn't big enough.  I found these beauties at Wal-Mart for $4 each (but I had store credit so they were free).  I loved the punchy teal color.  I took a second to make labels for the mags on my printer.  Ahhh ... now I have them organized and still within easy reach.

I left the little hanging hooks for our Swiffer sweeper, dusters and my yardstick.  I had put them in the closet a few years ago and they work just great.

Here's a full-length "after" shot - just in case you want to see more!

Ahhhhhhh.  Another organizational challenge in the books! What's the state of your coat closet? Neat and lovely or kinda messy?  Please share!

See you swoon,

Welcome all to Swoon Style & Home and to top it off, a dining room reveal!

Shanna and I would like to welcome all of you to our pride and joy, Swoon Style & Home.  Our new site has been in the works for quite some time so today is a very proud moment for us!  We have a totally different look as you can see but will still be bringing you all things swoon-worthy in style, fashion and home.  Our hope is that you all enjoy this new blog as much as we do, send us your stories and ideas and we would love to feature you on here too!

Today, my beloved dining room table.  I bought this table and six chairs from Craigslist for $250.00 right after we moved into our new house.  I jumped on this purchase the second I saw it but knew it would need some TLC and it did not quite match my decor for the dining room so a remodel was in order.  Originally I wanted a Pottery Barn table in an antique white finish but it was serious $$$, even at the outlet so I had to come up with my own plan and that is where my dining room table reveal comes in.

First the color, Dover White by Sherwin Williams.  Shanna recommended this because it has the antique look I wanted but still a nice, fresh, crispness that white can bring into a room.  I know this color may be tough to see on the white background but you get the idea.

Here is the dining room table before, nice and sturdy just a little more blonde wood than I wanted to have in this room.  I know it sounds a bit crazy but when I saw this table I could actually see my family sitting around it for holidays and enjoying good old fashioned family meals for years to come, and with that,  and I knew I had to have it.



Off to the basement we went, chairs, table and me...for the next 3 weeks!  Somehow I thought I could get this done in a weekend but that clearly did not happen.  After emerging from the basement with this masterpiece, I can now say it was all worth it.

And then a little distressing:

Ta Da!!!!!!

So there you have it, a beautiful, dover white dining room set to stand the test of time and create beautiful memories around.  I will have more on how I painted this set and recovered the chairs soon. 

Did you start or finish any projects over the weekend?  Are there any projects in your near future that you need help with?  We want to hear from you!

See you swoon,