Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend! Now that it’s the last day of July, we’re officially less than one month out from moving (assuming all goes according to plan). Tomorrow marks the first day of the month we move and we couldn’t be more excited! Here’s a bit of what we were up to this past week.
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Home Projects & Updates
There was a 24 hour window last week over at the new build where things started changing rather dramatically! Our cabana is looking a lot more polished, but obviously there is some work that still has to be done. They’ve also done some of the more fine grading out back to prep for the pavers to be installed.
In the carriage house, they installed the backsplash in the kitchen. We went with a basic white subway with a handmade effect, so I love how the ripples reflect the light!
In the biggest news of all, our light fixtures AND appliance were delivered Wednesday and the once big open space started to feel really crammed. The box for the entryway light was actually bigger than our refrigerator box. Ha! I love big light fixtures 😉
Kurtis and I spent Wednesday night writing on every box, at their request, to let them know where we wanted the base of each fixture to fall in each room. It was time consuming, but definitely worth it to make sure they all fell where we wanted them to. My biggest concern was that they’d hang them too high, and then once the chain and wires are cut, it’s pretty dang hard to go back. So I was very explicit in my instructions! Here’s the beaded chandelier being installed in the upstairs bedroom we’ll be using as our room. It’s literally one of the most beautiful light fixtures I’ve ever seen in person! I’ve loved this light for years so excited we’ll finally be using it (and excited I got the builders discount on it).
In addition to the light fixtures, all of our glass shower doors and walls were installed, too! I’m really happy with how these rattan pendant lights (small size) turned out, although I may have to rub’n’buff the black ceiling plate at the top. We’ll see how badly it bugs me down the road 😉 And I know they look like they were hung too low, but these can only be shortened in four one-foot increments. So the other was way too high. I told them, when it doubt to hang low. And although it doesn’t appear that way in this photo, the bottom of that pendant is actually at 6’8″ so more than enough clearance for both Kurtis and I.
They still have a few light fixtures to install, including my massive one for the entryway, so I imagine they’ll wrap those up this week. They also hung three of my bathroom fixtures upside down, so I’ll share those once corrected. I really want to share our kitchen lights too, but I feel like I’m going to have to start saving some of the excitement for when we move! But, I’ll share this little snippet from when we were deciding how far to space them. The shades are upside down, but you can get a general feel for how they’ll look. They are gorgeous, and despite our builder discount, I still blew a huge chunk of our lighting budget on these. But it was worth it!!!
I’m also really loving the copper lanterns out on the garage. The lighting store strongly encouraged copper fixtures on the exterior since the salt air is so corrosive here. We have electric on all of the exterior, other than the porch which will be two gas lanterns (that coordinate with the one below).
Kurtis in the space he’s most excited about – the garage! Having a one car garage right now (that is filled to the brim with everything except our cars) is less than ideal. He’s excited to have a little more space back and has measured out where everything can go, including the cars. They finally got it all drywalled, mudded, and trimmed out (which hadn’t happened by this photo), so final measurements could finally be taken.
Here’s a rendering of the cabinets we’re having installed. Just a simple workbench next to the back door and then some locker style cabinets built around where we’ll have an additional fridge. This will make it easy to grab drinks while at the pool, and we’ll have some extra freezer space since our kitchen fridge/freezer is counter depth. Kurtis will put his weights and other workout gear on the left front side of the garage. We should still have enough room then to park both cars in here. He’ll just have to back one out when he works out.
We peeked in yesterday and a crew was there to start staining the wood stairs and handrails. They custom match each of the homes to match the flooring, so I was happy to see how this was all coming together. The bottom handrail is the natural wood, and the upper part is where they had started to stain. I’m glad ours is still going to look really natural!
I’ve decided to paint the exterior doors at the house a blue gray and am excited to try a new color. I ordered a bunch of Samplize samples last week, and although they all may look like the same color to some people, they very much are not! With all the commotion at the house last week, I didn’t get a chance to put them up, but excited to narrow down a color this week! If you’re not familiar with Samplize, I love that their samples are large and use two coats of real paint. They also have a sticky backing if you want to adhere them to your walls, but I prefer to just tape them so I can reuse them over and over.
With less than a month until moving day, we’re expecting a lot of activity over there these next few weeks!
Top Sellers Of The Week
Following are the top sellers from last week across all of my channels. Links to each item are below the graphic.
BEST SELLERSÂ (each number is clickable): #5Â |Â #4Â |Â #3Â |Â #2Â |Â #1
In Case You Missed It
Following are the posts I shared over the past two weeks, in case you missed some days!
Following are the most read blog posts of last week (excluding any of the new posts already mentioned above). Many times this includes old posts that are popular on Google or Pinterest.
Around Town & For Fun
I was outside watering a few planters the other day, and YOU GUYS! I grew a citrus fruit! I swear this was an orange tree, but it’s looking a little lime-ish, so TBD on what it actually is. I need to research further. But it basically made my entire week. I haven’t been great about watering or babying this one, so I’m excited to get more once we move. Our HOA requires they be potted (we can’t plant them in the ground) but I’m totally fine with that. I just want my own fresh fruit!
Most of the excitement for us this week was packing. And by excitement I mean, we remembered why we don’t enjoy moving 😉 It helps dramatically that we downsized so much once we moved here, so we’ve actually been able to empty out a few rooms for the most part already (other than the large furniture pieces). Our goal is to move most of the boxes/fragile items ourselves, and then we’ll hire movers day of to handle all the furniture.
This little nugget is already starting to feel the stress of moving. Not sure if she remembers what all that involved the last time around or what, but she has definitely been on edge this past week. We’ve just been trying to reassure her that everything is normal and fine and promising her a dedicated bedroom at the next house 😉
Meanwhile, these two are not bothered by anything. Unless we’re creating too much noise and waking them up!
It’s been so sunny and hot here this past week, so we headed to the pool for an afternoon. After living in Omaha with a much shorter summer season, we’ve trained ourselves that if it’s sunny, you have to use the pool. We’re trying to remember that we have a much longer season here, so we don’t actually have to go out every time it’s sunny. Especially if the heat index is over 100… let’s just say we made it about 45 minutes. Ha!
We ended the weekend on a high note with dinner with some friends visiting! Two of my Omaha friends, who also know each other, happened to be down here at the same time so we had dinner at Citizen with all our husbands. Mandy, who is with me in the middle, is an insanely talented interiors photographer and was the first person I ever met through Instagram (probably ten years ago!). Outside of conferences, I think Rachel was the second! It was raining and dark by the time we left, so the photo isn’t ideal, but wanted to remember this fun night!
Recent Buys & Sales
Following are some sales from the weekend that have carried over and are still going strong! You can see my top picks here.
- AFLORAL is offering an additional 20% off their clearance stems with code SALE20. You can shop their site here.
- AMAZON has a number of daily deals happening now! My cute little patio bistro set (that comes in eight colors) is currently 25% off! You can shop their site here.
- ANN TAYLOR is offering 25% off full-priced tops and sweaters with code TOPS25. You can shop their site here.
- ANTHROPOLOGIE has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- BALLARD DESIGNS is offering up to 30% off sitewide! They also have up to 75% off all clearance items. You can shop their sale here.
- COLLEEN ROTHSCHILD is hosting her Christmas in July sale, with 25% off sitewide with code 25JULY! I love so many of her products and can’t wait to try this one next – people are obsessed with it! You can shop her site here.
- GAP is offering up to 50% off favorite, plus an extra 10% off regular priced styles at checkout (no code required). You’ll also get an extra 40% off sale styles at checkout. You can shop their sale here.
- HOMEGOODS has a number of new arrivals, as well as free shipping on orders $119+ with code SHIP119. They also have up to 75% off clearance items. You can shop their site here.
- J CREW is offering 30% off wear-now styles with code SHOPNOW. You can shop their site here.
- J CREW FACTORY is offering up to 60% off everything, shirts & tops are 50% off. You can shop their sale here.
- LOFT is offering $50 dresses and an additional 50% off sale styles! You can shop their sale here.
- LULULEMON has a large sale section with some major markdowns. You can shop their site here.
- MADEWELL is offering an additional 40% off sale styles. You can shop their site here.
- MARK & GRAHAM is offering up to 70% off and free shipping on orders of $99+ with code SHIPFREE! You can shop their site here.
- MARSHALLS has a number of deals sitewide plus free shipping on orders of 89+ with code SHIP89. You can shop their site here.
- MICHAELS is offering 20% off regular priced items with code DAILY23US. You can shop their site here.
- NORDSTROM is hosting their annual Anniversary Sale! You can see my top picks here. You can shop their site here.
- OLD NAVY is offering 50% off cargo pants for the family. You can also get 40% off your purchase (including clearance) at checkout (no code required). You can shop their sale here.
- OVERSTOCK is offering an additional 20% off select patio furniture. You can shop their sale here.
- POTTERY BARN is offering up to 50% off furniture, outdoor, and more. You can shop their sale here.
- REJUVENATION has up to 70% off rugs, hardware and more. You can shop their site here.
- RUGS USA is hosting their July closeout sale, offering up to 75% off sitewide. You can shop their site here.
- SERENA & LILY is offering up to 30% off lighting and 20% off upholstered furniture with code BESPOKE. Plus they have a number of new items in their clearance items. You can shop their sale here.
- SUMMERSALT is offering 25% off sitewide with code SALE25. See all of my top picks in this post. You can shop their site here.
- TARGET has a number of home deals, including up to 30% off small space furniture, up to 40% off select throw pillow and throws, 30% off select outdoor furniture, and tons more! You can shop their site here.
- TJ MAXX is hosting a clearance event and is offering free shipping on orders $89+ with code SHIP89! You can shop their site here.
- TORY BURCH has a number of new items recently added to their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- TUCKERNUCK has a lot of cute new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- WALMART still has our favorite outdoor swivel chairs on markdown, as well as the coordinating sofa and entire conversation set. You can shop their site here for other deals.
- WEST ELM is offering an additional 15% off clearance with code EXTRA15. You can shop their site here.
- WILLIAMS SONOMA is offering up to 75% off clearance styles. You can shop their site here.
- WILLIAMS SONOMA HOME has a number of new clearance styles as well as up to 50% off outdoor furniture. You can shop their site here.
I hope you all have a great week!
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Ray Molbert says
Hi! Love to see how your home is coming along! It’s Lovely. I was wondering as I noticed you have a door lever on your hallway door by your stairs, how you decided between levers and knobs and if you went with a polished chrome or nickel? I am finding it challenging to pick between the knobs and the levers and what kind of silver hardware to use on my doors. Can you link the door hardware you used and why you chose to go with that? I find there isn’t a lot of information on this topic. Thank you!
Sarah says
Thank you so much! So, our builder basically only gave us this door handle option, or an upgraded one from Emtek that was an upcharge of about $10k for the whole house. We also only had the nickel or black as an option for free (brass was also another $10k upgrade charge). They aren’t 100% what I would pick if I had free reign with no cost, but these are totally fine to me! Doorknobs aren’t something I feel too strongly about one way or the other unless I have a super negative reaction to one 🙂 I would actually prefer knobs, simply because one of our cats knows how to open levers!
Carol H. says
The kitchen lights are so pretty, they make me think of clam shells. Can’t wait to see the finished home. It’s going to look like something from a designer magazine.
Did you say what you are doing with your current home, selling or renting?
Sarah says
Thank you Carol! Some of the decor will take a bit to finalize over time, but we wanted the light fixtures in right away so Kurtis doesn’t have to mess with trying to install them with 12′ ceilings 🙂 And we will be renting out our current home as a long term rental once we move out.