Monday, August 27, 2012

Front Porch Fridays

I've recently learned that a prerequisite for being "southern" is to have a charming front porch.  At least that's what it seems like if you drive around our community.  All of the homes have great curb appeal with stylish seating and just the right amount of garden/landscape.  Our HOA social committee has even organized a fall event called "Front Porch Fridays".  Each Friday a different house will host the neighborhood on their front porch (host provides the drinks and guests provide a snack or dessert).  When I got the sign up email I was excited for the opportunity to meet the rest of the neighborhood.  But then I looked in horror at my barren front porch and turned to my husband in dramatic fashion: "We can't host Front Porch Fridays on this porch!"

Well lucky for us Pier1 was having a great end of the season sale.  We were able to pick up some cozy seating for a great price.  Here are the results...




Where we got it:

Chair Frames, Cushions and Side Table from Pier 1
Outdoor Rug from Target
Accent Pillows from Homegoods
Container Garden/Plants from Lowes

I hope our porch is now worthy of Front Porch Fridays.  We'll have to see what our neighbors think ;)

Next project..........LANDSCAPING!!!!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Mirror, Mirror....Part 2!

Congrats to all of the blogging community who have closed and moved into their new Ryan homes!  I have taken a little break from decorating (and consequently blogging) to concentrate on that pesky job of mine.  However, I am working on lots of projects both inside and outside of our home and will be sure to post more in the next few weeks.

The moment I have been waiting for has arrived....we finally installed our MirrorMates!  You may remember my previous post here about this great product to transform "builder basic" mirrors into something much more finished looking.  I am happy to report that the installation was as easy as described on the website.  Once the frames are assembled and left to dry it take less than 5 minutes to affix them to your mirror.  If you live in the Charlotte area, the MirrorMate headquarters is located in Matthews and you can pick up your frames to avoid shipping charges. 

Here are some pics of the finished product:

Master bath with Tribeca Burnished Bronze frame




Second bath with Permaquid Slim Dark Bronze frame



I am really happy with how they turned out.  The frames match perfectly with the upgraded bronze fixtures.  And the entire process was much easier than taking down the rather large mirrors and installing new ones :)