a giveaway :: for the little one

                                                

This giveaway comes from Shabby Apple just in time for summer!  At Shabby Apple you can find women's dresses (maternity, too), as well as dresses for little girls, jewelry, swimwear, and much more. Shabby Apple also has a Facebook page for you to follow where they offer special promotions and exclusive discounts, so be sure to 'like' them so you don't miss out.

Shabby Apple has offered all the readers of Blueprint Bliss a 10% off coupon code (blueprint10off) that will expire in 30 days. To get your ready for the summer time, Shabby Apple is offering one lucky winner this precious dress for your little one. How cute is this pink and orange medallion print dress?!

                    

Available in both 12-18 and 18-24 month sizes. See more images here.

Please leave a comment with your email address for your chance to win. The giveaway is open until Sunday  (6/5) at midnight. Winner will be announced on Monday!

House Tour : Downstairs (Before)

Thanks to all of you who have inquired but have patiently waited on the photos of the new house. We closed on Friday and demo started today. I ran by this morning to take some before photos and thought I would share them with you! I hope you don't get tired of these posts. My blog over the next few months will be my online journal of this process! We plan to do a good bit of work downstairs to update the house to reflect our style. The only thing that might have to wait is the master bathroom so it will not be demo'd this week with the other things (it will be reevaluated with the budget once we get moving with the rest).

This is the playroom... as you enter the backdoor off of the driveway/garage (washer/dryer used to reside behind the closet doors on the right):

 You come up 3 steps from the playroom into the kitchen (my demo guys tearing out the kitchen cabinets):

Looking back towards the playroom opening:

The formal dining room is off of the kitchen:

Hallway off of the kitchen (this view) and foyer is down to your right: 

Walking up from the den looking into foyer:

 Powder bath is to your left:

Front door entering foyer looking towards den (formal living to right and dining to the left):

Formal Living Room off of the foyer:

 Dining Room off of the foyer:

Stairs leading up:

Den:

More of the den (paneled walls in the den to hide 3' deep storage):

Master Bedroom:

Master Bathroom:

Shower to your right and tub to the right beyond it:

And that concludes the tour of the downstairs. I'll post upstairs and the plans for there soon (although 99% of the work/budget is being completed downstairs)!



details for the doggies

My brain is overloaded with thoughts/details for the new house. Trying to sort and organize and figure out a plan since the time is here.

Although I am not sure if built-ins for the playroom/mudroom will be in the budget during this phase... one design detail that I've kept in mind over the past few months is a place to tuck away a dog bed. Such a simple concept but so smart.

                   

1 :: 2 :: 3

today's the day

It really is hard to believe that the time has come for us to close on our new house in Mississippi. We're headed that way around noon today and will close this afternoon. Demo will start next week and our official move date is in less than a month. Where does the time go?

This is obviously not our house... but I'm loving the way they have this back patio set up!

I've started packing.... though I haven't made much progress. But I have been working on planning Collins' first birthday party. I cannot believe my little mister will turn 1 just two weeks from today. Here is one of my favorite photos from the past couple of weeks. Collins and Tanner watching their Daddy work in the yard.

Happy, Happy Friday!

Brooke

i love this house

Southern Living, April 2011

just a few

Here are a few of my favorite images that I've come across lately that have been saved for future reference:

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lots and lots and lots....

*thanks to those of you who left comments on this post... for some reason blogger acted up last week and erased them!

... of options out there as far as kitchen backsplash options. And I am all over the place. I am doing white honed marble on my kitchen and wet bar countertops.

I first considered subway tile. It's simple and classic. But I have it in my kitchen now and think that I want to do something different.

Then I thought about white marble slab to match the countertops... but think that might be too much solid white marble.

Third... horizontal wood planking. I just don't think I can do this with so many pretty tile options out there.

Here are some mosaic options that are interesting. {Side note about my kitchen--- layout is L-shaped with a break in the long counter with a window/windowseat. Cooktop will be in island. So there is no large span of a space that will have a splash...} With that said... maybe I should do something fun and different!

Saltillo Tiles

This one is simple but with a little bit of interest (and is inexpensive):

Or a mini brick pattern:

Or a simple glass:

LOVE these glass and marble mosaics... LOVE. It's too busy for me for my kitchen... but thinking one of these is a winner for my wet bar area:

Mandala Tile

It also comes in the mini stick pattern which isn't as busy but I sure love the herringbone above:

This is fun....but I think it has too much grey in it for me:

 Maharajah Stripe

What would you do?

i'm addicted

... to Pinterest. Such a great spot to keep all of your images/ideas (with links back to original source).
You have to have an invite to join or request one. Let me know if you'd like one (just leave your email address in the comment section).

You can set up 'boards' and get everything organized to your liking. Here are a few of mine:

Rachel and Holly both have posted about Pinterest that explains it a little better than me... go check them out!

A few images that I have saved....

And one suggestion that I would have (that would help out everyone): When looking around online and you come across something you want to pin--- go to the original source and pin from there.

Example from my blog is this photo below that I have of a Graham and Brown Wallpaper. Instead of linking from my blog--- click the link below it to reference straight from the source.


Source

Do you pin?!