Color Trend: Tangerine Tango

Pantone recently announced the Color of the Year to be Tangerine Tango. It's popping up on the runway, in makeup and in home decor.


I've always love this color -  I've had a ski jacket in this shade for years. It's happy and bright and would give a nice pop to a room in accent pieces.  I have wine-colored accents in chairs, pillows and a stair runner that I'm a bit tied to so I'm not seeing where I can add this, but would love to if I could!  Here's some photos I pulled from Pinterest to give us a bit of inspiration in the New Year! Isn't it just perfect paired with turquoise?

HGTV Dream Home Giveaway Starts Today!

I always look forward to the unveiling of the HGTV Dream Home on HGTV in the New Year.  And today's the day! This year's home is in Park City, Utah.  While it's not by the beach, it is still one of my favorite places to visit. Simply beautiful out there. Here's a preview of some of the photos from HGTV.com. Check out the outdoor living spaces!








2011 Makeovers

I wanted to share a few of my favorite DIY makeovers in our home during 2011.  My goal this year was to lighten and brighten our home.  We have tall pine trees all around so at times we don't get a ton of natural light. We've taken down as many trees as we could within our property, but that's about as good as we can do.  Eliminating some of the dark and crazy colors in this 1980's built-house and adding clean, crisp white paint to trim and wood in many rooms has helped tremendously.  Here are two examples...

In the photo above of the wet bar in our family room, I went ahead and painted the entire cabinet Benjamin Moore's Super White (told you I wanted crisp, bright white!:).  We also changed out the knobs and painted the wall beside (kind of hall between the kitchen and family room) with Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint in black.  The chalkboard paint has been one of my favorite additions this year as the kids, and visitors big and small, stop by to leave their mark. My daughter and husband even practice math problems on the wall for fun! The granite and new color were additions from years past.


In the dining room, we changed out the light fixture to this pretty, reflective one from Pottery Barn called Camilla, painted all the trim in Super White and the walls Benjamin Moore's Monroe Bisque.  I also painted our old, wood and black kitchen table white and purchased the bench to add more seating and room to walk.  Finally, I sowed panels for each window with a fabric bought at Jo-Ann fabrics. 

There are a few quick overviews of makeovers from 2011.  I'll show some more with you in the coming weeks! I am going to link this up to Rhoda's linky and Savvy Southern Style...see you there!

Restoring Order

January is National Organization Month, and I know why! The house is a mess...toys without a place to live, dishes and laundry piled high, holiday decorations feeling like they're adding clutter.  I've been cleaning ever since we got home from my parents last night - going through the kids books, old toys and the closets to make room for some new things and to feel just a little more in control of the place.  I even managed to add some hooks to my son's closet door today.

The best thing that came in the mail was my 2012 Weekly Planner.  Yippee! If you haven't gotten one yet, check out www.SarahPinto.com. She has the cutest planners. I got the striped one in the middle - a bit of a nautical feel I thought. They're a happy little gift I give myself each year. :) Hope you enjoyed the holidays and are restoring order in your own household faster than I am here!

 

Merry Christmas to All!

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree from Our trip to NYC in early December!

A Dock Decked Out for Christmas

One of my favorite sights around town during the holidays are the Christmas trees perched at the end of  docks.  Here's one we passed tonight on our way to a caroling party for the kids.

 

Some of My Favorite Christmas Decorations

We have a few Christmas decorations that have become very special to us all.  The first is a German Christmas Pyramid my parents bought for me when they were living in Germany back when I was in college. What I love about it is that it isn't some commercial decoration. It doesn't have lights or sound or a battery.  It's simple candles at the base, a nativity scene in the center and it all spins from the heat generated by the candles that reaches the propeller at top - or whirly-gig as my family has termed it!  At my three year old's request, we light it every time we eat - even breakfast. And they've even asked about the nativity scene that is at the center of it all, which I think is nice.




The big count down to Christmas happens at the advent calendar we bought at Target a few years back.  I've filled each day with small toys, candies or stickers. They run down to each morning to open and are actually learning to take turns (for the most part), each opening it every other day.

 

Finally, one of the best parts of the holidays is all the great Christmas cards we receive! I used to just tuck them away in a box until last year when I found a way to display them throughout the season - something beyond taping them to the wall! The holder we have is from Pottery Barn, but it looks like they no longer carry it. I did find the same one here on Amazon in case anyone is interested!