My Home Tour: Master Bedroom

I can't believe that this will be my final post for the year. I can't end the year without an expression of gratitude. The last 3 months of blogging have been wonderful! I am so thankful to each of you, for taking a little time out of your day to come visit my blog. I have "met" so many wonderful people through blogging and I am truly inspired by each one!

As for the New Year's Eve festivities, we'll be ringing in the New Year with some friends who have invited our family and a number of other families to their home to celebrate. Think 20 adults and about 30 kids!!! It is sure to be a PAR-TAY! :)

Today, I am continuing my home tour with a look at my Master Bedroom. Enjoy!

You can go to the My Home page to see more of my home.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I sincerely wish each of you all the best in 2012!

Also, don't forget to enter my E-Design Giveaway...there's still time!

Room E-Design Giveaway!

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone and that it is almost time to celebrate the New Year! We had a wonderful Christmas full of family, food and fun! Santa even rewarded me with the new camera I had been asking for...now I just need to figure out how to use it!

If you have ever visited my "Design Services" page, then you know that I will be offering E-Design services starting January 2012. In order to celebrate that little event and the New Year, I have decided to giveaway a full Room E-Design! I am so excited to do this for one of you!

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the E-Design service, it essentially gives you the opportunity to have me design a room for you, no matter where you live, via the Internet and email. After receiving some pictures of your space, along with some basic information from you about your style, budget, etc... I will create a full design board for your room, which will include color and fabric choices, furniture selections, artwork and accessories. Here's how you can enter...

That's it!

Here's a look at a few of my previous Design Boards to get you excited!

This giveaway will be open until Midnight on January 1st, 2012. A winner will be chosen and posted on  January 2nd! The E-Design is valued at $200.00. 

Wouldn't it be great to give one of your rooms a new look for the New Year?!? 

Christmas Wishes and and what's to come

Things are busy at the Montgomery home as we make final preparations for the big day! We still have some presents to wrap and tomorrow night we will be baking some cookies for Santa to nibble on when he comes to visit.

My heart is full of gratitude for the bounty of blessings I have been given. I am in awe of the gift our Father in Heaven gave us, when he sent to us our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am thankful for his presence in our lives, and have enjoyed spending this time of year remembering and pondering that great gift.

This Holiday season, my sincere wish for each of you, my lovely readers, is that you will be able to reflect on the blessings in your own lives and that you will be enveloped in the warmth and goodness of the season. I hope you find yourself celebrating this special time of year by doing the things that bring you the utmost joy, while you are surrounded by the ones you hold most dear.

Also, because there wont be much activity on the blog for a few days, I wanted to give you a peak at what you can expect next week...

My home tour will continue with a look at my Master Bedroom...

and

I'll be announcing my first ever giveaway! I am super excited about it and I hope you will be too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

TO EACH OF YOU!

House of Turquoise Feature & A Big "Thanks!"

One of the blogs I look most forward to seeing a post from in my Google Reader each day is Erin's House of Turquoise. I happen to share Erin's love of all things Turquoise. My "Dream Home" file is filled with images that come directly from the House of Turquoise Blog, so I am so excited that Erin is featuring my home there today. Thanks so much Erin! You can check out Erin's post on my home here.


I also want to say "Thank You" to Lesha from The Uncluttered Lifestyle, who sent me a message last night to let me know that she had awarded my blog the "Liebster Blog Award." What a nice surprise! For those of you that aren't familiar with this award, here's the skinny...

The German word for "love" is "liebe", hence the name for the award. This award is meant to recognize new up and coming blogs with fewer than 200 followers...like me! :) The receiver(s) of this award are asked to "pay if forward", here's how... 

1. Choose 5 up and coming blogs you love, with fewer than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.

2. Thank the  blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them and following them; if you would like to. 

3. Post the award on your blog. 

Here are my 5 picks for the Liebster Blog Award, and let me say, I sincerely enjoy all five of them!

1. Twenty Three Oh One. Katy's blog is full of inspiration! She has tons of style and her home is beautiful. You must pay her a visit.

2. Jenny Castle Design. After one visit to Jenny's blog, I knew it would become one of my daily reads. Jenny obviously has an eye for design and I adore her style. Head on over to Jenny's blog and give her some love.

3. The Curtis Casa. Whitney's lifestyle blog highlights everything from food to fashion, DIY projects and interior design. Her recent gift guides have been full of great Christmas gift ideas. Head on over and check them out.

4. LowLife Couture. Becca's is a Lowcountry girl with high style! Her blog features fashion and interiors, while she shares the happenings of her life as a newlywed. Go check out her fabulous blog!

5. The Happenings of An Absent Mind. I love the sense of humor Nicole displays as she shares the happenings of her life as a Mom, Photographer and fabulous DIYer. Hop over to her blog and check out her fun projects and beautiful photography.

What a great day for me and my little blog! Thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged me over the past few months! 

Client Family Room Update

Hello there! I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a wonderful weekend spending time with my hubby and kids while we got into the true Christmas spirit by providing service to those less fortunate than us. It was a wonderful learning experience for my children and one of the reasons I love this time of year so much...the goodness of people can be seen and felt everywhere!

As promised, here are a few pictures from the home of a wonderful client of mine who needed help decorating her family room. My client has a young family with three small boys. She stressed the importance of keeping things comfortable and casual. She wanted a pulled together look, but one that her family could spend lots of time in doing the things they love. She also told me that she wanted to accent her room in shades of orange and turquoise.

There were a few things I had to take into consideration when coming up with the design plan. First, painting the family room was not happening. The floor plan of her house is very open and each room opens up to the next in a way that doesn't allow for a clear start/stop point for paint. If we wanted to paint the family room, we would have to repaint the entire main floor....not in the budget. Luckily, her existing paint color was neutral and easy to work around. Second, my client already owned a large brown microfiber sectional that she and her husband are not yet ready to replace, it had to stay. Additionally, they have a mammoth large, 60 inch flat screen TV mounted to the wall across from the sofa, and removing or replacing it was not an option. Lastly, my client had fallen in love with a media unit form Pottery Barn quite some time ago, and when she found it for less than half the original price at a local outlet store, she knew she had to have it and wanted me to incorporate it into the design plan.

Before...

and now...

Before...

Now...

Before...

Now....

I love how the space feels so much more cheerful and bright now. Removing a piece of the sectional and adding the two linen barrel back chairs was key in bringing some lightness into the room. We also brought in a colorful rug, pillows and accent table to add some warmth and vibrancy. The linen embroidered drapes help pull all the elements in the room together, while enhancing the casual and fresh feel we were striving for. When my client's baby gets older, they will add a coffee table and a couple of lamps that will help complete their family room further. For now, keeping the room safe and kid friendly is at the top of the priority list!

I loved working on this room. My client is an absolute sweetheart and I am so glad to know how much she loves her new space. I hope that she and her darling family will enjoy their family room as much as I enjoyed designing it!

...

I also wanted to take a minute to say "THANK YOU" to Michaela of Michaela Noelle Designs for featuring my Holiday Home on her blog today. Be sure to go check out all the festive decor. It is sure to get you into the Holiday spirit!

*all "after" photos by Paige Davis Photography 

Client Project Sneak Peak

I've been baking and packaging up cookies like a mad woman, and now I am off to a cookie exchange with some of my lovely friends. Before I go,  I want to leave you with a little sneak peak of a client project I am finishing up...

More to come next week. Have a fabulous weekend!

Guest Posting at Burlap and Lace

I am so happy to be guest posting today at Shannon's blog, Burlap and Lace. I am sharing a couple of before pictures of my kitchen and talking more about the makeover process. So hop on over and check it out. While you are there, stay awhile and peruse Shannon's blog...it's a good one!

Home for the Holidays

I know...two posts in one day!?! I really should be addressing my Christmas cards...

But instead.... Here's a look at how we gussied up our home for the Holidays!

Are you all ready for Christmas? I'm off to tackle those Christmas cards!

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Kitchen Makeover...Questions Answered

First of all, I want to say "Thank You to Lindsey at Better After for featuring my kitchen on her blog. I also want to thank all of you who commented on my kitchen post and to those who contacted me via email as well. I am so happy that so many people love my space as much as I do. I have been asked many questions about my kitchen and the process of having my cabinets painted. I started out by trying to answer each inquiry individually, but I quickly realized that it might be better if I answered them in a post, so here it goes.

What color paint did you use? Pratt and Lambert's Balsa

Are the cabinets brushed or sprayed? They are sprayed. My painter set up a tent in my garage where he sanded and painted my cabinet and drawer fronts. He then tented and sealed off our kitchen where he sanded and sprayed all the boxes and island. If I remember right, there is an undercoat and then 2 or 3  coats of paint and then a lacquered top coat. That may seem like a lot, but for durability it is a must.

What should I look for in a painter? When I decided to paint my cabinets, I was extremely nervous. I was so afraid I was going to ruin my already beautiful cabinets, which were only 5 years old. I knew I wanted someone who had experience in painting kitchen cabinetry. I decided to call my local, reputable paint dealer. I figured that they know all the painters in the area and that they also probably know their reputations. I explained my situation to the store manager and then asked him, if he was having his own cabinets painted, who would he have do it? He gave me three names and said they were the only three painters he would trust to do the work in his own home. I called all three of them, had them come to my home to give me bids and talk about their process for painting cabinets. In the end, I did not choose the least expensive painter! I chose the one that I felt had a thorough knowledge of painting cabinetry and that I felt comfortable having in my home. This project took almost 10 days and my painter was in my home 8 or 9 hours a day. I needed to feel comfortable having him there while my husband was at work and around my kids...that was important to me. Let me say, I know I chose the right guy, he is an amazing painter and person!

Where are the barstools and kitchen chairs from? Pottery Barn Napoleon Barstools and Pottery Barn Isabella Chairs

I hope this information helps those of you who have thought about doing the same thing, but are hesitant. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me. I will do my best to answer them!

My Home Tour: Entry and Dining Room

Today I am continuing my home tour with my Entry and Dining Room.

The dining room was previously our formal sitting room, which no one ever sat in. We decided that  since we needed more room to entertain friends and family, it would be used more if we turned it into a formal dining room. Luckily, the floor plan of our home will allow us to create a pass through from the kitchen to this room. We have plans to create the opening and remove the carpeting to install walnut wood floors in the dining room in the spring. The chandelier will also be replaced, because it is the wrong size for the the room, now that it hangs above our large dining table. I also plan on adding a small sideboard to the room. I love having a formal dining room. When we built this house, I didn't think it we would miss it, but as our family has grown, it has almost become a necessity. We have already used it more times then anyone ever sat in it when it was a formal sitting room!

Here is a look at the changes we have planned in the near future...

I'm excited to show you the changes once they are all complete!

Do you have a dining room? Some people think it is a waste of space...what do you think?

*All images by Paige Davis Photography

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