House of Hydrangeas

Mom's kitchen renovation starts today!  What a long time coming this has been.  It's going from 1970's down and brown to a clean, white wonder.  I can't wait to show you guys the before and after shots! In the meantime, here is the moodboard of the overall look of the space.  Click on the image in enlarge.

My mom's kitchen is a typical 1970's alley kitchen with a short, narrow footprint and dark cabinets.  Since this photo (below) was taken, new wood floors have been put down but the rest of the space is still living in its dull, brown glory.  The plan is to remove the wood valance above the sink, replace the existing cabinets with new door fronts and paint, put in under cabinet lighting and install a new countertop.  Since it is a small space and no walls can be moved, creating a light and airy feel is vital to adding more visual square footage.   This is my solution to the problem... white cabinetry with glass fronts to extend the visual space and dark stone countertops for dimension and durability.  New hardware in a timeless nickel finish is also a must.  And I've always envisioned putting in schoolhouse lighting (like shown here above the sink) to compliment the rest of the traditional pieces in her home.  Outdated fluorescent lighting and beau...

Jadeite is my new obsession. Don't get me wrong, I still love my milk glass, but jadeite has recently stolen my heart. I actually just purchased these jadeite measuring cups from Amazon a couple of weeks ago. But, much to my dismay, they weren't wrapped up very well, resulting in a crack in one of the cups. So they had to go back.  :( I've been swooning over jadeite cake stands for awhile now, but this party made me even more in love and has been a great inspiration from Cohen's baby shower. Unfortunately, jadeite cake stands cost well more than I'd like to spend on them, so I'll just have to admire them from afar for now.  But one day I will have a lot of pretty jadeite pieces gracing the counter tops in my pretty, white dream kitchen... You just wait and see. Image via Country Living , citrusandorange , Houzz

This past weekend I discovered the fabulous work of Heather Bullard.  She is the Senior Editor of Flea Market Style Magazine and is also a very talented stylist.  I stumbled upon her website and fell in love with some of the things I saw.  Take a gander...   I think this laundry room has my mom's house written all over it. Heather also made mention of this canvas tool bag she always carries with her onto sets.  All of the little pockets allow her to carry any and everything she may need at the last minute.  I think it would make a great craft/design bag to carry all of your  tools when putting together a party or baby shower :)  And at $14.99 how can you go wrong?  I see one of these in my near future. Images via Heather Bullard

I just bought today's SaveMore.com deal for Canvas People and thought you might be interested in it too. Why do you ask? Because I just paid $27 (shipping included) for a 16x20 Custom Photo Canvas!  Go HERE to snag one (or two!) for yourself.  The deal is almost over, so check it out now. P.S. You'll receive $10 for signing up!  They also have a deal going on an 11x14 canvas print. You can't beat either of these steals! I'm not sure what picture I want to print on the canvas yet, but that's okay because I have a year to use it!  Even better :) Okay now that I've shared my steal for the day, let's talk about House Beautiful.  I've been a subscriber to this magazine for some time now, but have recently been debating on canceling my subscription.  I found myself flipping through the entire thing in about 5 minutes with nothing to take away from it.  It seemed that advertisements had become the focus and not good design.  However, when I go...

Jon's parents came for a visit this weekend.  It was the first visit to Enid and we had a great time with them as usual.  Lucky for us, they enjoy being low key, so we had a lot of great hangout and movie time.  And of course Remington enjoyed having 2 new pairs of hands to throw him his toys :) We took our visitors onto base on Sunday to show them Jon's stomping grounds.  Jon's dad flew helicopters in the Army so he loved getting a tour of the plane.  Check out the name on the side of it!  Yep, Jon has his "own" plane.   Naturally, picture time ensued.  But he was a good sport and we got some great shots with the fam. Family photo! Proud wife and mom :) Me and the hubster. I did sneak in a little Pinterest time while watching movies yesterday.  Are you on there and in love with the site as much as me?  I hope so!  My name is MalloryatHoH if you want to follow. Here are a few of my most recent kitchen inspired pins.  Clear...

One of my best friends made an offer on her very first home today, and I couldn't be more excited for her!  While I've had several of my own places since college and now one with my hubby, I've never lived in a place that belonged to me.  I'm hoping our next stop will bring us just that... a place to settle and call our own!   I want a place I can paint.  A place where I can knock down walls.  A place I can transform (budget allowing of course)  into our "home."  Jon has been so patient with my sporadic purchases of things that we have no room or place for in our current home.  "It's for our future home!" I'll exclaim as he gives me the "What did you buy today?" look.  He'll normally just smile and shake his head. :) I'm so lucky to have found a man who loves and supports my dreams (and weakness for pretty things at a good price).  I've mentioned before that I have a file on my computer entitled "Wish List." ...