the cottage mix

Green Day

07Jun

With a bit of blue mixed in….of course!

Beautiful tile, right?

This has me ready to pack for a vacation.

Love this shutter color. Any guesses as to what color it is?

Happy Friday friends. Thanks for stopping by!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

A beach house and a Cause

05Jun

Good morning friends. I am in the beginning stages of a few new projects in Jacksonville Beach and I have beach houses on the brain. I recently came across this and thought you might enjoy………….

Source

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Our friend, Mary Ann is hosting a giveaway for this beautiful bracelet…….

As pretty as the bracelet is, the story behind it and the cause is even more so. The profits from the handmade jewelry support orphans and widows in Uganda.

Please hop over to Classic, Casual, Home and enter to win in more ways than one!!

Posted in good blogs, good design | 6 Comments

So I’ve been back at it again (after a looooooooong break from trying any new recipes), I tried out a few of my pins and thought I’d give you my feedback in hopes of maybe saving you some time or maybe making you a hero in the eyes of your family!
First, was the Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake. I love casseroles, one stop shopping, but this one was a lot of work (at least I thought!) You probably can cut corners and save some time, but for the time and effort, my kids didn’t love it, and Jeff and I didn’t either. It was good, not great.

Now onto a hit! Mozarella-Pesto grilled cheese. Can I say, I cannot stop eating these! Definitely not low-cal but so good. Added bonus: 3 out of 3 kids approved!!

Keeping with the pesto theme, I made Shrimp and Pesto Pizza with goat cheese. Loved it! I made these for dinner but I would definitely make these as an appetizer. It’s so good!

Another kid-approved pin are these frozen yogurt covered strawberries. I seem to get into a rut with the same old snacks, but these were quick, easy and something different.

Let me know what you think if you try any of these! Happy Cooking

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Today is the last day of school for us. Happy (no more making lunches!), Sad (baby is going to 1st grade, middle one is leaving Elementary School and oldest is going to High School…Ugh!) and Excited all at the same time.

Time goes by too quickly, doesn’t it?

Posted in pinterest, recipes | 7 Comments

Wine barrels…not just for wine

31May

We’re in the beginning stages of sprucing up our backyard a little bit, so I’ve been spending some time on Pinterest (OK, that’s nothing new) and in my searching came across these images with wine barrels. These were used at weddings and parties, but you could do the same thing in your backyard. Perfect for entertaining, don’t you think?

This image got me digging around………………

And it brought me to this. OMGeeeeeee. A wine country wedding.

They’re ready for their happily ever after. So sweet.

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And speaking of wine I’d like to wish my step-mother, Claire, an early Happy Birthday!!!! (just kidding, she’s more of a cosmo girl). She’s a great friend, awesome Nana and one of my most loyal blog readers.

Happy Birthday Clarabel

Posted in entertaining | 5 Comments

Console table slipcover and a DIY

20May

Several months ago, I had an inexpensive shelving unit made to provide additional storage in my office. I had my handyman leave it unfinished and my seamstress made a table cover out of this John Robshaw fabric to hide all of my ~~crap~~ stuff. It also now serves as printer/copy/fax central. I love the fact that everything is concealed!!!

I was also in need of a larger inspiration board so I can layout fabrics, samples, paint chips, etc. I wanted the background to be white and didn’t want the brown cork to show through, so I covered the cork board with blackout lining. I also knew that I wanted to hang the cork board with rope so I spent some time browsing the rope aisle at Home Depot and this is what I came up with……

I used the rope clamps to make the loops, attached the rope binding hooks to the back of the cork board and simply hooked the cork board through the rope loops. To attach it to the ceiling, I did the same thing with the rope clamps (made loops) but used the utility hooks and screwed them into the ceiling. Since this hangs in front of a closet that houses the A/C handler, we need to be able to access it every now and then and the hooks make it easy to remove as needed.

Here is a look at my new chair slipcovers from Ballard’s. My “plan” is to have them monogrammed with my logo. Maybe I should set a deadline to have that done, because you know what happens once things are in place. Things never get finished!

And here are all of my newly folded fabrics. Much easier to find what I’m looking for!

Have you tackled any good DIY projects lately? I’d love to share it here on the blog, send me your picture and a brief description to ll@laurenleonardinteriors.com.

Have a great day friends.

Posted in DIY, my design business, my house | 9 Comments

The funny side of motherhood

13May

Hope everyone had a happy Mother’s Day! I meant to get this post up on Friday, but I think these are quite funny and still wanted to share. I’m pretty sure we can relate to ~~all~~ some of these!

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Last week, Cheri featured me on the Coterie Crush. Please head over there and see what I’m loving lately.

And Friday, Julie featured my bathroom on her “Beautiful Blogger Rooms” post. Please check it out and you might see a few of your favorites on her list. Thanks to both of them!

Time to get this week started. Have a good one.

Posted in family, featured | 4 Comments

Good Stuff @ Target

08May

I was browsing Target’s home accessories aisle the other day found some great stuff and all of it was on sale. Didn’t buy anything. Didn’t need anything. Wracked my brain to see if I had any clients that needed these things and came up with no one. So I walked away with only pictures.

Looks a lot like Oomph’s Tini Table, doesn’t it? Really cute.

Have you bought any pieces from their new “Threshold” collection??

Posted in great finds/deals | 7 Comments

The Southern Coterie Summit

06May

Hello Friends. I’m back and had an absolutely amazing time at The Southern Coterie Summit. The experience far exceeded my expectations and I came back so energized and excited about all that I learned. I met some really nice people and loved connecting with other creative types, hearing about their businesses and what they were hoping to come away with from the Summit. If you are a business owner or even dreaming about starting up a business, this Summit will give you valuable, “insider” information on how to move your business forward in the right direction (I promise I was not paid to say this!). I can’t wait to go back!

Unfortunately, I did not take nearly as many pictures as I had planned. Was having too much fun! They promised a “swag bag like no other” and they delivered. It was filled with all kinds of good things.

Oh, and the food and cocktails didn’t disappoint either.

The only thing that was a downer was the weather. Do you know what a nor’easter is? Well, we had one and it lasted all 3 days. The Summit took place on beautiful Jekyll Island and if you ever visit Savannah, you might want to include a stop to Jekyll and St. Simons…they are about 1-1/2 hours south of Savannah. Part of the Summit was held at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel and the history behind this hotel is so interesting. Here are a few pictures that I took plus a few from their website.

Ok. So who’s with me next year?!?!

Thanks to Whitney and Cheri for putting on an amazing event!

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Also, I wanted to thank all of you for your sweet comments on my bathroom. You’re the best!

Posted in The Southern Coterie Summit, travel | 8 Comments

Master Bath Reveal!

01May

It’s been a while since I left you hanging on my bathroom remodel which was part of the One Room Challenge but I am happy that I can now say that it is DONE!!!

Let me refresh your memory with a few of the before photos so you can see what I started with. Ridiculously large tub for such a small bathroom.

It’s hard to believe that this entire space was taken up with a bathtub that we never used! No regrets on taking it out.

As you can see, I need some type of top treatment for the window and frankly, I just can’t decide. I love all of the natural light that comes in, but can’t stand the glass block. I have 3 options. 1) Do another set of shutters on the top half of the window. 2) A fixed bamboo shade. 3) A flat fold roman shade…..but my biggest problem with this option is selecting a fabric…my mind goes numb when I think about it. Please give me your thoughts!!

Loving our new shower curtain. I had it made out of indoor/outdoor fabric so it would hold up to the moisture. The monogram is one of my favorite elements in the room.

I went with a simple flush mount in this space since we only have 8′ ceilings in this room….very happy with the quality and price. Grab your sunglasses. Sorry for blinding you.

Sources:

Paint color – BM White Dove

Sconce – Circa Lighting

Cabinet Hardware – Home Depot

Rug – HomeGoods

Flushmount Light – Restoration Hardware

Faucets – Overstock

Mirrors – Restoration Hardware

Blue and White Garden stool – Available to the trade

Monogram – Number Four Eleven

Thanks again to Linda for including me in the One Room Challenge. I am so thankful to have been included and now I have another completed room in my house that I can check off the list!! And thank you for your patience.

I’d love to hear your ideas on the window treatment!

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You may have noticed on the sidebar that I am now on Instagram, courtesy of my 13 year-old son I might add. When I asked him if he wanted to follow me he politely said, “ummm, no thanks”. Oh well. Again, I’m late to the party, but better late than never, right? And I’m on Instagram just in time for The Southern Coterie Summit which starts today! Please forgive me if I over-post on the pictures. Ya’ll have to keep me in check.

You can follow me at laurenleonardinteriors

Posted in my design, my house | 19 Comments

The Doctor is In.

29Apr

Hello friends. How was your weekend? We had a beautiful weekend here! Sorry to have disappeared (darn, I was doing so good there for a while!!), I have been busy wrapping up some projects, and one of those being the doctor’s office I’ve been telling you about. He is officially open for business. Happy for them, sad for me. I so enjoyed working on this project.

The doctor wanted a calming office that reflected his laid-back style. He also lives at the beach and wanted his office to have a coastal feel. I chose light colors, neutral upholstery, dark stained cabinets, sand colored counter tops and tied it all together with the artwork. My goal was to make it light and bright without losing sight of the fact that it is a professional environment.

In the waiting room, I chose BM Wythe Blue for the wall color. This canvas brought together all of the paint colors used throughout the office.

I used teal throughout the office to pop against the blue-green paint colors.

More teal on the check-in counter top. The contractor thought I was crazy for not going with granite!

We had all of his diplomas re-framed with linen mats which coordinates with the adjoining wall color and the frames were matched to the door and cabinet stain color.

In the exam rooms, I chose BM Hollingsworth Green. The exam chairs and stools were upholstered in a pale aqua leather. That was the scariest decision!!! On the swatch card, the color appeared so much brighter, but none of the other choices “added anything” to the space so I decided to go for it. So glad I did!!