Weekend Finds & House Talk

How was your week? I am just completely overwhelmed with house stuff like looking at tile, faucets and trying to get my house plan STILL approved by the city I live in. It’s been extremely worrying and stressful, and stomachache inducing as we are paying rent at the rental and building hasn’t even begun. I’ve finally nailed down my bath tiles and floors. A peek of some of it here.. and my dying feet at the tile store- don’t you love that herringbone set tile?

A few pics from the Ann Sacks showroom in San Francisco. I love the tile on the floor with the marble- maybe for my master. For the boys I am thinking a combo of grey, off white tiles and some dark denim blue colored accents like these cute tiles for their shower floor and in the shampoo niche or in a stripe going around the shower. It’s hard to see the true blue colors in a photo.

On the bright side, our rental is larger than my own house and my landlords are the kindest, sweetest people who I adore.  They were so cute and came to get some mail and I invited them in. They were very kind and their daughter and granddaughter said they love my way of decorating. I was surprised as I have such a crazy mix here, but I guess together it all works. They made my day and were so sweet. I am what is described as a nester. I am happiest at home and wherever I am, I have to make it my own. A lot of people say they would do nothing to a temporary rental, but I would find it hard to live here without making it mine in some way.

What they liked was my colors in my bedroom, quirky colored handbags as placed about, and some pops of color with white. They have a wonderful trough planter under the desk window and I replanted it with little flowers, so the white and pops of color kind of worked well!

Sorry for the messy bed. I love these lampshades I found at Homegoods again.

Throw was from a mill in Leeds, England and wonderfully soft also from Homegoods. ( I almost typed Homegods, but they kind of are for affordable stuff.)

Love, love, love this desk and the view. I use my baskets (This from the French Basketeer,) as filing areas of a sort.

There is a good mix of blue, natural woods and rugs and throws here. I’m a bit of a throw ho.. Sorry I couldn’t resist- but they do easily add color and fun to the home and spice up things.  I’ve also found some nice accents at a local chain called Harvest I adore.  I like plain furnishings, so I can change things up with the seasons and frankly when I get sick of looking at things. I think visual people are that way and if you are someone like that, it’s best to stick with a lot of white, solids and blacks. You have a lot of choices when you do.

It’s been summer, so I’ve had all my blue out and in this rental I was lucky to have a wonderful spot to display some of my blue books, glasses, plates and vases with a mix of coral we have from vacations over the years.  How awesome is this built in? It fit my record player and I created a nice wrap station too in one of the drawers for the upcoming holidays.

This cute throw is from the Los Gatos Harvest store.

I had no idea how to decorate the big family room, so I stayed with the blue theme. I added a blue and grey pillows and had the ottoman, also from Harvest from a while ago in that color made it all work. The monster ugly tv had to fit in. UGH. I’m upgrading to a thin one when we move back.

They left me a nice stone kitchen table which I covered with a blue cloth and added some inexpensive white metal chairs that I found for $29 each.

I love the big yard here so tried to continue the theme outdoors and created a living room with denim pillows thrown on my old yard chairs, added my outdoor rug and a bar I found pretty cheap at Homegoods that I kitted out with a few things. I copied my friend Elaine’s bar styling. She’s a pro at that and I shared one here on my Instagram. I have to do another post on her terrific outdoor room soon as she’s brilliant at all that.

We brought our string cafe lights over and strung them between the trees here. It feels festive. I left my loungers at the other house and we still go over there to swim occasionally. My husband jokes it’s our vacation home. We have to make light as we are dying about the cost of all this. STILL we tell ourselves this WAY cheaper than moving and buying another home around here. We just have to keep reminding ourselves. Things like the small house next door getting sold in it’s original 1965 condition for more than star’s homes cost (I read the weekly Hot Property from the LA Times- kinda fun), helps me realize it will be worth it all.

It has been fun trying to make a temporary place feel like our own and I’ve distracted myself with it while going through this whole planning process which is so much more than I ever imagined. I’ve tried to use what we have, repurpose things in other rooms and buy some fun things on the cheap, so I don’t feel too guilty about  spending money here. I even got some things on Nextdoor, like a cool desk chair for my son.

Here’s a few good finds I love this week for the home..

I love this Pendleton throw in Horizon Stripe. The blues go with so much and feel beachy, but would be nice for cool nights on the patio with a glass of wine as well as pretty on the end of a bed or on a sofa.

I ordered myself Eau de Vacances (scent of vacation), from Fragonard, a lovely fragrance house I visited in Èze, France on my holiday this year. I couldn’t resist the scent of bergamot, mandarin, rose and cedar- all making me wish summer was not almost over.  Hopefully, I can savor it a little longer wearing this!

With the kids getting their desks all cleaned out for school, I took the time to do the same and got new pencils, pens and I am thinking of ordering this cute ginger jar stationary set so I have some pretty thank you cards and note pad.

Anne Selke cotton rugs are the best. This Citrus Drybrush rug popped up on their outlet and I cannot help loving the look and the price $45 for a 4×6! How cute is this for an entry or a kitchen?

These Ombre Wine Glasses  caught my eye and I couldn’t resist getting some for my outdoor bar. I love stemless wine glasses and the colors just say summer and California plus and the gold makes them work for fall too.

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the delay in posts and I am sorry the travel posts are coming. They just take a very long time to write.

Happy weekend!

Kim

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