Girl Crush

Hello! Has your weekend been kind to you? We had a lot of family time, which was an amazing treat. Sorry for the lack of posts last week. Crazy schedule mixed with some technical difficulties lead to that mishap, but the new blog is up and running! Do you like it? Kelly Ann from Freckled Nest did a great job with the design. 

So today I am going to do things a little different. I want to give a shout out to all the ladies who inspire me on a regular basis. Some I have the pleasure of knowing, others I just know of from a distance. No matter, they are all amazing and add a little something special to my days.

bri emery

designlovefest.com

• super cute.
• super talented graphic designer.
• super stylish.

maybe you know her from her blog, or drooling over the "pages" she makes so pretty on rue, whatever the case, i am pretty sure this girl is going to start an empire. her designs are simple and pretty and have many "ah ha!" moments, which i love and respect. 

bethenny frankel

bethenny.com

hot mom.

recent multimillionaire.

comes from "a place of yes"

gotta love a woman who makes it in the liquor industry, one has got to be impressed. i have loved watching her in all her shows. it's been impressive to see people not taking samples from her in the grocery store to her being a serious business woman in just a few short years. it doesn't hurt to be on the cover of forbes with a public shout out of "i am worth 120 million". 

emily henderson

stylebyemilyhenderson.com

the girl you want to shop with.

talented well beyond her years.

the girl everyone loves to watch on HGTV.

i have got to hand it to HGTV for selecting emily as the winner of Design Star. she ads such a fresh perspective to the network with her show Secrets from a Stylist. i love how every room she has done on season one looks so realistic and lived in. you can't help but obsess over her finds. 

zooey deschanel

i want her closet.

she cracks me up.

we should be besties.

i don't know what it is about her, but she does no wrong. i am obsessed with everything she wears, and dream about raiding her closet. ever role she's in she cracks me up. between acting and singing in her band she&him, i am totally inspired by this do-it-all girl. 

sherry petersik

younghouselove.com

makes me want to do something to my house daily.

has the cutest family ever.

obsessive diyer.

we all know and love younghouselove. they are no secret. i have to say though, ya got to be inspired by the people who put home blogging on the map. their well deserved success only inspires me to get my to do list done, and keep up with this here blog. 

layla palmer

theletteredcottage.net

her style is so perfect, you'll rethink your whole life.

her husband is a professional musician too!

may be coming to a tv screen near you soon!

layla's house is like a dream come true. her and her husband kevin have such amazing taste. i love everything they do. i mean that literally. i am so excited a network has picked them up for a pilot, and wish them the best of luck from the bottom of myheart. 

genevieve gorder

soulful designer

wanted to "be her" when i grew up

has the cutest little girl ever!

Dear Gen, we should really do that lunch! Ha. 

 So there you have it! My totally non-creppy girl crush list! I hope you get to discover something new and get inspired by these ladies too. 

Pssst! We really want to know what you think of the new design! Please share your thoughts!

Rockin' Faucets Part 1 of 2

Hello lovlies! Happy Monday! Hope your weekend was amazing. We were totally zonked! Minor home things got accomplished because of our exhaustion. Why are we so tired you ask? We had a 72 hour whirlwind trip to Indianapolis, IN to visit the fine folks over at Delta Faucets. 

We were one of the eight DIY blogs they chose to come to the conference, and we were honored to say the least. They treated each and everyone of us like kings and queens, and fed us like royalty too. From the moment we walked into the Delta building, we knew we were someplace special. Everyone in the company lined up and applaused when we walked in. 

We felt a little like rockstars. 

We had the pleasure of meeting Holly from 504 Main,  Roeshel from The DIY Show Off, and Maggie from Holyoke Home.

And there (is an awful photo of me) is me with Emily from MerryPad. 

Our three days consisted of getting to know the company and the people behind the products in addition to learning about there offerings and what makes them different. There is a lot to go over, so we are dividing it into two posts this week. 

One thing I am really over the moon excited about is the Brizo line Delta has. Maybe you have seen the awesome ads around magazine land?

I don't know about you, but the ad alone caught my eye. So, Brizo is like their top of the line brand. The process they go through in design and development it pretty insane. They travel the world in search of inspiring shapes, and that's just the beginning. Talk about a dream job. Additionally they are super into fashion. After all, they sponsor Jason Wu and pull influence from the design and movement of clothes. Simply put, they have some pretty sexy stuff going on.

So how does fashion and faucets come together in a way that makes sense? That's the first question we had too. Think about your home. Think about the little things that make it special. 

Like earrings to a gown, this finial makes all the difference on this RSVP, Brizo faucet. I want this bad. So bad. I want to run plumbing into my dressing room just to have a little sink, just to put this bad boy there. I would smile every time I used it or looked at it. And that's the point. 

Delta showed us what goes into the making of their products, and you can trust they are well thought out, environmentally responsible and best of all, attractive pieces you could be proud of. I never would have thought, to put thought, into something so simple as the faucets in our home. Sinse our trip, I have been evaluating every faucet I have come across. 

 

I am pretty set on this guy too. He is the Tresa, and is meant to be in our bathroom. 

 So there is a taste of what we were up to last week. Check back for another post this week about how to DIY your own install, and more fun stuff. 

Our blog was one of eight blogs chosen by delta faucets to join deltadiy2011. Though we were not paid to post, they did provide transportation and accommodations for our trip.

Be our guest, just not yet....

Hey hey! Happy morning to you! We hope all is well. Today we are venturing into a room in Casa Katsaros which doesn't see a lot of action. Behold, our guest room #1:

I wish I could insert a sound effect here. It would go something like wah wah wah...and followed by sobbing. Our home hosts three guest rooms, one studio, and an office in addition to our master pad. That's a lot of decor that needs to happen. If you missed our awesome ideas for this room, come see! Though many guests have come and stayed a while, all were stuck in an unfinished room. Things have got to change. We had a really great plan, and that just went down the toilet. Let me explain.

Perhaps you are familuar with Young House Love? They did this to their master bedroom in their old house:

With Ikea closets and a creative mind, they made this custom look work, and we wanted to do the same thing! After all, we had those exact closets from Ikea, and had a similar set up in our small apartment bedroom and no real use for them in our new home until we noticed this project.

Up the closets came from the basement, and down they fell in the guest room. Yep, crumbled to bits. Tiny, little, bits. We have moisture damage to thank for that! So instead of buying new ones, Joey decided he better make them. Making them would ensure higher quality (not a diss on Ikea, we LOVE the Ikea), and the ability to customize more. For example, our whack-a-do air-conditioning:

We are also in the progress of making some custom curtains, painting the room up, and filling out the closets with some shelves and curtains to cover up what's inside of them. We also are going to make the top of the closets more custom and built in, while making sure the air conditiong gets to our guests in a pleasant fashion.

We totally love them and think they work well with the room. We want to create a calm and functional space for guests, but also house a lot of storage for extra kids toys, towels, etc.

So there you have it! Step one in fixing up the guest room! Wish us luck! We would love to have this done before Summer fun is over!