Back to Where It All Began

Grant and I took a little trip for our long weekend- we both got a 4-day-weekend for Labor Day. (!!!)  He planned an overnight adventure to the Alabama side of Lookout Mountain, which is just about 1.25 hours away.  It may seem like a random place, but something very important happened near Mentone, Alabama: Grant proposed there!

We headed out on Friday and took the scenic route through Lookout Mountain, Tennessee (mostly so I could see the beautiful houses up there).  We wound our way to a bed and breakfast just outside of Collinsville, Alabama.  When we arrived at The Secret Bed & Breakfast, we were blown away by the amazing views...

After dinner at J. Spencer's in Mentone, we explored the bluffs around the B&B...

In the morning, we drove down to Collinsville, where I had heard about a magical weekly event called Trade Day.  It is essentially a huge flea market (acres!) right next to the local high school and is held every Saturday.

There was anything you can imagine: antiques, farm junk, livestock (there were baby pigs- so cute!), handmade furniture, carnival-type food, and the obligatory booths of cellphone accessories and t-shirts.

Definitely worth a return trip with more cash.

After plenty of time in the heat we drove to Little River Canyon to find the spot where Grant proposed just over 6 years ago...

(Look how young and naive we are!)

And today...

My sweet hubs even got down on one knee again :).

Yeah, we'd do it all again.

The trip was a welcome getaway and sweet walk through some precious memories.

Happy Saturday!

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Feeling Uninspired

We have not done much to the house in the last week or two- just sort of uninspired.

We are in limbo with the kitchen makeover: working on building & painting more cabinet doors (although at a slower pace than I had hoped), which is not the most visually appealing or blog-able project; waiting on the marble for the backsplash; trying to decide what wall decor to hang.

But in true Needham-form, we've started planning our next project before finishing the first one.  The disdain we have for the flooring on the first floor (horrible tile in the kitchen and white carpet everywhere else) has begun to bubble over.  We're starting to weigh our options: tile in the kitchen or hardwood throughout?

I'm sure I'm not the first home decor junkie to hit a pocket of general uninspired-ness.  Or the first one to feel like I spend all my house-related energy on cleaning said house.  If you're in the same boat, enjoy the season of rest.

Happy Monday!

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Basketcase

I have a thing for non-artwork as artwork in our house, particularly baskets...

I'm beginning to think I might have a problem.

When I happened upon this basket at HomeGoods, I had to pick it up...

I think the blue will work well with the navy in the basement guest bedroom...

It will either go above the headboard or on the wall opposite the bed, depending on how the scale of the basket works in the room.

Happy Monday!

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I Can't Believe...

...that I'm introducing brass into our home. On purpose. But I am.

This lamp caught my eye at HomeGoods...

The finish is antique brass...

...and I love the shape of the base and knobs.

It's not the shiny, yellow-y brass found everywhere in '80s homes (like ours).  The finish is more muted, so it works with other metal finishes in the room.

Here I am, breaking my own decorating rules.

Happy Saturday!

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New Countertops Are Here!

Our new countertops were installed Monday, so our kitchen is functional now!

We went with "Black Pearl" granite in a leathered finish because I love the look of soapstone, but not the maintenance, chipping, or price.  I think it was worth the tradeoff...

They remind me of the countertops in laboratories.

I love the contrast with the white sink...

As you can see, we did not go with a matching backsplash (because we're going with a carrera marble subway tile all the way up the wall), but our old countertops had about a 6-inch backsplash, so there's a strip all along the counters showing the wallpaper that was hiding.

(Let me take a moment to discuss my disdain for wallpaper: I hate wallpaper.  All of it.  Especially the 1980s kind with little mauve and navy flowers.)

The dark counters even make the oak cabinets look better.

Too bad they're going to be painted and given new white doors.

We're ordering the marble for the backsplash this week and starting to build more shaker-style doors to replace the current doors.

On the way to an updated kitchen!

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Also, we entered Callie in Garden & Gun's Good Dog Contest.  Take a second to peruse the entries and maybe vote for a certain adorable golden retriever...

Unusual Bookends & Tomorrow's the DAY!

To unwind after work on Friday, I headed to HomeGoods.  I know, I'm so crazy.  I ran across an oversized jack and thought it would be perfect for the top shelf of the den built-ins...

I love the idea of bookends, but I want the bookend to have something visually appealing or unusual about it.

I think I might leave this iteration for a while.

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Tomorrow is the day our new countertops get installed!  We've been in a makeshift kitchen for a while, and today we tore our existing counters out, which revealed this lovely wallpaper...

And to think, at some point, someone chose this.

I can't wait to see the new counters in place  when I get home from work tomorrow!

Happy Sunday!

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