Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Pillows Under $25

Pillows Under $25 by jennifercavorsidesign featuring textured throw pillows

I was browsing Target yesterday as I usually do on a weekly basis hoping there is something new from the last time I was there and came across some new pillow arrivals. I have a slight obsession with pillows but so does one of my bff's so I'm not alone. We giddily text each other once we spot a goodie!

Throw pillows are the easiest way to update a room. I like to change mine around with the seasons. Well, that and the fact that everyone is so hard on pillows in my house. They spend a lot of their lifetime on the floor. Because of this I don't spend a lot of money on throw pillows.

Here are some throw pillows spotted at Target for under $25. Great way to freshen up your space for spring.

xo,

Jen

Monday, March 9, 2015

Sneak peek of my latest project...our kitchen

We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not only is spring around the corner with a balmy 37 degrees feeling like 65 yesterday but we could possibly have a working kitchen in over a week! Someone pinch me! I've had my head buried in houzz and snow and haven't had time to take a moment to absorb what's really happening until we started putting things into the new cabinets. My DR was starting to look like an episode of hoarders and I just couldn't take it anymore. Next phase is tiling!

I'll write a post later on how to survive a kitchen remodel (while getting 8ft of snow). Everyone keeps telling me it will be so worth it and I really tried to believe them as we kept getting pummeled with snow, stuck inside with no kitchen and no school for days or what felt like a month. It was when I was drinking wine out of a dixie cup that I realized I had hit a low point. Anyway I was just too lazy to wash a real cup in my shower. Maybe I should keep the wine and glass in the shower and that would solve all my problems.

Enough of my dixiecup drinking problems. Back to the sneak peek of the kitchen. I have to admit, I get such a big smile on my face when I see my counters and give my husband a big hug (thanks for letting me splurge honey) and then hug the counters. I literally stare at them, like when you have a newborn and you stand above their crib just staring. Hubs get's it though. He's allowing me to create a dream of mine....designing a kitchen! In fact, I may even be rubbing off on him. As we were trying to decide on light fixtures he's like "why don't you just order both colors?" why, only if you insist honey.

We have a lot of little things to work out on the designing end but so far I've been really happy with how everything is turning out. Once it's all done, I'll share all the before and after pics. In the meantime here's a little sneak peek.

We knew we wouldn't be able to do upper cabinets on this wall because it would have looked off. I've always loved the look of floating shelves so this is the direction we went. I'm all about saving and reusing pieces around the house. The previous owner (an interior designer herself) had great taste for her era and used high end materials, including the butcher block countertops. So we had our old butcher block counter tops made into floating shelves. They honestly look gorgeous just sanded down but I'm debating whether I will stain or paint them. I was originally thinking a wood stain to warm up the space but carpenter is worried they won't stain correctly. Thoughts on wood vs. white?

We have hardware ....wootwoot!

I could not make up my mind about the darn handle under the sink. It's a pullout sponge holder so I needed something bigger. I went to run an errand to think about it and came home and it was already attached so that made my decision easy and I love it. Thank god because I would have thought about that placement for days!

There is nothing we are more excited about then retiring the old college fridge that was housed on the porch. Good old Brewster gets to go back to what he was made for. Our new beer fridge in the garage.

These are just a couple peeks and I can't wait to share with you the finished product.

Xo, Jen

Thursday, March 5, 2015

My Favorite Shades of Gray

Gray may be my all time favorite color, for home and my closet. Sounds so gloomy but it's a fail safe choice. Choosing a gray paint can be challenging because grays tend to have blue undertones or beige undertones, so you may just need to paint a couple swatches on the wall and watch how they change from day to night. And I promise you they will change. Here are a couple of my tried and true favorite shades of gray and beautiful gray spaces. Hopefully this will help you in your hunt for the perfect gray.

Benjamin Moore Paint

1. Revere pewter

2. Stonington Gray

3. Gray owl

4. Balboa Mist

5. Dolphin

6. Dior gray

7. Swiss coffee

8. Silver chain

9. Coventry gray

Revere pewter-this color gets so many compliments and has a hint of beige. It makes any room look elegant.

Coventry gray

Balboa Mist-a pretty tinted warmer gray

Dolphin

Gray owl

Stonington Gray

Swiss coffee-more of an off white but still in the gray family

Dior gray-Nate Berkus go to gray

xo,

Jen

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Out with the old, in with the Old! Buying a fixer upper

Since it's a new blog, I thought it only fitting to write about our (somewhat) new house. This is our second home since moving to Massachusetts, same town, just down the street from our old house. I adored our old house, it's charm, the neighbors, it's where we brought our second son home and the kids loved it. It was just getting too small for us and there was no where to add on. This picture on our last night still brings a tear to my eye.

Rob and I had always wanted an older fixer upper (oh how easy it is to dream). There were a couple streets in our town that we have always loved/stalked, talking about how one day we could live there, imagine what we could do, the big yard we would have and my dream kitchen I could design. Because when everything is old well, you just have to make it new again and by old I mean really old. One day I happened to be stalking one of my favorite streets in town (imagine Father of the Bride treelined street) and saw a house For Sale by Owner. I knew I had to see it right away whether my husband was out of town or not. It was love at first sight! The center entrance colonial I've always wanted, beautiful molding, the huge open living room, the open staircase and sea grass wallpaper in the dining room. I called Rob right away and his response "let me guess you love it?". Well you know what my answer was.....YES! Poor Rob, I can only imagine his thoughts on his flight home. Big beautiful house with open staircase, double sided fireplace etc.. He was probably thinking it looked like this.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell him that EVERYTHING was covered in wallpaper. Even the light switch covers and better yet there were curtains to match. Maybe it smelled like a musty old house, and the kitchen had a dishwasher that looked like something my great great grandmother had, which she probably did. As he opened a cabinet in the kitchen an ironing board came flying out. The one and only full bathroom had pink and dark green tile. The fridge was on an enclosed porch. The deck was falling down. The list went on and on. After we're in the privacy of our car he says "NO WAY it's way too much work". I knew that this house was a hidden gem on our dream street, I just had to convince him that you can always change a house but you can't change it's location. My enthusiastic design ideas must have rubbed off because in the blink of an eye we were packing up our old house, homeless for about 3 weeks living in a hotel, don't feel bad it was actually nice. Even the cat loved it. I mean who wouldn't love someone making their bed and doing their dishes everyday? I was ready to live there! Although they may have kicked us out not long after since we were quite the entertainment at breakfast.