Home Again

We spent the better part of the summer not in South Carolina. When we were home, I was pretty busy trying to keep Emma occupied while it was over 100 degrees out every day. Schools here run August - May because by Memorial Day weekend its already swimming weather. Now that Emma is settled into school , I thought I would give you a quick run down on what we have been up to since I last checked in.

We turned the July 4th long weekend into a mini-vacation and drove up to New York to visit our families. While we were there, Mike, Emma, my mom and I went to The Bronx Zoo for an afternoon. We usually get so caught up with visiting friends and family when we are in New York that we don't  take the time to do anything that Emma would consider really fun. We also thought it would be nice to do something that we can't do as a family in South Carolina. We have a zoo here, but its pretty tiny, so we figured The Bronx Zoo was an easy "must see". 

 

Even my mom got in on the excitement at the Zoo! 

Two weeks later my mom flew down to South Carolina to have some special time with Emma while Mike and I went on a MUCH NEEDED vacation. Before we left on our trip, my mom and I went fabric shopping for our living room and dining room. And while we were in LA soaking up the sun, my mom (have I told you how amazing she is!) had window seat cushions made for me out of the fabric that she and I had chosen AND had my coffee table professionally upholstered for me as an ottoman! I can't even explain to you how exciting it was to come home and see our living room finally starting  to take shape!

The window seats are from the Expedit line from  Ikea. We also purchased the doors and the baskets from Ikea. The baskets are available in a natural wood tone, but I painted them chocolate brown with spray paint    so they would better coordinate with our brown leather couch. The fabric was purchased from Tony's Fabrics which is off of Interstate 85 and SC Rte 101 in Greer, SC.  It's a giant fabric warehouse of upholstery  fabrics. This one was $6 a yard because they were having a sale. All in all we spent less than $200 per window seat (there is another one on the other side of the fireplace.) 

This coffee table was "inherited" from my parents when we moved. It's mission style and not really the look that we were going for, so I had plans to paint it the accent color of the room (sort of a pale gray blue) and upholster it myself. This was SO much easier. I am having to be much more careful with the sanding, priming and painting steps though so I don't do any damage to the upholstery. It's worth it! This fabric was also $6 a yard at Tony's. It's a tapestry sort of a fabric with lots of variation of color and texture so that it won't show any eventual stains. I did purchase plenty of extra fabric though- just in case. I've also generously coated the window seat cushions and the ottoman in Scotchguard. After all, I have a 4 year old- something is bound to get spilled!

Two weeks after we returned from LA, Emma and I tagged along on a business trip of Mike's to Charleston, SC. Mike only needed to work the mornings and Emma and I got to stay at The Charleston Place Hotel. It's to South's version of the Waldorf Astoria and, let me tell you, it did not disappoint. In a word ... WOW!

The day after we returned home from Charleston, Emma started school and we have been off and running since. 

I've already started on sanding the ottoman. We're having guests next weekend and I am determined to have it done before they arrive!