2012 April | - Part 2

Home Tour(s) Here at Magnolia Lane

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Amy

Wow! What a big day here at 11 Magnolia Lane.

First off, if you are stopping by from Southern Hospitality, we are SO glad to have you! Sweet Rhoda is featuring Christy’s former home in North Carolina (the historic home that inspired our blog name, Magnolia Lane). If you would like to see more, you can see the extended tour of that home HERE.

And, since today is our day to be the “stop of the day” at the Karen at Home’s Home Tour, today you can also see both Christy’s current home and my (Amy’s) current home. It’s like our own little Magnolia Lane Home Tour!

We just want to say a big thanks to both those ladies for featuring us today.

While you are here, don’t miss our spring giveaway of this cute burlap tote bag, just click the image to enter.

Click and enter to win this personalized Bag!

Both Christy and I moved last summer, so our homes are both still works in progress. Christy, being a military wife, has a talent for moving in and making her house look like she has been there for years.

Without further ado, here is Christy’s new home in Tennessee:

Enter through the welcoming front porch, where the cushions are changed out with the seasons, so there is always something new to see.

Here’s the porch in the fall…

And, here’s the winter decor on the porch…

Continue into the Front Hall (note the Goodwill mirror that got a DIY remake?)

Here’s the Laundry Room with stenciled walls, a repurposed flea market cabinet and vintage enamelware. {See more HERE}

Now, we’ll head to the Kitchen…

Christy remade this room on $600, including painting cabinets and the tile backsplash, making dropcloth curtains and hanging new lights. Click HERE for Part 1 of the makeover, then click HERE for the second generation of the re-do a few months later.

Through the sliding glass doors you step onto the screened porch. This is Christy’s favorite place for a glass of wine in the evening, or an al fresco meal in warm weather.

Now we’ll head upstairs to the kids’ bathroom, which she redid with board and batten.

Christy also upgraded her master bathroom with an IKEA bookcase that was trimmed to look built-in, plus a new chandelier and new decor. You can see the whole room HERE.

The master bedroom with office/sitting room–we just revealed this room HERE this week!

Isn’t it amazing she has been living there only about 9 months? Next up is her pantry that is currently getting a complete overhaul. This is her former pantry in NC (you may have seen it on Pinterest), what will be next?

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While it’s hard to follow all her fabulousness, this is my new home. We relocated to the coast of Virginia this fall, moving into a newly built home.

Here is our Front Porch recently decorated with new spring décor.

We live on a former sand quarry that’s been converted into a fresh water lake, and we just love our view. With a lake and a wide front porch, it’s a dream come true.

Come on inside and see our dining room…

Our dining room is on the small side but has a nice view. We recently moved our former kitchen table in there, and it has become a great space for coffee in the morning (when it’s too cold for the porch), or a quiet dinner. We found we really never used the formal dining space so this has been a good solution.

This picture was taken with our former table still in the room, but it gives you an idea of the lake view from this room.

The dining room connects to the kitchen through the butler’s pantry. I have some big plans for this space that I hope to kick off in the next few weeks.

Here is our Kitchen. You can read more HERE. We did the greatest amount of customization here; we had a crazy tight construction timeline (3 months) so we were limited with what we could do thanks to cabinet lead times. We did hold out for marble for the counters and reconfigured the appliances to accommodate a larger 36″ range. I also added in the open shelving shortly after we moved in.

Here is the Breakfast Room with recent updates. A full post is to follow, but since we switched our breakfast and dining tables we are happy to have the extra table space in the kitchen.

Into the family room from the kitchen/breakfast area…

And, here on the other side of the family room, is our well-loved (and often used!) sitting area.

Upstairs you will find my kids’ bathroom. It was a standard builder bathroom, but I recently added stripes and board and batten to make it more interesting, the post is HERE.

Right next to it is my daughter’s pink and white room, her bed faces the lake (out the window) and she has a play table on the other side.

I have a long list of projects (right now we are focusing outside on landscaping and putting in our vegetable garden), so it’s a work in progress around here.

Thanks so much for visiting with us today! And again we truly appreciate that Rhoda and Karen allowed us to share our homes with you.

May you truly enjoy all of the joy and blessings of this Easter season~

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Tuesday’s Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

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Posted in Home Inspiration, Home Tours, Real Spaces | Tagged Decor, house tour, kitchen, pantry, room, southern hospitality | 13 Comments

Bible Study Brunch {Easy Entertaining}

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Terry

This post will kick of a new series here at 11 Magnolia Lane called “Easy Entertaining” which will offer our menus, recipes and tips to easily pull together events in your home.

This spring I volunteered to host a Bible study. I am really excited to have such a wonderful group of ladies come into my home to discuss this wonderful book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Ann is an avid blogger, homeschooling mother of six children, and Christian woman who admits that her life is a mess but finds grace every day through God. I was in tears reading the first chapter, but don’t let that derail you! It is really a beautiful story which I am grateful to read and share with you.

One Thousand Gifts, Bible Study

Anytime I have people over I do three things. First, I bake something tasty, then I add some flowers around the house (usually something I can pull from outside as I hate to pay for flowers) and lastly, I tidy up!

I love to entertain with something homemade to make my guests feel welcome and comfortable. While it is not expected that I would do this every Wednesday for Bible study, I guess I just cannot help myself as cooking and baking make me happy. Here are a few easy steps to creating the perfect brunch for 10-15 women, whether it be a Bible study or just brunch with friends.

What to serve

Try to serve something most people love. Banana bread is always welcome, and I always have over-ripened bananas in the freezer so they are always available when I am ready to bake.

Most guests love muffins of any kind, so having a variety of breakfast breads is a bonus. Whenever I bake muffins I always freeze half the batch. It is a great way to be prepared for a party even if you don’t have time to bake something homemade. Muffins last awhile in the freezer and taste wonderful after they thaw. Since I had 6 blueberry muffins hanging out in my freezer ready to go, the only thing I had to bake for this gathering was the banana bread. Of course, there are plenty of store-bought options for baked goods but I prefer to make things myself as I know I am adding fresh ingredients, which makes it healthier.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
1/2 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. gentle mix in chocolate chips with a spoon and then pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins pulled from my freezer

adapted from Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife

Ingredients

3 eggs
3 T melted virgin coconut oil
3 T raw honey
1/8 t almond extract
1/4 t sea salt
1/4 C sifted coconut flour
1/4 t baking powder*
1/2 C fresh blueberries*

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Heat an empty pan until hot, and turn off the heat and melt the coconut oil.
Blend all ingredients, except the blueberries, in a high speed blender until smooth. *I have a Blendtec and use the batter button.
Fold the blueberries into the batter.
Pour the batter into 6 lined muffin cups.
Bake for 16 minutes.

Notes

These are enjoyed best warm from the oven.
I’ve made them again and they puff up more with 1/2 t of baking power and brown a little more. I like them better this way.
Frozen blueberries tend to make the muffins a bit soggy, if this is your only option, try using sugar instead of honey.

In addition to the bread and muffins, I served iced water, hot tea, and coffee as they are really the perfect complement to any breakfast bread. I know the ladies enjoyed having something to nibble on while we dove into Chapter 1.

How to decorate

Spring Flowers

Spring is here and there is an abundance of flowering bushes and trees all around my property. I simply went outside and cut some spring branches and placed them around the house to bring outside beauty in.

I created two centerpieces simply by filling two large glass cylinder vases with some of the fresh cut blooms. The first vase I used as a centerpiece for the buffet table. It was simple, pretty and added that special touch that every party needs.

Buffet table with spring flower centerpiece

The glass vase didn’t work as well for my entry table so I needed a simple fix to cover up the glass. I simply wrapped two pieces of printed craft paper around the tall glass vase which added a bit of color and the extra flare my entry hall needed. It really changed the look of the vase and it seriously took two seconds to tape the craft paper to the base.

Entry table with craft paper wrapped vase

Lastly, I had a few sprigs left over that I simply laid around the house on trays and books, etc…

Use leftover flowers as decorative accents

Presentation

Don’t stress over a perfectly clean house. That is something I have had to let go of over the past six years as I have two small boys and they just make my house messy:). Stick to your normal cleaning routine and on the morning of your party, take 30-45 minutes to tidy up where your guests will be. Straighten up the pillows on the couch, fold the throw blankets, wipe down the counters, and check the bathrooms. Typically you will have to clean more after your party (especially if you’re serving food), so don’t stress over the larger cleaning tasks like dusting, scrubbing or vacuuming. Tidy up and have a fabulous and easy brunch!!

Don’t forget to enter our spring giveaway for a gorgeous natural burlap tote {here}.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Posted in Cooking/Recipes, Entertaining, Events, Weddings & Events | Tagged Banana Bread, Blueberry Muffins, brunch, Decorating, Spring | Leave a comment

My Master Bedroom & Sitting Room (aka the office!) Redo Reveal

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Christy

This has been a long time coming–I’ve actually had the room painted since January, as this was high on my list of home improvement goals for 2012, but I just didn’t have time to decorate the room because I kept getting derailed by, well, life!

We’re fortunate to have a really large master suite that includes a bedroom with vaulted ceiling, a sitting area, two walk-in closets, and an en suite bathroom. It’s almost 950 square feet, which is more than half the size of our first house, so I fully realize that we’re blessed with great space. I wasn’t convinced that we were using our space wisely, though, especially in the sitting area, which became more of a “treadmill room” and a catch-all for stuff that I was selling on Ebay and Craigslist.

When we bought the house, the whole area was painted a vivid shade of green apple. I loved this shade of green, but I loved it about ten years ago, and it was looking a little dated. Here are a few before pictures:

Check out that green!

I completely understood why the previous owners hadn’t repainted. The room is huge and the cathedral ceiling is about 16′ high, requiring an extension ladder (which I somehow have managed to survive without for all these years). What won out in the end is my feeling that I always neglect the master bedroom and it gets fixed up last when we move to a new house, and this time I wanted to make it nice and enjoy it for as long as we’re here.

I started with the bathroom, which I painted right before Christmas, because I didn’t have anything better to do (yeah, right). You can read all about that {here}. I love how it turned out, and I also love the color I chose for the walls, Benjamin Moore’s Pebble Beach. It looks gray on the paint chip, but it’s a blue gray on the walls. The cabinets in the bathroom are cherry, which I didn’t feel like painting after my kitchen redo {here}, and we also have a TON of cherry furniture in the bedroom that I also didn’t feel like painting, although it may happen one day if I can talk hubby into it. I’ve mentioned all that because, although I don’t really like dark wood anymore, I’m stuck with it in this space, so a pale blue is one of the best colors to set off the beauty of dark wood. You can see how it worked out in this picture of the bathroom:

Once I got all the Christmas stuff put away in January, I borrowed an extension ladder from our neighbor, bought two gallons of paint, and went for it. I covered everything but the closets (they are still on my to-do list and will be painted then). I also pulled down the flush mount ceiling light in the sitting room and replaced it with this chandelier I scored on Craigslist for $20. It was a rusty red when I bought it. I spray painted it white and added a ceiling medallion, a cord cover, and black shades that I found at Goodwill for $.99 apiece–can’t beat that!

After moving a few pieces of furniture around, I would up with half of the sitting room for my home office area and the other half for my treadmill and my husband’s armoire. The Barcelona chair in front of the window is the real deal–we have pictures of me when I was five years old sitting on this thing and there is also green shag carpet in the photos! It’s not my usual style, but it works in this room as a nice balance to the other furniture.

The white table and chairs were my mom and dad’s. I repainted them white about five years ago and recovered the chairs and enjoy them so much more now.

The little bookshelf below was a thrift store find. The tutorial on the chalkboard picture frame is {here}. The wire basket on the bottom shelf (from Target) holds my file folders, although I have fewer of them now that I have Pinterest! I love the polka dotted frame with the picture of me and my sweet goddaughter (Amy’s baby girl). When I see her picture, it reminds me to pray for her.

The infinity shelves were a freebie from a neighbor, but they sagged a bit when I hung them, so I bought corbels and hung them beneath. It was still less than buying or making shelves. The picture of me with my mom and son always takes the place of honor in every house. It’s been almost ten years since I lost my precious mother, and I love to look at her face and remember what an amazing gift she had for making others feel good about themselves.

I spent about $200 total on this room redo–mostly paint, curtain rods, and this black and white beauty. If you’re like my husband, you’re wondering WHY I needed a mannequin for my office? I’m not sure either, but I had to have her! She was $55 at Hobby Lobby.

Oh, of course, she can hold three necklaces to earn her keep! The cute white one is from Terry; she brought them to me and Amy when we had our fun girls’ weekend {here}.

I blog at the table, and find it very inspiring!

I was going to add black curtains with a white fretwork pattern, but even the ones at Target were $30 a panel. I had three pairs of gauzy white panels from Ikea (“Lill”) that I bought for $5 a pair and even though the color didn’t “pop” as much, I couldn’t justify the extra expense of the black panels. They do let in tons of light, though, and I love the way they puddle on the floor.

Since getting rid of the treadmill wasn’t an option because I actually use it I decided to do what I could to decorate the corner it takes up. I hung all my race medals from a hook and framed two Bible verses that are all about running (1 Cor. 9:24 and Hebrews 12:1-2). Hopefully they’ll give me inspiration as I knock out the miles!

**You can see the post and get your own free set of these printables HERE**

Moving into the bedroom, I have yet to add something above the bed; I am thinking about bringing down a tin-framed mirror from Pottery Barn that’s currently in the guest room, or something sparkly. Oh, and despite the fact that I have changed out several light fixtures for chandeliers in this room, please note that I left the ceiling fan above the bed in deference to my husband’s request!

The two sconces are from Ikea and I was so happy to hang them up and put away the lamps we had on our nightstands. They sell conduit at Lowe’s and Home Depot that can be painted to match your wall color, and then the cord just disappears.

Before conduit…

After conduit…

Here’s the view into the bathroom:

I’m so pleased with this room–it’s peaceful, calm, and soothing, just like a master “retreat” should be. And I’m even more pleased with the price, because for little more than the cost of paint (and my mannequin!), I managed to redo the room, proving that you don’t have to spend a fortune to update your space.