A Cozy Fall Day At My House~"Living It & Loving It"

I am having such a cozy fall day at my house today that I just had to share it! The cold chill has finally arrived and I decided to light my first fire of the season.  I love everything about it...the crackle of the logs, the warm glow, and the heavenly scent of burning wood.  It was so mesmerizing watching the flames that I fell asleep for a while!  So blissful and warm.  I have slowly been decorating the inside of my home and I am just loving how it all looks.  Fall really is my favorite time.  My home feels so inviting I wanted to show everyone!  Welcome!  I do feel like I am "Living It and Loving It".  I think if you spend a few moments everyday adding a little flourish of decoration or changing an arrangement, it is the best way to enjoy your home.  Make it personal and decorate for yourself.  Bring out something you cherish, like a  silver pitcher and fill it with sunflowers (like I did).  Grab some fall leaves and bring them inside.  Pumpkins are an easy way to bring color into to your home.  I even love using white pumpkins.  I will be finishing up outside soon and post some photo's.  Stay warm!

~jamilyn

Photo's taken via me, nailhead stool:Restoration Hardware

"Creepy Elegance"....I've Gone Batty!

Are we really here again...already?  Yes, start your planning now!  Just a friendly reminder to get movin'!  Every year {after the wonderful Halloween night has passed} I say, to myself, I am going to do better next year or do more or start earlier!  Fall is my favorite time of year and with it comes all the splendor of decorating for the season.  This bat project was relatively easy and didn't require too much commitment.  Kind of a last minute project I jumped at.  I think it gave me the desired affect I was looking for to decorate my front door (yes, that is my front door and my daughter).  I call it "creepy elegance".  Even though it is only September 24, I feel like I am behind in my planning.  Especially when you are looking for material for your blog!  I am determined to enjoy myself and not stress over how much I decorate this year.  If you would like to try to make these bats, please go here for my instructions.  Come join me and let's get creative!  My favorite thing to do...

"Gone Batty" photo property of Living It At Home

"Gone Batty" photo property of Living It At Home

Since I am in Halloween mode now, I am going to try and do a weekly post on decorating for Halloween or the Fall season.  I am going to see how it goes!  It is such a beautiful time of year here in Massachusetts!  I hope you are enjoying gorgeous weather wherever you may be!  I am looking forward to seeing all the beautiful leaf colors!

If you would like to share your Fall or Halloween projects please link up!  I would love to see them!

Stay tuned for more!

xojamilyn

Sneak Peak- Bedroom Design Via My Daughter

I have the most fun when decorating my daughters room.  However, now that she is almost a teen she has plans of her own-I am still having fun though!  We decided to do some improvements to her already adorable room.  My daughter has such creative ideas and has a great sense of design and color.  She is more fearless than I am and knows how to choose what she loves.  This is just a sneak peak and we didn't do any staging or straightening up for that matter!  Just snapped a few pic's for you all!  Couldn't wait to share it!  We just purchased this lovely antique bed at a local consignment store.  We got it for half off!  What a deal.  We have some crazy ideas for it....paint it a glossy color maybe black?  Red? Gray? Or just leave as is.  The green pillow was on my bed but my daughter snagged it and I love the way it looks (sorry bed looks messy).  Bedding we picked out on Gilt Group (starting to become a huge fan of that site).  She wanted a bedding ensemble with red in it and polka dots.  I didn't think it would work but I love it.  She is going for an "quirky" look for her room.  So far the colors she has chosen are red, green, black, and white.  All works well together!  Our dog loves this spot on top of the green frog.  Favorite place to go after a long walk.  She looks like one of the stuffed animals on the bed!

Fuzzy rug from Ikea (not the real lamb wool).  I love the touch of whimsy that it adds to her room.

Another pillow we purchased off of Gilt Group. We have been able to create a reading area next to her extensive collection of books (over 550 and counting-all read and re-read, amazing!).  She has turned her love of reading into a fabulous book review blog called Book Jacket.  She works so hard on it an writes the best reviews.  I am so proud of her!  We picked up a chair from Ikea and an ottoman.  She is so happy and enjoys sitting with a good book.  Now we just need a reading lamp and we are all set.  So currently she has a reading spot, working area with a desk and bulletin board, and sleeping area.  When we moved the furniture around, we ended up creating more room for zones.  She is ecstatic about it.  A real "teen" room.

Lamp from Home Goods.  Just adorable.  Her whole design really reflects her.  It is a joy and a bit challenging (for me to stay out of it) to hear her ideas (there are many) and help her bring about the design she is dreaming of.  Next on the list is roman shades for her windows, fashioning a canopy from curtain rods hung from ceiling around her bed, and maybe change the wall color to gray (although the current lavender color really works).  Not to mention that she wants chinese lanterns hung from her ceiling and a large wall mural made out of a collage (created by her)!  She is certainly good at this.   

My daughter's sketches for her room.  Read more about "Letting Go" (post) here.

Stay tuned for more from my designer daughter!

xojamilyn

{Photo's via me}

Polo + Nacho=What A Mix

Going to a Polo match is now one of my new favorite things to do.  Unfortunately, the "Brad Pitt" of Polo, Ignacio "Nacho" Figueras was not there (photo below).  I don't think he plays at the Polo field that we went to in Hamilton, Massachusetts at the historic Myopia Polo Club.  {Who knows maybe I am wrong-hopefully-because I am going back!} It is one of the oldest active polo clubs in America.  Club players have been competing on this field since the first game in 1887.  A pretty old tradition and a beautiful place to watch the game.  Now back to Nacho...and a little talk of polo!

A quote from Nacho:

"Polo is about whatever you feel comfortable with. It's very inviting. It's great to bring kids and your family. There's no special etiquette required unless you're told differently. Polo is for everyone. . . . Polo can be a bridge between different classes. It's everyone at the same place at the same time." (Source here).

Don't you just love the whole look of a polo player?  Something about the outfit and those boots!

"In June 2009, Vanity Fair readers voted Nacho one of the most handsome men in the world—second only to Twilight star Robert Pattinson—but this married father of three doesn't devote much attention to his looks. He's too busy caring for his horses, which he says are his passion, and trying to survive another day on the polo field. "You can actually die playing [polo], so it's a very dangerous thing," he says. "You have to be conscious, but you've also got to be a little bit crazy." (Source here).

 

In 2005, Ralph Lauren named Nacho the face of the Black Label line.  Much later the fashion icon became the sponsor of Nacho's Argentinean polo team, Black Watch.  Hence the cool looking black polo shirts.

Another Ralph Lauren ad for the Black Label line featuring Nacho Figueras.  Love the belt!

Nacho is happy that, through modeling for Ralph Lauren, he has the opportunity to spread the word about what polo is all about.  This is one of his missions in life to educate people about the sport he loves so much.

 Well, back to my day of polo here in Massachusetts.  Packed a picnic of cheese, crackers, olives, grapes and sandwiches. Grabbed a blanket and a couple of chairs and we headed off to a match.  What is actually so great about this polo field is that you can back your car right up to the playing field and pop the trunk and tailgate...well in a sophisticated way!  We learned a thing or two from the other avid fans... you need to have an elegant tailgating party.  Dress in cute summer dresses with nice hats and drink wine at your table.  Yes, people actually had tables (Or, you can be pretty casual too).  Next time, we will have the complete set up!  It was so lovely sitting comfortably with access to everything your car can hold while watching the game.  It was so exciting to watch the players and horses charging up and down the field. A dangerous sport and very thrilling.  There were actually very young players of only 16 years old!  Unbelievably, there were whole families playing on the same team too!  Really Fascinating and my daughter loved it.  So did my dog Maggie, all she wanted to do was chase the horses!  She will be staying home next time!  Please enjoy some photo's I took of that lovely day.

Try out a polo match, I think you will love it!  And you know next time Nacho is playing in the Hamptons in Long Island...I am so there!

~jamilyn

(Images of Nacho and source from Behind Blondie Park blog, models.com, other polo photo's via me)

Antique "Hunting" In The Berkshires

I am happy to reveal another resource of mine for you to explore and that is the Berkshire Home and Antique Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  I had an opportunity to pass through the Berkshires this summer on my way to go camping in Upstate New York.  Remember my whole "stalking" post on discovering Cortney and Bob Novogratz's Berkshire home?  You can read about it here.  Well, seeing their home in person and getting a chance to go antiquing in one of my favorite stores had me all worked up!  Too bad it rained the whole time we were camping.  It was like being in a car wash for three days.  Kids loved it and thought it was an adventure.  Maybe I will post on that another time!  Feast your eyes on some of the fabulous pieces that caught my eye.

Adonis Of The Sea $1,600

Every year when we go camping I pass by here.  If I can't stop before I head back home I get very frustrated!  There are so many garden ornaments and outdoor furniture to get your home looking very unique from the outside!  I want one of these for my front blue stone patio.

I am actually considering this gilt chair for my living room.  I actually like the way it looks as is.  I guess they leave it like this so you can recover it in a fabric of your choice.

I love this vignette.  It has a very old world feel to it.  Nothing matches.

This is another table that I was considering adding to my home.  Next to my bed?  Or next to my sofa.

This antique store is filled to the brim!

Another display that I loved.  White and gray are one of my favorite combo's.  I think the time worn patina of this table is beautiful.

Another chair that caught my eye.  I would leave it as is.

Lots of great chairs to choose from.

This piece was interesting and had funky texture.  Looked better in person.

107 Stockbridge Road, Route 7 - Great Barrington, MA (413) 229-3505

Sad to leave the Berkshires.  It is a place that makes me very happy!  The adorable towns like Great Barrington, and Stockbridge have so much to offer.  Museums, restaurants, and of course my favorite, antique stores.  Sometimes it can get crowded with all the New Yorker's coming up for a summer respite.  Many like the Novogratz's (Sixx Design) from Bravo's 9 by Design have summer homes here.  You can read my post on our photo of it here!

Bob and Cortney Novogratz's house in the Berkshires (Photo via my daughter)

Every time I get on the Mass Pike (90) heading West towards the Berkshires (usually for camping) I get so excited to go in that direction!  It is a beautiful place to visit and shop!  If you would like click here to see another fun post about antiquing in Hudson, NY.

Have fun!

xojamilyn

{Photo's via me}

Should I Go With The Viking?

Yes, oh yes, this is a Viking.  You know from True Blood on HBO.   However, this is not the Viking that would work in my kitchen (maybe I am wrong about that).  I need a fridge, and a stove right now!!!!!!!  Just to mention, before I go on, that I am rooting for Eric (the Viking vamp).  So that makes me "Team Eric".  Bill has gotten way to sappy for my taste!  Next week is the last episode and of course they are going to leave us hanging!  Have you been watching?  Also, I read all the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris so now it is really going to be hard to wait for the next season (even though I know what is going to happen)!

This is Alexander Skarsgard, by the way.

Mmmm....which one?  Decisions, decisions!

Wolf, Viking, SubZero?   My head is in a whirl!  All very expensive...feel like I am buying a small car!  But oh how I feel we should do better in our kitchen.  My dream has always been to have a beautiful semi-professional kitchen.  I am always in there so why not?  I do like to cook but feel my current "old" electric (gasp) stove fails me greatly!  Came with the house and I don't want it anymore!!!!!!!  Go away you beast! 

Oh yeah, this has got to go....my stove!

Kate Spade's Kitchen

The kitchen really is the most important part of your home.  Isn't it amazing how when you have guests, everyone always ends up hanging out in the kitchen?  Never  mind that I only have a table that seats two:

My eating area in my kitchen....staged (not so great before this)!

Steven Gambrel

My problem now is...do I buy an appliance just to fit the current space?  Or wait more years or never to remodel and then get the bigger better models with the double ovens and 6 burners?  I guess I could have bigger problems to figure out.  This should be fun!

Do you have a beastly appliance that you want to get rid of? 

Have a wonderful three day weekend!

jamilyn

{Photo's via me of my house, other kitchens via habituallychic blog}

Drive By Sighting Of A Special House Owned By An Amazing {Celebrity} Family...

Does this make me a stalker?  Do you recognize this yellow shuttered house?  (See pictures below for a hint).  Well, I did.  I was driving to go camping in Upstate New York and almost screeched to a halt.  I was with my daughter and I screamed and whipped a u-turn!  She thought I saw a bear or something!  We kept driving by and finally my daughter was able to get a photo for me (she was finally getting into the hunt).  There was someone leaving so we had to be quick.  So embarrassing!  I should have stopped by and introduced myself to Bob and Cortney Novogratz from Bravo's 9 by Design reality show.  Where is my nerve?  According to my family though, I have "nerve" just trying to take this picture!  Their country house in the Berkshires, MA is lovely and unique with its signature painted yellow shutters (you know the house...if you have been watching their show).  I think the whimsical addition of the international flags is just the right touch.  This house really reflects their sense of style and flare for being different.  This just adds to my desire to have a summer home to "play" with and enjoy...   

Just a note....I will not be revealing the location of their home...I am not that bad!!!!  Next time though, I will stop by with flowers or something and say hello!!!! {I wish I had passed by when they were having that terrific garage sale of all their cool antique and vintage finds}.

I think I want to grow up to be just like them...ingenious risk takers with a real great sense of style!  Oh, and they have 7 kids to boot!  Moved a million times and flip houses that they...with no design training... design and build themselves with their own design company called Sixx Design (check out their website).  They take all of this in stride, day by day with a kid on each arm (and hanging on their legs too) and everyday chores on top of it all.  They look great, are cool and are living life to its fullest!  Wow, impressive!  There is no obstacle to great for them...  

 I would never have thought of hanging curtains outside the front of a traditional Massachusetts colonial.  Also painting the shutters a color other than the typical green or black which is a signature color of a colonial here in Massachusetts...like my house....I need to be more daring with my decorating..... (my house still looks pretty though).

{My house, photo via me}

Good for them for thinking outside of the box.  Love their creativity and daring!  We can all learn something from this amazing couple!

Here are the photo's taken by John Gruen for New England Home, May 2008 (below).  After driving by and only getting to see the outside of their home, I am happy that I have found pictures of the inside.

This is definitely not your typical colonial.  I love how they mix things up and yet it is very comfortable and soothing.  Doesn't hurt your eyes to look at it.

I think I have a bit of "vintage nouveauxx" in me too.  I just have to learn to be comfortable with what I like and not be afraid to bring it home.  As you can see, they liked that pink deer head on their kitchen wall..may not be my taste or yours but they loved it and are enjoying it everyday!

This outdoor sunroom is my favorite.  I love the rustic textures and it looks so inviting.

Love this photo wall.  No worries about it being perfect, it is just there to enjoy.

{photo via purestylehome blog}

I haven't had a chance to explore this book, Downtown Chic by Robert and Cortney Novogratz, but have been meaning too.   Another sneak peek into their decorating style.

Well, summers almost over and school is starting up again next week.  Can't believe it.  I enjoyed my summer and we had fun renting a home up in Maine, visiting family and friends in NYC, camping in Upstate New York, and antiquing in Hudson, NY and the Berkshires, MA.  My one consolation about summer ending is that I love the fall and Halloween.  Change of seasons means change of wardrobe!  Love to wear my fashionable boots and cozy sweaters!

Enjoy!
xojamilyn

{Photo of Novogratz house via my daughter, New England Home pictures via stacy's style blog}