The PERFECT Hooks for the Hallway

Normally I wouldn't do a post on something so small, but I'm so excited about these awesome hooks I found from Target, and got such a great response about them when I shared them in my stories, that I just had to create a full post! 

If you saw in this post here, my mudroom is a d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r. It is the catch all for everything and has needed some significant relief! I started brainstorming how to make this room more function, and among a few other ideas, had the thought to hang our beach towels in the hallway that connects our kitchen, living room, bathroom, basement, and mudroom.  We are always running through the sprinkler or going to the pool (or getting sopping wet watering the flowers), so I needed a place to hang these to try every day that was also easily accessible. Until this point, they usually ended up in a heap on the mudroom floor or hanging over coats and sweatshirts in the mudroom lockers. Not really working! 

I originally had my eye on these Restoration Hardware hooks that match our kitchen hardware, but couldn't bring myself to spend that much per hook! Wanting 5 of them, one for each member of the family, that adds up quickly!  Luckily for me, during our weekly trip to Target I found these PERFECT ones for only $6.99 each! 

They have a great style to them that blends in really well with the rest of our home, I lovvvvve the name plates, they won't poke someone's eye out if they walk into them (a true concern in our crazy house!) and they are totally the right price! I had Evan hang them up right away. Couldn't be happier with this find!

Isn't Target the best? 

Homemade Starbucks Green Tea Lemonade

Part of giving up my job also means giving up my daily Starbucks routine! For years, it was a habit of mine to make a quick, early morning stop on my way to work for a Venti Green Tea Lemonade with one pump of sweetner. It is refreshing, hydrating, and has just the perfect touch of sweetness! People who know me well know I almost always have one in hand in the a.m.

However, since I clearly don't see myself trekking three kids to Starbucks every morning, I decided to see if I could re-create the drink at home for myself! Not too bad, if I do say so myself!

Ingredients: 

• Taco Zen Green Tea
• A fresh lemon
• Sugar in the Raw

While there is part of me that will miss my early morning jaunt to the local Starbucks (the energy of the coffee shop and the friendly, familiar faces were also a nice aspect of this pit stop!), I am looking forward to this being part of my new early morning routine that involves waking up before the sunshine and having some "Sara time" before the kids wake up. 

Added bonus: It will save money! Making it home will cost me roughly $1.00 ($0.23 per tea bag, $0.75 per lemon, and $0.04 per sugar packet) versus spending $3.65 at Starbucks every day. 

A Few of my Favorite Things

One of the things that came back over and over again in my Reader Survey is that my readers want more links to where they can buy some of my favorite things! Ask and you shall receive ;) Here are some of my very favorite finds of the summer! 

• Blair Ritchey "Going to Market" Tote
• Swell Water Bottle (Seriously my obsession... I love ice cold water 24/7 and this thing delivers!)
• Essie Nail Polish in "Sweet Souffle" 
• Tuckernuck Packable Wide Bow Sunhat (Obsessed with this for pool days!) 
• J.Crew Betty Sunglasses
• Tory Burch Minnie Travel Sandals
• The Jones Market Double Infinity Necklace 

When you're as pregnant as I am - currently 28 weeks - it is all about the accessories!

Family Room Makeover Phase I: New Built-Ins

The one room in our house that has never quite 100% worked for me is our family room. In my DREAM family room, I envision tall ceilings, an open floorpan with sight lines from the kitchen, lots of windows, and plenty of room to host family and friends. In this family room? None of that!

It is REALLY long and rectangular, with openings to other rooms that make it difficult to place furniture. It is just odd. You'll notice that if you look back on my posts, I hardly ever even post about this room because it isn't a room that I've very proud of and it certainly doesn't inspire me. Truth be told, we don't even spend THAT much time in here! I decided that needs to change! I'm on a mission to make this a room that I LOVE. 

The first thing we did is mount the television above the fireplace (If you're in Cleveland, I highly recommend Installs by Vic! Great service!) That change alone made an absolutely huge difference. It made the room feel taller and more put together instantly! We then got to work on built-ins to house the cable box, DVD player, and cords. I wanted something that would also break up the realllllllly long wall so you would feel like you were in an actual room, not a hallway. (Because seriously, we mostly were using this room as a hallway!) 

We found some unfinished base cabinets from Home Depot that perfectly fit between the fireplace and the windows. Then, Evan built another open cabinet on top of the existing cabinet so we could store our DVD boxes and give the cabinets a more custom look. (I wish I could have documented the steps or remembered how much we paid for lumber, but this was during the first trimester of my pregnancy and I was sick.as.a.dog! Please forgive me!) We then added more trim and molding to tie it all into the fireplace mantel and make it look like one seamless unit. Here is a good look at it in the construction phase, so you can see what is old vs. what is new:

Evan also eventually added baseboards around the whole unit to finish it off. We then painted all of the woodwork in our favorite, custom white paint and voila! What a transformation for a couple weekends worth of work and not too much money. 

It is also REALLY nice to have more hidden storage for the kids' books and toys, which we used to have in baskets beside the fireplace and TV stand. Still easily accessible, but so much less cluttered.  Here is a "before" picture of the room...

Compared to now:

What a huge improvement, right? We still have a lot of work to do in this room but I'll be sharing Phase II soon, which features our new couch! (You can see a sneak peek if you check our current, real life home tour post!)  I'm also brainstorming what chairs and other accents I can incorporate to make the room more cohesive and beautiful. Working on that now and can't wait to share!