:: million dollar baby

It's all about the kitchen

a dining room with water views

a huge room for lounging with guests after a day on your yacht

a lovely room for the ladies

and one for the gents

a lovely sauna

grab a vintage from here

or maybe you prefer a more intimate space to unwind 

you can live the dream here

Your cost....a mere $49,500,000

for a lovely little 11 bed / 18 bath / 22,000 sq ft home

and I thought I dreamt big... 

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

Home Found Here

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:: leaving our nest

The Wren's Nest...a HOME tour...

Well, it's official we are leaving our nest soon....see my little perch hanging under there. I'm excited for the change, but also a little sad to leave my home of 10 years. I can hardly believe it's been that long, my children were just little little's when we moved in, now they are teenagers. We've had so many good times in this home...it's bittersweet leaving it all behind.

Many meals with friends & family have been enjoyed in this kitchen. I can just see my kids propped on the bar building gingerbread houses, making cookies for Santa & dyeing easter eggs.

Cozy fires, Christmas morning, and beautiful sunrises have been the highlight of this living room.

The dining room like most sees action only on special occasions such as holidays & parties.

The kid zone....hodge podge furnishings, cartoons & movies, drums & guitar, games & sleepovers...many many memories.

One of my favorite spaces to create has been my sweet Punky's apartment

I put in the bookcases & gate to create a little playhouse area when she was little & also to hide all the mess/toys from the door , now it's her personal sleeping space & hideaway & she has a little living room instead. Time is marching on, and toys are giving way to boys {uh oh... well not quite yet} clothes is more like it.

My little mister has gone from a giant playroom bedroom to his personal pad including private bath. Gaming system & computer station required.

Our oldest chick is off to college and this has become a landing zone & dumping ground for her more & more infrequent visits as she enjoys her new found freedom.

Movie central, family hangout & guest quarters complete with private bath & workout room.

My fun studio with it's amazing vaulted ceiling, I'll miss you too...at least when you're clean

{ Our Dreamy Master Bed & Bath }

Many talks & cozy sundays have been spent in front of this fireplace in our Master bedroom.

Kids sleeping on the sofa at the foot of the bed, and snuggled in with us too. Those days too are fading away as everyone grows up and into their own...ready for change & a new move.

Proof that things are what you make them, those are simple wire shelves. A little organization makes things much nicer. Though it is a big closet,  it doesn't have to be big to be tidy & pretty.

Just a simple laundry room, but I sure will miss my little window. 

In my personal opinion this could have very well sold our house all on it's own...

{ THE PANTRY }

Is it crazy that this is probably one of the things I'll miss most about this house....my new pantry.  I just had it custom designed to my specifications not even a year ago now. The best part is that my family finally keeps it neat & clean too. What more can a mother ask for?

Hmmm did I leave anything out? Besides bathrooms? 

A Foyer? A lovely staircase, what, did you say two staircases? Done.

Front Staircase

Back Staircase from keeping room.

Goodbye my lovely home with 2 tons of new rock borders installed just last fall by yours truly. I can't believe we are actually moving. I hope the new owners will enjoy all of the hard work & love that have gone into making this house a home...it's been good to us for 10 years.

Mostly we'll miss all of our friends & wonderful neighbors.

WELCOME HOME

{tears, sniffle sniffle}

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

P.S.  stay tuned for our adventures in moving & our new home.

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{ plate hanging 101 }

Ta Ta Ta Daaa....Here it is, the finished project.

Step 5 - is to simply measure the back of your plate for hanger placement, and tack your nail in place.

Honestly, this is just really a lot of trial and error, I find that a few tiny holes in the wall behind an object really don't bother me. If it bothers you to have lots of holes, then you should definitely measure twice & nail once.

Another thing, I started out with the invisible plate hangers that you glue to the back of the plates, but after trying one, I figured out that it is very difficult to line up a plate pattern with a small hook when you only get one shot. Sooo, I took them back and traded them for the traditional plate hangers, and my job was so much easier, and much faster....as there is no 24 hour drying period.

So, what do you think? Is it an improvement?

While I was out looking for my plate hangers the other day, I actually ran across a fabric that I really liked for new curtains. This is actually so disgusting, because I used to have beautiful custom silk drapes that puddled on the floor ever so nicely, but that was before we introduced two new kittens into our house...need I say more?

Here is the window wall before, and a shot of the fabric I've picked. I like this fabric, because it has all of my favorite colors in it, and I really want a new sisal rug with a black border, and I think it will tie in nicely.

stay tuned for more updates. I think it will take my seamstress a couple of weeks to get these made up for me, but I can't wait to get them back and share more pics.

Now I'm off to get everything ready for a sweet 16 (sigh)

Happy Friday!

*peace & love*

Carrie

p.s. Fit Friday update --- I did absolutely nothing this week as far as real exercise goes, but I think I more than made up for it with all of the cleaning and rearranging activities.

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{ makeover madness }

Oh my dear blog, and blog friends, I have missed you so this week. I have been so incredibly busy trying to make my house a place I want to be. This week has been Makeover Madness week. It's been a long, very cold winter, and as a last ditch effort to do everything I can to avoid demoing my house I'm trying to rearrange and reinvent.

When Papa is away Mama likes to play...decorator that is. Yes, yes, Papa was away on a well deserved snow boarding trip...while I was left home alone with the little wrens. I actually had to get up early this week uggh, and cook breakfast and everything all by myself. Boy did I miss Papa *wink*.

Day 1 - vacation day for Mama

Day 2 - try to get organized ( make a mess ),

Day 3 - reorganize and clean up the mess from Day 2.

I've worked so hard this week, Day 2 and 3, I think I never stopped until I dropped...into bed that is.

Well, I'm happy I did, because I gave every surface in my house a much needed re-vamp. I moved accessories from here to there and back again, until I came up with little vignettes I could be happy with for at least a little while. My main objective, was to try and lighten things up without spending a dime....so I shopped my house. I fluffed, and fluffed, till I couldn't fluff anymore....Whew...I did it.

I wish I had thought to take some before and after shots, but my makeover madness took over, and I just couldn't stop for a photo op. So anyway, I'll share some of the after shots later. Until then though I have a sort of major project called my dining room, pictured above. Don't you just love that color (sarcasm). That color has been driving me crazy for years now, (I chose it at the last minute....bad mama) but I paid a lot of money for that paint job, and It hasn't returned on it's investment yet...so it has to stay. (ugh). So I have to make it work for now. Solution, cover as much of it as possible.....with plates. This isn't really a new concept, it's something I've been wanting to do since day one, I've just recently added to my plate collection, so I feel it's time. 


 Wanna See????

See my pretty plates. I love them all, and I've been collecting them for several years now. Didn't I mention that I have a thing for plates?

Step 1 - on a flat surface lay out plates until you find a pleasing arrangement.

Step 2 - trace plates onto paper ( craft paper, grocery bags, whatever large paper you have on hand)

Step 3 - now, using your kindergarten skills, cut out plate shapes

Step 4 - following your determined pattern start placing them on the wall with painters tape.

Okay, got that so far? That's as far as I've gotten so far, they are up on the wall, and I've been living with them for a day to be sure I'm happy with the arrangement. Tomorrow I will hang (no not myself....sick huh). If I were a little sick maybe....especially since Papa & I just bought a car today for our oldest wren who's turning 16 tomorrow. Oh my, how the time flies. I just can't believe we're there already.

Ta Ta For Now,

*peace & love*

Carrie

p.s. stay tuned for the final steps of plate hanging 101

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