Our House in the Philippines

Greetings from Boracay, Philippines!

Brent and I left the states on Tuesday morning and 23 hours and two stops later landed in Manilla, Philippines. We got to our hotel around 10:00 p.m on Wednesday and left early the next morning for our flight/boat to the island of Boracay. Needless to say it has been a whirlwind last few days, but since we finally arrived in Boracay we have been able to explore, eat, relax and indulge in the super cheap massages on the beach. We got two yesterday!

We are traveling with our friends Jackie and Matt. They met up with us in Manilla where they had been for a few days on business. Jackie is the Director of International Sales for the fabulous shoe company - oka.B. You all may remember we had that fun oka.B photoshoot at our house last year? Well, much to my surprise and excitement Jackie spotted our house in advertisements around Manilla at some of the retailers she visited.  She snapped some pics for me on her phone. 

Remember this shot with the beautiful Meredith on our deck with her umbrella?

Or this shot of Meredith in our closet??

Pretty cool, right? A little piece of home right here in the Philippines!

Master Bedroom Gallery Wall

Having 14-ish days off over the holidays was SO nice. My days were filled with friends, family, reality TV, organizing and a whole lot of relaxing. On our last vacation day, in the midst of binge watching Homeland and perusing Instagram, Brent and I were able to peel ourselves off the couch and complete a house project that has been on our "to-do" list for a year. Yes, a year folks - procrastination station right here. I'm happy to report we FINALLY hung a gallery wall in our Master Bedroom.

Our master bedroom has gotten little to no attention here on the blog; which is funny because this room, especially our bed which we adoringly call "The Cloud" is a major hangout area for us. I know this goes against pretty much all rules for "healthy living" but we work, eat, scheme and dream, watch TV and of course sleep in the cloud. Who can resist a giant fluffy, soft, warm landing pad? Not us!

Our room was happy enough with great natural light, a beautiful tufted king sized bed, pretty pillows and fun lamps. But honestly, I never feel a room is complete, warm or inviting without some art. Lucky for us, art we had and the wall above our bed was the perfect spot to display it - gallery style.

A little Before shot for ya:

As you all know, gallery walls can come in many a shape, size and context. For us, we simply wanted to fill the wall with pieces that were special to us, bringing in texture, color and interest. To begin we measured the space from the top of the headboard to the ceiling and then taped that space off on the floor in front of the bed/wall where the art would hang. Then, we took the various pieces of art and started placing them within the taped off rectangle until we had the orientation we were happy with.

I'm super visual so this approach really came in handy for me. The rectangle actually lived on the floor for months. The first time we attempted to lay out the art, things were off and we knew we needed more/different pieces in certain areas. So, the art sat in the corner of our room. Slowly, but surely a few more pieces came to the party until the day came that we were ready to hang. Once the nails and hammer came out, things moved pretty fast...

OK, maybe not THAT fast, but truly this baby was up in less than 30 minutes. As Brent installed each new piece I got more and more excited. I love all the color these pieces bring to the room, it makes the space feel so happy and layered. Even better? Most of these pieces are near and dear to us...We have 3 original paintings done by Brent's Dandy, Nancy Niblack. Photography of an outhouse on my Grandmother & PapaJack's Country House property by my Mom, Lori Foster. The North Carolina picture with a heart in Highlands, where Brent and I got engaged, was a gift from my sister and her husband. We have 2 paintings from our travels together, one from Tuscany on our honeymoon and the other from Prague in 2010. A piece Brent picked up in San Francisco of Lombard Street. The gold sunburst is from Ballards, the giant metal S is from Scott's Antique and the coin art was an antique store find in Chattanooga. And finally the panda picture was recently given to us by Brent's mom Cindy. I have no idea where it came from, but it reminds me of Luke and Cows and all other things black and white so I love it.

It sure does feel good to re-boot every now and then, but I'm super happy we took 30 minutes to get this wall up, because now that we are back in the swing of real life it's nice to have something so happy and fun to go to sleep under each night.

All photos are my own. 

Hi 2015 + a Magazine Feature

Welcome to the first full week of 2015!!!!

We are only a few days in to this new year and I'm digging it already. I'm excited to kick 2015 off with a little magazine feature in the January issue of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine.

I'm honored to be in good company on page 16 & 17, talking advice for creating statement kitchens. The question I answered? 

"What's the easiest way to make a lofty kitchen feel cozier?"

To see what I had to say, check out the issue on stands now!

2015....LET'S DO THIS!

2014 Highlight Reel

And just like that....

POOF

2014 is over. 

The year went by SO FAST. Like, HOLY COW-it-feels-like-Valentine's Day-was-yesterday fast.

I've always loved the number 14, so I had big expectations for the year and luckily 2014 did not disappoint. Creatively 2014 was full of memorable moments including a slew of exciting projects, a lot of which were documented right here on the blog. 

To commemorate the fun that was 2014 I've put together a little highlight reel.  

2014 was one for the books, but there are a LOT of exciting things coming in 2015 and I can't wait to share with you all! Until then...New year, new start... Happy New Years, folks and thanks so much for hangin' with The Cow Spot each week, I love having you here! :)

Holiday House Tour 2014 + a NEW RUG!

Never do houses look more charming and alive than during the holiday season. I love pulling onto our street after work each night to see house after house twinkling and festive.

This is our second Christmas at our house, but in a year's time a giant part of our Christmas decor was removed....THE CHRISTMAS TREE.

I'm not gonna lie, there was a part of us that was a teeny, tiny, wayyyy in the back of our minds worried that without the big, giant, decorated Christmas tree our house would loose some of it's charm. There was also another part of us that was a little bummed we had spent money on big ornaments that we no longer had a tree for.

First world problems, right?

Regardless, we were excited to deck our halls, so we jumped right on it the weekend after Thanksgiving. With only 4 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, we wanted as much time to enjoy as possible.

Welcome to Our-House-Decorated-For-Christmas-Tour -2014

What tree, right?  I can tell you the right side of our house, namely the kitchen window is ecstatic to finally be seen! We ended up repurposing the giant ornaments we bought for the tree last year by placing them on our garland across the white picket fence which worked out pretty nicely.

Inside, some mini nutcracker soldiers joined Brenta the horse head to add some holiday pizazz to our dining table.

And the most adorable black and gold reindeer salt and pepper shakers bring some Christmas cheer to the kitchen.

In the Living Room, Luke likes to sit under his stocking waiting for Santa to pop out of the fireplace. 

You may also notice the tree isn't the only thing warming up our living room....Christmas came early and we finally got a new rug!

We had been quietly looking for a rug for the Living Room since we moved in, but we were bound and determined not to rush into anything. The rug needed to be pretty big, because the room is so long and big rugs = more $$, plus any color/pattern used would really set the tone for the whole space. A few months ago we came across this rug, and BAM we knew it was right. Around the same time Rug Pad USA had reached out asking if I would be interested in reviewing one of their rug pads on my blog. Perfect timing.....I was interested indeed! 

I'd never purchased or picked out a rug pad before so I sat down to peruse their site to figure out which rug pad I wanted. As soon as I hit the homepage I realized there is a lot more to a rug pad than one might think. The choices are endless, not only does Rug Pad USA have a large offering of sizes that can suit any surface (carpet, hardwoods, outdoor, tile, etc..), but there are all kinds of different features to consider pertaining to non-slip, eco-friendly, low profile, cushioned, etc..I read through the different options and ended up selecting the Eco-Cushion. This rug pad is 1/4" thick with an open weave for extra cushion, plus it is made with plant based oils as opposed to petrochemical oils used in a lot of rug pads. The rug pad comes with a 20 year warranty and is made right here in America. Comfortable, affordable, eco-friendly and American made, does it get any better?

After living with the new rug/rug pad set up for a few weeks I'm happy to report we couldn't be happier.  The pad really does add some nice cushion to the rug and I love how everything stays in place, even with Luke rolling around on it. Because the rug is in a heavy traffic area of the house this non-slip feature was a must. I also love the added texture the rug itself adds to the room, it's like instant warmth! But I think the biggest fan of all is Luke, he loves the new rug and pretty much thinks it is his new, giant, soft bed. 

Well, this bring us to the end of our tour. I hope you enjoyed it! From the Cows that hang in our tree, to yours....MOOry Christmas!

All photos are my own. 

2015 Color of the Year

And the 2015 Color of the Year is...

BOOM! 

So good, right?

My nails are pretty much this exact color as I type the post....winning? I THINK SO! ;)

Each year Pantone dubs a color THE color of the following year.  Typically the choice is not too surprising if you have been paying attention to colors you see popping up in everything from clothing and shoes to rugs and pillows. As of late I have seen a LOT of this Marsala hue, especially in fashion. In fact several items in this shade made it on my Christmas List! 

Both shoes (shock, shock) but definitely Marsala! 

The Executive Director at the Pantone Color Institute, Leatrice Eiseman says, "Marsala is a subtly seductive shade, one that draws us in to its embracing warmth." 

I think this is a pretty good description of this color. It's lively and happy, but warm and classic at the same time. 

If this shade has been a long time favorite or a color you just know you will love for years to come, paint those walls and buy that wallpaper, but if you like to change things up as new trends come and go it's always a good idea to  incorporate these new shades into your decor or wardrobe through accessories. Accessories can definitely make a statement without being such an investment that it breaks the bank and makes you feel guilty when the new hot color on the block rolls in next December.

I perused the web for some fun accessories you could use to to bring Marsala into your home.

Serving pieces...

Pottery Barn.

A vase...

Target.

Maybe a cashmere throw...

abc carpet & home.

Or, if you are ready for a little more of a commitment, this Paula Deen Porcelain cookware could liven up any kitchen:

Wayfair.

As for fashion, this color is perfect for Fall/Winter and looks good on anything from your nails to your purse. Below are some of my favorites:

Asos.

Nasty Gal. 

Tory Burch. 

So, what do you all think...Marsala, yay or nay? As always if this color isn't your thing, just sit tight for 360-ish more days and a new Color of the Year will be on the scene!

Unless otherwise noted the photo source for item is linked under the photo.

We've Made our Bed

Happy December everyone!

Before I take you on a tour of our Christmas-fied, gingerbread like house I want to talk Spring.

I know it may seem odd to talk Spring before Christmas BUT apparently Fall is THE best time to plan for Spring planting, so we've had some serious front yard prep work to do before we decked our halls this year. After removing the giant Christmas Tree this summer we were left with a large center island needing some love.

We have a rock path, rock steps and stack stone around the flower bed, but for some reason only one side of the bed was outlined in the stack stone. This type of non-symmetrical weirdness became widely more apparent with the tree gone. The bed was naked and all it's flaws were hanging out for all to see. 

We took some photos of our existing stack stone and headed to the "rock store" to pick up the stone needed to finish off this bed.

These rocks look innocent enough, but they were HEAVY. One of my jobs during this process was to help unload the rocks from the truck and then transport them to and fro the flower bed. 

BACK.ACHE.CENTRAL.

Before I carried them over we first had to dig a trench around the flower bed.

I started off in charge of this part, while Brent dug up yet another stump....

Random, super apparent flaw #2. 

Brent dug up that stump only to find me 1/4 of the way through my trench digging. He took over...Womp Womp. Truth is I'm too ADD to dig a trench, plus there were roots everywhere from the stupid Christmas tree and my shovel kept getting tangled. ANYWAYS.....

With the trench dug we were ready to mix up the Quikrete...

And begin laying the stone. We dug the trench and laid the stone to follow the curve of the bed. Because the bed slants upwards we changed the elevation of the stone 3 times. 

Installing the wall was relatively fast paced and before we knew it we had a complete rocked in flower bed, with no stumps and no ginormous Christmas tree. Things were looking up. 

Next, we headed to the nursery to figure out what in the world to plant in this giant bed. After taking wayyy too much of a nice worker's time we ended up with azaleas, pansies and tulips. 

It looks simple now, but we are hoping all of our hard work will pay off and this bed will explode with color and interest come Spring!

All photos are my own.