Today's Guest: The Self Life

Today I would like to welcome Elisa from The Self Life.  Elisa will be sharing her fun office and her adorable furry kids (Olive, June, and Lily).  Yes, Ike let a cat on the blog today.  He's on vacation.  He doesn't care.

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Ahh the office. So functional, so lovely. So orange. Originally the office looked like this. (Whomp whomp.)
 
But now, it looks like this!


And yep, many people ask, and I swear my mood raises a point or two every time I walk in. Because you guys. Orange makes you HAPPY. Psychiatrists say so! But there are a ton of reasons why I love this room. Although I helped, Ryan essentially built me this desk. He planned it out, bought materials, and executed it. Hello, husband with power tool.


There are lots of tangible things in this room that I love. The pullout couch, my I-promise-I'll-paint-it-canvas, the crazy deal I got on the West Elm curtains.


But I really love it because there are these particular creatures that fill up the room... The second I get comfortable in the office I hear the padding of feet and turn around to this.


Met our Brittany, Olive (namesake Olive Oyl - forever a damsel in distress although sweet as punch),


Our 'Petite Lady Hound' June (named after June Carter Cash, a lovely woman),


And lastly but certainly not least-ly, Lily Bear. (No namesake, just cuteness.)


To say they keep this house alive is quite the understatement. Quite. Because if I decide to sit on the ol' couch, this happens 97% of the time.


Although sometimes they keep themselves entertained.


Other times they do not.


But anyone with a four-legged roommate knows I'd have it no other way. I love my girls, and I love the house that we all share. Corniest Person of All Time, Elisa

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Be sure to head on over to The Self Life and say "hi" to Elisa, Olive, June, and Lily!

Today's Guest: Primitive and Proper

Today's guest is Cassie from Primitive and Proper. Cassie will be sharing her kitchen dreams and  her furry loves, Jake and Charlie.

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Hello Decor and the Dog lovers!  I am Cassie from Primitive and Proper.  I am so excited to be here as a guest for Michelle. I love her style, her sense of humor, and her adorable self.  I am honored she asked me to be a guest.  Like Michelle, I  happen to be a dog owner as well.  We have two dogs, Charlie, a just about to turn 12 year old beagle, and Jake, an 8 year old bagle (basset/beagle mix).  Here they are looking all sweet and innocent.  And pardon the mess; that is our master bedroom which has not yet been worked on since we moved here in October.

We love our dogs, even when they pee on beloved rugs, because that means we get to get even more awesome rugs, like this.


So instead of stuffing and mounting Charlie for peeing on our gray zebra rug, I have been giving him treats because I like the new one better.  Yes, he's a good dog. ;)

Anyhow, we have been in this house for 6 months now, and I have been cruising along with house projects.  Basically, if something can be made better with paint, well than I can do it!  When it comes to our kitchen though, paint just isn't gonna cut it. Here are a couple pictures of its mustard 1979 atrociousness taken move in day.  So here is is ugly AND messy.



Oh yeah... the pictures are dark, I know, but trust me you are thanking me.  You do not want to be blinded by the mustard yellow formica countertops AND matching backsplash.  Pretty sweet, huh?  Oh, and those fabulous puppy-chewed stools even came free with the house!  Bonus.  I will take those stools over closing help any day.

This kitchen can not be helped merely by paint.  So it will wait hopefully only another year until we can have someone install new floors for us as well as countertops.  But that gives me plenty of time to think about what we shall do.  Here are my plans as of now, subject to change on a daily basis.

First of all, the cabinets will remain and I will paint those.  We will however remove the cabinet above the fridge so that we can finally get a new refrigerator.  This refrigerator is tiny, so we want a newer larger one.  The previous owners did at least leave us with relatively new stainless dishwasher and oven, so we will go stainless on the fridge, too.   For the cabinets, I am thinking something like this....

Via

or this...

Via

I want to paint the walls white, so I think this color on the cabinets would be soft and pretty and add some color. I also really like the nickel hardware with this color.

For flooring, we have already decided on slate for a couple of reasons.  We like the rustic and natural look, and it is rather affordable.  here are a couple of inspiration images...

Via

If we can somehow manage to get the herringbone pattern with slate tile, I might make out with the new flooring.

Via

Moving on to countertops, we had thought about doing the butcher block IKEA countertops, but we have a corner sink and cabinet that will not work as it runs on a diagonal.   We know we want toe butcher block look to add warmth and stay with the more rustic style.  I just love what Elizabeth at the Mustard Ceiling did using doors.  And I think there is a chance that perhaps we could DIY it.

We will definitely be removing the formica peninsula and chewed barstools.  So if you are local to MD and want them, let me know! ;)  I plan to add a breakfast nook.  I would love to build a banquette with a storage bench, but I need to convince my husband that it is the way to go.  Or just do it when he is not home.   That's how I roll.  Surprise honey, I painted out master bedroom neon pink!  But ok seriously, how awesome are these banquettes...

Via

I really love this one with the shelving above it...

Via

Or something like this could work, too.   And maybe my kids would look so happy all the time if we had this in our kitchen.

Via

Whatever option we end up going with, I plan to bring in an accent color for chairs.  I recently painted some chairs for my dining room in coral and I love how it pairs with the grays and aquas.  So I am thinking something along the lines of my dining chairs for color since the two rooms adjoin each other. here is a glimpse of the dining room...

But for the kitchen chairs I want something a little less formal... bentwood chairs would be perfect!

Via

Maybe I would even do a colorful mix!  I love that setup.  

Of course, we will also get new lighting when the time comes, as the boob light above the eating nook isn't quite cutting it.  So some sort of awesome pendant or chandy will replace it.  But for now, my head is already spinning with everything on the to do list! :)  I hope you enjoyed a peek into my head.  You got to see the good stuff; there are other parts that are a little scary. 

Michelle, thank you so much for having me today!  I hope you will stop by Primitive and Proper and say hi!

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Be sure to head on over to Primitive and Proper and say "hi" to Cassie, Jake, and Charlie!

Today's Guest: Plain & Fancy Living

Happy Monday!

This week is full of guest posts from some of my favorite bloggers.  My guests will be sharing some of their favorite decor and their favorite furry friends!

Amy from Plain and Fancy Living is going to introduce you to her beautifully fancy kitchen and her handsome furry friend, Bode.

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Hi, Decor and the Dog readers! I am so happy to be guest posting for Michelle while she is enjoying her vacation. She asked me to choose a favorite space in my home and I really love my kitchen, especially the buffet area.

I am so glad that I made sure to have a designated area for food and drink when I was designing the kitchen. I am constantly using the buffet. I place colored or patterned paper in the upper cabinet to change the look and decorate for holidays. I often change the framed print for a different look.

This built-in buffet is located right behind our dining room wall so it is in a perfect spot for dinners being served in the breakfast nook or dining room. I use the counter space as a bar when we are not using it as a food buffet.

I love the glass cabinet doors and the glass knobs.

I carried the details of glass to the drawer hardware.

Details: double crown molding and white subway tile

We have four dogs in our family. We do not have favorites, we love them all equally. Our boy, Bode, is truly a gentle giant. He weighs 100 lbs. and he is pure joy. He is so sweet and so loving. We are blessed to have this fella in our lives. We adopted him through Golden Retriever Rescue & Adoption of Needy Dogs, GRRAND.

He is a sweet boy. We love him so much and I am so thankful that the rescue group found him and took such good care of him before we found each other.

Thank you so much for having me! 

xo, Amy

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Be sure to head on over to Plain and Fancy Living and say "hi" to Amy and Bode!