Hello from the sunshine state! We’ve been busy working to get our beach home put together since our move in date in January! We have most of the major pieces and are just awaiting some accessories. Soon, we will be able to schedule a photo shoot and will have all kinds of content to share here! Today, we’re sharing our *almost* completed bedroom! I’m waiting on the perfect piece of art for above our bed and a glider for the corner (for those middle of the night newborn feedings!). Other than that, this room is done! We just unrolled the most perfect rug, which gave this room the character and coziness that it was lacking.

Happy Thanksgiving from these turkeys! We are extra thankful this year as we welcomed baby Sutton Kate into our family last week! We could not be happier celebrating our first holiday as a family of FOUR! We planned a low key Thanksgiving this year.

We are approximately 6 weeks from Christmas! Yeah, I can hardly believe it either. We put our tree up today and it's getting me in the spirit! We are trying to keep our Christmas gifting simple this year. We are following "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read," limiting our shopping list to 4 things. I will report back with how it goes! Do you have any gifting traditions? ​Here are a few things that I think would make great gifts...many of these I own and love or have gifted in the past! ​

I am in major nesting mode over here! When Ty flew down to FL to check on the new build a few weeks ago, I felt a strong desire to redecorate. He came home to new artwork in many rooms of our home, a new living room rug, and some other miscellaneous changes throughout the house. All of the work that I have put into designing the Florida build has made me feel as though our "personal style" is a bit lighter and more minimal than what we had going on in our house. I loved the darker color scheme and cozy elements in our home, but it just wasn't feeling quite right and I felt drawn to both lighten and minimize our space.

With the Florida build finally rounding a corner, I thought it might be time to share a formal update! Over the last few weeks, we have seen immense progress! Aside from a few hiccups, things are rolling smoothly. I find such relief with each new photo that we receive! My micromanaging self is having a hard time building this home from across the country! If I had it my way, I would be flying down every weekend! Unfortunately, all of the important detail work (tile, millwork, etc.) just so happened to fall during the last month of pregnancy which is leaving me to check on the house virtually instead of hopping on a flight.

Long time, no blog! The Florida build is seriously ROLLING! We are just countertops and plumbing fixtures away from the finish line! Light fixtures were installed last week and I so am eager to see them in person (along with the rest of the house)! I searched for white, rattan, and brass fixtures to flow with the rest of the home.

We closed on the sale of this cute little charmer on San Jose Drive a couple of months ago. We poured a lot of love into this flip and had so much fun staging the home just before putting it on the market. She sold right away and we are so excited for the new family that is going to make this sweet home theirs!

As I mentioned in our newsletter, things are happening down in FL! Hardwood, tile, cabinets…all the fun stuff is going in! Shockingly, I changed my mind on many of the tile selections last minute! I felt myself gravitating to an even lighter, more coastal and organic aesthetic than my original design plan. That’s the good thing about the build timeline taking so long…I’ve had plenty of time to lean into my personal style and have found that “the beach” is more inspirational than I had even thought, leaving me wanting a more soothing and light color palette (a change from the deeper, richer palette of the recent MI build!)

Today, we’re highlighting the bathroom vanities that we picked out for the Michigan build! I bought all three of these vanities on Wayfair and paid a fraction of the cost of custom cabinetry for a similar look! I really wanted wood vanities for the two of the bathrooms. I had to search high and low for the right pieces.

Ah, the kitchen design! I have redesigned this space time and time again, continually tweaking to find the most functional layout. In this kitchen, our objective is to maximize storage while maintaining an open, airy feel. We want this house to feel serene, evoking feelings of a simple beach life. One thing I am doing in this kitchen that I have not done in YEARS (not since our very first home, 7 moves ago!) is upper cabinets! I toyed with many different layouts and kept coming back to uppers near the range. Open shelving felt too cluttered. Towers felt too heavy for the scale of the kitchen. A range alcove would have eliminated too much counter space. Ultimately, upper cabinets fit the bill! Gasp!

You all have been guessing about the exterior color of our Florida house! As I mentioned in this post, I had been day-dreaming of a 30a beach house for years. You better believe that I spent a lot of time in those day dreams designing said hypothetical house. I always envisioned a classic white beach house. Alas, our house with not be white! Like the Michigan build, we picked something unexpected. I think the answer may even made you chuckle, considering the Michigan build saga! That's a big hint!

Our first blog post about the Florida house design....yay! I have been bottling up all of these design concepts for months too long! I am eager to share! It has been 4 years since we went under contract on the first build which fell through and 3 years since we bought this lot! Considering, the design theme, along with my own personal design, has slowly evolved!

Are you ready to see the actual house?! I still can't believe this is real! Ok, little back story on the house plan...the neighborhood is filled with custom homes, all different from one another. There are certainly themes amongst the neighborhood and HOA requirements, but in general, there is a lot of variety within the community, which is something we love about the neighborhood! I could walk the streets all day admiring the beautiful homes, each so unique!

FINALLY, we are sharing a project that we have been working on for 3 YEARS! We are building a house in Florida!!! We are so excited to be expanding our vacation rental business to the FL panhandle! Construction has begun and we will get the keys in just a few short months. The new vacation rental will be just a couple of blocks (a 2 minute walk, to be exact) from the beach! Wow, this is such a long story...where to begin?

It's been a while since we've done a Friday Faves! Here are a few things I've been loving lately, from a new rug, to my favorite morning drink, to an email subscription I enjoy, to homemade bread!

If you have signed up for our monthly email newsletter (sign up here!), you already learned that we are finishing our basement! We have been suffering from a severe case of cabin fever this winter. The long winter with a toddler is another level of stir crazy! We have been eager for a change of scenery; more places to crawl and play. When we built this house, we intentionally did not finish the basement and had plans to finish it in a couple of years.

Our annual winter cabin visit was just as cozy as last year's. Funny enough, winter is definitely the "slow season" on Lookout Mountain. The area is very active in the fall, summer, and spring. The winter, however, does not draw in as many visitors which always shocks me as it is my favorite time of year to visit! Perhaps it's because we are coming from Michigan rather than the Southeast (where most of the travelers in the area reside). Winter on the mountain consists of crisp mornings, temperate (50s-60s) afternoons, and beautiful early sunsets (we love that we could catch them just before it's time to put Brooks to bed!)

The San Jose flip (also known as the EGR flip) is coming along! We just got the cabinets installed. Soon, the quartz counters will be installed followed by the kitchen backsplash! We also have an exterior door and a couple of sconces to replace and some paint touch up to tackle. And finally, after staging and styling, our darling home on San Jose will be on the market!

This being our 7th house, we put a lot of thought into every detail of the build! We have learned a lot about practical design after living with 7 different kitchens, laundry rooms, etc. We absolutely love our new home and how it turned out, but even house #7 isn't perfect! Here are some things I wish I would have done differently after living here for a few months!