In Virginia lately, the weather seems to go from this:

...to this...

...aaaaand back to this again.

And in case you're wondering:  Why yes! 
All of those photos were taken at my house. 
We only have 1/3 of an acre, but we try to make the most of it. ;-)

Regardless of the unstable weather patterns, I've decided it's time to start focusing on our outdoor space.  We have a nice screened-in porch, a deck, and even a waterfall.
 
I'll be sharing pictures soon, but for now, some inspiration...

Thank you so much to Kayley at A Blissful Abode for honoring my baby blog with its very first award: 

The Liebster Blog Award!  

Apparently "liebster" means "darling," which is such high praise. :-)

A Blissful Abode is so fresh & pretty, with lovely photography and finds like this:

Thanks again, Kayley! xoxo

And in the interest of us newbies sticking together, I'd like to pass the next Liebster Blog Award to an awesome new blog... 

Talk of the House.!

Kelly has great taste and fab decorating ideas!  Definitely check her out.

I just received the new Ballard Designs "Casa Florentina" 
special edition catalog in the mail.  

Now normally, I'm not a huge fan of Ballard's, mostly because I get visually overstimulated by all the stuff they pack into their catalogs. 

Also, their shipping charges and delivery wait times for furniture are outrageous!

In fact, although I'm a devout "big box" store fan (yeah I said it!), the only thing I've ever purchased from Ballard are these chandelier shades:

But I'm loving the look of these "Casa Florentina" pieces, beautifully photographed and mercifully shown without all that Ballard clutter.  

So fresh, simple, and Restoration Hardware-esque (before RH lost their minds and started selling upholstered furniture without the upholstery!)

Of course, I have no clue about quality, but check these out! Pretty, right?
:-)

These days, the front entrance of our house is on my mind. 

If you've been following this blog faithfully for its epic 4-month run, you know that we have big plans for this space: 

A new handrail & newel post; finishing the painting; artwork of some kind; 
and a new front door.  

Note: It adjoins to my husband's office, which includes our beloved (but busy!) 
family photo gallery:

Neutral is key. I love this idea for an entry; it looks so clean and balanced.  

This is very pretty, too.  Problem is, we are neither dramatic nor fancy. ;-)

I love the mirror, and I'm dying over these gorgeous lamp bases. 
 I'm not a huge fan of the lamp shades or rusted metal, however.

I wish I had room for this!  So beautiful.  Traditional meets glam.

Again, I have no room for this, but it's very "styled" and beautiful.

I'd place a mirror and some sconces above this, but I LOVE the moss balls in the white containers, the white gallery frames, and the bench beneath:

This is a nice combination of wood and greenery.  
Normally I love blue, but I'm not loving these lamp shades.

Any other ideas?
:-)

My VERY hardworking husband is often a slave to this house. 
Which would probably be OK (with me at least) if WE drove the bus: 
first the kitchen, then the bathrooms, then the bedrooms, etc.  
But more often than not, the HOUSE tells us what to do next!  

Can you believe that s%&$? 

Mice invade...the deck rots...a mailbox inexplicably commits suicide. 
And before we know it, we're dealing with the outside of the house, 
which I honestly couldn't care less about.

To cheer myself up, I started looking at some ideas for the master bathroom.  Right now, it's an homage to red gingham wallpaper and partially-ripped-apart drywall.  But that's all about to change!  At least I'm pretty sure it might!

If we had about 1,000 square feet to work with, I'd have some awesome ideas, no?
;-)