Spring Fever: New Sheets & Home Accents

Most of the ladies around the country can relate---it's FREEZING outside.  My deepest sympathies to everyone dealing with the awful snow outside right now. Ick!  I kind of hope the weather stays chilly for the weekend because H and I are continuing with our mission to organize the house and this weekend we're tacking the storage closet.

As some of you know, we would like to put our home on the market sometime this year.  I'm really working hard on refining our home, re-organizing, de-cluttering and donating things we no longer use.  In this market, it's so important to have a clean, organized home and it doesn't hurt if its got a little style either (gotta stand apart from the competition, right?)

My goal is to have very clean and spa-like bathrooms, warm and cozy bedrooms and a clean and modern kitchen/living room area. 

One change I've made recently is switching out my soap dispensers. It sounds like such a small thing (and it is) but it can make a big impact.

 (All from Bed, Bath and Beyond)

I think it just looks so much cleaner than a bottle of Dove dish soap. It's also a lot cheaper---we used to buy bath and body works soaps for all of our bathrooms and kitchen. I always buy them on sale, but it adds up.  I like the look of the clear soap- simple, clean, easy.

I decided I wanted to bring a little more brightness to our master bedroom, so when I saw this beautiful duvet cover and pillows on sale at Brocade Home, I had to have them for our bed:

butternut moroccan sham

butternut moroccan duvet 

I also got these nifty Euro shams from West Elm to go with the Brocade set
(I like to mix patterns in the same color family): 
Organic Carved Circles Sham

I can't wait for the duvet cover and pillows to arrive!  I really love the look of gray and yellow together.  Brocade also has this gorgeous purple set, but I decided we already have a ton or purple in our living room so it was nice to mix it up and make it a little "sunnier" in the bedroom.

I really look forward to sharing my continued home progress with you ladies!  I always find myself wanting to clean and redecorate as we near closer to spring!

xoxo,

Veronika.

Hair Coloring, Spring Cleaning, Couch Shopping & OOTD

Yesterday evening, some work colleagues and I attended an awards dinner for the Houston Association of Black Journalists. It was a great event! Here's what I wore (the dinner was a mix of business and cocktail.)

Dress- Ann Taylor (seen in this haul post); Belt- Club Monaco; Shoes- Paris Hilton "Senorita"; Bracelet- Forever 21.

Gosh I love those bow shoes. I wear them every chance I get! They do hurt a bit towards the end of the night, but hey, a fabulous shoe is worth a little discomfort!

I got my hair done today! At the last minute I chickened-out and canceled my trim. I just got the color (my roots) retouched. Here is how it turned out (my hair looks the same, but brighter since the color is fresh.)


I LOVE fresh color! It just brightens things up and makes hair feel shinier and better. I know it's going to fade all through the summer, but I actually love the faded ends look (kind of like how Gisele's hair is.)

After my hair appointment today, my lovely husband accompanied me on a little errand-running. I had spring cleaning on the brain and wanted to find a shoe rack for our closet. I didn't want the fabric kind or anything that would hang over the door because we have super skinny closet doors. I ended up finding an awesome shoe rack at The Container Store for $19.99 per rack (I purchased two.)

Here's how it turned out:

First, the box, in case anyone wants to know the name/packaging of the product. It's super easy to put together. It took me like 5 minutes to do both of them. They are expandable and assemble with a quick "click."

Ta-da! (and excuse our messy bed/room, like I said, I'm still cleaning) Isn't it great? Now...here it is with the actual shoes on it (it saves SO much space! love it!)

Lulu came to check out the shoe rack. I think he likes it.


I'm keeping my most-worn shoes in the second rack from the bottom.

While at the container store, I also picked up this acrylic makeup brush holder for $6.99. I was tired of having separate containers for my brushes so this was the perfect fix!

As you can see, I also started using Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara as a brow gel. I finally remembered to pick some up a couple of weeks ago. It really does help keep brows in place. Great product, so thanks to those who suggested it!

I was also on the hunt for a new duvet cover/bed sheets today and after visiting Bed, Bath & Beyond, Pottery Barn AND Crate & Barrel to try to find ones I liked (fail) we paid a visit to West Elm where my husband and I fell in love with this gorgeous couch:

We have just started looking for a new couch recently (we plan to try to sell the ones we have now.) It's pretty rare for us to BOTH absolutely love something, so this couch seems like the perfect match for us since we both agree on it.

We tend to like more modern, clean-looking furniture and this couch fits that look to a "T." We also both wanted an L-shaped couch with a long chaise lounge which this set also has. I believe it is called the Tillary couch. The best thing about it is that you can completely re-arrange it to whatever best fits your space and you can also add more pieces to it. All of the pieces and cushions are movable, so you can completely customize the look and layout of the couch. I also really love the fabric. We haven't committed yet, but it is definitely at the top of our list! Plus, if you have a West Elm card, you get 10% back on your purchase to spend in the store!

Do you like the couch we fell in love with? What does YOUR dream couch look like!?


Anyways, we won't be buying for a couple of months or so, but it's nice to start looking and seeing what's out there.

I saw some cute duvet covers and bed sheets at West Elm but I just couldn't decide. The ones I liked were:

The Ruffled Circle Quilt (as a bed cover, in gray) and The Parachute Duvet Cover (in white). I would buy regular white sheets to go with the duvet cover. I don't know why I hesitate so much before making a purchase. I want white sheets/duvet cover because I think our rooms needs more white/brightness. I love our lime green patterned sheets, but I guess I'm ready for something new and fresh for spring/summer. What color are your bedroom sheets?

Before I go, I just had to share this adorable buy from BB&B: a dish scrubbing brush:


It was only $4.99 and it just makes me so happy! I mean, I hate dishes, but they are definitely more tolerable with a cute little flower scrubber :) It just looks so...happy!

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Saturday! Have any of you done some spring cleaning? Warmer weather always gets me in the mood to re-do my closet.

I haven't done it yet by my closet needs some MAJOR reorganization so that my summer clothes are easier to access. I reorganize my closet every 6 months or so. That way, the clothes I wear the most are more towards the center of the closet and within reach and my heavier winter clothes can move to other parts of the closet. Am I the only one who does this?

xoxo,

Veronika.