Introducing...

I am finally ready to reveal my new endeavor. Please welcome my new blog:

It is a blog that is exclusively about the home. When I started blogging I kind of just posted whatever came to my head, but the more I write here on Wife the more I began to think that I didn't have much of a focus. I want my visitors to have a place to rely on for information of one topic- I don't think many people are just interested solely on what I'm doing daily. I'm keep posting here, but it will be more about fun and easy recipes, things to do, and such.

Simply Dwell is a place to come to find all your home decor, organization, and inspirational needs for your home. My favorite thing in the world is fiddling in my home so Dwell is a perfect way for me to share my passion with all of you! Come visit and let me know what you think! I will have a reward for my readers very soon...

Office Oldies

After I posted the picture of my beloved office for my personal style mission, I discovered the OLD pictures of what our office looked like when we first moved in. I must say it was very sad. I used my figure drawing studies and printmaking pieces to adorn the walls, but that was the whole story at that point. I wanted to do a make over using everything I already had and only added in a few pieces. I used wrapping paper to recover the storage boxes and magazine files, changed the arrangement of the furniture and brought in a little more storage. 

From this:

Add in:

Paint - $25/gal, and $8/quart

Rug- on clearance $30

2 cabinets with doors- $50

Curtains- on clearance $20

Equals =

Small changes + color = a lovely place to write and create.

© The Simple Wife

New & Fun Living Room Additions

Remember when I said I was fickle? Well it has struck again. I have not been loving our living room as of late, so I decided to add some fun stuff. When we first moved into our house I wanted a comfy adult space, but then the matchy, matchy got out of control. I wanted everything symmetrical and the same value. I think that you should never seriously decorate a space until you live in it for a while. We tend to over decorate in order to make things feel cozy. And sometimes your taste just changes. I am more drawn to colorful, fun stuff now.

 So here is the before:

{ Please excuse Doc's blanket fort, he likes to hide }

I decided to update and change the two main features: the wall art above the couch and the pillows. Pillows have been a challenge for me. I have wanted something with a fun  pattern, but with a washable, removable cover since Doc likes to make forts (see above) while we are at work. And, I'm sorry, but I refused to pay upwards of $20+ for a PILLOW!!! That is madness. So I used the fabric I mentioned earlier and made these fun pillows. Both are removable and washable! 

{ The tie pillow exterior is fleece with Amy Butler's Polka Dots, and the woodgrain is cotton. }

{ Amy Butler with felt ribbon accent }

I got the idea for the tie-sided pillows from a pillow that is on our bed from West Elm. The beautiful bird fabric ended up not working so well with the other fabrics so I'll have to find something else to use it on.

Next is the wall art. I kept my painting but I gave it some friends. I love to make and see fun stuff on walls. I hate the modern aka "showroom prints" on walls. I think Art should be entertaining. I used a charcoal bone study from college and I made a fun collage about my favorite food, and I did a felt portrait of my little Doc. The owl, a mirror, and graphic G top off the collage.

Finally I swapped my candlestick lamps for an industrial touch that I love so much. I got these lamps at Ikea for a steal $8.99 and spray painted them a lovely pumpkin orange. They give a nice ambient light great for watching TV. 

So there is another change to the Grubbs' house. 

Let me know, what do you think?

© The Simple Wife

Thanks Lesley

Lesley tagged me. Here is the deal: I have to find a picture of a room that exhibits my personal style. Everyone else tends to lead towards the living rooms, but this room sums me up in one word: CLEAN. I like to feel it, see it, and do it.

{ Love the color, wood floors, simple light and classic tub. }

My style is always changing. It varies depending on the given room. Overall, I am drawn to uncluttered, simple, and balanced designs. I like clean lines for furniture with eclectic, colorful accessories. Right now, I love industrial accents and saturated colors. Personal pieces are the core of my decorating eye. I never want someone to come to my house and say, "Oh I have that same blah blah blah." Original. That's what I insist on. 

Here is the room in my house that best depicts me. Our office. Love it.

{ Doc snuck in... }

Here are my Tags:

My sister Ashley

My college friend Anne

Have fun girls!

© The Simple Wife

Lovely Places

The icing has found its place atop the cake. Our super comfy, and always tempting bed is now adorned with West Elm's Organic Pin-Tuck Cotton Duvet Cover and matching shams. I picked up the Golden accent pillow from West Elm as well, but the plain accent pillows I found for a steal at TJ Maxx. I love the way a neatly made bed appears, and this is heaven for me, so I now make the bed every morning just to see it.

I also decided to place my "find of the century" lamp next to our slipper chair and Art wall. It puts a nice glow in the room at night. 

I want to spend every free minute in our room now. I call the style of the room Natural Chic. The neutral toned bedding and chair, nautral textures, mixed with the rich navy walls and the shine from the Capriz shells makes the room sparkle. My finest and favorite room in the house. 

© The Simple Wife

Scrub-A-Dub in Style

How can one not love dark walls? I know, I'm obsessed but I can't help it. This beautiful interior picture from Photographer Guido Barbagelata shows a breathtaking bathroom with a stunning contemporary tub. Perhaps I'm biased since the color theme is the same as my newly painted bedroom. Navy and gold is a delicious pairing.

© The Simple Wife

Adoration: Deep Saturated Walls

{ courtesy of Desire to Inspire and www.srgambrel.com/ }

This photo evokes every reason why I love rich, dark tones on walls. It is a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

© The SimpleWife

Revealed! My new Master Bedroom

I cannot express enough how much I love my navy oasis of a room! The color turned out perfect and everything wonderfully feel into place. The Art wall came out amazing, the new shades are nice and fuzzy, and the bronze Japanese tea table looks beautiful. Here it is:

{ Oh dreamy blue... }

{ The mustard velvet shades pop against the wall, and the tea table glows. }

{ My drawings, prints and pictures of Mr. Grubbs and I are all featured on the Art Wall.}

{ My orchid is flanked by the crystal candlesticks- beautiful sculptures without candles. }

My only concern is with the new accent pillows. The golden pillow will stay, but I'm not sure if I want to introduce the fabric I had originally purchased for the accent pillows. I was going to make 2 patterned pillows with this fabric and two solid orange ones to play off the hints of orange in the fabric. What do you think?? Too funky for the room, or just the right amount of funk?

© The Simple Wife

Update: Master Bedroom

{ www.midatlanticpaint.com }

Bright and early Friday, the painting began. I got up semi-early, grabbed some leftover Thanksgiving goodies for breakfast :) and got the paint out. I edged, rolled, then rolled again. Our room took almost the entire can of paint with a little to spare for touch ups. Then I caulked the trim for a nice clean line and waited to move the furniture back. It was so stinky in the room that Mr. Grubbs and I had to have a slumber party on the couch for the evening (yes, we forgot that we have a guest room.) But it was worth it because the color turned out AMAZING. It has a nice edgy-preppy style to it. Our gold Japanese tea table really pops. I also switched out our old paper lamp shades for these cool mustard yellow velvet ones from Ikea:

I also got all of my artwork and photos framed and hung on the Art wall. Our dresser is updated with more crystal candlesticks that are in need of some new candles. All I have left is to get the new pillows sewn. I'm waiting until then for the big reveal, so hold on for just a little bit longer!

© The Simple Wife

The BEFORE:Master Bedroom

Mr. Grubbs and I love our bedroom. It is our nook, our cave, our home. We have enjoyed many lazy Saturday mornings in it. We were so excited when we moved to this house to have a bathroom in our room! It is a loved room, but it is about to get a mini-make over. 

Here are the before shots:

{ Our lovely and large king bed. The bedding will stay but I will be making new accent pillows. And the paper lamp shades will be replaced with velvet ones!! }

{ The dresser will stay pale green but I'm going to add some more of the crystal candlesticks. The wall behind the slipper chair is going to become an art wall with framed art and pictures. }

I am going to be working on it on Wednesday. So hopefully I will have some after shots after Thanksgiving. 

I also went back to Ikea today with my brother. He had to return and purchase some frames for his house- he too has the design bug and is re-doing his living room so I was lending my design brain to help. I picked up some frames for artwork for the bedroom and some new lamp shades. I'm so excited for a new look, it will be love all over again!

P.S. Here is the artwork for the bathroom. It is a piece of fabric that I am using for the new bed pillows. I love the modern, organic feel and the pop of bright orange!

© The Simple Wife

Master Bedroom ReDo

Yes it has happened again. Mr. Grubbs is going crazy because I have once again been bitten by the design bug. As I have explained before, I am easily bored when it comes to imagery. I like fresh new things to look at, and my master bedroom is the new culprit. After our bathroom was done I craved more change. Currently our room is painted dark brown- can you tell I am into brown?- with ivory bedding and hints of a pale teal. We have a lovely golden, velvet-tufted headboard that I feel is not getting the attention it so rightly deserves. The windows are adorned with ivory and golden yellow plaid curtains. Pretty much everything is going to stay untouched in the room except for the walls and a few accent pillows.

I have chosen a dark navy for the walls. I love the warmth that a saturated color gives and it is perfect for a cozy bedroom. I picked Ralph Lauren Paint in Modern Loft. At Ikea today I also scored this awesome fabric that I am going to make new accent pillows from.

{ It has hints of bright orange, olive green, and slate blue. }

I am also going to use these bath towels I picked up for more accent pillows. Strange, I know, but I am all about texture and who doesn't love terry cloth?

I will get a 'before' shot of our room up shortly- it is in disarray at the moment. I also grabbed this modern light for our tiny hallway that connects our office, guest bedroom and guest bathroom. There is no light there and it is very difficult to see into the linen closet that is also there. 

These projects are now officially added to my To Do list for my week off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Why I do this to myself I will never know, but it keeps me on my toes!

© The Simple Wife

Adoration: Domino Magazine

By far and wide, one of my favorite magazines is Domino. It is always full of fun decor and blissful interiors. My only gripe is that the items they feature are often very pricey and I'm all about stretching my dollar. I love that Domino features many different looks for the home. They are slightly partial to the eclectic hippie-chic but who doesn't love that. But what brings me to this post is this month's featured interior of J. Crew creative director Jenna Lyons home. I would kill for her charcoal painted bedroom. I love saturated, and unexpected colors- even though I just had my bathroom painted a light, airy color. So when I saw her bedroom on the cover, I almost kissed the magazine cover, gross, I know. But I couldn't help it. 

For your enjoyment:

{Images courtsey of DominoMag.com}

Check out Domino's page to see a video tour of the Lyons' home.

Revealed! My new Bathroom

My newly re-designed bathroom has the spa feel that I desperately wanted. With the light brown/gray paint, quilted shower curtain, and chocolate brown accents, it is everything I wanted. All it needs is a new art piece. I'm still brainstorming on that one, but here it is:

{The Vanity}

{Close Up of the orchid I put together.}

{The beautiful quilted shower curtain, very luxurious}

{Ikea framed mirrors that I painted and hung to bring some light into the potty nook}

I'm so happy with the way it turned out. It is much lighter and brighter than before. When the painting is done I'll let you know.

Beautiful Things

{Image courtesy of Desire to Inspire}

Not only is this room gorgeous with its neutrals, textures and cool blue accents, it features an adorable mini-dach just like my little one. Puppies, they get me every time.

Simple, White Cooking

I love classics, not traditional. Many people mistake these as synonyms, but they are quite different. Classics are timeless, eternally appealing, never changing. Traditional is boring, an easy fix, and never original. The white kitchen is a classic to me. I am a saturated color person, but there is something so beautiful about a clean, and classic white kitchen. I love stainless accents, and bold fixtures and furniture to make the classic more modern. I found these lovelies on Domino's site.

{Photo credits: Domino Magazine}