What's Old is New Again - New Foyer Bench

Well, for a while now, we've known that we need a solution for our front foyer. We always end up with piles of shoes right next to the door, which we invariably fall over during late night puppy outings. So, it was time for a solution.

This chest was a gift from my Aunt, and perfectly fit my angst filled teenage years, but now we're looking for a different design aesthetic. It's perfect, because not only does it fit perfectly by the front door, but we can store our shoes hidden in the interior, while putting baskets for keys on top.

A couple of weeks ago, we stumbled across an excellent piece of fabric, and I thought we could use it in a number of places, so I picked it up. We then proceeded to prime the entire chest, so that we would get nice even coverage out of our white paint. This was particularly useful, because the chest was done in a very glossy paint, and I was dropping the gloss to a semi gloss that we keep on hand for our trim.

We removed the top, pulled over some foam, and upholstered the top, so it could also be utilized for somewhere to sit to remove your shoes. Following priming, painting, and upholstering, the finished product looks something like this:

And as planned, it holds our shoes in a great (not all over the floor) way. 

Here's a shot of how it fits next to the door. We put baskets on top, one for keys and sunglasses, and the other for Linus' leash, bags, treats and tennis balls.

New Puppy

As some of you know, we've been really wanting to expand our family a little bit by adopting a puppy. We had finally decided that a lab would be the best fit for our family, as Silas wanted an athletic dog that he could play with, and I wanted a lovable, cuddly dog that would suit our future family too.

When we came across this photo, from the St. Francis Animal Shelter in Georgetown, we knew that we were smitten.

We headed down to see him, and he walked right over to us. Our little puppy's name was Thurston, and he was so cute, walked right over to the gate, and seemed unaffected by his brothers and sisters jumping all over him. He was a very cuddly shy puppy, and we just had to bring him home. He stayed behind in Georgetown to get neutered as well as have his final vaccines done. 

Then, we brought him home, and decided to change his name to Linus. Linus is officially part of the family! At 7 weeks and only 7 pounds, he sure is a little guy. Here are some cute photos for you!

We'll keep you up to date as we experience life in raising a puppy!

The Guest Room and Our Affair with World Market

Recently, we discovered an amazing little store here in Myrtle Beach, called World Market. I must admit, we got their ad, and walked in basically expecting a Christmas Tree Shop. What we found pleasantly surprised us. Since our discovery 2 weeks ago, we've been back about 5 times, and I feel like we've purchased something each and every time.

First, it started with these adorable elephant paper lanterns. For those that don't know, I'm a sucker for paper lanterns, as I find them unique adorable.

We've been trying to do something with our guest room for some time now, and these elephant lanterns really hit the spot in terms of the color scheme that we were going for. All was well and good, and we hadn't gotten too carried away, when I found this rug:

I just love it, it's got all of the colors we were hoping to incorporate into the room. For a better shot of the rug, we've taken a close up below: 

Unable to stay away, I was bored at home, and decided that the World Market website was how I'd like to spend my time. That's when I ran across the Studio Day Sofa. With amazing reviews, and a great look, I found that the dimensions fit exactly into our window alcove. We've been looking for something more "chair-like" so that when we don't have guests, our office feels like an office, and when we do have guests, we have something that feels really welcoming.

It was on sale, and ... I had a coupon, so we made our way down to the World Market to check it out. We loved it! We snatched it up right there, and came home and put it together.

Then, we started putting the pieces together, picked up some great gray curtains (for tie in with our rug!) from the JCPenney, on sale for 50% off. Altogether, I'm so happy with the way that it turned out, that I'm considering staying in there myself!

It's a little washed out right now, because of the amount of light that comes in through the window, but I will take some more photos soon, of the area during the nighttime and early am. Here are some zoomed in shots of the area. Oh - and for anyone who's interested, that's our king sized gray blanket that we scored at Target for $22. It was a steal!

We just love how welcoming it all feels. With the pillows removed, and the sides folded down, it's an amazingly comfy little sleeping space, about the size of a twin bed. Oh, and when we stopped into the World Market today, the manager asked us how everything went with the set up. It's those little things that keep us going back. 

Anyone else have any guest room re-do's, or a slightly obsessive obsession with a store we might adore just as much?