YOU GUYS IT’S FINALLY HERE!

HAPPY 1 YR MOVE IN DAY BIRTHDAY! Yes I did buy a cupcake and light a candle and sing happy move in day and blow it out! LOL I figured this would be the perfect time to launch the blog post as everything is done and decorated! It only took a year but in the words of Barry Manilow “looks like we made it”!

Welcome to the home tour!

It’s been 1 year since I made the jump into home ownership and it has been the best year! I absolutely love living here! I have learned so much about myself from living on my own and having gone through the home buying process.

When I bought my townhouse I loved that it had it’s own character and charm, but with buying an older home came some DIY work that needed to be done here and there.

Even though those little things needed to be done, the process of doing them was actually fun. I didn’t hire anyone to do anything in my house it was all done by my family members. Lead Contractors 1 & 2 also known as my Aunt and Uncle. They lead the team, from hanging TV’s and assembling furniture, they spearheaded the whole thing. It was a project that took a lot of measuring, trips to home improvement stores, phone calls, early mornings and late nights,  building furniture and taking down doors and putting up new ones and taking down ceiling fans and replacing them with light fixtures ( because who doesn’t want a fancy chandelier in their Cloffice?) All while getting slightly electrocuted switching all the light switches out to flat rocker switches… (Oh, and on top of that can I build some super cool thing to hang my necklaces on?!)  But all those tasks, while time consuming and sometimes slightly painful, were so much fun! Literally the amount of laughs are unknown! Also, we almost set the house on fire twice but it’s all good we’re all still here and alive!

So let’s get started!

Le Living Room 

My couch and chairs are from MID AND MOD. The teakwood chairs are my favorite, they are so unique and add a fun twist on the typical accent chairs. Just as a safe bet you can assume all my accessories came from HOMEGOODS!

My favorite piece in my house is my marble coffee table. Here’s why… Like most of you know, myself and my family are born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. After Hurricane Katrina my parents salvaged what the could from our home (my childhood home). This marble top coffee table was the centerpiece of the living room.  It used to have huge marble legs but they broke during transport. My parents decided to keep the top in their garage (maybe someone could use it one day ?!).  So fast forward to about a year later.. Halle needs a cute coffee table for her townhouse…  (PS marble coffee tables are NOT cheap peeps!) Like, try $1500!!! YIKES right.. My parents gave me the top and I ordered the cute gold hairpin legs from, where else… the online king, AMAZON!

Can I get a drumroll please…. lead contractor 1 (aunt) and 2(uncle) come on down! While I was out of town, they completely crafted a new trendy coffee table for their favorite uptown gal! I must say it came out stunning! I love it because this coffee table was in my  childhood home and now it’s in my first adult home.

Just incase you needed a newsflash THIS IS DEFINITELY A GIRLS TOWNHOME! There is lots of gold, sparkle and color and that’s exactly how I wanted it! I mean how many people can say they have a blue velvet couch and a perfectly curated bar cart upon entry?! Well, welcome to my home LOL. I wanted my place to be the perfect blend of  single, girly and grown up  and also where my girlfriends love to come for brunch and weekend hangouts!

My you’re really pretty rug is from ETSY 

I love having coffee table books out for extra decor and I usually pick up a new one when I go to a special art exhibit or a new city. I think they add a personal touch to your home and can say a lot about you. Naturally mine span a wide variety of fashion. photography and cocktail themes! My gold and wooden Barrels came from TARGET and are awesome for decor, seating and storage!

Plants also make a nice touch and yes my baby cactus is still alive! I have worked-in some artificial plants as well because I don’t have the green thumb (maybe one day). ANTHROPOLOGIE has some great options that are beautiful in color and are actually  real plants that are dried and then dyed with natural colors. I put them in my living space and in my stairwell landing to add a pop of color.

I have a small atrium off to the side of my eating area that also needed a face lift.. I added some planters that I found while with one of my girlfriends on a trip to Fredricksburg, Texas and added some flooring from Ikea and what do you know, I have the perfect reading area! My chair and ottoman are from HOMEGOODS!

Le Kitchen

Okay not much of a cook over here but I can get by (for the most part). My rug is actually from Morocco and was handmade by one woman. When I saw it I knew it was the one for my kitchen. My “kitchy” saying towels are from the little boutique in Cypress, Texas, Little Eclectic House. The ones underneath are from the Magnolia collection at Target.

 

I Know what you’re thinking cookbooks? Really? Yes I’ve used them and  I cooked a pretty amazing Mac and Cheese for Thanksgiving this past year! I love having books in the kitchen for some food-spiration whether it’s a small get together I’m hosting or trying to make a new dish I always have some extra help off to the side!

My dining set is TOV Furniture and the all of my dishes came from HOMEGOODS and TARGET

Le Bedroom

My bedroom is where I want to wind down after the day is over. I don’t hang out or do work in my bedroom so I wanted it to be a refreshing, calm/cool, relaxing space. I chose to keep the colors neutral for the most part with greys and cream with splashes of lavender and blush and touches of metallic.

 

My bedroom is full of personal touches. One being photos.  When I went back home to New Orleans I took some photos and had them matted and framed. I also found this beautiful saying printed on cloth paper at a small boutique in Cypress Texas called Little Eclectic House (I referenced earlier). I took it to Michales and found the perfect frame and also had it matted and framed. My Houston Astros paper for the world series was also framed at Michaels. They almost always have discounts on frames and services so keep an eye out when you need some things framed.

My Dresser actually came from Star Furniture Outlet for a steal. The brand is called Hooker and and the dresser was originally $3500 and it came to me for $400 with delivery and set up which was a very climatic experience watching the delivery guys get it up the stairs (seriously it was a little scary).

My Bed-frame is Roar + Rabbit  from  WEST ELM  My bedding and all the accessories/ pillows are from HOMEGOODS.    

Le Cloffice

That’s right people, you heard it here first! Cloffice- is just what it sounds like a closet and office! Mostly because I have lots of clothes and shoes and other “finer things” (get it). But in all seriousness I just needed more storage for my clothing and accessories. So I transformed the second bedroom into an office space and and clothing storage. This space is by far my pride and joy because well… it’s a huge and pretty closet! LOL

 

Desk WAYFAIR, Chair AT HOME, Chair Pillow WEST ELM, Wall decor and Trash bin TARGET, Curtains HOMEGOODS

I know a lot of people love the large full length leaning mirrors which are awesome but they can be hard to fine at a reasonable price! HOMEGOODS people!! They have them! Both of my mirrors came from there and they are amazing quality and I always get so many compliments on them!

Here are some of my favorite DIY projects from my Cloffice..

Fun Jewelry storage/ Display 

DIY #1This Jewelry storage idea was actually my Mom’s idea. To keep it simple it is just a piece of wood painted with white paint drilled into the wall and then I hopped over to my favorite spot, Anthropologie and also Hobby Lobby and picked up some unique knobs and just screwed them in! Here you have it, the perfect DIY unique jewelry storage!

Floating shelf shoe wallWhile this one isn’t really a DIY it’s a great way to add “usable art” to a space. The white floating shelves came from IKEA and were easy to install too!

Hat Wall 

DIY #3

Hats can be a little tricky to store and they can take up a lot of space. This is another cool usable art option. Hats make great wall art. This is super easy to do. If you go to any home improvement store you’ll see what is called a picture hanging kit ( I recommend just picking up a few of these because they are great for hanging any wall art and picture frames). You can use the nails from that or just pick up some really small ones (this way you won’t leave noticeable holes in your wall)  and lightly hammer them into the wall and sit your hats on them and you’re done!

I used the jewelry concept below with bigger knobs and I can use them for scarves, or bags. 

Le Bathroom

The color scheme for the bathroom is all clean colors white and grey. This bathroom had weird sliding doors so I decided to take them down and do an open shelving system (plus this forces me to keep it organized) since it’s always visible. I can store my towels and other necessities that need to be in arms reach like, towels, extra toilet tissue, and hair ties.

My clear storage containers came from TARGET,  and the woven baskets came from Fredricksburg and Morocco. 

Le End

So that brings us to the end of the house tour. I guess the part that I love most about my house, is that this house that I bought has everyone’s handprint who was most important to this process on it in someway. Even my grandfather came down from New Orleans and did some work here. Those are the things that make your house wherever it might be a home, and I’ll never forget getting projects done on those late nights and early mornings because that’s when the best memories were made and the laughter was the loudest!

XOXO

Halle

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