A tale of two rugs

Hi all! Hope your summers are going well so far! Mine has been crazy busy. Seriously, every weekend we've been booked...the summer is flying by!

Anyways, I'm popping in to ask for your advice on a rug. While I was shopping around for a rug for the entryway (more on that another day!), I decided I wanted a new rug to go in front of our door that leads to the deck. Don't you love how one project or purchase always leads to another? :)

This door gets a lot of use, because we use it to get to the backyard to take the dog out. So we're always tracking in grass and dirt, and we have at least a couple pairs of shoes there too.

Last year I bought this mat from Target, and it worked pretty good. It was easy to clean and stayed in place with a rug pad. But it was nothing thrilling to look at, and it was just too small. There wasn't enough room to keep shoes, so we were always tripping over them, and when the shoes got pushed off the mat they'd leave dirt and puddles on the floor.

So I was on the search for something bigger and something that was also durable and would hold up to dirt and lots of use.

While at HomeGoods, I stumbled upon this cute little printed jute rug for just $17. I was drawn to the Moroccan pattern and the natural fibers.

But...I wasn't sold on it. This front room is pretty lacking in color, with the wood floors, dark leather chairs and black-and-white art. This rug left me craving a pop of color, but I kept it anyways until I made up my mind.

Then, I happened to walk by this rug on sale on Target. It was a bit more money at $27, but is more substantial with a thicker weave.

It's an indoor/outdoor rug that you can rinse clean, according to the label. It's marked "neon yellow," but it's actually more of a yellow-green, and still just the pop of color I was looking for. And another geometric pattern -- yes! (They sell larger versions of this rug online, but for some reason don't have this size on their website.)

But...I'm not sure about it either. I'm not convinced the color works with the seafoam green of the walls, and the color feels very summery, so it leaves me questioning whether I'll like it in the middle of winter.

So, what do you think? Do you have a favorite? I'm leaning towards the Target rug because of the color and because it seems like it'll last longer, but I'm pondering keeping the other rug and using it in the winter months. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

No matter which rug I go with, it'll definitely be an improvement over what's there now. Although Colby seems satisfied with it. He's so easy to please!

Latest design crush: Bee decor

Hiya everyone! Hope your week is going well!

Today I'm sharing the design trend that's totally got my eye these days, and that's bees. Yes, bees. I feel like the bee is going to be the next owl and just popping up everywhere.

It seems like I'm spying bee-related decor everywhere. I spotted these cute ceramic containers at Target. I just love that little bee on top! I couldn't find them online though.

These honeycomb vases are to die for too.

These hive vases from West Elm are great too (and on sale right now!).

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I totally want some of these bee glasses.

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This honeycomb lamp is also from Target.

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And I seriously, seriously love this honeybee door knocker. It's pricey but oh-so-cute!

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I stopped into HomeGoods a few weeks ago and came home with two bee-related items.

This honeycomb vase was on clearance for $14, and I knew it would be the perfect umbrella stand for our entryway. I just love the cutout on the top. Who cares if I only have one umbrella and don't really need a stand??

I also fell in love with this zippered storage box to use to store the photos and other items I rotate through in my gallery wall. This bee is obviously the queen, as she has a crown.

As I was seeing all this bee decor, I realized I already had my first bee item. For a year now my gallery wall in the kitchen has included this free printable I downloaded from a blog that I can't remember. But it's probably just as well as I got a computer virus when I downloaded it! But it's so cute it was worth it (don't tell the hubs I said that).

And perhaps my favorite bee item is something I got for free. I found this little nest in the backyard, and now it's hanging out on the console table as part of my spring decor.

So what do you think -- will bees and honeycomb designs be everywhere in just a few short months? Or have they already been around and I'm just late to the trend as usual? :)

Creative ways to use birch branches in home decor

Hi all! I hope you're having a good weekend!

Do you remember this lovely birch arbor in our backyard?

The hubs, his dad and his friend built it in 2010 to be used in our wedding. It's one of my favorite details of the wedding and I loved having it in our backyard as a reminder of that day.

So I was really sad when the hubs told me it had started to rot. When he went to take it apart to keep it from blowing over before a hurricane, it just totally fell apart. :( I guess we should have sealed it or something so it would last.

I'm hoping there are at least parts of it that aren't rotted and could be reused for something. I just love birch and the white and dark contrast of the bark. It adds some natural texture to any decor.

I'd love to reuse these birch branches in some home decor. There are lots of cute ways to use birch branches to hold candles:

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Or birch can make for some unique furniture and fixtures:

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Birch ups the natural look for plantings and flower arrangements.

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I love when birch is used in an understated way to just let its texture and color speak for itself.

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I love, love, love this abstract art with wood rounds. I think I might have to make one of these.

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Do you have a favorite way to use birch or branches in your decor? I'd love to hear about it!

A bookcase revamp in detail

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend! I meant to be back again last week, but work got busy and it also was super-nice in Maine last week, like record-breaking heat, so I decided to get outside and enjoy it :)

Thanks for all your nice words on my bookcase redo! I thought I'd give you a little more details on what I used to decorate it.

Since this bookcase is in our office, I needed it to me functional...but of course it has to be nice to look at, right? We've got a nice big closet and a desk with four drawers. so I didn't need the bookcase to store much else but books. I picked out books we need on hand, books with some sentimental value, and books I think are pretty :) I also left a little space so we could add books as we need to.

The bottom shelf has our "useful" books -- travel guides, home improvement and landscaping. Holding some of the books up are the hubs' old voltage meter. I really like to add natural elements to a lot of my decorating, so I added some rocks from my collection.

On the next shelf, the hubs' books about brewing beer are nice and handy, propped up by an old insulator and a clearance candlestick from Target that I spray painted turquoise. It was dark brown before. I'm totally loving it in this color!

I've also got some of the hubs' old books about math and engineering. A mask I bought in Venice adds a little sparkle.

Up from that, more books, a bottle of sand from the beach and a nice little wedding photo. I tried to group the books my color as much as I could; I decided to arrange these blue books from light to dark.

A collection of white books is on the next shelf, with two turquoise vases I bought at a local boutique. Actually, one of these vases was the inspiration for the pops of turquoise in this room -- and I had to run out and buy its buddy. A photo of Aruba ties in more blue and just makes me happy to look at. The frame is also a Target clearance special; it used to be gold, but I spray painted it white.

Lastly, the top shelf has a few more books in green and red, and a turquoise fruit basket from Target (do I shop anywhere else??).

The basket is filled with some of my shell collection.

There's lots of great advice out there about decorating bookcases and shelves, but I thought I'd share a few things I like to do:

• Use natural elements. I love bringing a little nature indoors -- it's timeless, easy and cheap. Natural elements can add texture and color. Plus, they're meaningful for me -- shells (like below) and sand remind me of favorite beach trips, rocks of camping trips. I like to group them in collections for impact.

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• Stick to a color palette. Especially with the graphic background, I used a few colors to keep things cohesive. Turquoise and white feature prominently, along with other blues and greens and a few pops of red. Again, I grouped the books by color to create visual impact, but also repeated the colors on different shelves to tie things together.

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• Add personal elements. Framed photos and other keepsakes make decor personal and unique. Just makes it feel like home, you know?

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• Less is more. Sometimes less can have more impact. I purposefully kept the arrangement airy so it wouldn't compete with the busy background and to keep it from looking cluttered.

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Like anything I do in my house, this probably isn't done yet -- I'll be tweaking here and there as the mood strikes. I've already got a couple other things I want to add in there for more color and texture. Stay tuned!