A New Year, Same Me... With A Special Surprise

Yes, I have been MIA.  Yes, I have been a terrible blogger.  Yes, I am sorry.  For those of you following me on social media, you know that we are expecting baby #3, which means we will have three under 3.  Exciting, but yikes at the same time. There are no excuses, but that is my excuse for being a crappy blogger.  Oops. 4 months of nausea and feeling bla + two active and demanding 2 year olds + a 9-5 job = decor envy going on a hiatus. But... I am back now.  Perhaps, not in full force yet, but still back.

Today is special day for me.  My baby girls turned 2 today.  Whaaaaa?!  Yep, I said two. Can you believe it? Below is a pic of them just one year ago. Where has the time gone? This is a bittersweet moment indeed.  I want to freeze time for a moment and just soak this all in.

Even sweeter is that as we celebrate my babies turning two, we are preparing for their baby brother's arrival.  That's right, we are having a boy.  Sooo... I guess that means mama can close up shop after baby #3!  In December, we hosted our family and had a gender reveal party.  It was such a special evening.  The excitement and pure joy melted my heart.  Here are some snaps. 

It's September! What do I have up my sleeve?

Is it really September? Time is passing by so fast. I really became more conscious of the passage of time after becoming a mum.  But, yes, it is September and we are about to enter my favorite season, not least because fall fashion is my favorite (side note: I may do some fall fashion posts because I love it oh so much)--and I have some home update plans in mind.  What's up my sleeve.  Read on, friends.

In the immediate future, le babies, my mom and I will be traveling West to visit family.  You can follow along on Instagram and Snapchat.

On the design front, a dear friend recently bought a new home and well that can mean only one thing. We got some zhushing to do!  What makes this even more exciting is that she, like yours truly, is also black + white obsessed.  First up, is her master bedroom (and lots more to come so stay tuned). Here's what's cooking:

Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Mea culpa for being MIA!  I recently returned from a much needed adults-only Caribbean getaway. Boyyyy, did I need that breather.  Now I'm back and as bad as ever.  Ready to get back into this blogging thing, which I have missed - and you, my readers - oh so dearly!!  Today we are going to ruminate on kitchen renovations because I secretly (or not so secret... maybe just a secret from le hubby) want [another] one and because we all just love nice new kitchens.  Duh.

But the kicker is... kitchen renovations can be really really expensive.  Ef.  And, the most expensive part = kitchen cabinets.  Bigger ef.  However, there are ways to save moola (and the hubs from a heart attack) here.  The popular and budget-friendly option that homeowners are increasingly opting for is to paint and reface the cabinets.  But, of course, painting cabinets has its challenges too, including picking the right color.

I have chatted with a couple friends lately who are planning a kitchen reno, and it got me thinking about my own kitchen renovation.  We got lucky and found our kitchen cabinets at half the cost of retail value.  If we had not, we probably would have decided to change the doors and repaint the cabinets-- which can feel daunting.  I have culled through some of my favorite kitchen paint jobs and am shedding light on good paint options in case you're on the hunt.

My adoration of a good ole high contrast kitchen with white upper and black lower cabinets is also no secret.  If this design floats your boat, here are paint options: Farrow & Ball All White paired with Farrow & Ball Pitch Black.  (Tip: when painting kitchen cabinets, contractors like to suggest an oil-based primer.  Here's the kicker that contractors don't often consider, but designers worry about.  Oil-based primer generally yellows with time.  With black, perhaps, that's less concerning.  But yellowing primer with white paint sounds like an eventual panic attack.  You're welcome.)

Some inspo. (Colors are unknown.)

Louis XV makes an appearance... oh, and some lucite + brassy goodness

Heyyy design lovers!

In case you all missed my Instagram post, I announced the winner of my pillow giveaway on Monday.  I hope the winner is enjoying her fab new leopard pillow by Patti of Southern Shades.  I also own two of her leopard velvet pillows and LOVE them.

I have made some decor updates in the Aman abode.  Some that I am ready to share and others that I would prefer to wait to share until I feel it's "finished" (again, using this term loosely) before I give you a peek. In the meantime, here is what I got for you.

Decor Envy Gets a Facelift... and I Have An Instagram Giveaway For You

Hello DE readers!  I want to say thank you for following along and being supportive as I build this blog.  I have been working with the most patient human being for the last two months as we revamped the design of my blog. I slightly overly obsess over details, so I seriously want to thank her for her patience.  If I were her, I would have probably wanted to virtually smack myself.

So, what do you think of the new design?  We have tweaked the side bar and added some new widgets including the E-Design box at the bottom of the side bar-- you can click on it.  Try it, you know you want to.  We have also better integrated the blog with my social media accounts.  At the top, we revised and updated the navigation tabs: About Me, Services & E-Design, and Contact. Soon, I'll be adding a Portfolio page so stay tuned for that.

And.. drumroll please... in celebration of my blog's new design and because I adore my readers, Patti from Southern Shades and I have teamed up to offer you a fabulous Instagram giveaway.  Yes, you heard right.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my gawwgeous leopard pillows. And, if you're as uhbsessed with leopard print as yours truly, you're gonna love this giveaway.  You see the Braemore Jamil Natural Leopard pillow covers pictured below... one of these in 18" x 18" can be yours!

The Rules

Head over to my Instagram for details on entering the giveaway.  Good thing you're here because you can double your chances of winning by commenting below and sharing how/where you would use your new pillow!

Thank you, Patti, for playing along.  Be sure to check out Patti's Etsy shop.

Thanks for entering and good luck.  Winner will be announced on Monday so hurry and get those entries in!