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This past week, I picked up this gorgeous console table on sale, and I am obsessed with it! We needed something for this space that provided a little storage for the living room, but also fits our style. It also matches our new coffee table! There are so many console tables out there, and when I saw it, I just knew it was going to be perfect for this space.
The only thing on the top of the console table that is non-negotiable is the HomePod. It's our go-to for music for dance parties with Bentley, setting kitchen timers, checking the weather, and more! The good thing is the HomePod is white, so it doesn't clash with decor, and almost blends right in.
Living life with a very active toddler means that anything breakable that's within his tiny hand's reach should just not be there, so the bottom shelf will stay empty, otherwise, something will get broken or thrown down the stairs. haha! If you don't have grabby, destructive little hands running around, you could add a tray, books, or baskets at the bottom for extra storage or decor.
Whenever I decorate, I try to make it look beautiful and functional. You don't want the console table to look cluttered, so choose a few special pieces to showcase and leave it at that. Like I said, the HomePod is non-negotiable, so I wanted to make it look like it's part of the decor by putting it on a stack of styled and aesthetically pleasing books. This helps something that's purely functional look styled and beautiful, too!
I love, love photos, so I wanted to feature this gorgeous print that my brother gifted me when I was in high school. I've had it in a couple of spots over the years, but I thought it was perfect for the console table.
I tried to decorate this console table without purchasing any new decor, and I'm so proud of myself because I shopped my house for this decor! I added an amber vase I found last year in the Target dollar spot with some faux wheat and a neutral candle. Now, I'm ready for sweater weather, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and another cup of coffee.
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What do you think?! Are you ready for fall yet?!
First and foremost, I just have to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for using my links to purchase! Whenever you purchase through my links, I get a tiny commission (at no cost to you!), which helps keep this blog running, and no joke, buy groceries, diapers, etc. It means the world to me that you support ACF!
Okay, this was by far the top-selling item in July. Over thirty of you purchased this maternity support band and loved it! It's currently on sale, but check in-stock stores near you for availability as it looks like it's currently sold out online. When I was very early postpartum, I wore this support band to feel human again. It helped keep all the mush in one place and helped my tummy look smoother under clothes.
Related Reading: 20 Items You Need In Your Postpartum Recovery Kit
Since Bentley was born right before Christmas, it helped me feel comfortable in my new body during Christmastime and in his newborn photos. It's seamless and it doesn't move while you're wearing it!
Over 20 of you grabbed this kitchen cooking set from Magnolia! It's so, so cute and it's really durable, because it's wooden, which you know with kiddos, that's a must. Bentley loves it, and it's the perfect addition to the Magnolia Toy Kitchen, which leads me to y'all's next favorite!
About seven of you grabbed this Toy Kitchen set after I posted about it during our Jonesy Playroom Reveal. I am honestly obsessed, and it really helped pull the room together. Whether you have a little girl or boy, they will love it! Kiddos love to play and even at 18 months old when we got it, Bentley learned to pretend and use his imagination to cook food. I mean, the little dude even put a pretend burger on a plate and brought it to me--how cute! Let their imaginations run wild and don't wait on getting this toy kitchen!
I lived in this bra during my pregnancy and postpartum. Regular bras are the worst when it comes to pregnancy and postpartum--whether nursing is part of your journey or not. Originally, I had purchased it in hopes of nursing, but that journey did not go to plan. You can read about it here.
Instead of switching back to regular bras right away, I stayed in this seamless nursing bra for several months postpartum, because if you've given birth, you know things are not the same, and that they were not. haha! It's a great price, and it is very, very comfortable.
This is the grout I've featured in every tiling project throughout our home. We've loved it, and the color Warm Gray is my personal favorite. You can see it in our home here. It's extremely easy to mix and it allows you a good hour or so to grout your tile before seizing up!
I love going through each month to see what you all have loved from what I post.
Is this something y'all want to see more often?!
Let me know in the comments.
I always love a salad in the summertime. There's something so refreshing about a salad, and then you add my favorite fruits?! Sold! When I was making this salad, I stole the last of the strawberries while Bentley was napping (he always eats all the strawberries and blueberries in the house), and I let myself enjoy them, because one: I never get any before Bentley eats them all and two: oh my gosh they tasted like candy!
So let's get into this because it's not really a recipe. It's more of a suggestion of yummy things to throw in a bowl that taste delish together. I know a lot of people share berry salads all summer long, but I promise, this combo is perfection.
I'll start out with the salad dressing I used--a little backward, I know! It was actually the first time I had ever gotten anything from Briannas before, and I got excited, because most dressings have dyes in them, and I can't have them, but this one has no dyes in it. The Blush Wine dressing is not the healthiest salad dressing, but it's also not the worst. But let's be real, when I eat a salad, it's not to eat healthy...it's to eat something yummy that's also goodish for you, too.
Here's what I put in my salad:
A huge handful of organic spring mix
A handful of blueberries
3-4 strawberries cut into slices
A handful of walnuts sprinkled throughout
A spoonful of feta sprinkled on top
A drizzle of Briannas Blush Wine Salad Dressing
It's seriously so easy to make, and oh so delish, too!
Have you ever made a salad like this before?!
Did anyone else grow up going to scrapbooking parties and scrapbooking all weekend long with their Mama on the weekends?! I remember as a little girl sitting for hours on end at the kitchen table covered in photos and scrapbooking supplies. My Mama, sister, and I would go to scrapbooking parties and create photo books for pretty much everything. I ended up scrapbooking my own baby book and I still love it to this day. I was maybe ten or eleven when I made it, and it's so fun to go back and look at my baby pictures that were scrapbooked my tiny me. There's something special about it, too!
Not a lot of people print out their photos anymore, I know social media is huge for documenting things and printed photo books are popular, but for me, printing photos out and having them in a photo album or book just feels right. It also gives me an excuse to break out some of my old scrapbooking supplies and create a darling book that Bentley and our family can look back on throughout the years.
The baby book that I have for Bentley is so beautiful that it's on display on our shelves in the living room. It has prompts and pages for every milestone, pages for pregnancy, birth, each month of the first year, and pages for years 2-5. It's the perfect book for your little one right until they head off to school, and of course, there's a page for that, too!
This book gave me a place to document the little moments of Bentley's first year to save those memories. I love to read and look back through each month and see just how little my sweet boy was. I am slightly crazy about documenting some moments, so I added a few extra fold-out pages to certain sections, because I wanted to showcase extra photos. There are extra pages in the back, but I'm saving those pages for moments when he's a little older. There's also a pocket in the back. I put some of my ultrasound photos in there!
When I was on maternity leave, I loved putting this book together while Bentley was napping, and now, it's something I still do during naptime, but honestly, now that Bentley is a little older, he loves to see his tiny baby photos and I'll put it together with him! Special moments like that he won't remember, but I will, and I love knowing that.
A few suggestions for your baby book:
One // Have every guest at your child's first birthday party take a photo with them using a polaroid camera and put those photos in the baby book.
I love that we did this, and I wanted to share this idea with you! It was so special for everyone to take a photo with Bentley, and now we'll have those memories forever in his baby book.
Two // Have a note on your phone to quickly jot down memories and milestone dates so that you can reference them when you're filling out your book.
You'll be thankful you did this. I always thought that I was never going to forget anything because he's my sweet boy and I'll remember it all. Ha! Enter: Pregnancy Brain I legit can't remember anything anymore, so this note has been an actual memory saver. You can also have your partner added as a collaborator on the note so you can both jot down important memories and moments!
Three // Utilize acid-free markers/pens to write in the book and on the back of photos.
I wrote the date on every photo that is in his baby book and in his baby album. Dates aren't printed on photos like they were, so I took the time to write it on each photo so that looking back years and years from now, we'd know how old Bentley is and what year it was.
You'll also be writing all throughout the baby book, so I grabbed new acid-free markers from a craft store to use in my book. The pages are thick, so they won't bleed through the other side, but I wanted to be sure I was using high-quality markers/pens for this book.
Four // Use your local pharmacy to print photos & use promo codes!
I've used our local Walgreens photo center each time I've printed photos, and I have always been happy with the quality of the prints. They also have tons of sales and promo codes to bring down the cost, which makes it worthwhile! They're usually printed that same day within a few hours, so I can decide spur of the moment that I want to print photos and work on his baby book!
Grab a baby book and start documenting your little one's first year and milestones. It's a fun way to keep those memories and keepsakes for you and your family to cherish both now and in the future.
Did you make a baby book for your little one?
There's a fine line between styled kitchen counters and cluttered kitchen counters. The key is to find beautiful pieces that are also functional. When something is functional and beautiful, it's serving two purposes in your home and will feel less like clutter, because it's something you're actually always using or need at your fingertips.
I think the biggest eyesores that people often find challenging are the dish rack and the paper towel holders. The key with these pieces is to find ones that go with your decor theme throughout your home. For our paper towel holder, I found a black metal paper towel holder that ties into the black metal of our drawer pulls and door handles.
For our dish rack, I found an inexpensive black one that also flows with our decor. It was important for me to have it be cohesive with the rest of the kitchen because it's honestly my least favorite thing in the kitchen. It always makes the counter feel cluttered, but it's just one of those things that every kitchen has and every kitchen needs.
Some other pieces that I love, love but also serve a purpose are the glass containers. I have most of the set including the Snacks, Flour, Sugar, and Tea Containers. They fit my modern farmhouse decor, but they're more on the modern side, which I prefer. I feel like modern farmhouse decor got such a bad reputation because of the dingy farmhouse decor, but I love the natural woods, black, and white color scheme, so I'll love it forever.
Along with the Containers, in that same style, I have the Utensils holder, spoon rest, and butter dish. They're all beautiful and functional. 😉 It also gave me an excuse to go on a spending spree at West Elm when we first moved into our home. haha!
The last set I'll highlight before a few tips are the soap pumps. I have a thing for amber glass, and I also cannot stand regular soap and dish soap containers. I hate that they would be mismatched, so a matching set was the only solution! They tie right into my sink faucet and bring another neutral color to the kitchen.
Now onto a few styling tips! Whenever you're starting off with a fresh set of decor or want to truly give a space a fresh start, clear everything off the counters so you can start with a blank slate. This will also give you the opportunity to give your counters a nice, deep clean.
If you have an L-Shaped kitchen like I do, I love utilizing the corner for my containers. They all group perfectly together and help fill in what would otherwise be an awkward corner space. Moving towards the stove, think of how you use the space, too. I have the toaster in this space as well as the knife set, utensils, salt and pepper, butter, and spoon rest. All of these pieces are here for a purpose and are right at our fingertips when it comes time to cook a yummy meal.
To give this space a little height and pretty decor, I have a cutting board behind the toaster//knife set area to warm up the space and help bring the eye up a little. The cutting board helps distract from all that is on the counter. While there's a lot there, they're all necessary things needed by the stove.
On the opposite side of the stove, I just have our Keurig Cafe. It's a smaller space, so it's more about function than anything. In the cabinet right above it, I have all of our coffee mugs and travel mugs, so it makes perfect sense to have the Keurig right there. It's like my mini coffee bar. Plus, the refrigerator is right there to add filtered water to the Keurig!
Heading back to the other side of the kitchen by the sink, this is where I have the dish rack. Depending on the season, I'll change out the dish towel or drying pad underneath the dish rack to add a little extra decor or festivity to the kitchen.
We already chatted a little bit about the soap pumps and paper towel holder, which make perfect sense to have right next to the sink for easy convenience! I know the window sill isn't necessarily the kitchen counter, but if you're ever looking to add a little something extra to your kitchen or you love, love succulents like I do, tiny, neutral pots on the window sill are the perfect addition. I love the extra touch of color it adds to the kitchen, while still looking natural and purposeful. These succulents are special to me, too, because they were originally from my Grandparent's garden, and my Grandpop helped me dig a bunch up so I could plant them at my house. Ever since then, my succulents have exploded and I've had to buy tons of pots and planters because they just keep growing! It's the one plant I haven't killed. haha!
The last section on our counter is to the left of the sink. This is usually where I have a towel laid out to allow Bentley's high chair tray or cups to dry overnight. I also have my Kitchen Aid always on the counter. It's part of the Magnolia line, which matches the huge clock in our dining room that also matches the cabinet we use as a changing table that's in our living room nook. Having the Kitchen Aid on the counter brings that little pop of midnight green into the kitchen, too.
I have the Snacks container on the corner with a few wooden cutting boards standing upright for a little height and warmth. The Snacks container is usually filled to the brim with something yummy!
Styling Tips //
Okay, let's recap a little because I know that was a lot!
One // Clear off your counter and start with a blank slate when styling.
Two // Choose pieces that are beautiful & functional.
Three // Group pieces together that are functional when best together.
Four // Style pieces near where you'd use them the most.
Five // Add wooden cutting boards for warmth & height.
What's a styling tip that you live by when styling your kitchen counters?
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