Design Inspiration from Our Vacay, A Gorgeous Small Bathroom Solution, & Studio McGee’s New Target Collection!

Hi all! After taking a short hiatus from blogging so that I could knock out a chunk of my crazy long things-to-get-done-before-we-move list and also go on a long overdue family vacation, I’m checking in with a quick “View It, Do It, You It” post today. It includes some inspiring images from our vacation that sparked ideas of updates I now want to make to our NC home (“View It”), a GORGEOUS solution for a sink in a super small bathroom  (“Do It”), and some favorite finds for you and your home from the latest Studio McGee/Target collaboration and the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (“You It”). Let’s get to it… (affiliate links included in post – full disclosure statement available {here})

We’re wrapping up a one-week vacation to the Dominican Republic that was the perfect relaxing getaway right before the craziness of our move and our girls leaving for college. We rented a villa in Casa de Campo that we got an awesome deal on by booking early in the year and crossing our fingers that it would be safe to travel by the time our vacation week rolled around (it was refundable if we decided to cancel). It was a super relaxing trip and I left refreshed and with some inspiring design ideas swirling around in my head that I wanted to share with you! 

First off, this trip made me rethink my plans for the “circus room” ceiling in our NC home – my plan has been to dress up this drywalled ceiling with simple painted white planks:

But then I saw this at a restaurant on our trip:

I LOVE the look of the whitewashed boards with the natural grain showing through so it’s gotten my wheels turning about new options for our home. And did you notice the rope wound around the ceiling fan downrods too? Such a simple, inexpensive idea for dressing up ceiling fans in a coastal home! Stay tuned because once fall hits and temps in our attic become more tolerable (there’s some work that needs to be done on the attic side of the ceiling first), this project is going into full swing!

Another simple design element I fell in love with is this grouping of wall-mounted outdoor planters with large leafy plants:

I would LOVE to do something similar on this bare brick wall on our back patio (this pic is from right after we bought the house, before we did our mini porch makeover with new furniture 😉):

It would add a lot of life to our space! And it wouldn’t be a very expensive update either – all it would take is {this 6-pack of 8″ plant holders} to get the job done (I just need to figure out the best way to secure them in brick…). Other updates to our back porch are on the way too – I bought a pair of gorgeous new ceiling fans to swap with these rusting, dated ones (I’ll show you once they go up this week) and I’ll be shopping for new lighting to replace that dated black sconce in the center of our porch too.

Something else that inspired me on our trip were these decorative rain chains that were on almost every home here in lieu of gutters:

I’ve seen rain chains before but never ones with a design like this – so pretty! They have a bit too much of a tropical/coastal vibe to look right with our current home but they went on the maybe-some-day-dream-home list! I went searching for similar options to buy and found {these flower style copper rain chains} and {this aluminum rain chain} that are both beautiful. Even Pottery Barn has a pretty flower shaped copper rain chain option {here}. 

If you’re looking to remodel a bathroom and want something completely unique, I stumbled upon the most stunning sink basins by London Basin Company. They are GORGEOUS! Options include mini basins like {this mini Madeline} that would be perfect for a super small powder room where space is really tight:

And they have larger basins such as the “Sophia” found {here}:

and this colorful “Yasmin” found {here}:

The basins can be attached to a simple wall mount as a space saver or placed on a vanity unit. While they’re made in London, they offer shipping to the US for around $140 (for just the basin). You can shop their porcelain basins and wall mounting accessories and vanities all {here}. Do you guys think they’re as pretty as I do?

Studio McGee’s new fall line at Target launched today and there are a lot of beautiful pieces to snag for your home! Some things will initially sell out quickly but they tend to be restocked while others are still coming soon so keep checking back on their site. Also, if any items you like are sold out for shipping, try the option to buy online and pick up at your local store. The new line includes an entryway refresh collection with everything from this entryway console (which also comes in a lighter color), woven baskets, decorative teak wood chain, lamp, art, and a beautiful round vase:

You can shop each piece in their entryway collection {here}. 

They also have a new dining collection – I LOVE the high backed end chairs that come in both dark gray and cream and the lantern above the table is a beauty too (it would look great in an entryway!):

You can shop those pieces plus that beautiful fall colored vase, dinnerware, side chairs (they come in three colors), the prettiest wood serving bowl and their other dining room pieces {HERE}.  

Also check out Studio McGee’s new living room collection {HERE}, home office refresh collection {HERE}, and front door collection {HERE}. 

The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale starts tomorrow (7/12) for those who have the highest level Nordstrom cards and then it gradually rolls out to everyone else with the low spending cardholders like me having access to the sale on 7/16 and non-cardholders having access on 7/28. You can preview the sale {here} to see if there’s anything you want to snag when it opens to you! A few things I buy almost every year are a pair of {these go-to leggings} a couple of {these bras}, and an on-sale piece from Barefoot Dreams – you can see what’s available this year {here}. 

Also {this wood and marble cutting board} is always stocked and put on sale for the Anniversary Sale and then it sells out and is unavailable until this time next year so it’s something to snag if you’ve been eyeing it! They also always put {these cozy Bliss throws} that I love on sale for the best prices of the year as well as {these earrings} that are one of my daily go-to pairs.

Also Serena & Lily is having their Summer Tent Sale that you can check out {HERE}. A few favorites from the sale are {this Carson side table} and {these dip dyed stools in navy} (the same as this one I have by our bathtub but navy instead of white):

And with that… today’s post is a wrap! There’s a LOT going on at our house in NC in the next two weeks before we move – our new carpet is getting installed, our hardwoods are being refinished (I’ve had lots of you ask about what stain we’re using – I’m going to test out a few before deciding and will share what I go with!), I’m working on re-doing our master closet, and more. Stay tuned…

XO,