Virtually strolling through the streets

My lovely husband introduced me to seeking out artwork in our travels. It's now one of my favorite parts about visiting a new city. And no, I have absolutely no insight into art, but find it fascinating how different pieces evoke different reactions.

Many of our walls are bare, and absent any big travels in the near future, I have taken to the internet for some virtual strolling. Wow, are there ever interesting pieces to be found. A few of my favorites so far (most are quite large pieces):

Natures Abstract II from Jeff Maihara, a Canadian photographer


Dawn by Jessica Torrent

Mystic Garden by Jessica Torrent

Four Horseman from Briana Taylor

I've struggled with Etsy in the past, but had a really good time today looking at artwork. Thanks to those who have given me encouragement to try it again. Also, ugallery is a great site to view student artwork at reasonable prices. I'll definitely be back.

Well, it's a holiday here on the island and obviously I'm taking advantage! Lazy, lazy day...

Slowly coming together

Last weekend I was bit by the decorate bug. A few changes (hopefully enhancements) were made to the general living areas. A week has passed and they still feel right. There will be months and months of more changes to come, but here's a peek at our current arrangements.


The dark leather couch will be finding a new home once we have the drive to start looking for new couches. For now it works. I'm also looking for a slender side table for between the two linen chairs. We saw the perfect option at a gorgeous store in Healdsburg, California last October, but didn't ultimately decided not to take the plunge. Just goes to show that sometimes traveling treasures should be taken more seriously...


The first thing my talented mom imagined when she walked in our (still being built) home back in November was a little sitting area to the side of our big wall. She was completely right! Now we have a cozy little nook. In a fit of luck, she and I found this great Oly chair here on island. We had some time to kill due to a flight delay and stumbled across these charmers. We shopped at virtually every furniture store in Orlando and New York only to come back home and decide that these were at the top of our list. Score!

Our final countertops should be installed in the next two weeks. After that, the will tiles should follow very quickly. We're definitely eager to see the kitchen and mudrooms completed. The stools in the picture above will be outside eventually, but we really don't have a better place for them at the moment. And I'm still pining over the Kou chandelier, but that is at least another 1-3 years away. In the meantime, an inexpensive light from Bo Concepts is working fine to give us some ambiance.

What a nice feeling to have a livable house!

We're officially on a budget

What a bummer. Now that we finally have a home to fill up with goodies, we're on a strict budget. This probably happens to most people, at least that's what I tell myself. Our walls are pretty bare, but IKEA has a few pretties that could add some flavor (without a lot of cost) for the time being.





They all run around $80 for pretty good size prints (i.e. most are larger than 36 inches). Unfortunately, these images aren't available for purchase on the internet. Pout, pout, pout. Don't be surprised if you're a long last family member that gets a call for help... :)

Only a whisper

I had no idea what a susurrus was, but now I know: a whisper. This expansion in my vocabulary is due to the breathtaking ceramic sculpture included on Item Home UK's website. Wow. Anytime a lighting fixture inspires you to do research, it must be good. And when it starts out as a light, but is also installed just as a piece of art, it must be doubly good.


No, no, no...we don't have a need for this in the house, so I have no idea why I am posting about it. But then again, who doesn't have a need to appreciate fanciful, beautiful artwork? At least that's the way that I justify it. Shhhh, let's keep this a whisper.

Dropping off inspirations

The thought of using a meaningful phrase as art stopped me in my tracks today. Style-Files featured this French artist's home. She did a beautiful job of adding interest with paint variations. This is definitely one to file away.

Getting to decorating

Building the house has left me temporarily depleted of inspiration. Being such a long process, it seems only natural to take a few breaks here and there. In general, everything has come together very nicely, but the house is turning just a tad rustic for me. My mom and I determined that we'll need to add some more modern touches in accessories and finishings.

I've always thought that this wall piece by Wingard was fun and funky. In one of the few moments of recent enthusiasm, Mr. Big chimed in with his approval.


We ordered the same piece in graphite and it is now hanging in our guest bedroom.


I'm pretty pleased with it. Maybe this is just the thing that I need to jump start myself to get going again...

A pool with water

We've had a pool for a while now, but the lack of water within was quietly torturing us. The moment that we have been waiting for finally arrived this week. Not everything is done yet, but it's pretty close. Behold the pool!


Unfortunately, the water hadn't been treated yesterday, which was the day that we decided to play hookie from work. We had to find other forms of entertainment...which isn't too hard in the Caribbean. And just because I'm a meanie, I thought that others in "milder climates" might appreciate a bit of sunshine. This is roughing it!


And we've had lots of comments on our new friend Jordan. He's fittin right into the family as you can see from his spot on the boat. Aye, Aye Captain!


Hope everyone is well! :)

Inspiration vs reality: chandeliers

One of the most exciting design opportunities in our house that I did not anticipate was the stairway. When I found the following images on the Bocci website, my heart raced.



But when I found out that it would cost us multiples of thousands of dollars, my heart appropriately sank. In an interesting twist of fate, another new home on the island had received a duplicate light in a vendor error. We viewed the alternate and it gave a similar effect to the light that had originally won us over. No, it isn't as dramatic, but it does provide a bit of fancy. With multiples of thousands of dollars left in our bank account, we now have this lovely donation (yes donation...) giving us lovely ambiance.


And just because I couldn't get the beautiful Bocci lights out of my mind, we now have three in our powder room. The mirror has a nice effect of multiplying the lights. Six for the price of three!


And while we are on the subject of lighting, I thought it might be useful to update the previous post regarding our entry way light. It has now been installed and draws many "oohs" and "aahs" from visitors. It's difficult to get a photo that really captures how much it offers, but here was the closest that I could get.


I was holding my breath about this light because I ordered it without Mr. Big being with me. I also didn't elaborate on it much because he typically doesn't go quite as modern as I do. One of the sweetest recent phone calls that I received was the day the light was installed. "Holy cow! I LOVE our cool new light". There was a deep exhalation on my part and we haven't looked back. Whew...

New addition to the family

6 more months, 9 more months...we need to get the house done before we take that precious step of getting a dog. With our last guest leaving us last Friday, I must have felt that we were going to be lonely. We didn't even last one day before making a new addition. We now have a pound puppy that we think is a Huskie and German Shepard mix. Welcome Jordan!


We officially "adopted" him last Saturday, but the home inspections weren't as straightforward as we expected. I'll save you the eyerolling. After much anticipation (turned to frustration), he came home with us yesterday. We had a good 2-3 hours to show him around the space. Little did he know that he was going to have a celebrity homecoming thereafter. He has met two fellow dogs, 7 kids under 5, and plenty of our pals. All of this was without a bark, whimper or moment that his tails stopped wagging. Fantastic!

Mr. Big with his new friend

A few fans

What a great sport! We had tail pulling, bone thumpings, and lots of chasing without a peep. We were also very fortunate to sleep through the night without the slightest of whimpers. He's even been on the boat already. This pound puppy is going to be a real treat!

Long time, no blog

On December 4th, my patient husband requested that our telephone and internet connections be moved from the condo to the new house. Exactly one month later, on January 4th, we had working phones and internet once again. Wow.

A lot has happened since the last post. We've been visited by Mr. Big's uncle, cousin and parents as well as my brother, parents and grandfather. It's been fabulous having so many family members with us as we start out in the house. Mr. Big's cousin was an absolute angel helping us unpack boxes and my mom has already blessed us with much-needed furniture arrangement tips. We've both eagerly scarfed down Mr. Big's mom's wonderful meals and the dads have built our barbeque stand. Busy, busy, busy.

We've loved having everyone over to see the new abode. Obviously it's far from complete, but we are further on than our first weekend. Still, you could feel the excitement at that point...


When our first stay-over guests arrived, they were in for a bit of a shock. Instead of the inspired plush bedding that my mom and I dreamed up on our trip, this is what they found...honest.


No joke. The mattress delivery was delayed by two days so they arrived to find themselves without anything to sleep on. Fortunately, Mr. Big was on the case and had everything delivered later that afternoon. Phew!

But honestly, there was not a chair to sit on, a stool to lean against, or a couch to chill in. In fact, there were not even handles on their doors to keep the workmen out. The floors were beyond dusty, there were no appliances working, nor did we have the slightest clue where our cutlery or plates were. At least the toilets were flushing.


Fortunately for us, they were absolute sports and helped us pretty much unpack the entire house in the next 10 days. Mr. Big's cousin was FAB! All with a big smile on her face, fun stories to share, and the most helping hands. If you happen to read this, THANK YOU! :)
Unfortunately, when it came time to give back with a fun boat ride out to Stingray City, the boat clunked out and we ended up puttering our way back to shore. Nice. Nevertheless, we're hoping that we might get to host them again...properly this time! :)

The rest of the holiday/move-in was a blast. More pictures and updates to come. Happy New Year everyone!!!