Craftsman Bungalow

This is by far my most favorite style of home! The exterior anyway. The insides of the true Craftsman Bungalows are a tad choppy for my taste. I prefer the open floor plan offered by more modern homes. But the curb appeal is to die for!

The thick white trim that pops out against the main house color which is normally a grey or taupe or some other neutral color. The front porches give a throw back the era in which they were designed; when people would sit on porch swings and actually know their neighbors. 

I WANT to know my neighbors! 

(Something that proves to be difficult when in an apartment. Everybody seems to mind their own business, which to me comes off as cold and unfriendly)

I just love everything about this style of home and am determined to have one someday. 

Charles Luck Perspectives

This first home just sums it all up for me. The luxe green landscaping just adds to the beauty of the architecture. The pillars on the front porches are probably my absolute favorite aspect of the bungalows. 

I really like how the white plays off of the grey of this house. It seems so clean and collected. 

Something I am not all of the time

Localism

The blue of this house shows that it can be fun as well. It doesn't have to be a neutral to be part of the bungalow clan. It is still just as beautiful.

Flickr

This quaint bungalow is a breath of fresh air. I would almost want to sit on the sidewalk and look at how loverly my house is if I lived here. 

Anna Becke House Bed & Breakfast

This porch is the most inviting thing I've seen since. . . well EVER! I can feel the breeze wisping through the ends of the porch and rustling my hair as we speak. This would be so revitalizing after a long day with the kiddos.

Architectural House Plans

This home has exaggerated pillars on the lower half that add drama. Anyone that knows me, knows that drama and I are one in the same. . . In a good way of course. ;)

That's what Bungalows look like from where I sit 

Under My Mulberry Tree

Target Tuesday

This week at Target my inspirations are totally SPRING! I am so Jazzed about Spring being here even though it's getting pretty hot here in the Valley of the Sun! That's what we get for having gorgeous Winters though. So here's what I found at Target that I love!

In case you don't know. . . I am a sandal girl! 

My loving and Oh so supportive Hubby 

laughs at me cause I tell him that my feet get claustrophobic. I can't explain it, I just have to have my feet in sandals. These little beauties look just as fabulous on my feet as they do in this picture. 

This shower curtain is 

masculine enough for the Hubbs, 

but is 

earthy and pretty enough for me.  

I think it would be perfect in our guest bath with some pops of color. (That could be changed out because the shower curtain is so neutral.) I also think that 2 of these flanking the window in my new craft room would be swell as well. That's right. I said swell.

I love love love the green on the cushions of this patio set. I wish that it was the main color in a pattern rather than a solid, but I love it anyway. 

Who wouldn't love a bright green KitchenAid mixer in their kitchen in the Spring. Nevermind the fact that it matches absolutely nothing that I have in my kitchen. It would still be AWESOME!!! (said in a high pitched singing voice)

The floral pattern here just makes me smile. It's very Spring with a tsp of Fall in the coloring. Very versatile and would be superb in a guest sweet with some orange or green night stands. 

Well that's Target from my view this week from 

Under My Mulberry Tree

Sliding Barn Doors

Not too long ago, while I was surfing online, I came across something that I knew

 I HAD to HAVE!!! 

It's rustic and charming and Huge! 

Where in the heck am I going to put a 

Sliding Barn Door!?! 

As of today, I live in an apartment and the thought of a sliding barn door in my place is absolutely absurd! Not only is there nowhere to put one, but I highly doubt our complex managers would smile upon the monstrosity of holes that the track would probably put into the walls. 

Fortunately for me. . . The bank just accepted our offer on a house that I have been oogling for the past few months!!! And Fortunately, I have just the place for this beauty in my new house! Well, my almost house. It's not ours until I have the keys in my hand. Any who! Here's what I found.

Photo Courtesy of Apartment Therapy

The simplicity of this room is amp'd way up with the addition of the barn doors. They are rustic yet elegant and cozy at the same time. I love the effect they have on this room.

 This Photo is Courtesy of Feldman Architecture

If you want contemporary barn doors it can be done. I know it seems like it wouldn't fit, but look at that. They have managed to make the barn door sleek and almost sexy. 

 Photo Courtesy of The Brooklyn Home Company via Architectural Elements

The contrast of this door to the surround stark white is beautiful! It sticks out life a sore thumb in the best possible way. The juxtaposition of the clean lines and reflective surfaces  of the bathroom play perfectly against the rough unfinished surface of the door. 

 Photo Courtesy of Bestor Architecture via Architectural Elements 

Are the others too plain for you? Vamp it up with a color. Red is very barn-esq and would add a fun element to any room.

Photo Courtesy of Barn Door Hardware

This last one is cozy and just the right amount of rustic to the otherwise contemporary room.

All of these doors are fun and fresh! I can't wait to see what the hubby thinks. Although it will probably be quite a while before he consents to adding one to our home. I guess I'm putting the cart before the horse here, but I can't help it. As I've said before, I love to look up and dream from 

Under My Mulberry Tree.

Throw Pillows

In Feb, the hubs and I bought new couches. I absolutely love them, but they needed something else. . . PILLOWS of course! I already had some but plain tan doesn't fly around here anymore. I had been eying some fabric at Calico Corners and decided that it would make beautiful throw pillows for my new couches. I ordered a yard and when i got it, it seemed like so much less than a yard normally does. luckily I had some left over fabric from when I reupholstered my dining chairs and it's the perfect color for the BACK of my new pillows. This way I ended up with 3 pillows instead of 2. GENIUS MOMENT!

Here's the fabric that I found. I love the colors and the pattern is so feminine, yet masculine all at the same time.  

Pillow Before

Here's how my little project ended. I love how they look and I think they add just the touch when I look from

Under My Mulberry Tree.

Painted Fireplaces

I know it sounds like a huge faux pas to paint a fireplace surround, but sometimes there is nooo other option. All too often you see in older homes that dreadful 50's and 60's stone fireplace surround. It doesn't go with ANYTHING!!! I'm sure some designers and decorators would disagree and argue that a GOOD designer could make it work. Truth be told: I wouldn't want to make it work!. In reconciling this dilemma there are a few things you could do.

1. You could rip the stone down and completely reface the entire thing.

2. You could drywall over it and then reface the whole thing. 

Don't have the money for 1. or 2. but still hate your dated stone fireplace!?! That's where option 3 comes in.

3. Paint it!!! 

There are probably husbands out there all over the place with their heads in their hands shaking it. Moaning and thinking, "YOU CAN"T JUST PAINT IT!!!!!" Well I say, You can! It doesn't even have to be white. White would be the most 'normal' color that you could chose and would match more homes. But what does your home want? Pick a color that suits your decor. If it's white, then go with it, but maybe a nice bright AQUA would suit you better. If you do choose a bold hue like aqua, I would recommend a dominantly neutral scheme for the rest of the room. Whatever it is, make it yours. Here are some photos I've found via Google search, of painted and non painted fireplaces.

This stunning fireplace was found on Decor Pad

This is a great example of a before and after that I found at Mid-Century Midwest

I love how the stone surround turned out.

This Beauty was found here

Wanna See more? Go here

Found this picture at DIY Network's site.

I LOVE how this one looks! It is in a restaurant, but the coloring is awesome. It was featured on this blog.

Well there you have it! Some things just look better with a little coat of paint. That's painted fireplaces from my view

Under My Mulberry Tree 

Pink Rooms?

I have recently seen a few PINK rooms and at first I couldn't decide; Pink? or No Pink? I think I have decided that YES! I like PINK in a room. Will I ever have one? Prob not. haha! I love the Hubs, but he is a total "manly man" and pink would never fly. He's more of a, hang my deer heads on tan walls with wildlife art,  kinda guy. But hey, a girl can dream right? While I was looking at different pink rooms, I found that most of them were very feminine. Seems like a DUH right? I also saw some not so feminine rooms that were way too overwhelming to be calm and relaxing so I chose not to post those. So here are some of my PINK rooms.

This lovely lady of a room can be found Here

This first room is obviously geared towards a little girl. That bed would be amazing in general, but can you imagine being the little girl that gets to come home to that!?! It is a tad too pink for me, but wonderful nonetheless.

Wanna Stay here? Me too! You can see it Here

From here on out, the rest of the rooms just happen to be designed by Sarah Richardson from HGTV's Sarah's House and Design Inc. (The fact that she has 2 shows on HGTV, says enough for me.) I immediately swooned ever her work. ALL of it is completely my style. I think a great designer can do that to rooms. (Make it a style that can work for different styles) The room pictured here is a room in a Park Hyatt Hotel. I don't know about you, but I would be elated to stay in a room this pretty!

Bigger fan of Coral than Pink? Check out this pic Here

This particular Living room didn't go with PINK so much as CORAL and RED and ORANGE. However, you still get the whisper of pink looking at it. I think this is a good compromise to what could be considered a "girly" room that is mainly pink.

Here

If this room doesn't scream FEMININE, I don't know what does. This room is probably the most formal of all of the ones shown in this post, although it still looks like it could be lived in. It's not so stuffy that you feel like you can't touch anything, but it does make you want to sit up straight and mind your manners. Beautiful either way.

Here

This Living Room is BY FAR my favorite of them all! When I look at this room, I can just imagine the gasp of refreshing awe as you walk in. Refreshing awe? I know right!?! It's just what I imagine when I think about walking in here. Like a ginormous breath of fresh air. The pink in this room isn't overwhelming. There are a few little soft touches of different tones of pink. I think the otherwise neutral pallet allows the pink to POP, but keeps it from being too harsh. So if you are wanting to try a pop of pink in your room, keep it simple. Allow the room to function without the pink, so that if you change your mind you don't have to renovate the entire room.

So that's PINK from my view, 

UNDER MY MULBERRY TREE

Target Tuesday

Today I'm linkin up over at FabulousButEvil for Target Tuesday! It seems like such a fun idea. Go check it out! Here are the things at Target that I absolutely love right now.

This Grey Satchel is so sleek and sexy. Makes me wanna have a night on the town with the hubs. 

I've had my eye on this beauty for over a year now, but with 2 boys under 3, I can't bring myself to buy it. At only $89, it's a steal for a mirrored table!

I thought this Rug would be so soothing in my craft room that doesn't exist yet. It's perfect! 

These Boots are oh so perfect! Only thing keeping me from owning them is that they no longer have my size. Sad day for me. 

Well that's Target from my view

Under My Mulberry Tree