A One King's Lane Sale not to be Missed!

As I've mentioned once, or twice, or maybe even twelve times, I am knee-deep in the home decor world these days. I have learned to bargain hunt, to never trust the first price I come across, and to really search high and low for the best products out there. One site I keep returning to time and time again is One King's Lane.

Let me preface this post by saying that One King's Lane tends to be a little pricier than the typical discount sites, but they also tend to carry higher end brands which means while you might be paying a tad more, you're getting a fantastic deal. Yay!

Today and tomorrow, One King's Lane is running a 20% off sale with the code OKLSHARE20. While there are some exclusions...including the lamps I was planning to buy...I digress...tons and tons of their items are on sale. I love One King's Lane for their curated, high quality goods that really fit into many different home styles. I am always drawn to their French influences, but you can find amazing art and gorgeous knick-knacks too. If you have bookshelves or coffee tables to style, now is your chance to stock up! Below are a few of my favorite OKL items.

How to make your spaces POP!

When it comes to interiors, there are some things that I'm really good at. I love choosing lighting and hardware. I can put different pieces of art together. I've even started understanding pattern play a little bit too. However, there's one thing that I really struggle with: styling surfaces. Our coffee table is basically a holding spot for magazines, remotes, and a lone candle. It's not exactly magazine worthy. 

Recently, we purchased a large sideboard to go underneath our television in our master bedroom. Yes, I know a sideboard traditionally goes in a dining room, but this one provided us with the storage we needed as well as the look we were going for in our master, so into the bedroom it went! And I kind of love it there.

Here's the problem: it's a LARGE sideboard and there is a lot of surface area. On one hand, that's great for storage because that means there are deep cabinets and enormous drawers. On the other hand, the top of it looks really empty. Even though we've only had the piece for a few weeks, it was starting to drive me slightly crazy as to what I could put on top of it. 

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love *things*. I have a lot of books, a lot of trinkets, and a lot of little memories that I can't part with. However, when thinking about our dresser (aka. the sideboard), I wanted to make sure I didn't clutter it. I wanted useful items that filled the space while serving dual purposes, but I had no idea where to start, so I turned to SwatchPop! for help.

SwatchPop! is an online interior design service where design professionals are at your fingertips. Here's how it works: start by creating a profile and filling-out a detailed survey about your design likes and dislikes and the stores you regularly shop. The more specific you can be here, the better! Next, choose your pops. In my case, I wanted to style my dresser as well as another little nook nearby for a total of 3 pops (1 pop for the dresser styling, 2 pops for nook furniture and wall decor).

Then, you tell your designer (who you'll soon meet!) what your needs are as well as a little bit about your style. This is your opportunity to share inspiration photos, measurements, and your budget. Again, be as specific as you can! Finally, chat with your designer and let the magic happen. Within a few days, you'll be on your way to a newly designed space!

I loved hearing from my designer (almost daily for a week) and seeing progress along the way. I truly felt as though she got to know me and my style which meant that the process was a quick one. Within a week, I had renderings of my space along with a product list of where to find the same items (and even alternates if things were not affordable or unavailable). 

Perhaps the best part was the affordability of everything! Your first pop is $49.95 and each pop after is $29.95. So let's say that you need furniture ($49.95), wall decor ($29.95), and rug help ($29.95). You can get an entire room designed for $110! Even better? SwatchPop gave me a code for anyone who wants to try the service. Just type in PolkaDots to receive 10% off. Woot! 

I truly loved the experience of SwatchPop! and I'll definitely be using their services again in the future. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to see the dresser and nook project come to life! 

Thanks so much to SwatchPop! for the complimentary services. All opinions (and excitement) are my own! 

PPD Renovates: We Have a Roof!

Before

We've officially been under construction on our home renovation for just over a month. Construction started on November 21, so we've come quite a long way in a short amount of time...which is a good thing! We're very satisfied with our team so far, and things are moving along with the project. 

Not going to lie, after a long, drought-ridden fall, as soon as we took our roof off, and I mean AS SOON AS we took our roof off, the rain came down. In those weeks, we had many nights waking up wondering if our floors and ceilings were being drenched in water. Luckily, we had very little water damage, and now that we have a roof and almost all of our windows, we shouldn't have anymore sleepless nights. 

Roof off! This lasted for a few weeks and was basically just complete stress. 

The very beginning of framing. You can see the original wood siding underneath our blue. 

Since I am such a type-A planner, I've had all of our material selections ready to go for months. This was especially helpful for both our plumber and our electrician. It's crazy that all of the electrical work happens during framing, so having my lighting ordered weeks in advance allowed us to  know exactly what height to hang things like sconces. Plus, I loved choosing lighting. I'm pretty obsessed with the sconces for our dining room, but the master bath and powder room ones have my heart, too. 

Starting to look more like a house again!

Other than lighting, we've spent a lot of time choosing brick and thinking about our paint colors. I met with a paint specialist last week to help us wrap our heads around it. I really want to have different paint colors throughout the house, but I want them to work together seamlessly. I'm not sure if you've ever looked, but there are thousands of paint colors out there, and unlike lighting and tile stores, paint reps don't exist. Having an expert is going to be so helpful! 

As of Saturday, December 31, 2016, we have a roof, shingles, windows (!!!) and all kinds of newness on the inside. 

As far as the exterior goes, we still have siding to add, a brick fireplace & stoop, expanding the stoop, and moving the front door. The new front door will be directly under that middle window and will finally give me the symmetry I've been craving. We're hoping to have drywall up in the next few weeks which means another update will be coming your way soon!  In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions about renovation/adding-on to your home. I'm becoming an expert slowly but surely! 

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

No, I'm not talking about a puppy...although mine has most definitely been the gift that keeps on giving. Instead, I'm talking about linens. Before you click away, hear me out: how often do you buy yourself new sheets, blankets, or towels? If you're like me, chances are you don't buy yourself these things often, and if we're spirit animals, you never buy yourself linens. Linens just get pushed way down on my priority list of things to buy. I always justify purchasing something else instead. But think about it: we use linens every single day which is why they make a great gift. I still remember the people who gifted us our first towels for our wedding (hey Lindsay & Erin), and I definitely know who gave us a set of sheets. 

The holidays are a great time to snap up linens for others. One of my favorite places to shop for linens is WestPoint Home. It might actually be the one place I consider myself as a lifetime shopper. When I was little, there was a WestPoint Home store near the Alabama/Georgia state line. It had a beautiful fountain outside of it which I referred to as the "dancing water." It was always a landmark for our trips to and from Mobile. 

WestPoint Home has recently opened a new store at the North Georgia Premium Outlets, and they're celebrating their grand opening tomorrow. During the grand opening event, you can receive free monogramming on personalizable items which make it a prime opportunity for shopping for gifts. I took a word of advice from myself and stepped-up the fun factor by getting our house number monogrammed on towels. These will be right at home in our new Jack and Jill bath. 

Let me know if you find yourself at the WestPoint Home opening tomorrow - and let me know what you get!

I received the towels seen here in exchange for this post. 

Holiday Home Decor for Less

As you all know, we're in a temporary residence this year, and that has made getting in the holiday spirit a little challenging. We made the executive decision to leave 99% of our holiday decor in storage this year for ease of moving things back and forth. Admittedly, I've been a bit depressed without the usual days of decorating and coming home to a Christmasy space every evening. 

We brought one of our smaller, more slender, faux trees, but opted to leave all ornaments at home (for shame!!). I left all of my pretty table linens and mantle decorations, too. Last week, I finally decided I couldn't really take the lack of decor anymore, so I made a plan to beef up the cottage a little with the help of some of my favorite look-for-less shops. 

I've always loved the crewel pillows from Pottery Barn, but since I know this space is temporary, and I'm not quite sure what our living room will look like next year, I didn't want to splurge on them. World Market to the rescue! I nabbed this winter scene pillow (on sale) for $21 this weekend! I paired it with some green velvet pillows ($6 each!) for a cozy set-up. World Market has some fantastic holiday decor items this year, and I've rounded up my favorites below.

I also ventured OTP to find the perfect Christmas wreath. I love a gorgeous wreath, and I'm usually pretty good about jazzing one up myself, but with the hubs at the golf course and some time to kill, I headed to a local Christmas Tree farm to see what I could find, and I'm so glad I did. You'd be surprised with what $25 can get you! I was able to score a beautiful wreath filled with greenery of all sorts, red berries, and a cute bow. Done and done. 

When it comes to finding holiday home decor for less, look to your favorite mid-range retailers like Pottery Barn for inspiration, then head to places like Target and Home Goods to make the look happen. Splurge on items like greenery that serve the dual purpose of looking fabulous and bringing a little of the outside in. And it goes without saying that if you can wait a few weeks until after Christmas, you're bound to find some amazing deals! 

So, that One Time when I Redesigned my OWN Blog...

Notice anything different around here? You're looking at a brand new Probably Polka Dots! What started as a fun Saturday project to prevent me from going to the mall and spending money turned into a full-on redesign. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing, and I still am not sure how a lot of this even happened. I googled "How to...." more than I can count and watched so many YouTube videos it's not even funny. I didn't even save any images of what the blog looked like on Friday because I accidentally updated the "real" blog instead of the "test" blog...and I forgot to back the original up. Thus, totally new design. Whoops.

Some things you'll notice: 

1. Social Media Buttons! I now have fancy circular buttons/logos for each of my social media platforms. This was my first project of the day, and it was easy breezy thanks to Carrie. My favorite one is for sure the Bloglovin' icon. Too cute and clever. 

2. Lack of over-all dots. Y'all. I love polka dots. You should see my closet, but my side bar ones just weren't doing it for me anymore. I made the switch to two clean rows of dots around my header. I hope you love the simplicity as much as I do! 

3. Amazing (if I do say so myself) pages and icons. There are a few surprises and modifications coming to PPD and these icons are just the beginning. Look for sponsorship information soon. I hope to have it up within the next few weeks!

So what do you think? Hopefully you like it because the old images are lost in the abyss of my computer, and I am too lazy to recover them :) Love y'all! 

P.S. I even made a favicon - and it's a peach - I am so knowledgeable AND cute...humble too.

Around the House: Weekend Projects

I don't know about you guys, but we spent our weekend spending more time inside than out. While we did miss out on the beach and the pool, I am happy to report that we were able to accomplish all sorts of things inside our house. Some projects were big (guest room make-over), and some projects were small (um, wash & replace shower curtain, ew), but all have made our quality of living just a little happier. Take a peek at all of our projects:

 

Top: New shower curtain & an organized linen closet (lesson learned - need matching towels)

Middle: Crisp, clean, & not too feminine guest bedding & row 1 of 2 framed Atlanta cards for above the bed (lesson learned - spray paint is infinitely better than duct tape)

Bottom: The more love the better & a steal from Ballard finally has a home (lesson learned - always unroll a print before trying to hang it) 

I simply cannot wait to show you the rest of the guest room! I'm pretty excited about what's coming next. :)

Featured! C.Joyner Interiors

For the past few months, Hunter and I have been working with Coleby Joyner, a local Atlanta interior designer who is just as cute as she is brilliant. She initially helped Hunter take his space from drab to fab about four years ago when he bought his "big boy furniture" and made house updates. When I moved in back in the summer, I knew I wanted to call on her again to help lighten up our house and add some feminine touches. She recently featured our house updates over on her blog, and I am thrilled! Scoot over there and check out a few befores and afters. Here's a sneak peak of what you'll find there:

Oh, and if you are in need of some design help, Coleby is your girl. Contact her at C. Joyner Interiors and get started! You'll love her!

On-Going Projects

We have several on-going projects around our house. Some of them are wrapping up, and others are just getting started. Here are a few glimpses of our on-going work. Things they are a-changing!

I'm so excited to show you our living room (bye-bye green) and kitchen progress (hello blue!). Stay tuned!

The Ultimate DIY: Built-in Bookshelves

As you know, Hunter has been hard at work building a unit of built-ins for our office. Today, I can proudly say, that they are complete! A lot of blood and sweat (there's no crying in home-decorating) went into them, and they look fantastic because of it. Hunter did a majority of the work, and then I helped level & paint.

Here's a reminder of where we started:

A few days ago, with Maggie's good eye paired with mine, we styled them beautifully.

I love the look of styled, useful, and inviting shelves. Here are a few of our styled shelves inspiration pictures: 

Following Jenny's advice, we started with the big pieces

and moved out from there, adding books and tchotchkes (the chic word for knick-knacks) as we worked.

We even had to rummage around the house to find a few extra little pieces to add to the shelves. Are you ready for the end result? Ta-Da!

 
I am so so happy with how they turned out, and I've found myself stopping to admire them every day this week. It is definitely the look I wanted, and I think the room is so much brighter and happier. I am so excited to snuggle in the rocking chair with a good book soon.

Quick & Easy DIY

There are lots of DIY projects in the works over here, and I am so excited to share all of them...eventually. In the meantime, here is a quick one that I did all by myself (mostly).

I finally got fed-up hunting through our kitchen drawers to find measuring spoons. Enter this pinterest-inspired project. I rummaged through the basement and found an old paintstick, bought the hooks and spray paint and got to work.

I had planned to hang the paint stick with 3M strips as to not damage the cabinet, but the cute ceramic measuring spoons I bought were too heavy. Hunter helped me drill it in instead and voila! I love that the measuring spoons are easily accessible, but out of the way. It was a simple weekend DIY. Stay tuned over the next few days...the bookcases are almost complete!

Bathroom Facelift

We've been tweaking our bathroom for quite some time. It was the very first project I wanted to tackle when I got settled. We wanted to make it a little more inviting and updated without spending too much money. Painting the walls gray, installing a new light fixture, and adding a few accessories and prints really livened up the white space.


Here is a before shot:

And here is the after:

I took the inspiration from this picture because it looked so much like our bathroom already:

I think we took some inspiration, but put our own spin on things. Hunter did a fantastic job building the shelf next to the sink and the one above the door. We needed extra storage desperately. I have been keeping my eye on these cards from Rifle Paper Company for months, and a few weeks ago I saw they were 50% off! I scooped them up faster than you can say "Oh la la!" It's no secret that I love everything French, and these prints show it that much more. The orange really brightens up the space. I hope to find a cute orange striped hand towel to replace the gray one...eventually. Keep your eyes peeled!

A Work in Progress

We are slowly making some changes around the house. Hunter is super handy, and he's been hard at work on his latest project: built-in bookshelves! Here is a sneak peak of what's to come. I am already having visions of books and antique trinkets. I can't wait to snuggle up with a good book in our new "library." :)

Here is our inspiration picture:

And here is our progress so far!

We'll have a shelf over the door frame, there will be 6 shelves (including the bottom) in each vertical space, and don't worry, a library ladder is definitely in my future!

Pillow Talk

After my sewing class this summer, I decided that I could be the next great seamstress. The excitement bursting out of me, I went out almost immediately and bought my own fabrics for the master and even helped my BFF Lindsay choose some of her own for her new apartment.

Then, the sewing lull came, and I didn't even touch my borrowed sewing machine for weeks. Finally, three months later, I found my motivation...at least to get Lindsay's done!

Behold a sofa full of vibrant pillows:

Stay tuned for more updates and glimpses of my skills :)

Sneak Peak: Bedroom

A few weeks ago, I promised lots of updates were coming your way. We've been busy with little home improvements here and there, but updating the bedroom has been one of my top priorities. Unfortunately, it's taking a little longer than expected, but here is a sneak peak with where we're headed.

I bought two of these pretty-awful lamps at Homegoods back in September with a plan in mind:

I had seen a few tutorials in the blogosphere about painting lamps and covering shades inside & out. I was feeling inspired and ready to tackle a project on my own-ish (my local handyman helped a little).

Here is one of the finished products!

The reason it's so sparkly on the wall is because of the metallic paper lining:

The fabric is off-white, not blue-green ;)

One down, one to go...and many more projects to follow!